There are some aspects of the game that EA nails. While those aspects are nailed they come with a conundrums. I can only ask why. Sometimes on defense I like to drop to an eight man in the box or I like to run secondary blitzes. I already did a write up on timed blitzes and player movement prior to the snap. Here, I want to focus on the blitzes and coverage schemes in the game that do have pre-snap movement and ask the question, frustratingly, WHY?

The play I want to look at is 3-4 Under Roll Eagle 2. Last year in Madden, the play was called Roll Eagle 2 Invert.



The defense still runs a two-deep zone, but is benefited by dropping a safety in the box. If this were 3-4 Predator, I would have an additional question, namely where is the compliment play? In other words, where is the same coverage call with the Strong Safety dropping down in the box and lining up next to the Sam, which would give the defense a Bear (alignments might be off a bit but it’s the principle of the matter) front.


Credit www.shakinthesouthland.com for image

If we had a strong side version with the Strong Safety dropping in the box and lining up by the Sam then we could actually begin to move away from adding so many defenses in the game. Ideally, you should be able to use one front as your base and be multiple out of the huddle until the snap. With the Predator for instance, I should be able to move to Bear with multiple coverages behind it; Over, Over Ed ect. Alas, that complementary coverage is not in the game.

Let’s go to the video and get to the matter at hand.


So there you have it. Why have the secondary reset just because one or both groups in the front seven moves? What they are making you do is waste time manually moving people. If you do not move them, they will be out of place on the snap. Notice if you move the front seven, the free safety, who is covering the deep half, is going to be way out of position. You will need to manually move him to the opposite side of the field (rolling cover 2), and you will also need to manually move the Strong Safety as he gets down in the box to keep the box loaded. While the movement required is minimal, it's a waste of time. You could spend that time analyzing the offensive formation, looking for weak points.

Several other plays that could possibly create great and legitimate zone-blitz overloads fall in line here. Let’s take a look at some of them.



Dollar 3-2-6 Okie Roll 3
If you could spread your defensive line or shift it to the same side as the rushers and shift the linebackers the other way, you could actually package this play with others and keep the offense guessing which side to slide. But once you shift the defensive line or the linebackers, the secondary resets and does not move again.



Dollar FS Zone Blitz
Same as Okie Roll 3. You get the Free Safety walking it up prior to the snap. But they will not allow him to sit still if you shift the defensive line or linebackers.

Other plays include:

Nickel Normal, 2-4-5 DBL Safety Go
Dollar, Dime DBL Safety Go



Nickel 335 SS Mike Cross 3


FS Middle Blitz 3



3 Crash Switch



I could continue. What is the answer? Why can we not shift the line in conjunction with these blitzes and not have the secondary defenders reset? Please don’t give me a company line about making it too easy to blitz, when guys are already talking about two-man nanos.