Madden 08 Team Schemes Revisited

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MikeWest502
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Madden 08 Team Schemes Revisited

Postby MikeWest502 » Tue Jul 21, 2020 1:58 pm

Current Schemes for 20-21: Quoted from updated sources!

What are the most popular NFL Offensive Schemes?

Westcoast Offense, Vertical (Air Coryell), and Erhardt-Perkins are the most popular overall “schemes” in the NFL.

What are the most popular NFL Offensive Concepts and Formations?

“Pro” Style, Spread, Spread Option, Power Run, Spread Run Option, Air Raid, RPO’s, Read Option, and the Pistol are examples of popular NFL offfensive concepts and formations.

What are the new trends with NFL Offenses?

Air Raid, a return to the power run game, and hurry up offenses are examples of trends with NFL offenses.

BASE DEFENSES NFL TEAMS USE

4-3: ARZ, ATL, BUF, CAR, CIN, CLE, DAL, JAX, KC, IND, LAC, MIN, OAK, PHI, SEA, SF, TB
3-4: CHI, DEN, GB, HOU, LAR, NYG, NYJ, PIT, TEN, WAS
Multiple Front: BAL, DET, MIA, NE, NO

*Multiple Front = Balanced Defense in Madden 08
*Most 3-4 teams are mainly using a 1-gap system, although there are still a few teams using a 2-gap system.
-------------------------------
Arizona Cardinals
Offensive Scheme: Air Raid
Defensive Scheme: 4-3
-------------------------------
Falcons
Offensive Scheme: West Coast, Vertical
Defensive Scheme: 4-3
-------------------------------
Ravens
Offensive Scheme: West Coast / Read Option
Defensive Scheme: 3-4, Multiple
-------------------------------
Bills
Offensive Scheme: West Coast
Defensive Scheme: 4-3
-------------------------------
Panthers
Offensive Scheme: Play Action / Power Run
Defensive Scheme: 4-3
--------------------------------
Bears
Offensive Scheme: West coast / Spread concepts
Defensive Scheme: 3-4
--------------------------------
Bengals
Offensive Scheme: Air Coryell
Defensive Scheme: 4-3
---------------------------------
Browns
Offensive Scheme: West Coast – Run Heavy
Defensive Scheme: 4-3
---------------------------------
Cowboys
Offensive Scheme: Vertical
Defensive Scheme: 4-3
---------------------------------
Broncos
Offensive Scheme: West Coast / Zone Running
Defensive Scheme: 3-4
---------------------------------
Lions
Offensive Scheme: West Coast / Power Run
Defensive Scheme: 3-4 / Versatile
----------------------------------
Packers
Offensive Scheme: West Coast, Vertical
Defensive Scheme: 3-4
-------------------------------
Texans
Offensive Scheme: Erhardt-Perkins
Defensive Scheme: 3-4
-------------------------------
Colts
Offensive Scheme: Erhardt-Perkins
Defensive Scheme: 4-3
--------------------------------
Jaguars
Offensive Scheme: Hybrid Air Coryell
Defensive Scheme: 4-3
--------------------------------
Chiefs
Offensive Scheme: West Coast
Defensive Scheme: 3-4
-------------------------------
Chargers
Offensive Scheme: Erhardt-Perkins
Defensive Scheme: 4-3
-------------------------------
Rams
Offensive Scheme: West Coast / Spread
Defensive Scheme: 3-4
-------------------------------
Dolphins
Offensive Scheme: Erhardt-Perkins
Defensive Scheme: 4-3, Attacking
-------------------------------
Vikings
Offensive Scheme: West Coast
Defensive Scheme: 4-3, Attacking
-------------------------------
Patroits
Offensive Scheme: Erhardt-Perkins
Defensive Scheme: 3-4, Multiple
-------------------------------------------
Saints
Offensive Scheme: West Coast
Defensive Scheme: 4-3
-------------------------------
Giants
Offensive Scheme: West Coast
Defensive Scheme: 3-4
--------------------------------
Jets
Offensive Scheme: West Coast / Spread
Defensive Scheme: 3-4, Multiple
--------------------------------
Raiders
Offensive Scheme: West Coast
Defensive Scheme: 4-3
-------------------------------
Eagles
Offensive Scheme: West Coast
Defensive Scheme: 4-3, Attacking
-------------------------------
Steelers
Offensive Scheme: Erhardt-Perkins
Defensive Scheme: 3-4
-------------------------------
49ers
Offensive Scheme: West Coast
Defensive Scheme: 4-3
-------------------------------
Seahawks
Offensive Scheme: Play Action, Two TE
Defensive Scheme: 4-3
-------------------------------
Buccaneers
Offensive Scheme: Air Coryell
Defensive Scheme: 4-3
-------------------------------
Titans
Offensive Scheme: “Exotic Smashmouth” (Run Heavy)
Defensive Scheme: 3-4
-------------------------------
Washington
Offensive Scheme: Vertical, Play Action
Defensive Scheme: 4-3
-------------------------------
Spoiler:
Ron Erhardt and Ray Perkins were offensive assistants in New England long before Parcells or Belicheck arrived in town. Their head coach, Chuck Fairbanks, really, really loved defense, and really, really had no time for offense. Erhardt and Perkins were told to create an offense that was run-heavy with a rudimentary passing game that was extremely easy for a quarterback to learn and run. The system was designed to work in cold, bad weather, by utilizing a run game and highly efficient passing game.

But what is so different about that? Of course teams would want to have an effective run game and high efficiency short passing game, but defenses are ready for that. What Erhardt and Perkins did (albeit, without knowing it) was Jedi. They didn’t write up any new revolutionary playbook. Defenses basically knew the plays out there, and were spending time and resources defending known plays. The Erhardt-Perkins system didn’t create anything. What it does is show different looks, combinations, and formations of existing plays, making it extremely difficult to defend.

Beyond that, the system doesn’t use the cumbersome playcalls that the other two schemes use. Both the West Coast Offense and Air Coryell have intricate language and terms for each route. Erhardt-Perkins works with “concepts.” You might hear a quarterback at the line of scrimmage call a combination of two words. One is for the players on the right side, the other for players on the left side. Changes can be made to just one side easily, so you don’t have to change a whole play. Furthermore, you are completely disguising the route with coded words. The players just need to know the concept name; the burden of knowing the system is placed on the quarterback.

The traditional schemes are written with three highly specialized player types: wide receivers, tight ends, and running backs. Erhardt-Perkins isn’t locked down by this, which means that the same play can be run many different ways by simply moving around personnel – how about that 6’4? slot receiver… I thought he was a tight end? It creates a play by play struggle for defenses to get the right defenders on the right offensive weapons. It is about mismatches.

When Erhardt-Perkins were creating this simplified offensive system, one that just used other people’s plays and threw in wrinkles on how each played look, they were not doing it to create the system that people know today. They were doing it out of necessity. Much like Bill Walsh’s second act, when he got a quarterback without the limitations that caused him to innovate years before, the Erhardt-Perkins system would take the next step. Bill Parcells ran it with the Giants, but mostly in keeping with the simple advantages that it offered.

Unlike the other schemes, Erhardt-Perkins doesn’t have a sort of “founding father.” The two coaches simply stumbled upon a way to maximize the complexity of an offense due to circumstances. Neither coach actually had much success at all running their idea in the NFL. It took Charlie Weis, decades later, to take the system to its next evolutionary step. Seeing that the offense can be run around a smart quarterback, with a few plays that you disguise with different looks, and it worked, he is the one that started to move around players, regardless of position from play to play.

What has been proven is that because this offense really revolves around a smart quarterback, and not from having an exact set of players at specialized positions, the system has been highly adaptable. The Patriots have used the Erhardt-Perkins system with a wide variety of wide receivers, tight ends, and running backs. It’s great to have elite players, but when you have a system that has no real dependencies, you simply adapt to whatever your strengths and weaknesses are. So, even though they have run the Erhardt-Perkins “system,” they have had drastically different offenses over the years. It is not an apples to apples comparison with the other schemes, as the Erhardt-Perkins system is really just talking about HOW the plays are run and called, not about the actual playbook.

The most recent addition to the system is the hurry up aspect. Because there is a big advantage in the efficiency of play calling, and play changing at the line, Erhardt-Perkins was a no-brainer for the hurry up. Having trouble figuring out what we are doing when we huddle up and take our time? How about we do the same thing but in just a few seconds.

Madden 08 Team Schemes Revisited

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