Madden 08 - Tight Series

This way it makes it harder for someone to lab you up or know what is coming at them. I wanted to do the same thing this year.

I love this set in the Tampa playbook. It gives you so many options. When you want to make a scheme it needs to be built around something. We are going to do is use Slot Mountain and HB Slam as the base. This was a scheme that T-Money of the EMB gave to me when he got back from Iraq. (My man was in the war thinking about schemes. LOL) The key was that for some reason on CG the flats are still a problem. Then he also understood that the Slam is a hard play to stop. So what I'm going to do is add on to his idea a bit to expand it.

This is a new play that has been added to the tight for Tampa. I like this because of the routes that they have in this play and it works against all defenses.

Now this is the play that I will come out in. I have 5 plays to work with. I need routes that protect the base of my scheme. Look at the marrying of the routes. Squeeze said to me a year or so ago that you need plays that you can come out on the field and just hike. This cuts down on the time they have to make adjustments. Many players have more than enough time on defense to do whatever because people get hot route crazy. So to prevent heat or all coverage you need to have plays like this.

You see here that I have my hot read and I have players open all over the field.

Now this is a look of the other side so you can see see how these players really open the defense up. You have 3 quick passing routes that you can hit and you also have some deep routes.

I want to go deep with the rookie to get a big gain.

He made the nice jet pack for the easy 1st down.

You know that you need some pound to keep them honest. This is why the HB Slam is the play of choice formany. This is the 1st part of the base scheme.

Now when you formation shift it you have a running play within your favorite set.

The key to the slam is that you need to hit burst of speed and then make a quick spin move within the hole. This will allow you to get away from players when they come in on the run commit.

You see here that I made the spin move in the hole here. I didn't need to, but I wanted to show you where you need to make this move at. This is what we call in the EMB the Ill Spins.

The reason why we say it's ill is because you will be surprised at how many tackles you will break with this move.

You got a nice gain and now the defense knows that you can run and pass from this set.

Sluggo Review from the 5 Wide Empty

I like this play. You have the motion thing going on and you have some mean routes to work with. You see the routes inside can be extended. You also remember what I told you week one about the Sluggo route. Then you have a corner route with a flat route. Now one thing you have seen is that my back is going to the same side working the flats. No problem. Why you may ask? Tendencies. You want the person to think that when they see back leak out you are running a specific route. You see that we have well over 12 routes combos with the back still going to the flats. All working all over the field.

Now when you formation shift to the tight you have this play. Hey...hold up...I forgot to do something.

I have to extend the routes. Now look at the slots inside. Both of these routes are quick passing routes, and you also have the 3 level passing route which is the sluggo route. You can hit this off the hike, when the guy goes up, and then you have deep lob ability also.

Now you see how the back is behind the line. This motion will draw their attention and you may have to use this here and there. When they see the motion they will know the play. Now you can look for another one that has the back going in motion and add it. This way this will also protect your plays.

Now you see that the Rookie has inside position and the Sluggo has inside position. I would had thrown these passes earlier but I just want you to see these routes and how all of these guys are opening up at different times.

I see the open area for the rookie. So it's time to pop off a nice bullet here.

Easy catch in the middle for the 1st down.

Now this is one of the best plays in the game once you formation shift. Man I use to love to run this play. This is the other play that is part of your system. You see by all of my plays having the back leak out they don't know when I'm going to use this play.

You see the thing is that the rookie and the HB are working together. You also have a delay route. Now you have to read the SL1 and the HB. These guys will be open vs. any defense.

You see in this play for some reason the routes prevent the LB from getting to the back as fast because he gets picked. This is why you needed to protect this play. Then against all coverage you will have the delay route along with a crossing route.

You see here that the delay route is your outlet when all routes are covered.

You hit the flats to make sure they adjust to it. This is your 1st read/hot read. This guy makes this play work very well. Then you can also flip the play and they will never ever know what side you are coming on.

These routes clear that side wide open for you because everyone is driving away from him.

You can get mad yards vs. the press with this play.

Now what we have seen today is that we found two plays we really liked. We also love this set. So what we had to do is find plays that if they sit on our money plays or base scheme plays you can expose them. This is a major mistake many make when they find a scheme. They don't protect the money. You need to know how they can counter and what they have to give up to do so. Once you have that down then you can find plays that do that same thing. Then you need reps online and head to head to polish your reads, timing, and adjustments on the fly. I hope you enjoyed this writeup and are getting ready for Compression 401.

Madden 08 CG - Tight Series