Your passing mechanics/procedure...

[Bullet Sponge]

I'm curious what others do when they pass the ball in terms of where your eyes are at a given time.

Do you start pulling back the QB while scanning the field immediately? Do you watch your QB for a second or two to get him into a nice protective pocket then look downfield? Do you try and watch the whole field or quickly switch between receivers? Check back and forth between QB/receivers?

[Phin]

I trust my o-line and watch the receivers. I'll get sacked a few time but I also keep a low int total this way. If I haven't got the ball off in a couple seconds I start paying attention to the pressure on my blockers more.

[KingV2k3]

I don't manually drop the QB back, that way there's a much better chance that his feet are set for the throw...

1) Pre snap read...probably motion one WR to determine Man or Zone, get a feel for what side the blitz may or may not be coming from...

2) Based on step 1, choose a side of the field to focus on and the D player the is my "read" for the play as a result...

3) After the snap take a nano second to determine if the LBs are blitzing or dropping back into coverage as well as the DBs...

4) If it's an obvious blitz, throw to the receiver who is likely to be left uncovered by the vacancy of that area by the blitzing defender...

5) If they drop into coverage, look at the side of the field I chose in my presnap read, deepest route first, intermediate second, checkdown in the flat last...

6) Throw to the first guy in that progression that is wide open, "winning" his route or is about to gain a step on his defender or is about to make a break or cut that the coverage looks unlikely to mirror...

7) Light tap to float one, medium tap for most, hard tap to gun it, depending on the above...

8) Complete steps 3 through 7 in under 2.5 to 3 seconds...

9) Hope for the best...



I hope this helps, I'm no trained IRL QB, but have decent knowledge of football and a lot of football gaming experience...this is the first time I actually thought this much about how / why I do it how I do, but it works quite well and realistically...

Just like the IRL guys, you have to "feel" the rush...don't waste a half second or more actually looking...

Have fun and good luck!

[BlastX21]

I just snap it and look at the receivers 100% of the time. If I notice an open running lane with side vision I'll take it, but it has to be pretty big for me to notice it. Imo watching the receivers is most effective because you get a high completion % and get the ball out quickly, so sacks aren't an issue.

I dont use hardly any pre snap reads, just look from receiver to receiver in the order that they most often get open on the play.

[Pride1]

I generally will look at the safeties first to see if/how they drop into coverage. Then I go through my progression from deep to short. If my first 2 reads are mirrored by the DBs in their routes, I'll usually look down at the line for a hole to scramble through as, if the first 2 guys aren't open, then it's probably a good bet that nobody is or I won't have time to find them if they are.

I love the pocket/pass rush in this year's game. It's the first time I can ever remember having that "internal clock" feel as the QB where panic will begin to set in if you hold onto the ball for more than 3 seconds. Stepping up into the pocket to complete a pass feels so rewarding.

[Bullet Sponge]

Quote: Originally Posted by KingV2k3

I don't manually drop the QB back, that way there's a much better chance that his feet are set for the throw... 1) Pre snap read...probably motion one WR to determine Man or Zone, get a feel for what side the blitz may or may not be coming from... 2) Based on step 1, choose a side of the field to focus on and the D player the is my "read" for the play as a result... 3) After the snap take a nano second to determine if the LBs are blitzing or dropping back into coverage as well as the DBs... 4) If it's an obvious blitz, throw to the receiver who is likely to be left uncovered by the vacancy of that area by the blitzing defender... 5) If they drop into coverage, look at the side of the field I chose in my presnap read, deepest route first, intermediate second, checkdown in the flat last... 6) Throw to the first guy in that progression that is wide open, "winning" his route or is about to gain a step on his defender or is about to make a break or cut that the coverage looks unlikely to mirror... 7) Light tap to float one, medium tap for most, hard tap to gun it, depending on the above... 8) Complete steps 3 through 7 in under 2.5 to 3 seconds... Just like the IRL guys, you have to "feel" the rush...don't waste a half second or more actually looking...

This is a really nice mini-guide, man. Thanks. Regarding not manually dropping him back, do you find the CPU will suddenly make that pass for you if you don't grab control of the QB right away? Is there a setting to make the CPU NOT try to throw the ball for you if you're not controlling him directly?

[KingV2k3]

Quote: Originally Posted by Bullet Sponge

This is a really nice mini-guide, man. Thanks. Regarding not manually dropping him back, do you find the CPU will suddenly make that pass for you if you don't grab control of the QB right away? Is there a setting to make the CPU NOT try to throw the ball for you if you're not controlling him directly?

If you go to:

Game Controls / Customizable Controls / Helpers and toggle Auto Passing to OFF, the AI will not throw for you...

Glad you got something from the "guide" I was able to come up with...

You are most welcome!

There's also a lot of really cool videos on YouTube about the intracacies of the pre and post snap QB reads, if you'd like to go that route as well...

For instance:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_GifKM9DAk

Enjoy...

[sleepyeagle]

I Analyze the defense pre-snap. Then I take care of any problems I see. If it looks like press coverage, I'll put a man in motion to counter that. If it looks like a blitz, I'll hot route a receiver to make sure I can throw it hot. If they're playing single coverage, I'll send an outside receiver on a fly and try to beat them deep.

I always watch the LBs during the beginning of the snap to see if any of them are blitzing, but then immediately concentrate on coverage (zone/man). My reads depend on down/distance and what I see pre-snap. Sometimes I'll go long to short, sometimes the other way around.

The key is to be flexible and limit mistakes. "And for the love of god, don't try to force it down field." - High school coach.