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by GoMadden.com  Being a studious player will get you far, having a great scheme will get you even farther, but knowing the basic concepts behind what a defense is trying to do, and the space left behind will propel you to a consistent offense no matter whether you’ve seen a particular defensive style before or not. Here, I’ve put together seven easy reads that I make without thinking in every game. No matter how good my opponent is, these reads will put pressure on the defense to change up their style, or risk being exploited for poor formations, obvious tells and vacated areas. #1 If… A linebacker is across from your slot receiver, either directly or simply the only one in the area (generally to the inside), then there’s a good chance this is a zone coverage. If it is man, then you have a great matchup and should look to abuse it often (even substituting a faster receiver in to the position if necessary) by hot-routing your receiver to drags across the width of the field. If they are playing zone, then your eyes should light up as putting your slot receiver on a streak should see him free up more often than not in a matter of seconds for a quick and easy chunk of yards. Even though it’s only a game, matchups do exist and you should seek to exploit them at every opportunity. There is often too much focus on calling the “right” plays, and not enough around finding a weakness in a matchup and utilizing it to your advantage, so that every play can be the “right” play. #2 If… There is no one across from your slot receiver, then there’s a high probability this is zone coverage, and there should be a great hole to be exploited by a slot screen or streak. Taking a look at an old guide video from Madden 10 should help you understand this principle quite easily. Going one step further, a video guide such as this one on speedy pass progressions should allow you to exploit the same thing if the read is once the play begins, as opposed to pre-snap. Just understanding this basic read is going to allow you to call more timely screens, and create more efficiency and less risk in your explosive plays. #3 If… The cornerbacks are in tight press coverage, then chances are there is pressure coming and you will need to get the ball out quickly. Luckily, there are a lot of great options to counter this play style. In every new edition of Madden, there are always a few plays that simply beat bump coverage right out of the gate with a little bit of motion. While the video guide Lumps for Bumps is from an older version of Madden, the general concept seems to hold true every season, and should allow you to find plenty of routes to take advantage of an overly aggressive defense. Substituting a tight end or two in for your weakest press beating receiver can also go a long way to punishing the defense. Another great way to combat this style of play is to come out in more power oriented formations, which is to say put a fullback on the field with only one or two receivers. When you come out in these sorts of formations, while you may be limiting your receiving options ostensibly, what you are really doing is maximizing your protection and giving yourself more time for your receivers or tight ends to beat the jam (when hot-routed to block). Additionally, such press coverage blitz plays often fail to account for the fullback or running back, and as such a fullback on a route to the flats can be extremely dangerous, if not a screen pass to your running back. Remember, they are playing tight and pressuring the line of scrimmage, which usually means there is no real “second level” of the defense. A well-timed screen will break for a touchdown without any problems, and getting the ball to your best tackle-breakers in the open can be lethal. #4 If… There is only one safety and he’s in the middle of the field, then boy oh boy do you have some great options. Generally, players like to run this style of defense to maximize the blitz while roaming the middle to shut down any quick option. At the same time, they’ll also have defenders sitting in the flats, which can be extremely frustrating if you don’t know how to beat this sort of system. Doing so is quite easy, however, as pre-Madden 12 this could be systematically destroyed using the basic concepts from the Chain Reaction video guide (free with this Virtual Book). However this year, those routes don’t act the same way. However, regardless of the version of Madden, the principles in that guide should hold true (routes may need to be substituted to accomplish the same task). In Madden 12, the best way to beat a single high safety in the middle, is to come out in compressed, or tight sets. Put a play on the left and right side of your formation on a streak, and watch as the safety will struggle in this very basic catch-22 to account for both players. Double inside streaks from opposite sides of the formation will crush single safeties, and if he gets too cute defending, then putting your receivers on Smash routes (attacking the deep sideline corners) will make this even more difficult to defend against with only one high safety. #5 If… There are two cornerbacks in front of your slot receiver, then there’s a good chance this is a corner blitz. This happens when the defense picks too many cornerbacks for how many receivers are on the field, so by default the blitzing cornerback lines up in his spot on the slot. If your opponent doesn’t know to disguise this, then you can punish them with a quick hot-route from your running back or tight end and exploit the area the blitzer is leaving behind. Keep in mind that sometimes this is a false-positive as the opponent is merely trying to overcompensate in his pass coverage, but generally speaking you don’t see this unless it’s a corner blitz. #6 If… A cornerback is playing off the receiver, which is to say giving him a lot of room, then do what real NFL teams do in this situation and hot-route to a slant and eat up those free yards. If you notice that a linebacker or another defender is dropping into a zone in front of your slant every time you try to do this, simply recognize that they have to be coming from somewhere to fill that space. Find the void they are leaving behind, and send your tight end or slot receiver in that direction. Generally, a good way to exploit this coverage is to have a three receiver set, with the slot receiver on the side you will be slanting from. Put your slot receiver on streak, and your outside receiver on a slant inside, and chances are the streaking receiver will fly open (often with a bullet pass lead to the inside, as the defender is likely crossing past the streaking receiver to try and stop the slant). #7 If… There is only one linebacker behind the defensive line, then that means in most formations the safety will be responsible for the running back or the tight end, and the linebacker for the other. Whenever you see this, you know that the safety is too far to cover one of the two options on a quick pass, so the trick is to find out which one that is. I like to send my tight end on a slant across the middle, and my running back on a streak or to the flats. If this is zone, a streak and slant combo will eat this up, and if it is man, all you have to do is make the right read once the play begins (consider even putting your running back in motion). Another simple way to beat this defense is to come out in a more power oriented formation with a fullback. If the safety is responsible for the running back, and the lone linebacker on the tight end, then there’s usually going to be a lack of accountability on your fullback. Also remember that once the defense picks up on what you’re reading, play action becomes all that more effective as you are not only able to fool the computer, but your opponent as well.  MikeGzYaDig says…
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