Help Looking "The Field" Rather Than "1 Receiver" (Offense)

[CM Hooe]

I think Panzeh, Keirik, and Trojan Man all summed it up rather nicely, but I'll add what I try to do when passing the ball; this may or may not work for you but it might help.

One, when I step up to the line I look at my routes and the defensive alignment. I try to get an idea of where I want to go with the ball based on what I think the defense is doing.

Two, as soon as I snap the ball, I look at the safeties and see how they are moving, and at the same time the linebackers; for example if there are multiple linebackers blitzing I immediately look for a guy over the middle as soon as I finish my dropback. If the safeties split looking like a Cover 2 I look for someone in the middle between the safeties and past the linebackers. All in all, I'm not so much looking for a specific receiver so much as a specific route based on what I see in the defense.

Finally, I try to throw to the receivers the moment they are about to make their breaks on their routes. For the most part this happens about the same time that the quarterback will finish his automatic dropback. Passing in rhythm will get the ball through the gaps in the zones and, especially in matchups of any level legend receiver and a generic cornerback, beat man coverage.

I'd suggest going into practice mode and just pick like two or three different passing plays, run them against random defenses, and just run them over and over. With time and repetition you'll start to get a feel for reading the defense, and develop some go-to plays in the process.

[chestnutz6]

Someone on the 2k forums had a good post to help with this. I'll try to sum it up.

Basically what you should do right after you snap is to look for any players that are blitzing, to see if you should throw it quickly or if you have time to charge up and look for a receiver that's wide open.

Before the snap, pick a primary receiver that you think will be open and key in on him. Then pick a secondary receiver that will be just that, a secondary option. You need to know what routes will work in the game against what kind of defenses.

If a cornerback is playing 10 yards back from your receiver, try a quick comeback, short slant, or drag route. If a LB happens to be guarding one of your WRs or even TE, look for a route where he can outrun the LB, like a drag our in route. If a CB is playing tight on the WR, try a deep out pattern or fly (especially if he's a speed burner). I find that slants work very well in the game, especially with my TE Shannon Sharpe.

So, you've looked to see if anyone's blitzing, you've looked to see if your primary receiver is open, you look to see if your secondary guy is open. Neither are open. Try a dump off to the RB or FB to try to gain a few yards (but be careful, it can result in losing a few yards). If that still doesn't work, you're probably out of time so you should throw it away.

I hope that helps, it's been very successful for me.

One more thing...just like others have said, look for positioning of the safeties BEFORE the snap. If there's one safety, try running a fly route to pull him away from the middle of the field to help his teammate. Once the middle is open, you can run a post (a slant inwards I believe), and throw it right when the WR makes his cut, so it should be some good YAC in single coverage.

[NYG_Meth]

Quote: Originally Posted by JayBee74

Nobody just goes through a progression or is that not the best way to do it in a video game?

I always go through progressions. I won't use the particular play's primary receiver as my own, but I'll key in on one guy at the line. Depending on if I read blitz or where the safeties are, I'll pick a #1 guy. Once the ball is snapped, I try and get rid of the ball within 3 seconds. If my #1 is covered, I'll move to the #2. If he's covered, I'll go to the #3 or the checkdown, etc. This usually works for me.

[HELLisFUN]

Very good advice from all of you fellas, thank you.

I'll look into consideration on what all of you have said and give it a try.