Madden NFL 06/Passing Game

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< Madden NFL 06

Madden NFL 06 | Table of Contents | Walkthrough

It's important to bide your time.

Catching a pass.

There have been several innovations in the Madden 06 version for the passing game. One of which is the ability to use a vision cone. The other most notable feature is the Precision Passing ability. This section will cover these two features, as well as discuss the ways to throw a ball where only your receiver can get it.

[edit] Vision Cone/ QB Vision

The Vision Cone is a controversial addition to the game, and it seems the community is split down the middle on it's uses. Some rookie Madden players may choose to disable this option, and if so, skip down to the Precision Passing, or general passing tips. The cone represents the awareness and ability of a quarterback to read a defense and follow receivers downfield. Some quarterbacks (Roethlisberger,Brady, and Manning) will have a massive field of vision, while second-string, and most rookie QB's will have a very small one, only capable of following a single receiver. This cone can be very, very helpful for passing downs. There are several tricks you can utilize to keep the offense on the field and the defense tired. A tried-and-true technique is to find your primary receiver (Your best one, or one who runs a route you know you can hit in stride). If he's on the left, press R2+(Button of receiver)to a WR on the right (read the sidebar for indepth coverage of this idea). This will make the defense on the left lax a small amount. Sometimes it's not even noticeable, but if given time, your receiver will make a break and get a big play.

[edit] Precision Passing

QB Vision

One of the quickest ways to get a first down is to call a passing play, get to the line of scrimmage, and press Triangle (Which takes you to a Reciever Selection), Square (Which selects the Square reciever) and down, to make him run a curl-route. Now, press R2 and Circle, which will select a reciever on the other side of the field to focus your cone on. Snap the ball, drop back staring at him. Then, as you see your Square reciever stopping, and turning, pull the Right Analog to the left, resting it over the Square reciever. Hold the Square button and you should get a perfect pass, unless the Defensive Back shaded your WR, which we will cover in the Defensive section.

The Precision passing feature is a valuable ability that can direct a pass to an area otherwise ignored. The receiver may be being lead (going left, in the case of this picture, the square receiver) by a DB, so try pressing left while pressing his button. It will cause the pass to go to the left of the receiver, so that he will get a big jump on an otherwise-intercepted ball.

When you have a very, very tall receiver (Perfect example, Tony Gonzalez of the Kansas City Chiefs) going deep towards the end zone, press up on the directional pad, plus the button of the receiver. This will cause your quarterback to (hopefully) put a high pass, usually a 'bullet' pass (One that reaches the trajectory with a low, speedy arc). This will create a 'jump ball', where the WR and DB fight for position, with the taller one usually winning. A DB with a good jumping rating may be able to combat this, so you'll need to create mismatches.(Read the corresponding section for the best way to make a mismatch.)
On occasion, you will need to throw a low-ball to a receiver. Some cases are those that would be beaten by a taller/ better jumping DB, or maybe you just want to make sure no one intercepts it, which is normally the case for a ball thrown low. A good use of this is the Down + L1 for the picture. The receiver will duck to catch the ball, hopefully tricking a DB.
You can occasional burn a DB even if they are doing their job. To do this, which you will usually need a route that streches left/right, if the DB is leading your WR to the left, press Right + his button. That will cause the ball to be caught from behind the WR. He will probably not catch it in stride, but it may be what he needs to get a big break.