Playbooks
At a Glance
In 2 playbooks
Overview
Doubles Off Close is Shotgun's tightened balanced look: two receivers to each side, but the inside pair (the tight end and the slot) squeeze down near the tackles while the outside receivers stay split wide. That compressed spacing is the whole point. Instead of the standard Doubles alignment that stretches defenders across the numbers, Off Close pulls the inside targets into the box area, which forces defenses to either walk a safety or nickel down into the seam or leave the tight end running free through the middle hole. The back is offset behind the quarterback, so run reads and RPO mesh points come clean without needing motion.
The 11 personnel grouping is what makes the set dangerous in Madden. You get a receiving tight end working from a compressed alignment, which means he beats linebacker coverage on Glance and Arrow routes before the safety can rotate over, and you get your best outside receiver on an island against whatever corner is left over on the perimeter. The set carries the tags 3DRB, Gadget, Power HB, and SLWR for a reason: it supports a pass catching back on HB Slip Screen, jet motion gadget concepts, downhill inside runs, and slot mismatch route work all from the same look.
Concept variety is the separator. RPO Glance Slant, RPO Zone Alert Glance, and RPO Read Y Arrow give you three read option layers off the same Inside Zone blocking shell, so the defense sees identical presnap picture and identical run action. Zone Fake Jet, Jet Touch Pass, and PA Jet Sweep add horizontal misdirection that punishes users who overcommit their linebacker to the middle. Flood and Corner Strike are your dedicated zone attack plays, hitting three levels down the sideline and putting a high corner on the deep third respectively.
Strengths
- RPO Glance Slant and RPO Zone Alert Glance give you a one read throw against single high looks: read the safety presnap, and if he is centered the Glance breaks in behind the linebacker level for a chunk gain with no progression required.
- Compressed inside alignment creates natural rub traffic, so man coverage defenders on the tight end and slot get held up at the line and Slant, Arrow, and Corner routes separate immediately.
- Flood floods one side with a three level stretch (deep, intermediate out, and back to the flat), which is a clean Cover 3 and Cover 2 zone beater since it puts the flat defender in a hard conflict.
- Jet Touch Pass and PA Jet Sweep punish users who sit their controlled linebacker in the middle hook, and Zone Fake Jet sells the same motion for the inside handoff.
- Isolated outside receivers let you hot route the X to a fade or streak on Inside Zone and RPO plays for a free shot when the corner presses with no deep safety help.
- HB Slip Screen out of this alignment gets extra blockers because the compressed inside receivers are already close to the second level.
Weaknesses
- Only one back and one tight end means limited extra protection, so A gap and overload nano blitzes get home before the RPO read or the deep Corner Strike develops.
- Compressed spacing shrinks the field, which lets a user controlled safety or linebacker cover two inside routes at once without much travel.
- The RPO concepts stall against two high looks and heavy man coverage, since the run read gets outnumbered and the Glance window closes with a safety sitting over the top.
- Jet motion concepts telegraph themselves after a few reps, and a user who slides a defender toward the motion or hot routes an edge defender to blitz kills Jet Touch Pass for a big loss.
- There is no true deep crossing or four vertical concept in the set, so if the opponent plays soft zone and squats on the intermediate levels you are forced into short completions and long field drives.
Usage Tips
Read the safety count presnap. One high or a rotated post safety means take the RPO Glance read; two high means hand it off on Inside Zone or check to a Jet concept to attack the edge.
Use Doubles Off Close on second and medium and third and short where the defense has to respect Inside Zone and Power HB action, then hit RPO Read Y Arrow with the tight end on the second level linebacker.
Motion the slot outward before the snap when you see press man to convert the compressed look into a spread look, which stretches the coverage and creates a one on one for your outside receiver.
Block your back or hot route the tight end to a quick in when you diagnose blitz pressure, since the base protection in 11 personnel will not hold up to a five or six man rush.
Alternate Corner Strike and Flood to the same side so the defense sees identical release patterns, then attack the flat defender when he starts bailing to the deep route.
Save Jet Touch Pass and PA Jet Sweep for after you have established Inside Zone, because the misdirection only works once the user is committed to the middle of the field.
