Tips for a beginner: Controlling the QB?

[TNT713]

Quote: Originally Posted by DarkNowitzki78

Are these footstepps the automatically ones made after the snap when the QB starts his movement, or do you manual drop back the 3,5 or 7 steps after the QB finishes his move after the snap?

I recommend that you ALWAYS MANUALLY DROP the QB... Reason being, taking control when you are already in control is seamless. But if your QB is in danger because of a missed block up front, having to take control from the CPU adds just enough time to foul the play.

Split seconds make the difference between completions and incompletions. Touchdowns and interceptions. Only by finely tuning your reflexes and muscle memory to execute in every situation will create the instinctive timing required to perform under all circumstances.

Then again, I recommend that you switch and USER EVERYTHING because ultimately you won't be able to rely on the developers to program the CPU to do every conceivable possibility...

Of course, once you master manual control, you'll be better equipped to know when to allow the CPU to handle things.

Later

[TNT713]

Quote: Originally Posted by KBLover

I don't look at the rush for the first 2-3 seconds after the snap.

2-3 seconds is an eternity... I don't measure football time in seconds. I measure in steps. 3-steps is enough time to run a Hall of Fame offense, and you can make them in less than a second. When your 3rd step hits the ground, get rid of the ball OR move to the next receiver in the progression and get prepared to throw the ball on the 5th step. Likewise with 7-steps.

That said, I've trained myself to look at the rush and the coverage... I'm rarely looking at receivers because I already know where they will be and when. Takes a ton of reps to get there though...

Later

[Chickensoup]

What helped my passing when i first started playing madden games was getting 5 plays that i was comfortable with exactly what the receivers were going to be doing. Pick plays that you are reasonably sure one guy will be open if it's man on man (quick slants or curls) and another guy will be open if its zone (short underneath throws to TE or RB are what i pick).

Once you pick those 5 or so plays set them to your audibles and play around with them. when you snap instantly look at the safeties then linebackers and see what they are doing as they generally speaking tell the entire story.

Generally there are certain triggers i trained myself on with different coverages and what are generally going to be open depending on what they play.

cover 2: (safeties each take a half of the field deep): streaks are out. deep posts can work if you hit the timing ONLY (i.e. right as they break they will generally be between coverages and hit them with a high pass)

Cover 1: (one safety goes into coverage deep middle, generally means blitz, generally means man coverage). depending on your settings streaks can work well. if you throw it always throw it high and hard (receivers are generally taller and have better jumping so you complete it more often plus you hit them in stride). deep posts are out

linebackers: Look at where what the MLB does (MLB AND OLB against a 4-3 defense).

drops back: zone coverage almost always. underneath passes are easy completions as long as they are early. anything past 8 or so yards is risky is how i usually play it.

blitzes or goes into coverage: slants, outs (dont throw across your body means if your QB is righthanded only throw out patterns to the right), ins, zspots, curls are almost always open.

now Remember those 5 plays that had 2 guys that you knew one was gonna be open? look at them last, train yourself to do so. my reads always go 1) safeties 2) LB 3) decide coverage they are in (man or zone based on 1/2) therefore which other guy is gonne be open 4) look at pocket. if i want to run i run, if not 5) look at the THIRD option of receiver (i.e. not the guy almost guarenteed to be open depending on zone/man) and determine if i should throw. 6) throw to third option if he's open or going to be open if not go to whichever guy is almost guarenteed to be open.

Practice this over and over and then gradually over time add more and more plays to your repertoire. Realistically youre only going to get good at maybe 15-20 plays with this method BUT it works and it mostly works because you identify what kind of coverage youre facing right away and determine your safe short throw right off the bat.

[Woody19]

Quote: Originally Posted by Chickensoup

What helped my passing when i first started playing madden games was getting 5 plays that i was comfortable with exactly what the receivers were going to be doing. Pick plays that you are reasonably sure one guy will be open if it's man on man (quick slants or curls) and another guy will be open if its zone (short underneath throws to TE or RB are what i pick). Once you pick those 5 or so plays set them to your audibles and play around with them. when you snap instantly look at the safeties then linebackers and see what they are doing as they generally speaking tell the entire story. Generally there are certain triggers i trained myself on with different coverages and what are generally going to be open depending on what they play. cover 2: (safeties each take a half of the field deep): streaks are out. deep posts can work if you hit the timing ONLY (i.e. right as they break they will generally be between coverages and hit them with a high pass) Cover 1: (one safety goes into coverage deep middle, generally means blitz, generally means man coverage). depending on your settings streaks can work well. if you throw it always throw it high and hard (receivers are generally taller and have better jumping so you complete it more often plus you hit them in stride). deep posts are out linebackers: Look at where what the MLB does (MLB AND OLB against a 4-3 defense). drops back: zone coverage almost always. underneath passes are easy completions as long as they are early. anything past 8 or so yards is risky is how i usually play it. blitzes or goes into coverage: slants, outs (dont throw across your body means if your QB is righthanded only throw out patterns to the right), ins, zspots, curls are almost always open. now Remember those 5 plays that had 2 guys that you knew one was gonna be open? look at them last, train yourself to do so. my reads always go 1) safeties 2) LB 3) decide coverage they are in (man or zone based on 1/2) therefore which other guy is gonne be open 4) look at pocket. if i want to run i run, if not 5) look at the THIRD option of receiver (i.e. not the guy almost guarenteed to be open depending on zone/man) and determine if i should throw. 6) throw to third option if he's open or going to be open if not go to whichever guy is almost guarenteed to be open. Practice this over and over and then gradually over time add more and more plays to your repertoire. Realistically youre only going to get good at maybe 15-20 plays with this method BUT it works and it mostly works because you identify what kind of coverage youre facing right away and determine your safe short throw right off the bat.

Thanks!
Your explanation on how to identify coverages - and how to react - will really help me. As stated in my OP, I didn't grow up with football and so I'm not very familiar with strategies etc

[PGaither84]

As the title asks, here are some tips for a beginner:

• Instead of picking plays by formation, choose "By Play Type." When you are in the play calling menu, back out as far as the game will let you and you should see a list of play calling options. These should include: Ask Madden, By Formation, By Play Type, By Player. From here, plays will be sorted for you based on what you want to call. From here, you can pick "Standard Pass" and every play you see should be a 5 or 7 step drop, which as the name implies, is the standard pass in the NFL. 3 step drops are quick passes.

• The red colored receiver on a passing play is your primary receiver. He is who the pass is designed to be thrown to at the end of your drop.

• There are three kinds of passes you can throw in Madden: Bullet, Lob and touch passes. To throw a bullet, you have to hold the button down. To throw a lob, just give the button a quick tap. To throw a touch pass, it will take some practice, but you have to press the button longer than a simple tap, but not so long that the game throws a bullet. Below is a video I made from Madden 09 highlighting the three types of passes with the same offensive and defensive play, and throwing to the same receiver each time. You can really see the difference in each throw. Picking the right throw for the right situation is very important.

By simply throwing the correct type of pass, I went from throwing picks and incomplete passes to hitting my receiver in stride for a nice gain.

• Learn your playbook. Again, this take a lot of time, but learn your plays. If you know where your players are supposed to go and when they are supposed to get there, then you will only have to concentrate on reading the defense. Just like driving a manual transmission car or many other things in life, with practice, a lot of the little nuances of playing QB will be instinctual.

[TNT713]

Quote: Originally Posted by PGaither84

There are three kinds of passes you can throw in Madden: Bullet, Lob and touch passes. To throw a bullet, you have to hold the button down. To throw a lob, just give the button a quick tap. To throw a touch pass, it will take some practice, but you have to press the button longer than a simple tap, but not so long that the game throws a bullet. Below is a video I made from Madden 09 highlighting the three types of passes with the same offensive and defensive play, and throwing to the same receiver each time. You can really see the difference in each throw. Picking the right throw for the right situation is very important.

To add... Touch passes give you the most flexibility... If you can imagine passes on a scale of 1-5 with 5 being a bullet and 1 being a lob, there is some range for passes in between. The reason it takes practice is because of this range.

It takes getting the "FEEL" of the Madden passing system to throw all the passes you'll need. Oddly, the easier it is to throw all the passes the harder it is to explain to someone else how it's done. LOL

Later

[DarkNowitzki78]

Hi Folks

A big big thank you for all the work and tipps, hints and help for beginners like us!!!!

best regards

Alex

[Woody19]

Quote: Originally Posted by DarkNowitzki78

Hi Folks A big big thank you for all the work and tipps, hints and help for beginners like us!!!! best regards Alex

Yeah, same from me - funnily another Alex from Germany