Making Quick Decisions to Beat the Bump n' Run
Every year, beating man to man bump n' run coverage is the hardest thing to do the first time you put the game. The reason this aspect of the game is so difficult is because EA improves the defensive AI (artificial intelligence) year in and year out to make sure that everyone can't just run the exact same "Money plays" as they did the previous year. However, there are still a number of successful tactics from Madden 2006 that we can apply to this year's game. In this tip we are going to showcase one specific tactic that can be used to easily beat man to man bump n' run coverage.
Figure 1 - Check out the offensive assignments for the PA FB Flat play in the picture above. This play will work well just as it is shown. However, we want to be able to get rid of the ball much quicker than any playaction play will allow us to do.
Figure 2 - What we've done in this image is hot route both the fullback and the running back to stay in and block. To make this change on the field you need to press (XBOX - Y + receiver's icon + right or left trigger / PS2 - Triangle + receiver's icon + R2 or L2).
Figure 3 - As our quarterback drops back to pass you can see that the receivers on the outside are being bumped. We notice that our opponent isn't manually gaurding either receiver espescially tight, so we fix our eyes on the receiver on the left. We want to get rid of the ball as soon as our receiver on the left side gets inside position on the defender.
Figure 4 - Our receiver is now inside of the defender, providing us with a clear and safe passing angle. We press up on the directional pad to put the ball in a spot that only our receiver can get. It is important to know that the receivers with better awareness and speed will beat the bump much quicker, so make sure to perfect the timing of your team in practice mode.
Figure 5 - Our receiver maintains inside positons as the pass closes in.
Figure 6 - The catch is made for a quick 8-10 yards on the play. After the first few times that you run this you can expect your opponent to start trying to manually guard it. However, this throw can also be made on the opposite side of the field.
Figure 7 - This time our receiver on the right beats the defenders to the inside. Therefore, we make the just as we see him enter our screen.
Figure 8 - The catch is made for another 8-10 yard gain. We'd like to add that it is more difficult for receivers to consistently beat their defenders to the inside on the right side of the field. It will often depend on the type of route you are running, but in general the cornerbacks on the right side of the field get inside position more often than they will on the left.
Final Conclusion
If you want to be able to consistently score in Madden you have to be able to dictate what the defense does. Once you have the ability to beat man to man defenses you can expect everything else to open up for your game. Take your new found ability to beat the bump n' run and apply it to any formation that you like to run. I'm sure there are some plays that you like to run that already cause the receiver to beat the defender to the inside often. What you need to do now is head into practice mode to find out which plays and routes you feel work the best for using this tactic. In our opinion the deep post route shown in this tip works as well as any.
