Why Don't My Receivers Look for the Ball on Their Breaks?

I can't tell you how many times I throw the ball so that it should be arriving right after my receiver will be making his cut ("throwing with anticipation"), and the receiver having enough time to look for the ball in order to catch it. Instead, defenders will break on the pass while my receiver continues running his route blindly, often even wandering farther downfield (on what should be a sharp in-break) and letting the safety get underneath for the pick.

I'm throwing the ball where it should be thrown, and if my receiver knew to look for it (as he would according to the play design if thinking like an NFL receiver), he should be catching the ball, no problems. What am I supposed to be doing in MUTland?

This ^^^^^ is so frustrating. Especially considering I've thrown early a few times and the receiver made a play on it before the break (passes were incomplete, but still his awareness was just fine) only to have them do exactly as you described. Clearly EA wants us to time throws you'd think they would reward those types of plays because God knows the algorithm will punish you for throwing late. Lol

Happens to me WAY more than I would like. I could be crazy but I feel like different receivers make their cuts at different times. Idk if it’s determined by height/weight, agility/cod, route running, or even the type of ”stride” they have. Either way I always feel like it takes some tome to get used to whenever I get a new receiver.

SlowAndSteady said:

Happens to me WAY more than I would like. I could be crazy but I feel like different receivers make their cuts at different times. Idk if it’s determined by height/weight, agility/cod, route running, or even the type of ”stride” they have. Either way I always feel like it takes some tome to get used to whenever I get a new receiver.

I've definitely had this happen as well, and like you said, it seems every reciever will "breaks/cuts" differently as well. I run into I've thrown to reciver X a dozen times and "know" his break, then try the same thing/timing with a different receiver and get very different and inconsistent results.

xXLethalDose89Xx said:

This ^^^^^ is so frustrating. Especially considering I've thrown early a few times and the receiver made a play on it before the break (passes were incomplete, but still his awareness was just fine) only to have them do exactly as you described. Clearly EA wants us to time throws you'd think they would reward those types of plays because God knows the algorithm will punish you for throwing late. Lol

If I throw to a receiver on a curl, he should not be looking over his shoulder for the ball early, as that reduces his top speed and allows the defender(s) to key in on the route's termination. In Madden, I can actually manipulate this route to work as a streak and use the route stem function to designate where the receiver looks for the ball. (This is not how football works.)

If I throw to a non-option corner route, my receiver should adjust when he looks for the ball based on the defensive alignment and the play's progression. If he's underneath and inside coverage, he needs to get his eyes toward the quarterback right after the break, with the expectation that he'll be running his route shallow and looking for the ball low. (The receiver won't adjust this way in Madden.) If he's underneath and outside coverage and the quarterback didn't signal pre-play that he would be throwing hot, the receiver will go for maximum speed out of the break and look for the ball just a moment later with the expectation of the ball coming very close to the sideline. This should be a very open route on the field since the safety can't commit underneath for the risk of giving up a play over the top, but ever since EA patched corner route coverage by juicing the safety's reactions, the execution of this play has become very erratic, with a high probability of breakup or interception.

I've discussed elsewhere that routes don't generally work as they should, and accordingly, throwing with anticipation is not feasible in Madden. As someone here bluntly put it, I need to stop playing Madden like it's a football game. Sadly, I have football instincts developed over many years that preclude playing Opposite-World Football at a high level.

As I talk this out, I'm realizing that I just need to watch a couple YouTube videos, switch to a playbook with more of the Roshambo broken plays everyone's been burning me with for a year or two, and just play MUT like it's MUT.

TexasViper said:

I've definitely had this happen as well, and like you said, it seems every reciever will "breaks/cuts" differently as well. I run into I've thrown to reciver X a dozen times and "know" his break, then try the same thing/timing with a different receiver and get very different and inconsistent results.

Yep, you explained what I was trying say better than me. That is exactly what happens when I try a new receiver.

SlowAndSteady said:

Happens to me WAY more than I would like. I could be crazy but I feel like different receivers make their cuts at different times. Idk if it’s determined by height/weight, agility/cod, route running, or even the type of ”stride” they have. Either way I always feel like it takes some tome to get used to whenever I get a new receiver.

I hadn't previously noticed this, but since you mention it, I'm getting very different results with Ed Too Tall Jones than I've had with other receivers like Deion Sanders or Devin Hester.

phatalerror said:

I hadn't previously noticed this, but since you mention it, I'm getting very different results with Ed Too Tall Jones than I've had with other receivers like Deion Sanders or Devin Hester.

I have been trying to decide if I should keep Ed or not. His cuts are really slow and late compared to my bnd AJ Brown who was always running crisp/quick routes. On the other hand I can hit Ed on a drag and then proceed to break tackles with his Yac ‘Em Up and a lot of times get a nice gain. He’s just hard to rely on with a lot of the routes I like to use.