It's always beneficial to have multiple plays that look the same when running an offense because it forces the opponent to respect the entire field. Well, here is another play that you can add to the Slot Corner play I showed earlier from the New Orleans playbook. If the player you are playing seems to have found the defense to stop the Slot Corner, then the WR Option is the perfect play to try to use to counter with. Billy "Da Secret" Wolf walks you through another incredible play from Madden 2007.
Singleback Tight Doubles - Slot Corner Singleback Big - WR Option
Console(s)
XBOX / PS2
Playbook(s)
New Orleans
Quick Setup
Step 1 - Come out of the huddle in Singleback Tight Doubles - Slot Corner
Step 2 - Audible to Singleback Big WR Option (Da Secret tip#1 - It's important that you formation shift several times to the Singleback Tight Doubles formation until the defender that is guarding your #2 receiver is standing directly in front him and not to the outside). This is important to make the route unbumpable.
Step 3 - Smart route (White on XBOX and L1 on PS2) to turn his route into an unbumpable one.
Optional steps that "Da Secret" uses when running this play
Continued from Step 3 - Hot route (Y on XBOX and Triangle on PS2) on an outside slant. Press (on XBOX - Y + UP, then Y + UP and on PS2 TRIANGLE + UP, then TRIANGLE + UP) to steal the running back to the flats from the Slot Corner play. Hot route (X on XBOX and Square on PS2) on a streak. Lastly, hot route your tight end on an up and in route over the middle of the field.
Step 4 - Motion your #1 receiver in the same way that you would when running the Slot Corner play and call hike when he gets just past the tight end.
Step 5 - As soon as you call hike, lob the ball to your #2 receiver as quickly as possibly. There is basically no drop back in the pocket on this throw at all. Instead, it is literally a hike and lob.
Play Breakdown
Figure 1 - The Jacksonville Jaguars have come in the Singleback Tight Doubles Slot Corner play.
Figure 2 - The defense is in the Nickel 3-3-5 formation and has almost perfect coverage for the Slot Corner play that I showed earlier this season. The yellow zone is guarding the slant over the middle. There is a double team on your #1 receiver on the right side of the field. There's even safety help for the streaked tight end. Lastly, the defender who is guarding your running back is already on the left side of the field to gurard the flats. It clearly seems that the player you are playing has practiced defending the Slot Corner play.
Figure 3 - To change things up a bit we audible to the Singleback Big WR Option play.
Figure 4 - Next, you want to formation shift back to the Singleback Tight Doubles formation.
Figure 5 - The Jaguars have now made all the adjustments before the snap. First, we placed the tight end on an up and in route. Then, we smart routed wide receiver Earnest Wilford on the unbumpable. Next, we stole the running back route to the flats from Slot Corner. Lastly, we hot routed your #1 receiver (Matt Jones) on an outside slant and placed your #3 receiver (Reggie Williams) on a streak.
Figure 6 - The last step I like to take before I snap the ball is motioing my #1 receiver to the left, then back to the right to avoid the bump. Typically, I snap the ball shortly after he passes the tight end to get the best spacing possible on the play. It is important to notice in this image that the cornerback is directly in front of our receiver running the unbumpable route. If the cornerback is not squared up on your receiver when you snap the ball, then you run the risk of getting bumped.
Figure 7 - As the play begins, Wilford avoids the bumps and begins moving towards the left sidelines.
Figure 8 - As you can see, we make an immediate throw with Jaguars' quarterback Byron Leftwich as soon as the snap is taken. Again, you want to throw this pass as quick as you possibly can when you know that your receiver will not get bumped. Also, remember to lobthe pass to lay it perfectly into your receiver's arms.
Figure 9 - Wilford clearly has beaten the defender as he prepares to make the catch.
Figure 10 - Wilford has made the catch for a 10 yard gain with room to spare.
Figure 11 - Lets just say the person you are playing starts to catch on to the lob pass. As you can see, after the snap it seems no one is open because our opponent has taken our most consistent read away. The best option at this point in the play is to throw high to your running back to get a pass catching animation near the sidelines.
Figure 12 - Leftwich releases the pass with the cone just in front of the running back to send him flying into the air to get the ball.
Figure 13 - Running back Fred Taylor makes the easy catch over the defender and breaks a couple tackles for a nice 15 to 20 yard gain.
Final Thoughts
This play may not be filled with reads all over the field. However, this play is meant for you to be able to get rid of the ball quickly after the snap. The whole key to this play is discovering how to create the unbumpable route, then perfecting the immediate lob pass after the snap. As I mentioned earlier, this is a great play to mix with Slot Corner to really start putting together a solid offense in the New Orleans playbook.
