Sometimes it’s tough to crack a defense in Madden, whether in Franchise, Face of the Franchise, or versus another player online. The true key is to learn how to recognize defenses pre and post-snap, but when you have a few deadly play-calls that are TD threats on every play, you may be able to gain the upper hand.
While these plays have a high success rate, they aren’t guaranteed to hit gold every time. Practice reading the defense, and you’ll learn the most optimal situations to strike. Here are three hot-route combinations that will have you racking up yardage and scoring more points in your favorite Madden mode and when to use them.
NOTE: For this guide, these plays and formations are specific to S. McDermott’s Buffalo Bills offensive playbook. Once you learn the idea of these hot-route combinations, you can spread them to your favorite team’s offense.
Formation: GUN, Trey Y FlexPlays: Verticals, PA Verticals
Hot Route Combination 1
Your zone beater. On your pre-snap read, identify the safeties. If you’re looking at two high safeties, you’re off to a good start. Hot Route the WR nearest to your O-Line to a streak. Take the receiver to his left, and put him on any route breaking to the outside. Hot route your TE and put him on a streak as well.
Post-snap, watch the safeties first. If they begin to split toward the sidelines, you have it. Wait for your QB to hit his drop, step up, and fire a bullet while leading your WR up the field. If you choose the ‘run after catch’ option, your WR should have enough speed to beat the D to the endzone for a TD. If not, you’ll get a huge chunk of yardage.
If one of the safeties shifts to the middle of the field post-snap, use the outbreaking route as your safety valve or try to escape the pocket to salvage some yards and live to fight another down.
Hot Route Combination 2
Your man-to-man beater. Again, start with identifying the safeties locations. This route combination is especially effective when the defense shows a single-high safety or read man coverage. Start with a hot route to your TE and put him on a drag across the field. Again, take your WR nearest to the offensive line and hot route him to a slant.
Post-snap, watch how the defense reacts to your TE. If it’s man-to-man, the defense will surely vacate your TE’s side of the field, leaving it wide open for your WR slanting that way. Ensure the WR clears the linebackers and delivers a strike to him, leading him up the field. If your WR is speedy, this should deliver a TD; if not, it’s a good way to chew up yards.
If you read man coverage but the defense backs into a zone, the deep routes you didn’t hot route on the play will pull the D away from the line of scrimmage. In most cases, your TE will be available on the drag underneath — check it down and move on.
Formation: GUN, Empty Y SlotPlay: Stick N Nod
Hot Route Combination 3
This variation can be a heavy-hitting zone and man beater but will find more success against zone coverage.
Pre-snap, check the safeties — you will benefit from seeing a two-high safety look. First, choose the WR in the middle of the bunch to the right (defaulted to a square in breaking route) and hot route him to any route that breaks to the outside.
Post-snap, look for the safeties to split to the sidelines to cover the streaks and out routes. Your primary target, the RB that’s closest to the o-line in the bunch to the right, will take a moment to develop his double-move route. Trust your protection or buy time if you need to, but look for your RB as he makes his second cut to be wide-open in the middle of the field.
If you get the two-high safeties and the defense locks down in man coverage post-snap, your RB still has a decent chance to burn the linebacker that’s likely in coverage. Still, look for the second cut, and if he has a step, deliver the ball upfield. If not, look to your out routes for reprieve or throw the ball away to live another day.
For more guides on Madden 22, check out How to get Training Points in Madden 22 or Best Wide Receivers in Madden 22, and stay tuned for more coverage on Pro Game Guides.
