T Bone-Jumbo

T Bone-Jumbo

• Power O Sting
• Weak Dive
• T Trap
• T Trap

Power Offense Formations

• T Bone-Jumbo
• U Bacon
• Wishbone-Big
• Jumbo Wing
• Sidewinder
• Strong T

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Overview

T Bone-Jumbo continues what I hope becomes a great power running tradition in my playbook, inspired by (but not copying) existing formations from the college and pro ranks. Last year I brought forth Wishbone-Big as a throwback to old college and high school power running sets. This year I've taken inspiration from last season's Green Bay Packers various jumbo packages, used to great success. This formation, along with U Bacon, is one result of that inspiration. I obviously wasn't the only one to catch onto this phenomenon, as several Full House packages have appeared in Madden NFL 2005, in the Packers playbook and elsewhere. Not every team is built to utilize two excellent fullbacks, but those that are can create awesome blocking power at any point along the offensive line out of this punishing set.

The best running plays are aimed at the stronger right side, but with two fullbacks the weak side is an excellent choice as well. Though the #1 FB staggered to the right is a bit out of the way for leading off left tackle, the T Bone is essentially a standard straight I formation with an extra FB in place of the flanker, so running weakside is just as good as an I Form weakside run (not bad, in other words). Still, the strong side is where the real power lies, and even plays designed to go weakside can often exploit this by using the Playmaker, often making the play even more explosive than it is in its natural form.

There isn't much obvious potential in passing the ball with T Bone, but I've found that with a formation like this the running game can seem multi-dimensional on its own, with so many blocking combinations possible. What's more, though it may lack in passing prowess a smart coordinator might just make up for this in surprise: after all, if you bring out a jumbo package on 3rd and 1 the defense almost has to key on the run, right? Knowing your tendencies, seeing how your opponent adjusts to them, and exploiting the resulting matchups can be just as effective as executing well designed plays, and running even a mediocre passing play from a heavy formation can be quite effective when no one would expect it.

Because EA has made ample use of the Full House formation in Madden NFL 2005, making a fully featured T Bone-Jumbo formation is easy. Just pick a Full House formation from (Green Bay has several, and other teams are using them as well) and make a few minor adjustments. Green Bay's Jumbo T works pretty well also, it's what I used to develop this formation in Madden 2004. The key motions for this power running formation are being able to slide both FBs along the line of scrimmage, as well as being able to split out the TE for passing plays and sweeps.

Plays