THE WEAPON X OFFENSIVE GUIDE

INTRODUCTION:

The Weapon X Offensive Guide is a pass heavy attack designed to keep the ball moving through the air early and often. The system is based on conceptual passing. Through solid passing fundamentals we will teach you how to be a pass heavy player, even against the best meta defenses in the game currently. This guide is really for those that believe in their reads, and want to move the ball proficiently. If you consider yourself a run heavy player, this guide is NOT for you.

Below you will find each section laid out within tabs. We have laid the guide out into base concepts, base setups, audibles, coverage specific attacks, and Redzone offense. Make sure to learn the entire body of content to ensure that your offense is running on all cylinders. This guide was not put together in one day, and neither will your offense, practice, practice, practice!

So lets jump into it, and start learning The Weapon X Offense. Thanks for checking out the guide and be sure to tweet us @maddenturf or review us on http://facebook.com/maddenturf after you have gone through the guide to let us know your thoughts! If for any reason you feel you can’t leave a 5 star review, please contact us and we will do everything in our power to iron out any difficulties you are having with the scheme.

***This Offense can be run from Arizona or Buffalo Playbooks***

Lets be honest, 91 zone coverage has guys shook to throw the ball. Many pro players are scared to the point that they spend the entire game blocking 7 and playmaking a hitch around the field, and some have even left the idea of passing altogether in favor of a more run heavy scheme. Can you win like that? Of course, but it wont be as fun as winning with the Weapon X Offense!

Watch the intro below, and then move into the concept section. Once you have a good grasp on how each of the concepts work, move onto the base setups section to learn how to get your offense going. Finally, when you are ready, learn the coverage specific setups to attack those pesky meta defenses. Don’t forget to check out the Redzone section so you can score without leaving your offense.

This is not said anywhere else in the guide, so let’s say it here;

***ALWAYS RUN YOUR BUNCH TO THE WIDE SIDE OF THE FIELD***

BENEFITS OF WEAPON X:

Give you an immediate isolation on solo side against cover 2
Four receivers stacked to one side allows for very interesting route cominations
Ability to utilize several variations of motion to create formations and concepts

WEAKNESSES OF WEAPON X:

Picking up weak side pressure requires a bit of extra effort
Receivers on the bunch side can sometimes jostle each other
Run game is limited, with no runs going to the bunch side

In this group of tabs we will go over the basic concepts that you will need to know from the Bunch HB Strong formation. These are not plays or setups, but more so the little nuances of the offense that you can mix in with the other setups to maximize your effectiveness. While that may not seem as important as setups, knowing the subtle changes you can make is actually more important to run an offense at a high level.Â In this group we will cover;

Cover 2 Isolation Concept
Cover 3 Deep Ball Concept
Smoke Screen Concept

Simply click the corresponding tab to learn a particular concept. We will have the written setup in there, but it is VERY important to watch the videos as well.

The Bunch HB Strong formation has four eligible receivers stacked to one side of the formation, leaving the solo receiver isolated by himself. Most importantly it has this alignment with no motion what so ever. This alignment forces a cover 2 cornerback on the solo receiver to man up instead of playing a cloud flat. Please note that a hard flat will still play a hard flat however.

Setup:

Place the Solo WR on an Out Route and Smart Route

Video:

Bunch HB Strong is at it’s core, still Bunch. As luck would have it, there is an easy way to bomb cover 3 from bunch that we will extend on over to our Bunch HB Strong. In fact, it’s almost better because we have many other check down route combinations that we can add to it due to the unique alignment.

Setup:

Place the Right Outside WR on a Baby Out Route
Fade the Right Slot WR
Make Other Adjustments as Needed

Video:

Smoke Screens, big deal right? Well normally, yes, not a big deal. In this formation however, we can create outstanding slot screens on the bunch side because having that extra route on the same side allows us to clear the area for the ultimate check down.

Setup:

Place the Solo WR on a Smoke Screen
Flip the Play
Adjust Other Routes as Needed

Video:

This section will discuss the basic setups within the offense. These are general setups that go a good job of beating many coverages, and should be the setups used most often by you when running the offense. Against most players you will rarely need to deviate from these setups coupled with the audibles, however against good users running some of the more specific defenses in the game you will want to mix in coverage specific setups as well. In this group we will cover;

Y Trail Base
Y Trail Space N Smash
Y Trail Mesh

Simply click on the tab for the play you would like to learn. There will be a written setup, but it is VERY important to watch the videos to have a complete understanding of the setup, so please watch the videos.

This setup is the most basic of the group and it only requires one hot route unless you decide to smart route the corner as well. This makes it ideal for snapping the ball as quickly as possible, and the routes on the field are generally some of the best routes in the game for beating a multitude of coverage.

SETUP:

Streak TE
Smart Route Middle Bunch WR (Optional)
Motion Outside Bunch WR to Direction of Choice (See Video)

VIDEO:

This setup is a combination of a spacing and smash concept. You can use this setup to force an aggressive bunch side user to make a decision, or simply to put an incredible amount of stress on zones to the bunch side.

SETUP:

Drag the TE
Place Outside Bunch WR on a Hitch
Smart Route the Middle Bunch WR (Optional)
Motion the Outside Bunch WR to the Outside

VIDEO:

This setup keeps two of Madden player’s favorite routes on the field with the corner and post, but adds a mesh concept underneath which is almost impossible to defend on Madden 18 when the right read is made.

SETUP:

Place The TE on a Drag
Smart Route the Middle Bunch WR (Optional)
Motion The Outside Bunch WR to the Inside

VIDEO:

This section will discuss the formation audibles that we will be using in the scheme. You will notice we don’t cover spacing or verticals, and that isn’t because these plays are totally worthless, but they just don’t pack the punch that we were looking for when it comes to guide material. In this group we will cover;

PA Shot Mesh
PA Shot Spot
Inside Zone

Simply click on the tab for the concept you would like to learn. There will be written setups available, however it is very important that you watch the videos as well for a complete understanding of the content!

This setup uses a popular concept from regular bunch on the play PA Post. The difference here is that instead of having the post and a corner route, we have a post on the opposite side and a deep crosser coming across the field from the bunch. This concept and setup is an easy way to move the ball effectively while still having plenty of deep ball ability left on the play.

SETUP:

Drag the TE
Motion the Middle Bunch WR to the Inside of the Formation

VIDEO:

This play gives us a bit more pass protection than the mesh setup and attacks the defense with a spot/spacing concept to the right (depending on whether you leave the TE on his delay or not). This setup gives us a great playmaker option as well for those of you that like to be able to have that security blanket.

SETUP:

Place the Middle Bunch WR on a Hitch
Max Protect (Optional)

VIDEO:

Inside zone is a fairly normal run audible from a shotgun formation so we are confident that you all know the idea behind it. The video however will explain which motion is best to use and which is not. Check it out!

SETUP:

Motion Desired WR (See Video)

VIDEO:

Sometimes you just need that one setup that is designed to work exact an exact kind of defense, especially in the Madden world we live in where people are running a particular community defense ALL GAME LONG. This section will break down ways to beat the most popular defenses in the game today. In this group we will cover;

Cover 2 Blitz Setup
Cover 3 Spot
Cover 4 Setup
Nickel Blitzer Setup (335, 335 Odd, etc)

This setup looks to take advantage of the 5 man cover 2 blitzes that have become popular in the game. This includes defenses like OLB Strike 2, and Dollar DB Fire 2 Press. With these defenses the user generally places a MLB into a deep blue zone and attempts to user one yellow across the entire underneath middle part of the field.

SETUP:

Streak The TE
Place the RB on an Option Route
Place the Outside Bunch WR on a HItch
Motion the Outside Bunch WR to the Inside

VIDEO:

This play incorporates the Cover 3 deep ball concept along with a great spacing/clearout concept that offers great check down routes. With the addition of 91 zone, plenty of lower level players are now running God Like cover 3’s with much success, this will help you move the ball on those players.

SETUP:

Place the Middle Bunch WR on a Fade
Place the Outside Bunch WR on a Baby Out
Drag the TE
Place the RB on an Option Route
Motion the Outside Bunch WR a Few Steps to the Outside

VIDEO:

We have all played the guy that sits in Cover 4 all game thinking its the greatest defense in the world because most people struggle to move the ball against it, we don’t want to be that guy that can’t. While almost all the setups in this guide that have a hitch or option route will also beat cover 4 pretty well, and we may also get the once in a while deep bomb from PA Bunch Shot,Â this setup is designed to make sure that we have short, intermediate, and deep reads against a cover 4.

SETUP:

Place the Solo WR on a Comeback
Drag the TE
Fade the Outside Bunch WR
Motion the Middle Bunch WR to the Inside

VIDEO:

This tab goes over how to pick up Nickel Blitzers from plays like 335 Normal Tampa 2, or Nickel Blitz 2. You can then use the coverage beating concepts specific to the blitz coverage, but picking up the slot corner from this formation requires a particular kind of blocking and you will be freestyling to a point.

SETUP:

Flip the Play So Bunch Is On Blitz Side
Block The TE
Slide Towards the Nickel Back
Adjust Routes as Needed

VIDEO:

This section goes over a couple of the plays of value that are unique to the Arizona playbook. In this group we will cover;

Zona Flood
HB Draw

This play is nice to have at your disposal because it does a great job taking advantage of an over aggressive user that has been jumping on your drag routes from other setups, as well as does an adequate job beating cover 2 and cover 3 down the seam and sideline with the unique wheel route.

SETUP:

Drag The TE
Swing the RB to the Right

VIDEO:

Wouldn’t it be nice if this was the audible? It sure would. Draws are way over powered this year, especially because sending a 3 or 4 man rush from zone coverage is so popular on Madden 18. The draw is not the audible unfortunately, but it is only found in the Arizona playbook. Make sure to mix this in often.

SETUP:

Make the Desired Motion (See Video)

VIDEO:

This section goes over a couple of the plays of value that are unique to the Buffalo playbook. The Arizona book is really much better to run the offense from in our opinion, but if you happen to be a guy that needs Tight Slots to feel comfortable, Buffalo also has Tight Slots. In this group we will cover;

HB Slip Screen
Read Option

Mixing in a screen never hurt, especially this year when they beat everything but a user. Buffalo has the screen, Arizona does not.

SETUP:

Make the Desired Motion (See Video)

VIDEO:

Read Option is only located in the Buffalo playbook. The benefit to Read Option is that it is almost impossible to shoot for someone that has a designed gap to shoot inside zone. Nice change of pace for aggressive users.

SETUP:

Make the Desired Motion (See Video)

VIDEO:

Scoring can get rough inside the 10, also known as the “Madden Redzone”. This section focuses on setups designed to get you in the endzone so you don’t end up having to settle for three. In this group we will cover;

3 Yard Line-8 Yard Line
2 Point Play

This setup gives us two spec catch possibilities as well as two underneath check downs should they not be there for some reason.

SETUP:

Drag the TE
Curl the Middle Bunch WR
Hitch the Outside Bunch WR
Motion the Outside Bunch WR Outside a Step or Two

VIDEO:

This setup is for the 2 yard line and closer where things get really tight. We will be using the smoke screen concept combined with spec catch routes to create a hard to handle setup.

SETUP:

Place the Solo WR on a Smoke Screen
Flip the Play
Smart Route the Middle Bunch WR
Curl the TE (Optional)

VIDEO:

Here we are including some in-depth film rooms. These are full games with a discussion between Kilo and Route Combo going over setups, designs, and details. Feel free to view each of them to take a deeper look into the minds of the TurfTeam.

Now that custom audibles have been added into MUT we will be providing a list of them to you. Please click the appropriate tab to see the audibles. While these are our recommendations you can indeed set these how you see fit to best fit the scheme and style that works best for you.

The following are the audibles we recommend using for Bunch Strong while in the Arizona playbook.

Zona Flood
HB Draw
Z Spot
PA Bunch Shot

This does also assume you will be coming to the line in Y Trail. If you are using other formations in the playbook a lot you may want to switch the Z Spot audible to Y Trail so that you can have it in your arsenal.

The following are the audibles we recommend using for Bunch Strong while in the Buffalo playbook.

HB Slip Screen
Inside Zone
Z Spot
PA Bunch Shot

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