Get On The Edge!!!

I have done a lot of thinking about my own Atlanta Falcons (real life team) and their off season moves. With every move all I heard was "We are trying to get more explosive". And that was shown by picking up Julio Jones and Jacquiz Rodgers. That whole thing got me thinking about Madden

There are many types of offenses that you can run in Madden NFL Football and NCAA Football. But if you want to be an explosive offense you have to learn how to live on the edge of the field.

What do I mean by that?

You have to be able to stretch the field laterally (as well as vertically but that is step 3)
The biggest plays are made down the sideline #fact

Reasons to get to the edge

1. lets your guys turn into track stars (self explanatory)
2. all the big scary men who hit really really hard are in the middle of the field

Ways to get to the edge

• tosses, streatches , and other outside runs
• screens (HB, WR, as well as bubble screens)
• Quick passes
• Quarterback Scrambles and bootlegs (and yes it can be done with more Quarterbacks than Vick, Newton, and Young)

Okay, with all of these options available to you there should be no reason why you cant get to the edge


What do you do when you get to the edge

Simple, you get your Barry Saunders on and make plays

Game planning
When your on the edge there are a few different things you can do that are game plan oriented

• get out of bounds to protect your players (qbs, running backs who are prone to fumble)
• get out of bounds to stop the clock (if you are short on time, of if thats your scheme to conserve time all game)
• stay in bounds to keep clock moving (slide with QB, and other players just get tackled in bounds)

Respect
once the defense has to respect your edge game it opens up the middle of the field. I know if you have seen football on tv than you have heard a million times that the run opens up the pass (or pass/run). Think of it like that, the edge opens up the middle.

And once you have gained that respect you have it all game, and it makes their job as a defense much harder


Now take a look at some videos here and see how many of the big plays were made outside of the numbers to the sidelines. And look at the big plays inside the hashes and for MOST of them you will see that the defense is respecting the edge in some way.







So thats my little write up on getting to the edge, hopefully you got something from it. If you want to be explosive you have to get to the edge and make plays. If you liked this post tweet it out, stumble it, facebook. Or just share it the old fashion way by linking to it. Also you can tell me what kinds of post you would like to see in the contact tab at the top of the page!!!

WFColonel out!!!!

Quick video: opening night tourney,free stuff,playing the game in stores

Yes the video has stuff on it lol, i just black screened it for the sake of time!!!! 9 am classes dont play LMAO!

But this video is talking about gamestop tourneaments and free stuff, and them getting the game in the store to play before hand. ASK YOUR SPOT TO SEE WHEN YOU CAN PLAY THE GAME IN STORE!!!


So you guys can watch it, and if you could can you plz subscribe to that youtube channel (you can click the button on the video to view on youtube and you can sub from there)

How Important Is A Balanced Attack In The Spread Offense

This is a write up from spread offense.com 
(and yes it is old, note the names used lol) but it is still valuable info

Think about how you can take what you are reading and insert that into madden nfl or ncaa football.
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How Important Is A Balanced Attack In The Spread Offense


When you think of the spread offense, what is the first thing that comes to mind? Is it running the ball using the zone read, triple option, and quarterback 'single wing' type plays like West Virginia and Oregon (with Dennis Dixon)? Is it throwing the ball all over the field both vertically and horizontally like Hawaii? OR...is it a balanced mix of rushing the football and passing the football like Florida?
 
I must admit, when I personally think of the spread offense today (at this moment), the first thing that comes to my mind is the use of the quarterback in the rushing game...the Coach Rodriguez style of the spread that has made West Virginia a national powerhouse over the last 3 years. But is this style of the spread offense the best style? Is this style the 'formula' for ultimate success?

Maybe the reason I think of the spread in this rushing form is because it is the newest, freshest, or the 'buzz' out there in college and high school - not necessarily the 'best' form or style.

I mean don't get me wrong, when Oregon, Appalachian State or West Virginia had teams scrambling to figure out how to defend their respective rushing dominant spread offenses, it was some of the funniest stuff to watch as both a fan and a coach. It was so good that you wondered 'how the heck are they doing that?'... gashing some pretty good defenses with these shot-gun spread running plays?

On the flip side, if you tuned into West Virginia's two defeats this year versus South Florida (who has beaten WVU two years in a row with great defense) and Pittsburgh, you would have shook your head saying "What's all the fuss about?"

As a former offensive coordinator myself, I must admit that one of the hardest things to do is get away from something that is so successful so often. Is it pride, ego, stubbornness, or the fear of not enough preparation or more importantly game exposure to 'Plan B' that prevents coaches from shifting gears when a defense hasn't stopped you all day?

Remember, there is only so much time in a day and more importantly so much 'game experience' for alternative measures to be confidently ran when the scoreboard is on.

So as a coach...what do you do? Your racking up tons of yardage and points using a lot of the same stuff simply because the defense can't stop you, do you stop calling what's working (going against the 'If it ain't broke, don't fix it' motto) and try to 'balance' your attack? Risking a possible turnover or more importantly loss of offensive momentum and scoring to prepare for the future (just in case)?

Obviously the capabilities of your player's will have a lot of determination on how balanced you are willing to be.

It's a fact that Patrick White from WVU couldn't run Colt Brennan's offense at Hawaii (or vice versa) but how 'balanced' could these two guys really be?

Colt Brennan threw for 4,174 and rushed for 65 so far this year

Patrick White threw for 1,548 and rushed for 1,185 so far this year

If you looked at these two stats from two great college QB's, you would say that West Virginia is the more 'balanced' offensive team, but is either team really 'balanced'?

Then you have the Heisman trophy winner Tim Tebow from Florida, his stats so far this year look like this:

Passing: 3,132
Rushing: 838

Not very balanced stats, but during my observation of this year, I would have to say that Urban Meyer and Dan Mullen of Florida do the best job of 'balancing' an attack and more importantly staying with that balanced attack game plan then any other spread offense in the nation.*

Is it because of Tim Tebow's skills? or a philosophy the Gator's have that staying balanced in the spread is the right formula to keep defenses honest and stressed?

The Gators did lose 3 games this year in the very tough SEC conference.


* (As a side note, Butch Jones from Central Michigan also did a great job of balancing his attack in the Motor City Bowl this year.)

Vertical Passing Game Options

No guys this post wont be about the many different ways to get the ball up the field (i am working on it though lol).

But this post is going to briefly talk about something that people dont do with their verticl passing game.

People always put all of their eggs in one basket. Thry dont prepare for change or uncertanty. In doing that they leave too many yards on the field (in the form of incomplete pass,sack,int, or whatever)

Lets take the four verticals play for example..(not the drawing under, the actual four verticals play with, you know..... four verticals lol)

People are so content in calling that play and leaving it be. But speaking from their point of view, the play is a beast to stop when you know what your doing. But they dont consider if the defense is set up to stop the play...


2 man under, an adjusted cover 3, a masterful usered cover 2 can stuff the play leaving you searching for the running backs check down curl route (which very few ever find)

Now in the play featured under (dont laugh at my "Paint" skills) the play is optimized to better defeat any defense you may run into.

You still have all the features that make the play a zone coverage beater....Cover 2 and 3,and 6 dont stand a chance if read correctly you should make the throw to gash them deep

But also the drag route will work hand and hand with the left slots streak. The streak pushes zone back and the drag works under (which will beat all zones)

Now what about man????

Well four verts (or 3 in this case) can still beat man the same way, nothing changes. But now the play is much better vs 2 man under. Before 2 man under forced you to hard lead pass inside to a slot, but now you still have that option. But now you also have a dragging reciever working left to right (or whichever side you want it on)...

Now you are much better optimied to move the ball down the field. Always try to optimize your plays to get the best you can out of them!!!!

That sets the gimmick play apart from a money play.

Brief: Spread Offense Run Game

Another quick little video that is packed with some very good content. I will highlight a quick rundown about what you should be getting out of this video

1. He breaks down quickly the basics of the spread offense...pay attention!!! lol
2. He talks about the Corner back depth. He says if they are at a particular depth he automatically checks to a fade route...something to consider doing in madden nfl (but with a streak)

The Sail Route Combo

Long time no post but I found a very nice video today that I just had to drop everything and get my but here and post it. A few key points before you watch the video

1. if he sees cover 0 he attacks it, lol just like me
2. pay attention to the sail route combo, it is a very good combo in madden and had been for years
3. look and see what he does vs cover 2, not saying that you should look to do something similar but consider it, or lab it out and see how it works for you in madden 12
4. pay attention to the backside post, very good concept ****hint, hint****