Slide Protection: Can you trust it?

Feature Article

Submitted on: 07/30/2012 by LBzRule

One of the new additions for Madden and NCAA this year that excites me in the new four-man slide protections. Since the offensive and defensive lines will not receive an overhaul this year, at least having something at our disposal is a plus for building protection schemes. As I sat and played NCAA 13, I discovered some good and some bad about slide protection. In the end, I think users are still left with a critical question: can you trust it?

Credit Gridironstrategies.com for Image.

The above diagram showcases a four-man slide protection scheme with the Center, Left Guard, Right Guard and Right Tackle working in tandem and sliding to the right side. The left tackle is Big on Big; the halfback kicks to the left side and slams the B gap closed in the event the backer rushes. This all makes sense and looks great. Let’s look at this in NCAA 13 and see if it mirrors what is going on here.

Credit primamadden.com for the image

The two plays I will put on the field here are Singleback Slot Levels Divide, which has two option routes on the right and the Levels Concept on the left making for a multiple option play.

I run this play against 4-3 Stack OLB Fire Man.

Credit primamadden.com for the image

The Fire Man is a perfect play to showcase this with since both the Will backer and the Sam are rushing.

Credit GridironStrategies.com

Going back to our four-man slide diagram above, I should be able to slide the offensive line to the TE. The HB will be blocking to the weak side, picking up the linebacker as he fires through the B gap. With any type of blocking skills, the quarterback should be able to scan the field and get the pass off with this six-man protection in the face of the 4-3 Stack Fire man.

Credit GridironStrategies.com

When we look at the Madden screens and video, just like the diagram here, the Left Guard is not covered although there is a one technique shade (this may play into keys to look for how to slide your line that I might cover in a later article) that might throw off the blocking. I’m not certain. With a slide-right call, the linemen should be looking to the defender to their right and checking gap responsibility right. The left tackle is big on big so he should take the RE.

The above screenshot showcases all the adjustments described above. This also looks exactly like the diagram for four-man slide protection that I began with. The question is, does it work as described?

On the snap of the football we encounter a big problem. The Center does not slide to the side of the call. The Left Guard does not slide either. The Right Guard and Right Tackle slide. This creates an open lane for the Left Defensive tackle.

The halfback, who should be stepping up into the B gap to pick up the Will backer slides back over and attempts to block the free rushing defensive tackle and whiffs. The result of the play is a sack.

If the defensive line is reduced and the linebackers are lined up over to the tight end side one would think that if the offensive line slides to the Tight End and the HB blocks back side with the left tackle it would be the proper call. The result is the same. The Center does not slide and the defensive tackle runs right up the gut untouched. The halfback will slide back over on occasion and attempt to pick the big guy up. Say what? Yes a HB attempting to pick up a DT.

Let’s look at the tape.

Now that was pretty bad. Again, I want to be clear, there is some good with the slide protection. Just do not expect it to run like it would in real life because as the tape showed, that is not going to happen. There are also times where linemen will shift behind each other, which does not make sense with slides. As I tinkered with the slide protection, I saw no communication between the Center, Left Guard, Right Guard and Right Tackle. They should be committing to the slide. The Center would actually step to the opposite side and the Left Guard sometimes would shift behind him and warp over to try to make a block.

With all of this said, how are gamers supposed to trust the tools that EA gives when we think they work a certain way and they do not? Why have the producers or someone from the A.I team not do pre-release videos on how they understand it and how it works in the game, rather than having the user think this is going to work a certain way? Let’s get on the same page. It would actually put out a lot of fires.

NCAA Football 13 Videos

Member Comments

# 1 unfriendlyghst @ 07/30/12 12:37 PM

Great write up and I really enjoy your posts. Keep em' comming.

# 2 THE YAMA @ 07/30/12 12:41 PM

The slide protection for me is a 50/50. Half the time it works, half the time it doesn't.

# 3 LBzrule @ 07/30/12 12:58 PM

I don't want to start anything, but this is the type of stuff I'm expecting EAGC's to pick up on and discuss with the devs (producers/programmers). Why am I getting the season pass and finding this stuff? Why doesn't a developer come out and say, well that's just not how we designed the slide in our game? What is causing the Center and LG not to slide here? The developers and producers can put out a lot of fires by simply stating how they intend things to work in their game. Anyways, there is more to come

# 4 wat3 @ 07/30/12 01:23 PM

Wasn't slide protection in the older Maddens' on Xbox/PS2 days? This is what people mean when they say EA removes features just to put them back in 5 years later and call them "new".

# 5 RaychelSnr @ 07/30/12 01:26 PM

YT video wasn't working initially, embedding is now fixed. In case anyone fretted about such things

# 6 reddogmaddogbul @ 07/30/12 01:43 PM

Good points all across the board.Line play is a must do for the dev team going foward into madden and ncaa.

# 7 Feldman011teen @ 07/30/12 01:43 PM

I believe slide protection has been on this game since 2005? I read nothing prior to release of them enhancing this feature. In fact this site criticizes the line play. I use it all the time. Its better than not using it. Lots of time counters won't work b/c the line play a.i. sucks.

# 8 shaunlmason @ 07/30/12 01:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MMChrisS


	One of the new additions for Madden* and NCAA this year that excites me in the new four-man slide protections.*

I must have missed this addition, can you show me a link describing it?

# 9 LBzrule @ 07/30/12 02:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shaun Mason


	I must have missed this addition, can you show me a link describing it?

Clint described it in an interview. I think people are reading this wrong. I'm not saying slide protection is new. I'm saying the 4 man with the back side tackle in big on big is new.

# 10 jfsolo @ 07/30/12 02:16 PM

It's been working really well for me in NCAA, but then I have also altered the sliders to affect the whole dynamic. With pass rushing on 75 and pass blocking on 60, when I make the right read on the direction of the blitz my linemen always slide over and get a hat on a defender, if the numbers are even, someone has use one of the moves to get free. No one ever come through untouched.

Default settings may be another story, but with slider tweaks, I have total confidence in Slide Protection.

# 11 N51_rob @ 07/30/12 02:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LBzrule


	Clint described it in an interview. I think people are reading this wrong. I'm not saying slide protection is new. I'm saying the 4 man with the back side tackle in big on big is new.

Yeah, this is new. I know that in Madden 12 if you slid the protection say to the right side your LT would leave the end unblocked as the whole line would shift and the end would have a free run at your QB, unless you changed a RB/FB to block to that side, or you moved the pocket and got rid of the ball quickly.

# 12 chi_hawks @ 07/30/12 03:11 PM

i thought line sliding was in the last few years games?

anyway, until the line interaction is completely redone, with a physics based engine, its a crapshoot.

# 13 poster @ 07/30/12 03:24 PM

I haven't and don't plan on playing NCAA, but I hope they worked on improving it for Madden. That was awful, and just as bad was the HB morphing over without even knowing the DT was there and the DT getting suctioned into the block.

Good article and video, LBzrule.

# 14 LBzrule @ 07/30/12 03:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chi_hawks


	i thought line sliding was in the last few years games? anyway, until the line interaction is completely redone, with a physics based engine, its a crapshoot.

Hopefully this will be the last time I'll need to clarify. I'm not saying slide protection is new, I'm saying 4 man slide with the back side tackle in big on big protection is new.

# 15 LBzrule @ 07/30/12 03:52 PM

I think the worse thing the video shows is that the Center and LG do not slide to the side I told them to slide. Doesn't make sense and without a developer (programmer or producer) explaining things we are left thinking that things work a certain way.

# 16 at23steelers @ 07/30/12 03:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LBzrule


	Clint described it in an interview. I think people are reading this wrong. I'm not saying slide protection is new. I'm saying the 4 man with the back side tackle in big on big is new.

Please become a game changer, you're definitely a top 3 poster on this board!!

# 17 Senator Palmer @ 07/30/12 03:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Feldman011teen


	I believe slide protection has been on this game since 2005? I read nothing prior to release of them enhancing this feature. In fact this site criticizes the line play. I use it all the time. Its better than not using it. Lots of time counters won't work b/c the line play a.i. sucks.

Slide protection has been in Madden since 05-06 - can't remember what year exactly - but it didn't make it into next gen until Madden 09, and when it did it sucked because as another poster broke down if you slide your line left, then the backside end on the right would come completely free. What's been "enhanced" is that the backside tackle now stays home and picks up the blocker.

To answer the OP: I haven't played NCAA beyond the demo, so I haven't picked up on the problems that LBz broke down, but I really liked the way it was done from what I saw for the very reason that I could trust the backside defender would be picked up.

@LBz, I've got a few questions after watching the vid.

1. Was "slide right" the correct call against that play and front? When I say right call, I mean in Madden terms. Was slight left/right designed to combat 4-3 stack OLB Fire Man, or would "pinch" slide protection have been the better call here? I know that's usually my call whenever I see a blitz coming in any of the A or B gaps. I'll only slide right or left when there is an overload or pressure from the C gap? Could that be the reason the blockers were "confused"?

Also, in real life terms, when would a "pinch" protection call be used? I know usually when the A gaps are threatened, anywhere else?

2. Front Observation:

Quote:


	When we look at the Madden screens and video, just like the diagram here, the Left Guard is not covered although there is a one technique shade (this may play into keys to look for how to slide your line that I might cover in a later article) that might throw off the blocking. I’m not certain. With a slide-right call, the linemen should be looking to the defender to their right and checking gap responsibility right. The left tackle is big on big so he should take the RE.

I was wondering if you could touch on some of the "keys" to look for that you've uncovered playing around with it, because looking at the video on your first play, you shifted the line away from the 3 tech. For me, from what I've observed over the past few years, I've gotten in the habit of never sliding my line away from the 3 tech. It just always felt like I was leaving the backside open to a free rusher (usually the 9 tech). Would the outcome of the play on the vid have been different if you slid left to the 3 tech?

I know that in real life, protections are usually changed by keying the linebackers. When I play Madden, I've always done it by keying the defensive line. If I had the game I could answer this one myself, but in so many words, is there a way to get this tool to function reliably by using a Madden-based formula instead of a real life one, because from what I've seen, the offensive/defensive lines are still tied together, so basing protections off of real life movements may be a useless at this point?

# 18 LBzrule @ 07/30/12 04:06 PM

Senator, that's probably the big problem. I tried to use what I thought would be used in real life. I did try sliding to the left and the DT still came in untouched. I should have put that up too. That's the reason why I wrote the article because no matter which side I slide to the DT came in untouched so it was like well what am I supposed to do here, just go base? That's the thing I do not like. I sorta stumped. I like sliding to create a "zone style" protection and if I need to move it is easy for me to make an adjustment and set my QB up behind the sliding Guard and if I need to take off I will. Makes it much easier to do that. But it seems like slide protection is not meant as an option for base protection.

I'm not for sure. I diagrammed what I would do against every 4-3 front, Nickel Normal and Dime Normal and had great success out of Pro and Singleback Slot blocking seven man pass rushes. I'm not ready to publish that just yet because I want to go ahead and do 3-4 as well. I think it's going to be different because the 3-4 has a NT in 0 tech.

# 19 LBzrule @ 07/30/12 04:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Senator Palmer


	@LBz, I've got a few questions after watching the vid. 1. Was "slide right" the correct call against that play and front? When I say right call, I mean in Madden terms. Was slight left/right designed to combat 4-3 stack OLB Fire Man, or would "pinch" slide protection have been the better call here? I know that's usually my call whenever I see a blitz coming in any of the A or B gaps. I'll only slide right or left when there is an overload or pressure from the C gape? Could that be the reason the blockers were "confused"? See that's the thing. I am approaching this as if I can design my own protection for my passing game rather than just using it as an emergency tactic against an overload blitz. I believe Charlie Stubbs approach is beneficial. Mix your protections to keep the defense off kilter. Running only one protection is a recipe for disaster, but if I cannot trust the slides I'm left with only one protection. They gotta make things clear to gamers and clear in the program. Slide right with back side big on big means LG, C and everybody to the right slide to the damn right. HB step up and take up left side B gap. I don't understand what's so difficult about that. Also, in real life terms, when would a "pinch" protection call be used? I know usually when the A gaps are threatened, anywhere else? To be honest, I've never really seen this in real life. I've seen big on big, turn back, fan, and slides. 2. Front Observation: I was wondering if you could touch on some of the "keys" to look for that you've uncovered playing around with it, because looking at the video on your first play, you shifted the line away from the 3 tech. For me, from what I've observed over the past few years, I've gotten in the habit of never sliding my line away from the 3 tech. It just always felt like I was leaving the backside open to a free rusher (usually the 9 tech). Would the outcome of the play on the vid have been different if you slide left to the 3 tech? I'm actually using the linebackers as keys. The Fire man had both guys blitzing. When I slid the line away from the TE the DT on the Left came in untouched. When I went with base protection with the HB, the Will or the Sam came in. Often the result was them getting a free shot because a DL would break his block quick causing the HB to slide and pick up the DL and leave the Will or Sam untouched. So while I had number for number guys still came in untouched. I know that in real life, protections are usually changed by keying the linebackers. When I play Madden, I've always done it by keying the defensive line. If I had the game I could answer this one myself, but in so many words, is there a way to get this tool to function reliably by using a Madden-based formula instead of a real life one, because from what I've seen, the offensive/defensive lines are still tied together, so basing protections off of real life movements may be a useless at this point?

I think the latter is going to be the key for 3-4. For 4-3 I use linebackers because there really isn't a NT in a 0 technique. But in 3-4 you're basically going to have a 0 tech which I think is going to change up what you'll need to do.

# 20 killer miller31 @ 07/30/12 04:36 PM

We have had slide protectiong for 3 or 4 years now its not new...........

« Previous12 3 Next »

More Links