Every Thursday, a leader in the community will share a tip or two to help you improve your Madden game.  Next up is Damon Peterson, staff member on the popular sports gaming fansite Maddenplanet.com. Here's part one of his two part tip on screen passes. 

Play Action Pass

Most people stray away from running Play Action passes because of the risk of getting sacked. Something that I do to keep playaction passes in my offensive arsenal is to always have a short and a deep option on each PA pass that I run and reading the defense as the fake hand off is happening.  I make sure I have my finger ready to throw to my short option which is usually a FB or HB out of the backfield.   Reading the defense to see whether or not a blitz is coming or if a Defensive lineman is breaking through can be the difference in a 5 to 7 yard loss or a 5 - 10 yard gain.

If I see that the defense is in position for a potential sack I start hitting the button for my short option immediately and take what I can get.  If I see that the line has held up I can look to my deep option for single coverage or a second option that would be a medium range pass.  If my line holds I almost never look to the short option as the risk/reward of the PA pass can pay off huge when looking down the field for a big play. Be sure that while in the play call screen to memorize the button for the short option and be ready to go to it quickly.  

-Damon