How to beat the shake blitz

Shake blitzing occurs when a 155 defense is moving all of their linebackers from side to side before the snap.  This tends to confuse the offensive line after the ball is snapped.

Here are some Madden online tips to follow to help counter these shake blitzes: 

Passing
In passing situations, use slants, drags, curls and, in/out routes.  Shake blitzing defenses will tend to force you to pass the ball quickly so use quick routes.

Also, most shake blitzing defenses will likely send all of their linebackers.  So, the middle area of the field will be vulnerable to the defense.  Attack this area with your passes.

Try to avoid using a play from under center.  Pass from a Gun formation.  The extra ground will allow for extra time to get a pass off. 

Running
When running the ball use a power set so you have plenty of blockers against the blitz.  Pinching the line should also help.  If you are running to the outside, snap the ball when the linebackers start "shaking" to the opposite side. 

Final Thoughts
Let the play clock run down until there's about 1-3 seconds left.  This will help force your (button mashing) opponent to work a little bit harder at what they are trying to achieve.

Beating Cover 3

 

Cover 3 defenses can usually get beaten by Strong Flood plays or plays where there's a curl on one of the wide outs and also someone running a flat route to the same area of the field.  While occupying the flat zone, you can attack the area that is open between the flat zone and the deep blue zone.  The RB or TE will run flat routes and an outside WR will run a streak while an inside WR will run an out route.  The flats defender is taken by the receiver running the flat route while the streak occupies the deep blue zone which leaves a hole in the defense for the out route.

Using 3 Receivers on one side of the field
Also, use formations with 3 receiving targets on one side of the field and do the following:

1.  One receiver runs a streak.   
2.  Use a route that attacks the buzz (purple) zone area such as outside slants.
3.  Use a route that attacks the flats.

Against Press Defense
If the defense is using a press coverage you can hot route one of your better wide receivers to a streak. You can hit him right after he breaks free from the press defender and before he gets to the safety in the deep blue zone.

Cover 3 is also known for being a bit weak on streaks up the hash marks.  Use a snugs or bunch formation and streak the inside receiver.

How to read Cover 3
After all of the players on the defensive side have lined up in the chosen formation, keep an eye on the two safeties.  If it's Cover 3 the two safeties slightly rotate together towards deep middle of the field.  In a Cover 2 defense there is no movement by either the safeties.

7 Madden tips for beating bumps and nanos

1.  Use at least one wide receiver who is good at beating the press.  Study a player's REL (release) attribute.  In Madden NFL, Dwayne Bowe and Hakeem Nicks have one of the best REL ratings.

2.  Spread the defense by using spread formations.  This will make it more difficult for the defense to bump.  If you have a receiver that does not have anyone lined up, hot route him into a slant in route.

3.  Use unbumpable routes such as C routes or routes where the receiver double fakes a slant-in like what is seen with the square receiver below:


4.  Send your receivers in motion followed by an immediate snap.  This will help turn some routes into unbumpable ones.

5.  Set up extra blockers to gain some extra time by hot routing your half Back or Tight End to block.

6.  Use a Gun formation with two players in the backfield.  These players will not get bumped thus will be more difficult to cover.

7.  Using a hurry up offense can help prevent your opponent from having enough time to setup his blitz.

Football Playbook Designer

Have you ever found a Madden NFL Football write-up on the internet and gotten a bit overwhelmed by all of the changes needed in order for the play to be run effectively?  Some users go into practice mode and "lab" these write-ups for several hours until they get everything down.  I imagine most users, like myself, either don't have the time to lab or might lose interest in labbing after a while. 

To help speed up my learning process I have attempted to mark hot routes from the write-up to a playbook image and then I would refer to it during the Online game.  This works pretty well but it takes a lot of time to edit each playbook image.  Instead of drawing up plays I came up with a Greasemonkey script which allows you to drag and drop hot routes onto a playbook image. 

This script will currently run on the http://www.primamadden.com/free-preview website. (This site hosts all of the team playbooks for Madden NFL). 

How to use:
1.  Go to an offensive playbook page and then scroll all the way down to the bottom of the page. 
2.  Here you will find buttons for each hot route that is available on Madden NFL Football.  Also, included are some "player motion" graphs and slide protect images.
3.  Click on a button and then the hot route image will appear on the page. 
4.  Drag the hot route over the old route in the playbook formation image.

Now you can have a visual representation of your write-ups.

Download Madden NFL Playbook Designer.

West Coast Playbook: Split Backs Pro Write-up

Here's a mini write-up of the split backs pro formation in the West Coast playbook.  I use the Dual HB package but the normal package might be desirable if you want better run blocking at the FB position.

 

Texas
Vs. Zone
1.  Hot route X and B WRs to out routes depending on what side of the field you are on.
2.  Hot route Y (FB) to left.

Look for any of the hot routed receivers to be open.

Vs. Man

1.  Hot route X WR to drag.

FB will be open for potential long gain.  B Receiver in curl should also be open.



SS Pressure

Vs. Zone

1.  Hot route X and B WRs to out routes depending on what side of the field you are on.

Wide recievers will be open.  The A reciever will also be open.  Warning, try to avoid throwing to the HB running the blue route.  A defender in a hook route is likely to intercept the ball.

Vs. Man

1.  Hot route X reciever to drag.

After the ball is snapped, scramble back slightly with the QB to try to draw in the LB who will be guarding the HB running the blue route.  The HB should be open for a big gain.



HB Draw

Vs. Zone

This play can result in some big gains especially if you are running against a 3-4 defense.  You can even motion the Y back to the right of the screen to help draw one of the defenders from the middle of the field. Sometimes you can also have the HB cut back to the left side to get past the front line.  He should be able to run for a while.

Vs. Man

This play will also give you good gains against man defense.



PA Slide
Vs. Zone & Man
The Tight End (A) is almost always open for a long gain unless the defense uses a purple zone.  Most defensive plays don't have purple zones by default, though.  Against man the HB will be open for a quick pass.



Off Tackle

Vs. Man

I tend to get better results with this play in Man defenses.  Motion Y back to the right.



Curl Combo

Vs. Man

Any of the wideouts running curl routes should be open.  I've learned that timing is important.  If you throw too late the X and B WRs will miss the ball start running toward the line of scrimmage for some reason.  This could result in an interception.  Be careful with this play.



Backs Cross
Vs. Man

The HB should be open.  The FB might be open depending on personnel.  The X receiver will also be open.  I'm not sure if it's me or the team I use but drags this year don't seem to be as effective as they were last year. I might start changing drags to IN-routes and see if these work better in getting separation from the defender.

How to flip a run without a QB gesture

When flipping the direction of a running play with the R-stick, the quarterback makes a gesture to his team.  This might give your opponent an idea that it might be a running play that's going to be reversed in the other direction.  One way to flip the run without the quarterback gesturing is to bring up your audible menu and then quickly hit the cancel button.  Afterwards, you can flip the run without giving it away to your opponent.

Additional Running Tips
I think it was last year (Madden 11) when the default settings for auto sprint and auto strafe were turned on by default.  This year, I decided to turn these off.  With auto sprint turned off, I have seen a huge improvement in my running game.  Lately, I've been able to rush for 100 yards or more most of the time.  I've also seen improvements in kickoff returns as well.  Take control of your running.  Turn off auto sprint.

Madden NFL Strategy Pad

The Madden NFL demo was just released on July 27th. So far, the most of the internet community is not liking the new Strategy Pad. One thing I don't understand is why does the user need to activate it to get to the first menu? The screenshot up above is the initial button. When you hit the D-pad it then brings you to the first menu. I don't think the initial button press should be necessary. Anyway, it will take a while to get used to but I'm sure everyone will eventually get the hang of it.

A few forum members offered good tips on how to learn the new Strategy Pad. With two controllers connected, launch the Madden NFL demo. Pause the game and turn off the play clock. Go to controller settings to add the other controller so one controls the away team and the other controls the home team. With this setup you can play around with the Strategy pad at your own pace.

Offense

Offensive line shifts	Hot Routes

Defense

Hot Routes	Coverage
Defensive Line shifts	Linebacker shifts

Madden game plan (Part 1 - Offense)

In Madden this year, I've been playing online with the 49ers and have had pretty good success with the West Coast playbook most of the time, at least. To become familiar with this playbook I would go through each formation and pick one play after each down. After I have gone through each formation I would do it again until I found which plays I was comfortable with. Now that I'm more familiar with this playbook I have been able to devise a pattern of plays that I've been using each game. Here is a typical game plan that I may follow:

Play 1 - At the coin flip, I try to receive the ball first. Surprisingly, I always seem to get the ball first even if I lose the toss. For my first play of the game I always use a play called 'Seattle' which is out of the Singleback Bunch Swap formation. The slot receiver is usually open most of the time. If my opponent is playing zone, then I dump it to the HB which is running the blue route.

Play 2 - On my second play, go with 'Seattle' again. If I'm near or at the left hash marks and my opponent is running a zone defense I'll motion the outside receiver on the right and snap the ball before the receiver stops his motion. If the defense isn't covering the flats, the receiver will usually be open for a 10 yard gain.

Play 3 - While in Singleback Bunch Swap formation again I'll use the Quick Pitch play. This play sometimes results in a 5-6 yard gain.

Plays 4-7 - For the next 4-5 plays, I'll choose an outside run from each of the singleback formations as long as I'm still effective on the ground. It also depends on what type of defense I'm facing. If I'm facing a 4-3 defense I should be able to continue rushing outside. Against a 3-4 defense this will be less effective so I'll revert to 'Ask Madden' to see what works well.

After running the ball for about 4-5 times in a row, I'll throw in a play action pass from one of the singleback formations.

Play 8 - After the play action pass I'll choose another running play called HB Inside out of the Near Pro formation. Sometimes, I'm able to break through for a long gain with this play.

Quarter 2 Plays
The first quarter is usually about to end by the time I have finished my first drive. In the 2nd quarter, I'll usually refer to 'Ask Madden' to decide what to use.

At least once, if I'm anywhere in between the two red zones I'll run a play called Slot Outs from the Gun Spread Flex formation. Depending on how the defense is set up I might hot route one of the slot receivers to run a short route so I can throw a quick pass.

Most of the time, however, I usually get a good gain by throwing to the half back. I've been able to break the play wide open when I pass to the HB before he makes his cut. After he catches the ball the two receivers on the right are able to make blocks so the HB can break through.

Quarter 3 Plays
When I get the ball in the 2nd half I might go back and run the Seattle and Quick Pitch plays back to back to get my drive going. Then, I'll use 'Ask Madden' to help me decide on what to run.

Far Tight Twins
Near the end of the 3rd quarter I'll start running plays exclusively from the Far Tight Twins formation. This formation is good in that it's easy to tell if your opponent is in man or zone defense. I can usually drive all the way down the field with this formation. I'll wait till the latter half of the game to use this formation so my opponent has less time to catch on what plays I like to run. I will from time to time use Far tight Twins in the first half on 3rd down conversions or if I'm in the red zone.

Quick Toss - This play should be used sparingly because it's quite effective until the opponent catches on. I'll use the Quick Toss if my opponent is playing zone although it also can be effective in man defense as well.

Against Man Defense
The Flats and Mesh plays work very well against man defense. If the defense puts a lot of pressure on the quarterback I will be able to run the Mesh play and dump the ball off to the tight end running the drag route. In the Flats play, the slot receiver is usually open for a good gain.

Running the slant Hook play against man can turn into a deadly play. To set this play up, I'll hot route the HB to run a drag route to the right side. He's usually open for a big gain.

I have the Quick Toss, flats, Mesh, and X Spot plays in my offensive audibles.

4th Quarter Plays
I'll continue to use plays from the Far Tight Twins formation but will also mix my plays in other formations depending on the situation.

Madden depth chart strategies

I've been thinking about reordering my wide receiver list in the depth chart to help create mismatches. I could also probably also use different packages such as WR Swap (swaps the wide receivers) or WR spell which I believe just brings in the backup receivers but these don't seem to give as much flexibility as making minor changes to the depth chart. Below are three things to keep in mind when setting up your wide receivers in the depth chart.

1. Create mismatches - Put your best wide receiver in the slot which almost always will have a big advantage over your opponent's third string corner back or linebacker.

2. Take advantage of your good blocking receivers - Another thing to think about when reordering your depth chart is to find out who your best blocking wide receiver is. Michael Crabtree of the 49ers, for example, has good blocking attributes so have him lined up in a position to block for your HB. You could also use motion but with the accelerated clock in this year's Madden 10, you might not always have time for motion.

3. Let your best receiver run your favorite routes - If you have a set of formations that you regularly use, study the routes you tend to use more often and make sure your best wide receiver runs these routes.

Defensive Assignments
Madden has a new feature called Defensive Assignments which allows the defense to assign their best defenders to cover your best receivers regardless of where they line up in a formation. If your opponent is using defensive assignments you can't really take advantage of mismatches but since 'Defensive assignments' is a relatively new feature I wonder how often players are using it. While playing online, if your opponent pauses the game before it starts he might be setting up his defensive assignments you never know. If your opponent hasn't paused the game, then he obviously hasn't made any defensive assignments.

Another thing about defensive assignments is that these assignments only seem to take effect when the defense is playing in man to man coverage. In zone coverage each defender will cover his zone.

Madden top 5 teams used online

I went to easportsworld to view the leader board to get an idea what type of teams these players are using. Last year, I think most would agree that the Cowboys and Patriots were the most popular online teams. Here are the top 5 used online teams for Madden:

1 - Chargers

Chargers don't really have a weakness on offense, do they?. They have a good quarterback, two good half backs, and a good TE.

2 - Eagles

The Eagles are probably the most widely use team overall but according to the leader board they were 2nd. Vick is a very popular weapon of choice.

3 - Cowboys

The Cowboys were one of the elite teams last year but with the ratings changes this year there really isn't a dominating team. The Cowboys are still a favorite, however. They still have a great running game and solid defense.

4 - Raiders

Surprisingly, the Raiders always seem to be a popular team. Jamarcus Russell could be the most inaccurate quarterback in the game yet there are still a lot of Raiders players online.

5 - Titans

Chris Johnson is the fastest back in the game and quite possibly the best player in Madden this year. The Titans secondary is probably the best.

How to return kickoffs for TDs

I have been having quite a bit of success returning kickoffs for touchdowns in Madden with the 49ers. Allen Rossum has good speed as a kick returner so this might be one of the factors. Because of his speed, I always use one kick returner as opposed to two returners. I always choose middle kick return. There are 4 men lined up in front of the return man. Before the kickoff, I control one of the middle blockers. While the ball is in the air, I sprint the blocker towards the side the ball is being kicked to. I follow my blockers and if I get lucky, I'll find a hole. This method is usually only effective if the ball lands near the side of the field and not in between the hash marks.

On the kicking side, I've also been burned a few times with TD scoring kick returns. To help avoid TD returns I've been trying to kick the ball towards the middle of the field. While the ball is in the air, I'll maintain control of the kicker and just jog down the field so I don't interrupt the play.

Madden Slot Cross

The Slot Cross play seems to have a very good success rate. All you do is hit the slot receiver coming across the middle which will always results in a big gain if completed. The route will usually work in man coverage. In Cover 2 zone, you can hit the receiver between defenders. In cover 3 zone defense, you can throw the ball as soon as the receiver gets past the defender in the middle of the field. If a blitz is coming you can dump the ball off to your half back who is running a blue route.

Against the CPU this play seems to work just about every time. Against an online opponent, you may want to use it sparingly.

Top 5 offensive lines in Madden 10

A good running game starts with a good offensive line that will open up holes for you. A lineman with good strength (STR), run block strength (RBS), and run block footwork (RBF) attributes are key to being able to move your opponents out of the way for your running back. Acceleration (ACC) is also important because this determines how quickly the linemen get off the line to block.

Last year, I used the Colts in online games and I'm doing the same this year but I'm having second thoughts because my running game stinks. Here are some results of my last two games:

Rushing attempts for 13
Rushing yards for 40
Average yards per carry 3.07

Rushing attempts for 5
Rushing yards for 9
Average yards per carry 1.8

If you combine the (STR, RBF, and RBS) attributes of the Colt's line and average them out you get a value of 86. This is quite low compared to the top five offensive lines:

1. Eagles 92
2. Giants 91
3. Cowboys 91
4. Vikings 90
5. Titans 90

Not surprisingly, all of these top teams have excellent running backs.

I tend to perform better online when I'm controlling a good quarterback. This is why I usually prefer to use the Colts. I played a couple games with the Cardinals and didn't fare too well. I passed for a lot of yardage but couldn't run the ball. The Cardinals offensive line also has a low rating of 85.

Maybe I should start using the Eagles or Titans like everyone else!

How to throw a Hail Mary in Madden

I played an online game last night that I should have never won. I was down 13-0 in the 4th quarter and came back to win in the final seconds. With the ball on the 23 yard line and 1:26 left in the 4th quarter I ran the WR Double Pass from the Singleback Y-Trips formation in the Arizona playbook.




I "passed" the ball to Reggie Wayne as a lateral on the right side of the field and then he threw the ball across the field to Joseph Addai who made some spin moves and jukes to make it into the end zone.

Unfortunately, EA cut the beginning portion of the play so all you see is Addai catching the ball (greatness Score 2563):



"This site is not endorsed by or affiliated with Electronic Arts, or its licensors. Trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Game content and materials copyright Electronic Arts Inc. and its licensors. All Rights Reserved."

I was then lucky enough to recover the onside kick. On first down I ran the Hail Mary which turned into an incompletion. then, on the last play of the game I ran the Hail Mary again and my receiver was wide open. My opponent must have mistakenly made some adjustments before the snap which caused everyone to blitz rather than cover.

Even though I got lucky this time, there's a few things that I tried to do on the last play that helped its success ratio.

Hail Mary:

1. I tried to stay in the pocket as much as possible. If the QB drops back too much, it will turn into longer, inaccurate pass.

2. On PS3 use the L2 button throw the ball farther with a better arch. This button seems to give you a better throw on deep passes.

3. I haven't been able to master the pump fake but doing this may help draw the defense in before throwing the bomb.

Score Breakdown:

Below are the stats of last night's game. As you can see, I had no success running the ball. Take a look at the time of possession! I only had the ball for 3 minutes.

On defense, I used a lot of blitzes mainly to help stop the run.

                    1    2    3    4   OT    F
Colts               0    0    0   14    0   14
Dolphins            0    3    0   10    0   13

Statistics                         Colts         Dolphins
Rushing attempts for                  7              19
Rushing yards for                    -1              35
Passing attempts for                 12              13
Passing yards for                   179             103
Punts                                 2               1
Field goals for                       0               2
Long field goals (40+) for            0               0
Rushing touchdowns for                0               1
Passing touchdowns for                2               0
Returns touchdowns for                0               0
Defensive touchdowns for              0               0
Turnovers for                         1               1
Interceptions for                     1               1
Sacks for                             1               0
Number of third downs                 4               7
Third down conversions                1               4
No-huddle plays                       1               0
Audibles called                       1               6
Hot routes used                       0              11
Shotgun plays                         7               5
Blitzes                              19               7
Time of possession                 3:08           16:52

Madden attributes

Here is a list of Madden attribute abbreviations and an explanation for each attribute:

(OVR) Overall - The overall rating for the player.
(SPD) Speed - How fast the player can run.
(ACC) Acceleration - How fast a player reaches full speed.
(STR) Strength - The player's strength, which affects his ability to break tackles.
(AGI) Agility - The player's agility, enhancing his ability to switch directions.
(AWR) Awareness - A player's ability to react and adjust.
(CTH) Catching - How well the player can catch. A higher rating means fewer drops.
(CAR) Carrying - How well the player holds onto the football. A higher rating means the less chance of a fumble.
(THP) Throw Power - How far a player can throw the ball.
(THA) Throw Accuracy - How accurate a player throws. New attributes for Madden 10 are THA (Short) - accuracy on short passes, THA (Mid) accuracy on medium passes, THA (Deep) - accuracy on deep passes.
(PAC) Determines the effectiveness of play action for QB.
(RUN) Accuracy when throwing on the run.
(KPW) Kick Power - A kicker's power.
(KAC) Kick Accuracy - A kicker's accuracy.
(RBK) Run Block - How well a player run blocks.
(PBK) Pass Block - How well a player pass blocks.
(TAK) Tackle - A player's ability to tackle.
(JMP) Jumping - The player's ability to jump.
(RET) Return - Skill of the player as a punt or kick returner.
(INJ) Injury - The likelihood of an injury.
(STA) Stamina - The player's stamina level.
(TGH) Toughness - A players ability to recover from injuries.
(TRK) Trucking - Player's ability to run over a defender attempting a tackle.
(ELU) Elusiveness - Likely the ability to escape tackles (or perhaps sacks). This is a key statistic for running backs, receivers, and quarterbacks.
(BCV) Ball Carrier Vision - Ability to spot the open field.
(SFA) Stiff Arm - Player's ability with the stiff arm maneuver.
(SPM) Spin Move - Player's ability with the spin maneuver.
(JKM) Juke Move - Player's ability with the juke move.
(IBK) Impact Blocking - Blockers ability to make a leveling.
(RBK-STR) Run block strength.
(RBK-FT) Run block footwork.
(PBK-STR) Pass block strength.
(PBK-FT) Pass block footwork.
(POW) Hit Power - The strength of the player's hit, which can determine the success of a tackle or the possibility of a fumble.
(FIN) Finesse Moves - Similar to power moves but it's the ability to spin or swim around blocks.
(BKS) Block Shedding - How well the player can shed a block.
(PUR) Pursuit - Skill in finding and pursuing the ball carrier--likely laterally.
(PRC) Play Recognition.
(MAN) Man Coverage - Skill of the defender in man coverage.
(ZONE) Zone Coverage - Skill of the defender in zone coverage.
(SPCTH) Spectacular Catch - A player's ability to make a spectacular catch.
(CIT) Catch in Traffic - How well the player can catch the ball and maintain possession in tight coverage.
(RTE) Route Running Rating - How well the player runs the play's passing route.
(POW) Hit Power - The strength of the player's hit, which can determine the success of a tackle or the possibility of a fumble.
(PRESS) Press Rating - Ability of defender in press coverage.
(RELEASE) Release Rating - Ability of receiver to release from press coverage.