TNT if your reading this

[Kevin McKoy]

Hey man real quick, if you could provide some tips on down and distance playcalling, because i am getting killed at the higher skill levels, also your thoughts on defending trips formations and the 4 vert threat. Oh i almost forgot lol, how do you personally go about your qb progression reads because i cant seem to find the open guy to save my life.

Thanks, btw ps3 gamer tag is kevinmckoy if you ever wanna play.

[baller7345]

Quote: Originally Posted by Kevin McKoy

Hey man real quick, if you could provide some tips on down and distance playcalling, because i am getting killed at the higher skill levels, also your thoughts on defending trips formations and the 4 vert threat. Oh i almost forgot lol, how do you personally go about your qb progression reads because i cant seem to find the open guy to save my life. Thanks, btw ps3 gamer tag is kevinmckoy if you ever wanna play.

I'm not TNT but I'll give you my advice

Down and Distance Play Calling for Offense
This really comes down to you offensive style but usually it is pass on long distance downs while running short distance downs. 1st and 10 is where you are most unpredictable because you can essentially get away with doing whatever you want. 2nd and mid/short or 3rd and short also really allow you to either throw or run depending on what you think is best at the time. 2nd and long is where it becomes a little more one dimensional as you are normally limited to a more aggressive approach. 3rd and long is where it is pretty much always going to be best to pass the ball. You don't always want to abide by these standards though because if you notice that your opponent is playing a style of defense that is easy to beat by running something that is against what is said above. For instance if you have a 3rd and 10 but you have noticed that your opponent is incredibly passive in his defensive calls and is dropping lots of players into coverage then a draw may a good call. It is also good to know when not to push your luck, if you have a 3rd and 15+ you are probably better off running something low risk play like a screen or a draw, or a short passing play and seeing what you can make of it instead of forcing a ball downfield. It is sometimes better to take your 5-10 yards and punt than it is to bomb it because you'll avoid a mistake.

Down and Distance Play Calling for Defense
Defense is usually predicated on what personnel the offense is bringing (example: 3 WR is best to run nickel) but there are exceptions. Unless the offense is bringing 4 or 5 WR's onto the field on first down it is often better to stay in your base (3-4, 4-3, 4-6, or if you are like me 2-4-5). Pick a defense you are comfortable with and can stop both the run and the pass if need be. Stopping them on first down is the best way to get 3 and outs and to force mistakes from the offense. If you think they are running it 2nd and short/3rd and short (or anytime you see a heavy personnel set it is often best not to sell out on the run blitz because if they manage to hold the blocks long enough for the back to get to the second level there is often very little help on the back end to stop him from picking up big yardage. Also doing that will leave you very vulnerable to a play action pass or a pass in general. For me my main run stopper is cover 2 sink out of 3-4 Odd or 2-4-5 and it isn't because it gives me the best ability to stop the run behind the line of scrimmage but with decent user control of the MLB you can stop the runs up the gut for minimum gains and the outside CB's attack the edge like crazy giving you great outside run support while still giving you a decent coverage behind the front 7. If you find them running out 4-5 WR's or are in a passing situations (3rd and long) then you are better off abandoning your base defense (unless you run a weird base defense) and going nickel or dime (man sub formations are dime (ex: 2-3-6)) and using the extra DB's to help cover the extra WR's. These are also times that you should be more willing to throw pressure at your opponent although you have to be smart about it. There are two philosophies when bringing pressure one is to bring it constantly (see Buddy Ryan) while the other is to be selective in your pressure. I prefer to bring it selectively, I like to lull my opponent into a false sense of security and then when they least expect it throw the heat on them and see them crumble. Now there are some players that simply can't handle the pressure an then your plan of attack changes but in general I like to selectively bring pressure. If you think they are going deep then it is best to avoid cover 2 unless you have 2 great press corners simply due to how easy it is to break a cover 2 deep. Cover 3, 2 man under (technically a cover 2 but is better suite to stop deep passes), cover 4 are all options when you think they are going deep. Try to make your blitzes match the type of coverage you like playing. For example if you like to play a lot of cover 2 (tampa 2 can be used deep quite effectly) then you want many of your zone blitzes to come out of a cover 2 shell in order to make sure you don't tip your hand.

Stopping Trips
With a trips formation you are going to have 3 WR's on the field so immediately the simply answer is to sit in a nickel defense. However if you don't have the personnel to run an coverage you will also find it is hard to run zone simply because most trips formations do a good job of flooding zones so if you have to play zone then watch what your opponent likes to do and adjust your coverages (spotlighting, hot routing guys to cover areas that they normally wouldn't, etc) in order to cause him to lose his first read and the you'll start seeing mistakes. The best answer for this is to run combo coverage while bringing pressure but this will really stretch you thin in coverage and you should only do that once you have a really good feel for what your opponent is looking for.

Progressions
Ok we'll start with a very basic play. The Smash plays use the Smash Passing concept (short hitch by the outside WR and a deep corner by the inside WR) in order to isolate the outside WR on a safety against 2 deep coverages. Many Smash plays also throw in a divide route (seam) in order to further humiliate cover 2 (when you have one guy covering half the field then you can't cover 2 guys running deep in one half). Your progressions should start first from your presnap read, for instance with our Smash play if you read cover 2 then your first read should be the deep corner, after that the seam route, then the quick hitch as an outlet, and finally if they are running some exotic cover 2 look that covers all that you should then look for the back as a final chance (if he is on a route) or tuck and run. If you read cover 3 then your first read will be the short hitch right after the snap (since the ball will get there before the flat route defender can be in position (under normal circumstances)), followed by the deep corner, the seam, and finally the back. If you read cover 4 then it is essentially the same read but also you have the option of audibling out of the play into a run if you see an opening. Each play has different route combinations that beat different (Curl Flats and Strong Flood beat Cover 3, Quick Slants beats man, etc.) defenses so your progressions should start based on what you read from the defense and go from there.

[Kevin McKoy]

Thanks Baller, I appreciate the write up. That is some really useful advice right there.

[TNT713]

Quote: Originally Posted by Kevin McKoy

Hey man real quick, if you could provide some tips on down and distance playcalling, because i am getting killed at the higher skill levels, also your thoughts on defending trips formations and the 4 vert threat. Oh i almost forgot lol, how do you personally go about your qb progression reads because i cant seem to find the open guy to save my life. Thanks, btw ps3 gamer tag is kevinmckoy if you ever wanna play.

Baller posted some good stuff!!! I'll add my twist and hopefully others will also post... This type of stuff will help everyone right now!

Offensive Play Calling on Down & Distance:

What we do on down and distance has a lot to do with our philosophy. I like to control the ball and the clock so my offensive scheme relies on averaging 4 yards per play. Ideally, I can convert a 3rd and 2 to move the sticks.

If I'm on schedule, I run on 1st and 10, I'm running the ball about 65%. On 2nd and 6, I may run or pass. On 3rd and 2, I like to run but I'm balanced. If I'm not on schedule, I run on 2nd and 8 or longer about 85%. On 3rd and 8, I'm looking to sneak in a run - but it depends on how my opponent plays me. I key their aggressiveness and take what they give up to average 4 yards a pop.

Defensive Play Calling on Down & Distance:

I call my defenses early in the game based on the offensive personnel, but attack tendencies later in the game unless my opponent has a fast QB who is a threat to run. Then I use one more DB than normal by subbing out a DL or LB (whichever fits the situation).

Regarding distance, the shorter the distance to the 1st down marker, the more likely I am to use big bodies up front. I like the 5-3 against guys that run in the middle, the 4-3 against balanced runners, and the Nickel 3-3-5 against guys that attack the edges.

Where I am on the field also matters. 9 times out of 10, I'm running some type of man coverage between the 35's. I use zones where I notice a tendency, inside the red zone, and in specific situations.

Stopping Trips

I use the same theme to defend bunch and trips formations. MAN UP. Typically, I'll control the safety opposite the trips to take the middle and seams away from a post/slant cut - depending on the spot of the ball. If the Trips is on the wide side of the field, I setup to stop a pass to the sidelines on the wide side. If it's on the short side, I look to take away any routes that cross the middle.

I still use man coverage, but I switch personnel and play calls as needed to avoid mismatches. Quarters and Nickel 3-3-5 are my favorites, but I also have some Dime and Nickel coverages I use after seeing what my opponent is looking for. If he wants man, I give it to him with a twist.

Progressions

Once upon a time I had no progression... I just threw to anybody I saw open without anticipation. It caused me to throw into coverage and lead receivers into hits. No longer...

Now I run several routes, all syncronized with my QB's dropback and have at least one route for my 3rd, 5th, and 7th step on almost every play. Since I know exactly where my receivers are, I never have to watch them. I only need to look at the defense.

At the line of scrimmage, I choose who I believe will break open first based on the defensive front and the spacing between my receivers and the defense. I usually look short to deep, unless my opponent is blitzing the house... Then I look to go deep with max-protection.

Or... the short answer to your questions is - it depends. I start with a basic idea for how I want to play but I leave the rest up to my opponent. The better then are, the more I have to show them for any single threat to be effective.

Later

[Kevin McKoy]

I appreciate that TNT, thanks man.

[PGaither84]

As others have said, your play calling has a lot to do with your preferred offensive and defensive styles and philosophy.

Something you should do is go into practice mode and really look at your playbook. You may or may not know it, but a lot of the plays in your book, by formation, are related to each other. Your play action passes aren't just fake runs that are really passes. They are suppose to be fake runs of the same set up/style as another run from that formation. For example, if you have a Power-O run, then you should have a Power-O play action pass.

Learning what plays are set up to look like one another, and how to execute them is important. Part of the fun and the chess match of football is to make your opponent think one play is coming when it turns out to be another. Don't jut throw a play action at your opponent. Remember a run play or type of run play that has been working well. The next time you want to call it, try calling the Play Action instead. In a way, you want to make your play calling LOOK predictable, and hit them with your wrinkle after you lure them in.

On defense, you have to know what yo are willing to give up on a play, as you can't defend everything. On 3rd and long ,you should be willing to give up something short and lock down the mid-to-deep plays. Also, pay attention to where your opponent likes to attack. In Madden 11, players LOVED to attack the flats and flag routes. As a result, on key downs, I would call a lot of flat coverage and/or purple buzz zone coverage with at least 4 or 5 pass rushers. Also, lots of players like to buy time by scrambling to the right [or left with Vick.] So, sending pressure off of that side on longer passing downs was important. I would also user control the "back side" of the pass rush if I wasn't user controlling someone in coverage. Those are little meta-game tips that are sure to change based on who you are playing.

Another tip is to disguise your pressure and know your audibles and defensive hot route. I am going to post a video below that I often liek to share of my friends and I playing OTP. Here are all of the palys I ran that game with the "Nickle Sub" formation.



On the first play, you can see the cover zero blitz. I creep up to the line and we are simply sending 6 against 5 pass blockers and 3 of those 6 were lined up over the RT and RG in the shotgun. The offense wasn't ready for it, they didn't adjust and it was a fast sack. No "nano blitz" required.

On the second play you can hear me say "To the right Louie." My friend was controllign the D-Line and I wanted him to crash the line to the right. The play called for the LE to drop into a hook zone, but I didn't want that. That changed the play from a zone blitz with only 5 pass rushers to a zone blitz with 6, but one less coverage man. The offense called a screen pass and that left even less blockers up the middle. the QB threw the ball too soon in a panic and made a bad play even worse. The NT controlled by my friend gets the ball on a tip drill and takes it to the house.

The third play gets quick pressure off the edge with the SS forcing the QB to make another quick decision, and by now we see that this QB can't handle the heat. It's time to dial it up even more!

The 4th play looks liek the QB finally decided to pinch the O-Line to help stop the pressure up the middle, which we had been sending on other plays as well. He gets a nice pass off... but even then he gets hit after the throw.

The 5th play comes off of a hurry up and I just audible into a cover 3 zone, only sending 4, but I bluff the pressure up the gut like I sent on the last play. The QB doesn't know where to go with the football and someone finally shed a block and gets in there for the sack. My friend user controlling the NT sheds his block a little late and does just what I taught him to do... stop rushing the passer and just drop into a contain at hat point. Lots of QB like to roll out to the sideline. While that didn't matter on that play, had the QB scrambled to his strong side, he would have been right there.

On the 6th and final play, I again bluff pressure between the RT and RG. A good pass rush from the middle and outside apply pressure and another tipped pass taken back for 6. I received and angry message for nano blitzing, when you can clearly see were just out playing them.

Not everyone is as bad at QB as that guy, but I would lik to take a little credit for my defensive play calling/scheme. What you don't see were the other plays in that game that set those up also. Again ,those were the only plays ou of the Nickle Sub Formation I called that game, and I didn't have to call the same play twice.