NO playbook: Gun Empty Y-Saints

Everybody knows that the NO playbook is really nice this year. It has the Strong Close formation for running and a lot of nice passing plays. However, a formation that I liked a lot out of it is Gun empty Y-Saints. Usually, the name “Gun empty” makes people shy away of the formation. They want to be able to run out of their formation and QB draw isn’t that great. Well, believe it or not, you can run out of Gun empty Y-Saints! Let me explain you this formation.

Note: I’m on the 360 so I will explain the reads with the buttons of the Xbox.

Here’s a look of it.



At first, it seems like a normal 5 WR set. However, it’s not. It’s a 3 WR, 1 TE, 1 RB set. You have your #1 WR on the far right, your #2 WR in the left slot, your #3 WR in the right slot and your #1 TE as a Wing on the right side… Huh wait, what the heck with the 1 RB? Well, believe it or not, this guy is lined up as a WR on the far left!
The logic behind this formation is that the real Saints have Reggie Bush, who is a great pass catching RB, and they like to put him as a wideout.

What makes this formation so unique is its running play. It’s called the Jet Sweep. That name might remember you of something. It’s the exact same play as in the wildcat formation, but you’re in a standard Gun formation. There’s also the PA Jet Sweep because having the Jet Sweep alone would be too easy for the defence to figure out what you’re doing.

Obviously, the Jet Sweep and PA Jet Sweep aren’t forming a scheme on its own. Run the wildcat if that’s what you want. No, the real deal is the passing attack you can get out of that formation. The plays are really good. That’s probably why Drew Brees had over 5000 passing yards last season.

In this topic, I’ll describe 6 plays that I like to run and the adjustments I make.
Here are the 6 plays:
- Jet Sweep
- PA Jet Sweep
- Saints clearouts
- Saints corner
- Saints in
- Quick screens

First of all, the Jet Sweep.

As I previously said, this is a wildcat-type running play. You have the RB coming in motion and, as soon as he approaches the QB, the ball is hiked and handed off. What I like with this play is that you can either quick cut inside or bounce outside. I recommend that you use this against nickel or lighter sets because it can be a good gainer or a stuffed play, depending on the blocking.

Here’s the play art:



Adjustments:
- Slide protection right

Reads:
The key block is the TE vs DE/OLB. If your TE can block the opponent on the inside, it’ll let you run outside. If he’s blocked outside, you’ll have to cutback inside and use your skills to gain some yards. If it happens, try running between the tackle and the TE because, logically, the second defender on the right side should be inside the RT (unless you’re playing against a 4-4, in which case you should audible to something else).

Usually, the WRs on the right will block their guy well. In my case, I run with the Panthers and I sub Barnidge as my #3 WR because he’s faster than Jarrett. Therefore, I also have good run blocking on the right.



This play is the complement to the Jet Sweep. Use it to confuse the defense and force them to respect the auto motion. Unlike its wildcat twin, the protection of this one is far more effective. This means that, unless you get heavily blitzed, you have more than 2 seconds to make your reads.

Here’s the play art:



Adjustments:
- Hot route your left slot receiver (X) on a drag.

Here’s how it should look now:



Reads:
You have to know if it’s man or zone. The auto motion will tell it. If you see a LB following your RB, it’s man. If there’s no sign of movement on the D, it’s zone.

Against man:
- If your RB is faster than the LB covering him, throw it to him (Y) a second or two after he finishes his play action.
- The Right WR’s crossing route (LB)
- The left slot’s drag route (X)
- If no one’s open, which should happen once in a million tries, gamble with your right WR (B).

Against zone:
- Hi-lo concept with your drag and cross, one should be open eventually.
- The RB. If you can break the tackle on the guy in the flat, that’s a quick 10 yarder.
- The right WR’s post (B) against fag D can be tried.




The best passing play of the formation IMO. Breaks almost any coverage if you make the right reads. This play attacks deep (X and A), medium (B and Y) and short (LB) field.

Here’s the play art:



Adjustments:
- Hot route your left far WR, which is your HB, (LB) to a slant in.
- Hot route your right slot receiver (Y) to a slant out.

Here’s how it should look now:



Reads:

Against man:
- Hit your HB on the slant. I find this a little glitchy but, in the game’s logic, a HB must be matched up with a LB. Therefore, the ROLB extends all the way to your RB. There’s no ROLB in the entire league that can cover a fast HB. What’s even better is when the ROLB stays in the box. Then, I suggest that you re-hot route your HB to a slant out and, as soon as the ball is hiked, throw it to him. He’ll be wide open because the left CB will be covering the X receiver, letting your HB alone.
- The Right slot receiver’s slant out (Y). In some occasions, there’s a safety covering your HB and, if it’s a good coverage S, he won’t be open. Throw it to the Y receiver because he’ll be matched up against the LOLB on these occasions.
- If both receivers are well covered, check the left slot and the TE.

Against zone:
- The right slot receiver’s slant out (Y). If there’s a LB in the flat, he won’t be able to cover him. The right WR’s DIG will pull off the CB, allowing the right slot to make an easy catch if you don’t hold on too long to the ball.
- The left slot receiver’s odd post (X). He’ll be open against most Cover 2. Throw it to him before his cut with a pass lead to the sidelines.
- The TE’s streak (A). If it’s cover 2 and the safeties are spread, the X route will be shut down. However, the TE’s streak should be wide open then.
- The HB’s slant (LB). If they play cover 4, there’s only one hook zone and he’s able to make the catch.
- The right WR’s DIG (B). If everyone else is covered, try throwing it to him with a pass lead up. He should be behind the hook zones.



Another nice passing play with many options. The delayed blue route of the TE can be kept as it is for a dump off option.

Here’s the play art:



Adjustments:
- Hot route your HB (LB) to a slant in.
- Hot route your TE (A) to a hook.
- Hot route your right WR (B) to a fade.

Here’s how it should look now:



Reads:

Against man:
- The HB’s slant (LB).
- The right slot receiver’s odd hook (Y). Manually catch it.
- The left slot receiver’s skinny corner (X). Lob it and, if needed, manually catch it.
- The TE’s hook (A).

Against zone:
- The left slot receiver’s skinny corner (X). It should be open against Cover 2.
- The right slot receiver’s odd hook (Y) and the TE’s hook (A). Usually, one of them should open.
- The HB’s slant (LB).
- The right WR’s fade (B). If they’re playing anything where the CB has a deep zone, bullet pass it to him (RC if you can).



Two zone beating concepts on each side. On the left side, you have a Hi-Lo with the drag and DIG. On the right side, you have a basic flood. This play is nice because, if you want to beat the right side, you have to use plays like 3-4 - Cover 2 which have a Deep-Buzz-Flat combo. However, if this beats the right side, its downside is that you have only one hook zone covering your Hi-Lo concept.
Note: I don’t know why but the TE is a bit delayed on his route.

Here’s the play art:



Adjustments:
- Hot route your HB (LB) to a drag.
- Hot route your right WR (B) to a fade.

Here’s how it should look now:




Reads:

Against man:
- The HB’s drag (LB).
- The TE’s flat (A).
- The left slot receiver’s DIG (X).
- The right slot receiver’s deep out (Y).
- The right WR’s streak (B).

Against zone:
- The right slot receiver’s deep out (Y). Unless there’s a buzz zone on that side, he should be open. Pass lead up.
- The TE’s flat (A). If the CB backs off on the deep out (Cover 2 sink, stupid flat coverage from him), your TE should be open underneath for a quick pass.
- The RB’s drag (LB) or the left slot receiver’s DIG (X). Hi-lo concept, look at the hook defenders.
- The right WR’s fade (B). If they’re all covered, bullet pass to him (RC if you can).



A good screen always includes a screen pass. This is probably one of the best in the game. Why? 1) Because it can beat man and 2) because the screen route in itself is special. It’s not a simple screen route. On the play art, it looks like one, but in the game, it’s different. In fact, it’s like a hook, but the receiver comes back behind the line of scrimmage. You’ll have to check it on a replay because it’s hard to describe. Anyways, what’s nice with it is that the receiver doesn’t do any odd move after catching the ball.


Adjustments:
- Hot route your HB (LB) to a slant in.

Here's how it should look now:



Reads:

Against man:
- The HB’s slant (LB).

Against zone:
- The WR’s screen (B). Pass lead up.


Well, that’s it for the Gun Empty Y-Saints formation. I hope you liked my little breakdown. Obviously, this formation is for heavy passers and, for balanced people like me, I recommend that you use a lot of Strong Close to run the ball. The offtackle run is really nice.

Keep in mind; this is not 100% money. There’s no 100% money in Madden. If you do the right reads though, you’ll have a lot of success against it. You also have to know that, to cover your HB with a corner, the opponent will have to come out in dime formation. If you have a mobile QB, have QB draw in your audibles to make them pay for their 5 in the box.

Beautiful write up, man. I was looking at NO but then decided to try out pass balanced instead. I can definitely see myself coming back to check this out. Good work.

good shiiiit..great scheme works very well.

Wow, this was an amazing post. These are some good plays. I also play with the Saints. I liked that this formation incorporated the RB so much, because I use Reggie the most out of anybody from my team. What kind of defense do you run?

Do these plays beat the Nano blitz?

this is great

taurasd wrote:

Do these plays beat the Nano blitz?

The TE is not on the line of scrimmage so feel free to motion him in front of the blitzer. You'll have 4 receivers though.

Thanks for the Comments, I'll do other breakdowns like this if I find some interesting things .

Good breakdown. Too bad everyone uses this playbook now.

Very nice, thank you. I use the Saints will practice this formation.

Great post. I'm gonna lab the NO playbook. It'll be hard to give up my West Coast scheme but we'll see.

i would have someone in your face every down.....but good write up ....

very good write up really tempting me to make the switch from the NE book but i not sure just yet...i def going to work with it and see what i can do with it

Great formation. I have been playing and labing with it for 2 days and it is amazing. Some of the plays are now my best ones that I run. Thanxx for the post.

so much swag wrote:

i would have someone in your face every down.....but good write up ....

You could have someone in the face of everybody I guess. The thing is, I doubt you can nano effectively while still covering perfectly 5 receivers.

Good stuff, I love this formation.

Great write up. I was playing around with the saints PB and spotted the WR screen from this formation, definitely the best WR screen in the game. I only got 4 plays out of it though, your write up makes the formation a lot more useful.

NewbieX2 wrote:

Beautiful write up, man. I was looking at NO but then decided to try out pass balanced instead. I can definitely see myself coming back to check this out. Good work.

I tried both of those but went with the Houston pb!

any other plays out of this playbook that are quite effective?
Is there a particular way to run the Close formation? Quick toss etc?

Well my guide was only about this formation, but Strong Close is a great complement to it if you want to get that "strength" too. Run with the Offtackle, dive and Toss. Every passing plays has your FB to the flat if you like to hit those spaces. The R stick audible right kills man coverage if you motion your guy to avoid the press.