Slant Right Man

Description

When shutting down the run is your top priority but you still need some defense against the pass, you can't do much better than Slant Right Man. With a five man line all slanting to their right every gap in the offensive line (including a tight end on the strong side) will be filled. Lead blocks by a fullback are often met head on in the hole by a defensive tackle, leaving the linebackers free to flow with the ball and tackle the ball carrier before he make any significant gains. Straightahead run blocking is overmatched, traps and counters are blown up before they can really get started, and tosses and sweeps are strung out by strong pressure at the ends.

Though it matches up favorably with almost any running play in the open field, Slant Right Man is not designed as a priority passing defense. The corners give a cushion to ensure that they aren't beat deep in man coverage, and have additional safety help over the top. With no underneath zone help they can however be beat be slants, outs, and most of all curls. The fact that there are only four man defenders is not as big of a liability as it might look because offenses rarely send out five players on pass routes out of the base sets Punisher will normally be used against. LBs in Madden will generally switch if the player initially matched up against them stays in to block while the originally uncovered player runs a pattern, though this delay in coverage switch may cost the defense on a quick throw. The problem can be made worse on play action fakes. Keep a close eye on the TE when running this play, as he might be the player most able to exploit the vulnerable undercoverage.

Player Assignments

See the Madden Playbook Guide for a description of these symbols.

Analysis

Pros:

• Very tough against the run
• Solid if unspectacular pass rush
• Fairly good against deep pass plays with both WRs man covered and two safeties deep

Cons:

• Vulnerable to comeback routes and passes underneath due to single coverage and LBs playing man
• One back or TE possibly uncovered
• Play action passes can suck in LBs and free up backs and especially TE for the pass