screen plays

[darkknightrises]

does anyone have tips for screen passes. I find when i run a wr screen i throw lonts of int and now one semes to be open. When i do hb screens i usly loose like 5 or 6 yards.

[maademperor]

I cant get anywhere with the WR screens but you should try and only run them when the opponent is playing off coverage...if they are in bump or close coverage it aint gonna work.

hb screens you gotta make sure you only throw it if your man really has some space and a couple of blockers ready to go. if there is a defender nearby he will usually get to him since the defender reacts to the ball being thrown but your blockers dont actually block until your hb has the ball

[specopbookie]

wide receiver screens are great against man to man OFF COVERAGE. Any press coverage or flat zone coverage defensive plays will bust it. Also, you need quick, zone blocking lineman for any kind of screen to be effective. those fat boys need decent speed to pull out and give a block.

[bichettehappens]

What specopbookie said for WR screens.

For HB screens I find it useful to hot route a player lined up on the opposite side of the field to a slant over the middle. If the defense has a guy all over the running back, check down to your guy over the middle or get out of the pocket and throw it away. HB screen really only works when he gets behind the d-line and doesn't have a linebacker on him like glue in man-to-man. You might also be dumping the pass off to the back too soon, a lot of my biggest HB screen plays have come where I've gotten off the pass just before I would've been sacked.

[ggsimmonds]

I have mixed success with screens (which is as it should be)

Before giving advice, we would need to know how you are calling screens and how you execute them.

For example you can't call screens like you would other plays, you should only call them in certain situations (like against an aggressive defense that is blitzing). Calling a screen when the other team is in a base or vanilla defense will not work

[BlastX21]

The Pats have a couple nice WR screens, so look in their playbook for what I'm referring to. One of them is called "WR Screen" (go figure), in one of their Shotgun Ace sets (can't remember which one). You can recognize it because it calls for the tight end on the right side of the O-line to motion to the left pre-snap. When the ball is snapped, he continues to run and puts himself between the DB covering your X receiver on the left. This makes the play very high % since this block almost guarantees the pass is completed - even against Press.

This specific play rarely gets big gains - usually 4-8 yards - but its still useful.

The second is called Slot Screen. Just find it by looking up all the Pats' screens. Its very simple to run. The play is designed for you to dump it to your Slot receiver and then have 2 blockers in front. 90% of the time, the only threat to you completing the pass is the defensive end, who is unblocked. So just hold the ball until he fully commits to rushing the QB, taking him out of position, and toss it. This usually gains 4-20 yards.

The rest of the WR screens in the game require caution. You can't just snap the ball, wait 2 seconds, and pass it. You have to actually look at the receiver and judge whether he is open or not. Sometimes he will be, and sometimes he won't, regardless of your pre-snap read. For this reason, make sure you have the receivers not involved in the screen running good routes, in case the main guy isn't open and you have to look to them instead.

[BlastX21]

I don't even know why you're having trouble with RB screens though...those things are more overpowered than a V8 chainsaw.