Madden 10 Tips - Post Play Adjustments, 3 of 3 - ZFarls's Blog

ZFarls's Blog

Madden 10 Tips - Post Play Adjustments, 3 of 3

Posted on November 4, 2009 at 12:01 PM.

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Madden 10 Tips - Breaking Down Post Play (3 of 3)

This is the final post in our popular three part series

Part 1 -Breaking Down Pre Play Adjustments! Part 1 of 3

Part 2- How To Win - During The Play (2 of 3)

Part 3 - Post Play Breakdown

Once the whistle blows and you begin the jog back to the huddle, you have many decisions to make and many are predicated on the last thing that happened during that play. Lets take a look at possible situations that happened during the last play and breakdown thoughts.
Key: All of these come from the viewpoint of a player with confidence, if you lack confidence you won't be able to have these same thoughts and positive outlook for the next play. Assume your opponent is scared of your defense and is nervous your offense will score every time you touch the rock. Don't be cocky, but have some confidence people!

Offense- You got the rock and the right to control the game, lets look at the scenario.

Success- You have just gained a first down, or whatever pre play thought you had (run clock, get first down on 3rd and 1, get out of bounds, set up another play worked in your mind)

Immediate thought - should I run hurry up? This has to be one of your quickest thoughts due to the window pressing this button being so tight. I rarely use this tactic (you will see why with the defensive mindset below) I am more apt to run hurry up after a succesful play than a non succesful play. I usually won't run the same play either.

Next, why was that play a success?
Did it advance your gameplan, field position, set up a future play, beat a specific defense?
Would I expect my opponent to change his defense or run the same play against that formation again?
Do I have any adjustments to make to that play that he hasn't seen at this point in the game yet?
Did he try and shut down and specific thing or area of the field? How can I attack that with the same look?
Fail- Your play didn't meet the desired result, you might have had a 23 yard gain but on 3rd and 26th wasn't what you needed or tried to do before the play.

Should I hurry up? One reason I hate the hurry up in failed situation is because you think you saw something and want to exploit it, chances are your opponent saw the same thing.

Common scenario not to hurry up - you get sacked because all your WR's are covered but you notice the rb was open. You call hurry up offense to try and hit the RB quick. Your opponent makes one tiny adjustment by manning up a blitzer or using a flat zone and BAM sacked again. You ran the same play which didn't work and only gave yourself ONE option to look for, which chances are your opponent knows where his defensive weakness are better than you know after one play.

Why didnt that play work?
Was it a pre play error or a bad read?
Was it just bad stick work, should have cut it inside or followed blockers better?
Was it a gameplay randomizer like a dropped pass?
Did my opponent do, what I expected him to do against they play? Would he run that same defense again with same result?

These are the types of questions that need to quickly run through your head on offense BEFORE you select your next play. This is why having a scheme and idea like our detroit offense helps you be confident in knowing a book and what play to run when you ask these questions.

Defense- What is my goal on this defensive series. Do I need a stop, playing vs the clock, trying to get the ball back, just a normal series, limit his run game, FG is okay but TD means loss?

Success- Your opponent runs a play and the pass is incomplete. You expected your opponent to run a certain type of play and were ready when he did. Now, on this side of the ball here are some questions you can ask.

Did my opponent expect me to run that defense against this play?
Would he call the same play against this defense?
Is he still trying to accomplish the same thing on this drive? (still looking for TD or has he shifted to FG mindset)
Was he trying to set me up for something?
Can I make any adjustments or would I call that SAME defense again?

Fail - You let up a big play or aren't ready for a certain style of play.

Example of this play and not correcting it. - Randy Moss catching his 23rd TD pass and Tom Brady's 50th TD Pass against the Giants in the final game of regular season (08). Brady aired it to Moss for an incomplete pass, the Giants thought, we won that play because the ball was incomplete. However, it was just a physical error, the thought was right and the Pats on the NEXT PLAY went right back and just threw the ball a little better for seven points.

The Giants may have said, well the pass was incomplete so thats a good play when they infact blew the coverage. Adjustments are huge in Madden. You need to anyalze whether it was a user error, calling cover 1 against 4 go routes or if you just didnt click on in time or hit the wrong button.

Now, don't abandon your gameplan after one failing play. Be ready to get in a great chess match with the offense. You have numerous chances throughout a game to make big plays, remember it only takes ONE PLAY to shift a madden game!

Frequently asked questions:
At what point, does post play, turn into pre-play? Once you select your play, until then you should be considering down and distance, situation in the game and drive.
Article 1,2,3 repeat and 3 quickly blends back into 1. You will be thinking about many of the same things during preplay and post play. You will be reconsidering game situations and advanced strategy after the whistle of every play and then setting yourself up to succeed in those situations pre play.