Passing is pretty important in football. Regardless if you're run or pass heavy, you're probably going to need to pass the ball at some point. Here's our certified pro guide on 5 tips to get better at passing today.
Look, this sounds obvious but seriously it's important. You MUST have an idea of what you're doing on offense going into each game, if you're just mindlessly flipping through plays and formations, well then you're never really going to be able to get a grasp on anything while you have the ball. The routes, the timing, which hashmark you're on, these are all things that you need to have in your mind each and every playcall. The best way to go about getting use to all these things is sticking to a specific scheme, that way each and every game you're getting more and more comfortable, and after a few days you'll see you reads and decision making become better n' better.
Do you ever watch an NFL game and hear the color commentator obsess over a quarterback's pocket presence, the way he moves around the pocket to extend a play a deliver a dot upfield? It's the same thing in Madden, until it becomes muscle memory you MUST be constantly thinking about staying poised in the pocket. I see so many players who are great at making reads just constantly walk backwards while surveying the field. Do you realize what happens when you do this? You make even the shortest of throws insanely harder, and on top of that you open yourself up way more for blitzer's to come off the edge. It'll feel uncomfortable at first, but go into practice mode against a standard pass rush and just practice sitting there moving around the pocket. If you're able to master this, or even just become sufficient, you'll improve your offensive success 10 fold.
This one is hard to explain, but bare with me okay? Basically, the best way we can explain this is to literally think about if you were the quarterback looking at the receiver's from his point of view. Is there an open lane underneath but a safety overtop? You should probably bullet it, did your WR just blow over the top? Probably going to be a lob pass. This comes more so with experience, but is VITAL when paired with pass leading. Knowing exactly how to lead a tightly covered corner route to the sideline just over a flat zone and just underneath a deep blue can be the difference between a 15 yard dot, and an interception going back the other way. It takes time and practice, but being conscious of the difference doing this perfectly and doing it poorly makes will pay dividends in future games.
Another one that is a super wishy washy hard thing to explain. Look, you want to put the ball where only your receiver can get his hands on it. Let's take this hypothetical for example; you have a 10 yard in route, while running the In, there's a defender about 2 yards behind him. If you make this throw normally, the defender will probably hit your receiver as he catches it, possibly forcing an incompletion or getting a pick. Now, instead of throwing it normally, what if you low passed it? When you low pass it, you're gonna make it where the ball is going to be coming at a much lower trajectory (obviously) which means the defender will have a much harder time actually being able to get his hands on the ball. Therefore meaning it's become a safer and more effective throw. Utilize this, it is important. For highballs, I think of it when there's a tight window that requires a bullet pass, but needs to get over a defender's head in the process. Highballing gets it up and over the heads of the defense, but can definitely be a higher risk catch as your target has to go up and make a play.
The best way to really be able to see if you're doing things correctly is to watch those who are the best in the world at it. Now you can type in the names of my pro friends like TNC Fancy, Dcroft, FreeThePenguins, and Jwall (among many others), or if you want to see me play I upload videos constantly to my YouTube Channel and you may even catch one of my livestreams! I also hold a monthly live breakdown that I call "Civ U" that you can sign up for here (as part of many other perks to help dominate your opponents) where you can ask me questions about how I run my schemes in real time!