Attacking Cover 3

[PhilIvy16]

Hey, now that everyone is developing ways to attack the "Buc" Cover 2, I thought we should discuss some other coverages. Where do you look to throw the ball against the Cover 3...maybe it's just me but it seems like the LB's do a nice job of covering the flats and curls in this D as well. I'm sure all of this will be covered in the VPB...

[mad_bomber]

If I can anticipate Cover 3 is going to be played I'll look to go with the "4 Verts" concept. Basically EA Tiburon has done a nice job of spreading the receivers more evenly across the field. In the last two versions of the game even though the receivers were spread out more, the two slot receivers were still aligned too close to one another. In this version of the game the receivers initial alignments are much better. Therefore when attacking cover 3 you can send 4 Verts down the field in an equally distributed fashion. I key the free safety. This is the guy I'm looking to attack. If I feel he's favoring one of the inside vertical routes over the other one I'll throw opposite of him. I'm putting this in the virtual playbook.

[seanmac]

Running a tight end up the seams also opens up the middle of the field for in routes against the cover three. If your receiver has good speed and makes the catch, there is a lot of room to cut upfield.

[rhombic21]

If I can anticipate Cover 3 is going to be played I'll look to go with the "4 Verts" concept. Basically EA Tiburon has done a nice job of spreading the receivers more evenly across the field. In the last two versions of the game even though the receivers were spread out more, the two slot receivers were still aligned too close to one another. In this version of the game the receivers initial alignments are much better. Therefore when attacking cover 3 you can send 4 Verts down the field in an equally distributed fashion. I key the free safety. This is the guy I'm looking to attack. If I feel he's favoring one of the inside vertical routes over the other one I'll throw opposite of him. I'm putting this in the virtual playbook.
I've had tremendous success with "Slot seams" from SG Spread. All of the WR's run seams except for the Square WR and the HB, who run slants and outs respectively. Usually you can slip the ball into a pretty big gap right over the short safeties head to L1 or R1 (depending on which safety is sitting short) for a nice gain. The CB on that side is WAY out of position to gaurd it, and the deep safety is occupied with the seam on the other side.

I've also had supreme success running any sort of crossing route with a skinny post or seam over the top of it. The crossing route holds the SS/MLB short, leaving HUGE yards for the QB to put the ball in that window for the Post/Seam. There's usually a good 15-20 yards between that middle patrol guy and the deep help. Just be careful not to overthrow it, as the WR should be hitting the void underneath the deep S, and over the MLB.

[Zonk]

I don't want to sound like some sort of football guru- because I'm not.
But to me it would seem that this year you have to play in a bit more realistic manner- which means you may have to get use to punting the ball away.
It should be very hard to pass against a defense that is using everything possible to defend the pass.
There really shouldn't be any sure fire way to beat the cover 3- at least no sure fire way to pass against it. There may be plays that give you a better chance at beating it- but even they should fail most of the time.
If your going to get yourself into 3rd and long, or 4th and long, it should be very difficult to be successful.

While I find 05 more difficult than 04 I'm not concerned about the passing woes that many seem to be having.
I've never really thrown the deep ball and usually call pass plays that gain me from 5-15 yds.
I've actually thrown the long ball more in 05 than in 04 (probably more in 1 day than all of 04 combined)- this is due to the match-up stick and trying to exploit a shaking CB or secondary.
This might actually be the answer to beating certain coverages- you've got to find the players that are weak links and exploit them. Rather than any specific plays it's more about using the matchup stick.

[Bronco]

...rather than any specific plays it's more about using the matchup stick.

That's a good point. Since the biggest difference in the playbooks this year are the actual formations themselves - virtually every formation has similar plays - EA really has focused on matchups as the key to moving (or stopping) the ball. Clearly personnel and formations have become the principal factor in the game.

And because of this, one thing puzzles me - why didn't EA include personnel packages ala Madden?