Reading the defence

I'm new to the game/sport so when I'm on attack I concentrate on making short passes with slow progress. At the moment I don't know how to read the defence to work out which pass is most likely to be sucessful or whether I should rush instead. I just choose a play using Madden advice, choose which player I'm passing to and then stick to it, all before even seeing how the defence is lined up.

Can anyone give me some tips on how to identify what type of attack is best suited to which situation. Does it make a difference if I'm on 1st, 2nd etc or in a different position on the field?

All tips appreciated. Thanks.

Read the thread "how to read cover 1,2,3,4". Do a search in offensive strategy and their are a ton of threads on this subject.

Basically when passing, before the play, look at each route, and figure out what needs to happen for each route to be open. This way you can set up who your first/second/third reads will be, and can get the ball out fast to the open receiver.