I’m going to show one of the best Madden 16 Tips out of Strong I that has become one of my favorite plays so far.
Playbook: Indianapolis Colts, Buffalo Bills and San Francisco 49ers
Formation: Strong I Normal
Plays: PA Post
Analysis:
PA Post contains one of the main route combos that pressure the safety into making a mistake. By having 2 post routes running directly at him, it takes great self-control to not try and jump the tight ends post route. Yet, that’s why the play works. It goes against the instincts of a defender to not attempt to jump a receiver’s route that is open. PA Post is most effective when the defense is playing off coverage, because you want the B receiver to get down the field as fast as possible. It also is not a play that finds much success in the red zone due to the limited space it has to work with. I prefer to put the faster of my starting receivers at #1, because he runs the deepest route. You can use the flip the receivers with the wide receiver swap package at the bottom of your formation screen.
Your only hot route will be to change RB into a blocker, because you need as much protection as possible because of the longer developing routes.
Reads vs Man:
- Your first read of the play is X (Square on PS4) who runs a comeback route. If X is 1 on 1, you need to throw the ball as soon as the quarterback finishes his drop back. Bullet pass it to the left so either he catches it or it goes out of bounds. One of the main traps running a comeback route is your opponent will hot route the corner to sit on the route, so you want to be aware of the possibility. I’ll post a full scheme to combat adjustments like this soon
- Your next read is A (X on PS4) who runs a post route that’s gets open very consistently against linebackers. Once he cuts inside lead pass to the left and the faster he is the more yards after the catch he can pick up.
- The next read is B (Circle on PS4), and versus man coverage you want to work the underneath instead of the deep ball. Due to the post route being an excellent man beater by itself, we want to take advantage of that. Once B makes his cut you lead pass inside. Once the ball is in the air, hold the A button to activate the possession catch to brace for contact against any incoming defenders.
- The last read is Y (Triangle on PS$) Because the play is play action, sometimes user defenders will forget he can still run a route and leave him open underneath. He serves as a check down if you can’t get any of your big play routes going.
Reads (Left to Right) vs Zone:
- Your first read is X (Square on PS4) and versus zone the comeback can beat coverages like cover 3,4,6..etc where the corner is playing a deep blue but will get blanketed versus a standard Cover 2(not cover 2 invert). How can you tell the difference mid play? The easiest way is check if X has a defender directly in front of him, if he doesn’t odds are its cover 2 and you move on to your next read. If it’s Cover 3, 4, 6 etc. once you finish your drop, bullet pass the throw to the outside for the catch.
- Your next read is A (X on PS4) who aims to dominate the soft spot in between the safety and the linebacker. Depending on who’s your tight end, you can throw a high pass(holding LT(L1 on PS4) to throw it over the linebackers heads but opens him up to safeties knocking the ball loose or you can throw a regular pass in between the gaps in the zone. How the defense responds to covering him determines how the rest of the play goes
- The next read is B (Circle on PS4) who is trying to get behind the safety, so check if he bit down on the Tight end’s route allowing the B receiver to run free down the middle of the field. You need to lob it and hold the LB (L1 on PS4) button to put more air on the ball for your receiver to run under.
- The last read is Y (Triangle on PS4) If the tight end and wide receivers are covered, chances are he should have room to work underneath because the A and B receivers routes run directly above his drawing defenders away.
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