Toss Crack is a great play for getting the running back to the perimeter and forcing cornerbacks to be involved in defending the run.
There are many variations and ways to get to it, but at its core, the play involves a wide receiver or tight end blocking down (cracking) on the EMOL and the tackle pulling around him to the outside.
More often than not, there are multiple receivers or skill-position players cracking, and sometimes there will be multiple players pulling. The hope is that getting the running back to the perimeter quickly will allow him to take advantage of space and create a big play.
In this breakdown, I’ll show you a standard example of toss crack, a variation where the offense used motion to create better blocking angles, and an example from the 2024 NFC Championship Game where the Eagles used personnel and formation to give themselves a huge advantage when executing the play.
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Below, you can see one version of the concept illustrated:
The run is, for the most part, blocked like outside zone with the exception of the pin-and-pull action of the skill players on the perimeter and the pullers. Here, it gained an easy 7 yards on first down:
The great thing about the play is that it’s not dependent on the key players delivering devastating blocks or dominating the line of scrimmage (although both of those would certainly be preferred). Instead, it’s about angles.
You could see on the run above that the tight end cracking on the line of scrimmage finished 4 yards into the backfield and the receiver cracking to that side caught his man and was basically taken for a ride. The play still picked up 7 yards on a running down.
A big part of the play is the tackle getting matched up on a cornerback. Most corners (like #23 below) want absolutely no part of that and are more than happy to get the hell out of the way, widening the running lane:
You’ll often see teams run toss crack and try to get multiple blockers on the perimeter. Above, the Texans did so with a fullback out of the backfield. This next example, courtesy of Mike McDaniel and the Dolphins, used burst motion before the snap: