Many players watch football on Sunday and quickly learn the rules and strengths of the players. Madden NFL 16 is the most authentic simulation of football action, and there is plenty to learn even for a veteran player. Start with the basics and quickly add a few new adjustments to your game each week. Keep this page as a reference to make sure you understand the basics of football. The Skills Trainer is your best friend when it comes to learning all the mechanics in Madden NFL 16. There is also a list of full list of controls for each situation in the Game Settings menu.
A Gap — The gaps in the offensive line between the center and the guards are the A gaps. There is one to the right and one to the left. The fastest way to the QB is through the A gap since it’s right up the middle.
Aggressive Catch — This catch mechanic allows computer players to go up and attack the ball at its highest point. It can be triggered manually by using 
(Xbox) or 
(PS) when the ball is in the air; you do not need to be clicked on the receiver.
Audible/Audibling — The act of coming to the line and then changing your play. If you call something in the huddle and get to the line of scrimmage and realize the defense is doing something different than you expected, you want to call an audible. This allows you to change your play to something you think will work better. You can set up to five audibles before the game to make sure you are ready for any situation.
B Gap — The gaps in the offensive line between the guards and tackles are the B gaps. There is one on each side of the line, and the B gap is the second quickest way to get pressure (after the A gap).
Blitz — On offense, the defense may look to blitz you by bringing more defenders towards your QB than you can block. On defense, you blitz by rushing more players at the QB than your opponent can block. This leaves your coverage vulnerable, but you may force the offense into a bad decision or get a sack.
Block a Halfback — Blocking a halfback is done by putting a player behind the line into a blocking hot route. This will help if you sense a blitz coming at your offense and want your HB to stay in and block.
Blue Route — This is a “block-and-release” route, which tells your offensive player (whose route is blue) to help block before releasing out on his route for a pass.
The Box — The area on defense before the snap where the defensive line and LBs line up. Looking at “the box” can help you decide if the defense is defending a run and has “eight defenders in the box” or not.
Bunch Set — Three players stacked tightly together on one-half of the field makes a bunch set. A bunch is great for flooding certain areas of the field. An example is Ace Bunch.
C gap — The C gap refers to the offensive line and is just outside of either tackle. It can be thought of as “the edge”; however, if a TE lines up there, it becomes another gap like the A or B gap. This is the slowest way to get pressure on the QB and generally is where offensive lines want to allow rushers.
Check Down — To dump off a short pass to the halfback or last option on a play, especially after seeing that your other options are covered.
Chew Clock — This setting in the play-calling screen allows you to run off additional seconds on the clock in between snaps. This speeds up the end of a game when the score isn’t close.
Clicking onto a Player — This is the act of switching your player mid-play to control someone close to the action. “I clicked onto the WR and tried to make the catch.”
Concept — A specific set of routes that work together to beat a specific defense. For example, a mesh concept is having two crossing drag routes on a play.
Conservative Catch — A catch mechanic that allows a receiver to focus on catching the ball and securing it rather than picking up more yards after the catch. This is a smart idea on the sideline and near the back of the end zone.
Depth Chart — The area of the game where you set your lineup. Access this by pressing the Pause menu to set which players play where.
Draw — This is a run play that pretends the offense is passing. The QB drops back and the receivers start to run routes. Once the defense is fooled, the QB hands off to the running back, who looks for open running lanes.
Dropping a Lineman — Placing a defender on the line of scrimmage into a zone assignment. This is most common with a zone blitz play.
Empty Set — A common formation with an empty set is Gun Empty. The backfield is “empty” because there are five WRs in on the play.
Flat — The area of the field near the sideline in line with the line of scrimmage. The most common term is a “pass to the flat,” which means a short pass to the halfback who is running towards the sideline from out of the backfield.
Flood — When you send more receivers into a certain area of the field than the opponent has coverage. One example is Four Verticals against a Cover 3 defense. You have four receivers downfield and the opponent only has three defenders deep — therefore one must be open.
Formation — The formation is how players line up before the snap of the football. There are offensive formations and defensive formations. Singleback and Gun are offensive formations, for example.
Horizontal Passing Concepts — Attacking the field with a short-to-medium passing game that uses safe throws to keep the chains moving. This offense lacks the big plays of a vertical passing game but should yield a higher percentage of completed throws. The mesh concept is a horizontal passing concept.
Hot Route — Before the snap, you can change any of your players’ route assignments to one of eight pre-set routes based on his position. If you read that the defense is weak in a certain area, call a hot route or use multiple hot routes to create a new play on the fly.
Hurry-Up Offense — After a play you can call your players back to the line of scrimmage without going back to the play-calling screen. The last play you called will be selected, and the defense won’t be able to substitute. This up-tempo offense can be used to tire out the defense and keep them off balance. It is also known as a no-huddle offense.
Juke — Use the right stick to have your offensive player make a move to fake out the defender.
Line of Scrimmage — A line parallel to the yard lines where the ball is spotted right before it’s snapped. The linemen blocking the defense take their places along this line.
Motion a WR — Before the snap, you can highlight an offensive player (WR, TE, or HB) and have him move to a new position. When the blue circle is underneath him, use the D-pad to move him to a new position. This can create new formations and forces the defense to watch where you move your player.
Option Run — A play where the QB can either hand off the ball to his teammate or keep it for himself depending on what he sees with the defense. Also known as Read Option.
Packaging — Using packages at the play-calling screen with the right stick can sub specific players into the game for special situations. For example, the Dual HB package will take out the FB and place another HB into the game at his position.
Pistol — This is a unique formation where the QB takes a shotgun snap but the HB still lines up behind him. You’ll find the Pistol in the Redskins’ playbook, for example.
Play-Action Pass — Play action involves faking a handoff to the back to try to fool the defense into thinking it’s a run. The QB still has the ball and looks to throw.
Play Ball — This defensive mechanic allows the defender to try to play the ball at its highest point. This can force a knockout and is the best way to go for an interception.
Play Man — This defensive mechanic allows the defender to play the receiver as he is catching the ball to improve the chance that he can knock it out or force a drop.
Press Coverage — When press coverage is called, your defensive back will stand close to the WR and play physical at the snap. This forces the receiver to use his hands to get off the jam at the line and can throw off timing with the QB. The danger is that if the WR can get free, he will often get good separation from the defender. This is also known as bump-n-run coverage.
Quick Audible — Before the snap, you can quickly audible to another play if you read that the defense is weak against something. You can call a quick pass, deep pass, play-action pass, or run from any formation by using the right stick in a specific direction.
RAC — The “run after catch” mechanic allows a receiver to turn upfield as he is catching the ball to pick up as many yards as possible. It’s controlled by 
(Xbox) or 
(PS).
Read Option — An option run in which the QB either hands the ball off to his HB or keeps it. The QB must “read” the defender and make a quick decision!
Screen Pass — Screen passes are most often used when facing an aggressive defense. They look to hit the HB near the flat and try to get the offensive linemen out in front to block.
Set — Once you select a formation, the set is how your players will align within it. For example, 4-3 is a defensive formation, and then Over Plus is the set.
Shot Play — This is a specific play concept that the offense calls when they want to look for a big play downfield in the passing game.
Shotgun Snap — Any formation where the QB lines up 4–5 yards behind the center, who snaps the ball to the QB in the air. This increases chances for bad snaps and most commonly is used with formations that lean heavily towards the pass. The QB catches the snap and doesn’t have to backpedal, so he is all set up to throw.
Slide Protection — Before the snap, you can tell your linemen to slide left, right, or pinch into the middle. This will help them pick up blitzers if you sense them coming from a specific area.
Stiff Arm — A stiff arm is a move by the ball carrier where he puts a straight arm out to prevent the tackler from getting in range to make a hit. This is generally a more effective move for power back than for elusive backs. Make sure to check a player’s Stiff Arm rating to see how effective he will be at performing the move.
Strafe — On defense, strafing will square your hips to the line of scrimmage and give you better control of your player. You will not be able to move as fast when strafing.
Strip — A tackle who is running for a ball carrier can go for a “strip,” where he tries to knock the ball loose, rather than a tackle. This can force a turnover, but it can also result in a broken tackle. It is best to go for a strip only when you have lots of teammates in the area.
Swat — Having your defender try to knock the ball down rather than go for the interception. He looks to knock away the pass, which gives him more range and can be safer than trying for an interception.
Tight Set — Tight sets bring your receivers into the middle of the field rather than out wide as in most formations. This will create a lot of action in the middle of the field and force the defense to bump into each other as they try to cram into a tight area. Shotgun Tight Flex is a tight set.
Trips Set — These formations place three WRs onto one side of the field. This forces your opponents to shift their attention towards that side since there are more players on that side of the field. Trips sets are great for flooding zone coverages. Shotgun Trips is one example.
Truck — A ball carrier who tries to run over a defender when being tackled is a truck. Trucking is most common with power backs, especially near the goal line.
Under Center — Any formation where the QB lines up directly behind the center and takes a handoff directly from him. This is the opposite of a shotgun snap.
Usering/User Control — When you actively control a player during a play. Whatever player you use on defense is who you are “user-controlling.” The best players believe they can make more plays than if the computer were controlling the same player.
User Catch — The act of clicking onto a WR and holding the Catch button to go after a pass.
Verticals Passing Concept — This passing concept looks to stretch the field aggressively towards your opponent’s end zone. Most often the deep pass audible, by flicking the right stick right, will give you this style of play. The most common way to attack the defense is with Four Verticals, which floods coverage deep by sending all four receivers deep downfield.
YAC — Yards after catch for a receiver or yards after contact for a running back.
Zone Blitz — The art of bringing pressure from one area of the field while dropping defenders into another. This is a tactic used to confuse the offense.
Defensive Pre-Snap Adjustments
Blitz — You can make any selected player blitz by using this hot route command, a.k.a. a blitz straight down since the player’s rush angle will appear straight down on the screen.
Bluff Blitz — This hot route makes your defender attack the line of scrimmage before dropping into his zone. You can fake pressure with a linebacker before he drops over the middle.
Curl to Flat — The “buzz zone” zone defender will drop 8–10 yards deep and defend the curl; if there is no route threatening that area, he will move to the flat. A buzz zone is also known as a purple zone because of the zone color.
Deep Zone — This dark blue zone will drop back and play deep assignments.
Flat Zone — This light blue zone will drop down and play the flat. It is great for guarding short-throwing offenses and players who like to dump off passes to the halfback.
Guess Play — Predict a pass or commit to a run to one side or up the middle. Use LT (Xbox) or L2 (PS) and the right stick before the snap.
Hook Zone — This yellow zone will guard a 3- to 5-yard radius around wherever it is assigned. It is great for covering the middle of the field.
Option Adjustment — Contain the QB or RB on option plays depending on your pre-snap command.
QB Contain — You can place your defensive ends in contains by using LT (Xbox) or L2 (PS) before the snap and pressing RB (Xbox) or R1 (PS).
QB Spy — A QB spy tells your defender to watch the QB and attack him if he runs past the line of scrimmage. This is a great way to stop scrambling QBs. This route also helps stop short throws right over the middle.
Shift Defense — Pinch, spread, or shift your defense in either direction with LT (Xbox) or L2 (PS) and the left stick.
Quick Adjustments — These allow you to control your secondary players without clicking onto them before the snap.