Madden 08 NG - Pass Protection

by: Big B

Many people have been complaining about the heat that has been done while online and offline on NG. The thing is that you have to understand that this game is different with some old school feel to it. One of the things that we use here at the EMB isthe hook block, motion, and rolling away from the pressure. Now I don't know if someone has done a write-up on it, but this is something that I have showed the guys at VG Staff.

Back in the days I found out that there are many was to pass block in this game. I have also seen that some plays have a pre-set crack back also. Like the 5 wide bunch quick slants use to have. We are going to take a look at some ways you can use creative pass blocking schemes to help you with some of the heat.

Okay the 1st thing is that you can have anyone block at any time. What you have to do is lab how they will drop back in pass protection once hot routed. Now since we have no slide protection we need to think of ways to provide protection and have routes that can attack the heat at the same time. This part of the write-up is about regular pass blocking. Now what I have done is placed my inside wideouts in pass protection. (The ones that are close to the line.) This will allow me to have extra protection outside and allow the line to pick up the heat inside some.

You see here that I'm running the play as is 1st to see I have men open, but the pursuit is hard to set your feet and peal off a nice pass.

I wasn't able to get the ball off and this play had people back for any attempt of a deep pass. We need to make some adjustments. When you have the slots pass block they will slide inside towards the pocket. Let's see this same play vs. the same heat with the extra protection.

This is a very basic play that has many quick routes. This is quick slants in the 5 wide bunch set in Carolina playbook. This is a play that allows you to get a chop block to the right side of the field. Now what I want to do since Mcnabb has legs good enough to get outside is pass protect the edge.

I placed the inside wideouts in regular pass protection. This can be done while you hot route. Now I have 3 men going out, in a shotgun set, and I also have 3 routes that open up at different times.

This is the motion hook block. How you do this is motion the player pass the center and when he is right behind him or the QB you hot route him to block left or right. Now this pass block is great for "A" gap heat. What would be done here is motion him back and hike the ball when he is a step near the "A" gap.

Now this is the area that I was talking about. You should hot route him there and when you want the hook block to come up. This is also the area that I would hike the ball to pick up the "A" gap pressure. Now re-cap. When you want the hook block (this is for "A" gap pressure.) You have to motion the player and hot route him to pass block once he is behind the QB or the center. You may need to highlight the play art to see if you got the right one. Then once you have the hook block set, you need to motion the player in the area that you see the heat. Now in I form and weak/strong I sets you don't need motion. The backs are behind the QB. Even in singleback sets the HB is behind the QB. So you will be fine.

You see here that the WR's are forming a nice pocket and I have sometime to read the field. Now it's my job at this point to read the "A" gap pressure. The WR's are there to hold the outside down. If I read any pressure up the gut I'm out.

You see here that now my tackle is free to block someone else because he passed his assignment off to the wideout. I also have my guard ready to land a block.

You see now I can hit that SL inside doing a slant.

This is a close up. Now this is what I mean about reading the middle. Now if they would have gotten inside off the hike I would have rolled away to either side. As you can see to the left side of the screen my WR is holding an DE down. You can't ask for better protection in a empty backfield set.

My player made the easy catch for a 1st down and more.

Now we will look at this again with some more adjustments. Many player will test your protection scheme to see if they can bait you into a easy sack. Like if you roll to one side and stuff like that.

Here I made some adjustments to get some rub and picks going. You can send players out on routes and motion them to the area of the heat. For some reason it delay it for a second or so. This is what you call attacking the pressure. If they are coming at you for one area, you then attack that area.

You see here this is a side view of what you will see many guys do. They stack their men behind someone to allow them to get in clean. This is called an overload. This is why heat is so hard to defend this year because the line does not see the other men coming. They take on the person in front of them and then allow the others to come through. Make sure you spot this and make those players that are stacked your primary look off.

I use the pass protection scheme again. I just want you to see how it looks from a distance.

You see here that the wideout drifts back to protect the QB. Now what many will do is send a DB at you. You see here that I have my FL pass blocking also. Now if the person would had sent a DB at me I was cool, and I still could roll out to that side.

Now what I like about this is that the player slides down and towards the pocket. I love this because the person you're playing will not see the guy slide down and over.

You see here that both wideouts are there to help with the overload to one side. The thing was that I saw where the overload was coming and set my protection up as needed. Now hard roll outs tie up the inside rusher. Now to counter your roll out many will send someone to force you back in the pocket or come at you on their own. Setting your blocks up will help you.

Now on the roll out I can chill a bit till someone gets open. Now if you have poor route runners you will need to really lab this. They tend to get knocked off routes and take longer when they run routes. So you really need to have your better people running routes and use the others for pass protection.

Now I have two people open and the wideout sees the DB coming and is making a move over there to pick the guy up. I also set my feet to be able to throw a good pass. Now when you read pressure you have a 3 step window. Now what I mean is that when you see someone coming you must get the ball off before they get within 3 steps of you. In CG you could wait like 1-2. On NG you need to get arm moving when you see the defender is 3 steps away. Now this is 3 steps here.

I got the ball off and made the easy catch.

Now let's look at motion. You see I made some adjustments to the routes again.

This is the pass protection from a back view. Look at that pocket.

You can see the double teaming of linemen on pass rushers.

I'm now able to roll right or left. This is really judged by where I read the heat. This also makes it hard on the person I'm playing. I'm not leaning on one side more than the other. I am going where I can roll out and get the "A" gap man picked up.

I then had my players run routes so that no matter where I go I had someone rolling with me. Hoping for a rub or pick to get some separation.

Final Thoughts

Now you have something to lab with to help you defend heat better. Now to do the hook block. This is the block that allows you to pick up "A" gap pressure. You need to have the person motion behind the center or the QB. When in motion you need to hot route player to block out or in. Now once you have that set you can either hike the ball when he is in the "A" gap area or if it's a back you just drop back a bit or drift a little till the player make contact with the defender. You will find some plays that have the HB pass blocking out. This is the hook block. It looks like an upside down check mark. Now the regular pass block when used outside the player will drift towards the pocket. When you use motion w/ or without routes you hike the ball once they are in the "A" or "B" gaps. Now when players are on routes the defender will take another angle. Then you also keep the defense guessing if you're sending him out or keeping him in. Now when they go out you will force picks and rubs. Make sure that the person you use if they are going out on routes have good route running ability. They will get knocked off there routes a lot of times and you will get sacked waiting for them to get open. Hope this helps you and take care.