CJ's Strategy Guide 2.0

Here are the sections that are going to be in this Scheme book.
1.) Basics of passing and running
2.)Breaking apart the coverage
3.)seeing the blitz coming
4.)Advanced passing and running tips
5.)knowing your players
6.)the art of the playaction pass

sorry about posting this in sections, but it allows the members to read it easier.

passing is the bread and butter of most player's arsenal and if you
cn't pass then you usually can't win, but if you have a balanced
passing and running attack, then you can win multiple games. here are a
few of my tips for passing and running:

BASIC PASSING:
always have some type of scheme. whether it be 5WR, full-house, Iform, or any other formation. you CAN'T go into a game expecting to win w/o a scheme.
QUICK ROUTES: these are what players use for those short yardage
gains, but the only bad thing is that they're risky. when doing this
make sure that you have someone tall in at both the #1 WR and #2 WR so
that they can go above the defenders to make a play. I suggest putting
TE's in if you have short WR's. also, if you do this a lot in the game
put your TE on a streak so that if they come out of C2 you can get it
to your TE for a big gain. the deep ball will int he advanced passing
tips.
SHOTGUN: ah shotgun, my favorite set, but you actually need to
know how to use it before you start to come out of it. make sure you
use the packages to make it seem like a UC play so that your opp. comes
out of a 4-3, 46, 3-4 instead of dime or nickel. make sure you combine
the short routes with the dep routes to keep the defense guessing. I
will tell you how to break down the coverage in a SG set in my breaking
down coverage section.

RUNNING BASICS: Im gunna let you know now that I'm not the best runner, so these tips will sound stupid.
SLIDE PROTECTION: slide protection is one of the most important
things in the running game. w/o it, you wouldn't be able to break the
big runs like usual. I usually use aggressive when I play, because that
stops most blitzes when your running the ball. people always say to SP
to the side you run to, but that isn't always the best choice. if you
SP right and then run right, the defender is right there to tackle you
also. I advise that you SP aggressive or SP pinch when you run the ball
and SP left or right when passing.

INSIDE TO OUTSIDE: inside to outside is when you call an inside
run play like HB dive, but then cut to the outside and try to get a big
gain by doing this. SP pinch when doing this, so that the inside
rushers get locked up and you can hit the outside.

OUTSIDE TO INSIDE: this isn't used by many, but it's effective
when used correctly. call a play like power O and then SP aggressive
and then cut back to the inside and try to get blocks to pick up good
yards.

I will be posting right to let, left to right and double cut moves in the advanced tips section.

HEAVY SETS: Heavy sets are with less than 2 WR's on the field.
using these can improve the running game and open up holes for the
playaction pass. using a set like I form Twin TE is good for setting up
the PA pass, but make sure that you get about 3 or 4 yards a carry
before doing this.

This is an important concept when playing. if you can put a route in
that will break apart two coverages at once, then you'll most likely be
able to beat the person your playing if you have a good D scheme.

BREAKING APART COVER 3: breaking apart the cover 3 isn't hard.
all you really need is a corner route in the play your doing, but when
you play ppl who make adjustments on the field you need to have other
routes involved as well. since most people take the flat route and make
it a corner route, you also will need to have an out route as well so
that you can dump it off if your 1st look isn't open. also using curls
will also open the coverage up a bit.

BREAKING APART A COVER 2: I see cover 2 as the easiest and
hardest coverage to break open. if your opp. is sittin back there using
the safety, C2 can be the hardest coverage to break apart, because now
people start to use the buzz zones in this as well, but I have a way to
break it apart. using the help of the smart route, you can break apart
the C2 easily. have 2 WR's lined up on one side(if you have to motion,
that's fine. have the inside WR run an in route that has been smart
routed, and have the outside WR run a regular in route. this is the
over/under technique where the LB has to play the guy running over him
and leaves the guy running under him alone for a 4 to 5 yard gain. if
your opp. isn't playing safety, then you need to have your TE on a
streak and just bullet it to him if you see Cover 2. having a curl on
this play wouldn't hurt either, because if you can scramble out of the
pocket the LB will try and "spy" you and then the WR on the curl will
be open for a short gain.

BREAKING APART THE COVER 4: breaking apart the Cover 4 is the
easiest coverage to break apart. all you need is to have an outside WR
running a short route or an OUTSIDE slant. you can also get the WR to run an out route or something that breaks apart the flat zone.

BREAKING APART MAN COVERAGE: man is the easiest to break apart.
all you need is a route that has a cut like an in route, an out route,
a slant route or anything like that, but make it a short route so that
the defender doesn't have time to make a play on the ball. a slant is
the easiest way to break apart man coverage.

When I say see the blitz coming, I don't mean seeing the safety rotate
or any of that LB stuff. Ima show you how to see the whole field and
then take advantage of that.
SEEING THE WHOLE FIELD: to see the whole field hit the circle
button and get off of the QB and go to your FB. this allows you to see
the WR's and everything. If you can see all of this, then CB blitzes
won't work against you, or LB blitzes, cuz you can see an opening in
the field. if you do this, you should be able to get completion after
completion. doing this
will also help you recognize coverages like Cover 2. if you see the
CB's press your WR's then its either man or Cover 2. if they don't
press it could be C2, C3, or C4.

Sounds good...

Something I like to do is come out in a heave set with like 1 WR, run, call no huddle and bring a formation audible to a quick pass... then send the WR on a streak.

This Section is all about the advanced art of passing and running. I
have gotten better at running, and have been completing more passes.
these will allow you to become a better passer, and pick up a few more
yards running.

ADVANCED PASSING TIPS: here are a few of my advanced tips for passing the ball

MAKING 3 LEVEL FLOODS: 3 level floods are used frequently by
good users to break down the coverage and I'm going to show you how to
make a 3 level flood. first, you need to come out of a 3WR
set(singleback normal for me) and as your players are lining up, put
them on in routes, and start to smart route them.(it's important that
you do this before they line up, because that's what makes it a 3 level
flood. if you did this correct, you should have one person running an
in route that extends PAST the Line of scrimmage.(the person that you
want to have going past the LOS is the outside WR(it has to be the
outside WR, but he has to be on the side with 2 WR's or it won't work
right.) now motion the other WR to the side with 2 WR's on it. if you
did this right, now you have 3 WR's lined up on one side. one running
an in route that extends past the LOS, one doing an in route that
extends to the LOS, and one running a regular in route. this is another
over/under technique.

USING MOTION: using motion can be deadly if done right. motion
can create new formations, stopping BNR and lots of other things.
motioning delayed routes into the slot allows better yards. putting a
TE into motion makes your opp. think your running the ball. also
motioning the TE can help open up some holes in the coverage since he
isn't as fast as a WR, it'll take him longer to get where he needs to
be, and the coverage will already guarding someone else.

OVERLOADING: overloading is something that I like to do. this is
just putting more people on 1 side than that side has defenders. since
most people play zone, this will have your opp. quitting on you. come
out of a set with more than 2 WR's(but less than 5) motion one of your
WR's so that there's 3 WR's on 1 side. pt your outside WR on a streak.
put the WR in the middle on a hot routed slant.(outside) put the
motioned WR on an out route, or you can put him on a drag before you
motion him so that he's running a drag to the outside instead of to the
middle of the field. put the TE(or other WR if it's 4WR set) on a cur
route, and put the HB on an in or out route(make sure that his route is
towards the 3WR's so that the one side is overloaded with 4 routes
coming that way, but only 3 people to guard them.

ADVANCED RUNNING TIPS: here are 4 tips for advanced runners
LEAD BLOCKING: Utilize this. before the start of the game, go
into the depth chart and see who has the best impact blocking on your
Oline and always control him to leadblock, even if your not running to
that side. LDB'ing is a good way to pick up better blocking and better
yards.

RIGHT TO LEFT: running right to left is pretty risky, but can
pick up big yards. what you do is you pick an outside rush play that
goes to the right(if it goes to the left, flip it in the playcall
screen) you make the adjustments you'd like, then hike the ball.
instead of running right, you cut to the left and try to find a
hole.(if you look at any run play, there's always a hole to the side
that you DON'T run to, so that's wwhy you switch directions.)

LEFT TO RIGHT: this is the same as running right to left, you
just run left to right. you still need to make the same adjustments(if
the play is going run flip it so it goes left).
for these tips, hitting the outside isn't always the best. there may be
a hole in the middle that you can run thru for about 7 yards.

COMBO MOVES: these are moves that are combined to help you get
out of a jam. the double spin is one of them where you spin left then
right real fast which is very useful for getting out of the backfield
when they have you stuffed. another combo is the opposite cut move.
this is where your running, then you don't hold the turbo button, and
cut from left to right or right to left. this is very good when your in
a jam on one side, cuz you can just break off to the other side. it's
really good for left to right(right to left) or inside to
outside(outside to inside

this is just a section telling you to know what routes your players are
running, and also knowing them by there numbers to see who's on the
field.

KNOW THE ROUTES: knowing the routes that your players run is
very important. with the new edition of player's icons disappearing
knowing there routes comes in handy. if you run back more than 15 or 20
yards the icons disappear, and you don't know who's who, but knowing
the routes will allow you to still make the throw to the right receiver.

KNOW YOUR PLAYERS: knowing your players will also come in handy.
if you know how good your WR's catch rating is, it'll let you know if
you want to throw it to him more or less. also knowing your players
let's you know who's on the field at that point during the game, and
allows you to adjust if your money player isn't on the field.

the playaction pass can really open things up on offense, but first you have to open the playaction pass up with the run.

ART OF THE PLAYACTION PASS: the playaction pass is really tricky
to get down, but once you have a scheme developed with it it can be
hard to stop. when doing PA you have to remember to open it up with the
run, AND stay try it in a heavy set like Iform Twin TE or something
where he'll think your running, but you hit em up with the pass, and
then they'll be cautious to call another blitz. also, using PA will
open up the passing game as well as the running game. try not to come
out of a Shotgun PA play, because it won't work as well. coming out of
heavy sets is the best way to use playaction, or coming out of a set
where you run a lot will work well also.

lol, if u keep tellin everyone every little detail about your schemes, pretty soon we all will be able to stop you lol

This won't have many plays in it, but it'll have ways to beat your opponent on defense.

Table of Contents:
1. Breaking down man coverage
2. Breaking down cover 2 and cover 3
6. Beating F@G D
3. Breaking down cover 4
4. My pistol perfection
5. Beating a nano blitz
7. Using twin WR sets to your advantage
8. Random money plays.

Breaking Down Man Coverage:



I Like to break down man coverage using either of these methods:
1.Using his weakness to my advantage
2.Hitting the flats
3. The TE
4. Using Option Routes

If I come out of a 3 WR set, and my opponent is using a 3-4 defense, or something where there's a LB manned up against a WR, I like to make that WR my go to guy. I'd probably put him on an in route, or a slant to get enough seperation to get an extra 4 or 5 yards before being tackled.

The 2nd way is by hitting the flats. Anyone who uses man coverage should be prepared for a qucik flare route to the HB. Instead of using a flare route which could lose you yards, put your HB on a slant to one side. By doing this, the HB gets out the backfield quicker allowing for better yardage and if he breaks a tackle then you can get BIG yardage.

The 3rd way is by using the TE to your advantage. He will be ined up against a LB or a safety who's playing deep, so putting him on a slant over the middle or putting him on an outside slant can get you yardage as well. When I do this, I like to motion the HB out of I-form normal to the side the TE is on, put the HB on a streak, and put the TE on an outisde slant. This will usually change up the assignments and now the MLB will be guarding the TE. If he's guarding the TE, then you can' go across the middle, but you can easily get to the outside.

The 4th way is one of the most successful ways this year. Running the option can be the easiest way to break open ANY coverage, but when they play man, it seems so much easier. The WR's awareness determines whether or not he'll run the right route to break away, so be cautious of who you use it with. HB Options can be good, but can also result in a mistake if the HB doesn't have a great route running ability.
Option plays where the WR runs a short curl and has a slant route as an option is one the best HANDS DOWN. If you can't tell whether its man or zone, run a play like this and you can get easy yardage when you need it.

I've seen in a few threads people asking how to beat zone coverages, so here a few ways to break down the cover 2 zone.



This year it's a bit harder to break down this coverage since you can't just put the TE on a streak and get between the safeties. You have to open up the playbook a bit more to do this. Now, if you've seen your opponent constantly run cover 2 on you, and you can't stop it, then try looking for plays where you see a post being ran by one of the outside WR's. If you find a play like this and there's a slot WR on that same side, put the slot WR on a streak and wait for the post to open up.
If you feel this takes too long, you can always use a play with a slot post. The slot posts seems to get above the hook zones and can get you good yardage against a cover 2 defense.

You can also use streaks to break apart a cover 2. Putting the outside WR's on streaks, and the HB on a streak will break it apart. The safeties will guard the outside WR's leaving the HB all alone for big yardage.



Breaking Apart the Cover 3:



Breaking apart is ALOT easier than breaking open a cover 2. I like to overload one side and have underneath routes just in case.
IN that play, there aren't any buzz zones(purple zones) so the corners are open. You can run a play that has a corner route AND a flat route to break down the lack of coverage they'll have against one of the two routes.

Another way is using plays that have the same route in it, but are different lengths. An example would be PA Boot Over out of Singleback Bunch:


This is called a 3 level flood. It has the same route 3 times, but all different lengths. These plays will give you completions against zone becuase your overloading a side and whoevers playing that zone will only be able to guard one person, leaving 2 people open. Using precision passing with this is a must because if not, you might mess up and under or overthrow it resulting in an interception.


Verticals:

There are many variations of this play, but these are 2 that will break apart cover 3 and cover 2.




The 1st one can break apart man coverage with the crossing route, and the 2nd one can't do much but break apart a blitz or cover 3 or cover 2 zone. These plays don't need a setup and can get an easy 15-20 yards if done right. If you'd like for them to be more successful in a way, put your #1 WR as the slot WR and the TE or someone slow in the other slot for the 2nd picture. Doing this makes the safety playing deep guard the #1 WR(who should be kind of fast) leaving the TE on the outside open for easy yards.

Breaking down a cover 4 is the easiest coverage to break down. These plays will usually have one of the 2 missing:
Buzz zones or flat zones.

Flat
zones are a MUST this year. Not having them means easy yardage, and if
you have a blocker out in front or break a tackle, you can easily take
it for an extra 10 yards. Just use anything where they have a corner
route and a flat route on the same side. Make sure you have a flat
route on both sides if you know that he's been running cover 4 on you
all game or in certain situations. You can also break a cover 4 over
the middle. Using a play that has a slot post then motioning to the
middle and having him run a streak can be an easy 15 yards if you get
it to the WR running the post.

These are just a few of the many ways to break open a cover 4.

Not many people use the Kansas City offensive playbook, or have seen it used so I have an advantage over guys when I come out of pistol. It's a unique formation and can catch an opponent offguard since it doesn't say "pistol" when you've selected your play.

The only thing I really do to throw my opponent off is using motion. If you motion the HB out of the backfield to the left, then your opponent gets a bit confused. He knows your passing, but he doesn't know where the ball is going to.
If you motion the HB to the right, he stands about 1 yard behind the QB to the right allowing for an easy completion against man coverage. Using Motion with ANY player from pistol is deadly. If it isn't the HB, then using a TE or WR makes it worse for your opponent, because he doesn't know if your passing or running.

You can use motion if you wan't to know what formation he's in, or to set up your own money play.

Keep him honest when your in this formation though. Don't just pass, pass, pass. Open it up a bit with the run and the playaction and this formation is golden.

Beating a nano blitz:
If your being nano'd to death, and you find it annoying, come out of a shotgun set, but use a package where it puts your HB in the slot or a TE in the slot so that the "play personnel" says:
2 WR 2 TE 1 RB, or 2 WR 2 HB 1 TE, making your opponent think you're coming out of I formation or singleback. Once you get to the line, he has to audible out of his play into something different allowing you to catch him off guard and get easy yardage. Once you do this enough, he'll stop trying to nano and you can actually come out of I-form or Singleback and try to establish your run game.


Motioning:
Using motion can be great for guys that nano. This can leave a guy open for a short amount of time, but can be deadly vs the nano. Now, you alos want to slide protect to have that split second to get the ball off, but when you do, it's very deadly and can make your opponent stop nanoing, or even blitzing, then you open up the run on him.

Trying to beat F@g D:
If you're trying to beat this defense, then your going to have to be patient. If he's dropping 10 or 11 back then you can wait for one of your guys to get open in the coverage for a big gain.
If you don't like waiting, then you can always look to see what his tendencies are and what zones he drops the Dlinemen into and attack those all drive.

Using Twin WR Sets to your advantage:


Sets that look like the one above that only have 2 WR's in it, but both WR's are on the same side are great sets to use. You can instantly tell whether its man or zone, and then adjust your play accordingly. I like to use combo routes with the outside WR's, then put the HB on a route depending on whether its zone or man.. If itz zone, I'll put the inside WR on a streak and the outside WR on an out route, but if its man, the HB is on a slant.

Random Money plays:

Singleback Bunch TE Scheme - TE Option, Drive Corner, Flood Look
Curl, PA Waggle/HB Slam, PA Draw Pass/HB Draw, Slant Attack, Z-Seam
Option.
TE Option -

Designed to tell whether its man or zone with the auto motion.

Setup:
Hot route the inside slot WR(triangle or Y) to an outside slant
Looks:
Your 1st look will be the TE running the option route. He will run the
out route if its man coverage, but if its zone, he may run the out or
the curl
Your 2nd look will be the inside slot WR running the outside slant. in man coverage, he should be open for some very nice yards.
Your 3rd look will be the HB running the streak. If he's fast like Chris
Johnson, Reggie Bush or Willie Parker, you should be able to lob it up
and pass lead up for him to get some separation from the defender if
he's sort of slow. Also, look to see if someone has followed him out to
the sideline. If no one has followed him out there, throw a quick
bullet pass to the outside and get easy yards.

Drive Corner:


Setup:
Hot route the HB to run a slant to the left. By doing this, we give the corner route some space in zone.
Hot route the middle WR running the corner to run an inside slant.
Looks: Your 1st look will be the HB running the slant
Your 2nd look will be the TE running the corner
Your 3rd look will be the WR running the inside slant
Your 4th look will be the WR running the drag

Flood Look Curl:

Setup:
Motion the WR on the right in the middle, to the left
Hot Route the HB to run a streak
Hot Route the inside slot WR to run an outside slant
Looks: Your 1st look will be the inside slot WR running the outside slant
Your 2nd look will be the WR on the outside right.
Your 3rd look will be the HB running the streak
Your 4th look will be the motioned WR

PAWaggle/HB Slam - We're going to make these plays look exactly the same,
making our opponent think we're running the same play.
HB Slam:


Setup:
Motion the WR n the middle to the left. This makes them think were running Flood Look Curl, maybe making them ease up a bit.
Slide protect your line whatever way you want, but look for the holes to open up.

PA Waggle:

Let's make this look like HB Slam and Flood Look Curl throwing our opponent off
Setup:
Motion the WR on the right in the middle to the left.
Hot route the inside slot WR to an outside slant.
Looks:Your
1st look will be the motioned WR. Look where the defender is, because
sometimes the defender will get underneath him giving you an easy
completion over the top.
Your 2nd look will be the WR running the outside slant.
Your 3rd look will be the TE running the stop and go route.
HB Draw/PA Draw Pass: Run the HB Draw as is, just make the adjustments to your Oline that you want


PA Draw Pass:

Setup:
Hot route the WR on the right in the middle to run an inside slant.
Hot route the WR on the outside to run a streak
Looks: Your 1st look will be the inside slot WR running the crossing route. These are always open against man coverage.
Your 2nd look will be the WR running the inside slant.
Your 3rd look will be the WR running the inside slant
Slant
Attack:

Setup:
Hot Route the outside WR to run an outside slant. Cirlce(PS3) B(360)
Motion the TE to the left
Looks:
Your 1st look will be the HB running the wheel route. He'll be open for a
few seconds in man coverage because the guy defending him will be on
the other side of the field or will be the safety.
Your 2nd look will be the WR running the outside slant.
Your 3rd look will be the inside slot WR.
Your 4th look will be the WR running the inside slant
Z-seam Option:

Setup:
Hot Route the HB to run a slant to the left. This is just like the concept we used for Drive Corner.
Looks:Your 1st look will be the WR running the option route.
Your 2nd look will be the HB running the slant.
Your 3rd look will be the outside WR on the right running the corner route.
Your 4th look will be the TE running the corner route.


Pitt Doubles Scheme - Slot Shake, TE Post, FL Middle, Slot Hook, Power O, PA Power, Slot Post
Slot Shake - This play burns man coverage

SETUP: Hot route the TE to run a streak
Hot Route the WR on the right to run an inside slant
LOOKS: Your 1st look will be the Slot WR running the shake route
Your 2nd look will be the WR running the inside slant
Your 3rd look will be the TE running the streak
Your 4th look will be the WR on the outside left running the stop and go route
Your 5th look will be the HB

TE POST- This play is designed to beat zone coverage, and get a lot of yardage in the process.


SETUP: Hot Route the outside right WR to a fade
Hot Route the HB to run a slant to the right
Looks: Your 1st look will be the TE running the post
Your 2nd look will be the Slot WR running the corner route
Your 3rd look will be the HB running the slant

FL Middle


SETUP: Hot Route the HB to run a slant to the right
Hot route the WR on the right to run an inside slant(to beat man)
LOOKS: Your 1st look will be the slot WR running the wheel route
Your 2nd look will be the TE running the delayed route
Your 3rd look will be the HB running the slant
Your 4th look will be the WR running the slant.

Slot Hook - beats zone coverage


SETUP: Motion the TE to the left
Hot Route the WR on the outside left to run an outside slant
Hot Route the TE to run an inside slant
LOOKS: Your 1st look will be the slot WR running the hook
Your 2nd look will be the TE running the slant
Your 3rd look will be the HB
Your 4th look will be the WR on the right running the stop and go

HB Power O - This play will be a combo play with PA Power O. Set it up how
you want, just don't motion anyone.


PA Power O - Works best against Man


No Setup
LOOKS: Your 1st look will be the slot WR running the crossing route
Your 2nd look will be the TE running the delayed route
Your 3rd look will be the WR on the outside left running the post


Slot Post - Works against man and zone



Setup: Hot Route the HB to run a slant to the ight
Hot Route the TE to run an inside slant
LOOKS: Your 1st look will be the slot WR running the post
Your 2nd look will be the TE running the slant
Your 3rd look will be the HB running the slant
Your 4th look will be the WR running the out route

good stuff CJ, yea cov 2 was giving me problems, but what i have noticed is slot corner routes... especially if its a tight formation help beat it... hate to say it but cov 3 was giving me most problems, but thanks to u i can better myself in these situations

tks CJ. helped a lot

CJ you are the F'n Man! Great post bro!

nice CJ

**UPDATED**

yeah this is amazing, good stuff, it'll help a ton of people.

CJ my boy