The offensive line in Madden 2009 is very smart. The dreaded 'nano' blitz has been drastically minimized with extremely smart offensive line play. It's very exciting to see how well the line recovers, and plays as a unit this year. As well as improved offensive line play is the addition of the offensive line slide protection. This allows for the offensive player, before the snap, to tell the offensive line to slide left, right, pinch down, or be aggressive and spread out. The slide protect is another safeguard against blitzing in 2009.
If the first paragraph has scared the defensive minded Madden genius, don't worry. You'll still be able to get pressure on the quarterback. It's just going to be a bit different this year, and a bit more realistic. One particular technique that is very simple, yet very effective this year is going to be the defensive line crash out. If you're a Madden junkie, you probably remember this technique being very popular and effective in Madden 2005. It's back in Madden 2009, but is more based on the ratings of the players involved. For instance, the offensive line of the Patriots is going to get beat far less than the offensive line for the Raiders, because of their ratings. In addition, the defensive line of the Giants is going to get more pressure than the defensive line of the Bengals. Ratings are more important than ever. While exploring this technique, I've noticed that speed is important, but overall rating is nearly as important this year. Aaron Kampman of the Packers was dominant with the defensive crash out, where some of the speedy rookies with lower overall ratings didn't fare so well. Take a look at how the defensive line crash works.
Madden NFL 09 - Creating Pressure with the Defensive Line Spread Crash Out
In the first image, the defense has come out of the huddle in a basic Man Cover 2. As you can see, the defensive line has a stunt in front of the left offensive tackle, and has the opposite defensive linemen crashing in. However, with two quick adjustments, the defensive line now crashes out, and is spread. To do this, hit the LB / L1 button, then hit up on the d-pad. This spreads the defensive line. Then, hit LB / L1 and up on the right analog stick. This now crashes the defensive line out as you see in the right image above.
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Immediately after the snap, you can see the defensive line stand up, and move to the outside. This sets up better pass rush angles. The offensive line reacts by sliding with the defense. This creates gaps in the offensive line, and isolates each offensive linemen 1 v. 1 on a defensive linemen. In the image to the right, you can see the holes in the offensive line. This can be exploited with a manual rush, or a good one on one move by a talented defensive lineman.
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The play progresses and you can see the defensive line getting great width. This technique can be very effective against a quarterback that attempts to roll out of the pocket. In the image to the right, the defensive line finally crashes down on the offensive line.
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Highlighted in the image to the left, you can see that the DT beats the right guard, and gets a straight shot on Tom Brady. This type of pressure that the Giants used in the Super Bowl to shut down the Patriots offense.
The result is a sack of Tom Brady.
Conclusion
While the offensive line is smarter in 2009, there are still going to be ways to get pressure on the quarterback. I wanted to show the defensive line spread / crash because it is so similar to a technique from Madden 2005, and really can be a simply, effective way to hurry the quarterback. Utilizing a team with a great defensive line can really give the defense options because now you have the ability to drop seven men into coverage and still get pressure. Better still, the defense can send a fifth blitzing player from various angles on nearly every play. This will ensure pressure, and prevent the offense from knowing where it's coming from.
