Ok, I've seen several people complaining about the massive #'s of INT's they throw, so I decided it was time to write my passing guide, which centers around AVOIDING INT'S at almost any cost :-). And it doesn't mean be conservative as hell, either. I'm gonna divide it into sections that may be disorganized, but it's all in there somewhere...

Play selection:

Know the passing plays that you choose, and know where the recievers' routes actually are on the field. They don't always follow the diagram too well. The diagrams are more like a vague guideline, not precise blueprint. You should choose a play that is most suited for the situation, or one that is not suited for the situation at all. I will explain. On 3rd and 5, the computer AI is looking for the short pass, and you are probably doing a short pass. If you execute well, then you can still beat them. On the other hand, you could go deep, and catch them off-guard and get a big gainer. It's a risk, but it will 2 out of 3 times catch the CPU AI off-guard. This is more like play-calling strategy, which should wait for another post. On to the meat of this post:

Pre-snap reads:

This is probably one of the most important if not THE most important part of passing successfully. Make sure you have at least 10 seconds on the play clock when you get to the line, so you can do these checks. I'll just number a bunch of things to look for:

1. Figure out what defense they are in: 4-3, 3-4, Nickel, Dime, Goal Line, or Special (yeah, right). From this you can do several things: Find mismatches: 4-3 defenses have 2 CB's. If you have a 3-WR set, then one of your WR's, the slot guy, is gonna be matched up against a LB, who is most likely slower and not as agile. You should watch this matchup for sure in this case. Nickel D has 3 CB's, and Dime D has 3 CB's plus an extra safety. Another thing to watch for in this case is if your 6'5", 270 lb. TE is matched up against their 5'10" 195 lb. CB. Your TE can crush him, and you can just throw it up to him, and watch him outmuscle the CB for the ball.

2. When your guys are walking up to the line, watch for a defensive guy that instead of logging slowly, is walking to his post. This means he is seriously fatigued, and won't perform up to his full attributes. Watch for this in your OWN WR's too, and if you see fatigue in your own guys, sub in back-ups, cause they'll do better than tired starters. Pick on the other team's fatigued DB's. Fatigue kills.

3. Watch for the man lock coverage. This is when the 2 main CB's follow your WR's out to their posts. This means that you have man-to-man on your 2 outside WR's, and you can beat their corner if he isn't too good.

4. Watch for blitz. Sometimes the CPU will tip it off, and the LB's will edge up to the line of scrimmage, and move up and back. Sometimes the ones that move blitz, sometimes they drop into coverage, but you can say at least 50% chance that they're gonna blitz. If you see a blitz, then take note and remember it.

Post-Snap:

The second that the ball is snapped, look to see where the blitz, if there is any, is coming from. If there is a blitz, then you can usually throw in the direction that the blitz is coming from, and get an easy few yards where the blitzer left open space.

Probably the most important thing: tell the difference between man and zone coverage. Man coverage is only easy to beat if you have a big, fast, skilled WR. Zone you can beat with 3 Phil McConkey's running your routes :-).

If it is man coverage, you may want to try to lead your reciever in whichever direction they are going, so that only the WR has a chance at the ball, even if it is overthrown, no stupid INT's here. There are 2 ways to beat man coverage really. The first is if you have a fast WR, faster than their CB by a few steps, and he is just running straight upfield. Throw a lob with a lot under it, leading your WR way downfield, and he can catch it in stride over the CB's head. The other way to beat man coverage is if your WR's have routes that cross eachother at the same time. You can sometimes rub off a coverage by the other WR getting in the way. This is the tougher of the two ways. In general, man defense you should take no risks against, cause unless your WR is really good, their CB's will keep up.

Zone coverages: The thing about zones is that there is always a seam. You can find the spot in the zone where two defenders drift apart and your guy goes right where they should have been. A good hard bullet will get the ball into these seams, a lob will be a guaranteed INT against most all zones. Also, witha drop zone, where the CPU drops back, you can get some very easy outs, ins, and hooks under 10 yards.

Watch the Safety flow: Watch how the 2 safeties move, and if one comes in for short zones or other, you can go deep to his side and break a big gainer. You watch where the safeties are drifting to, and throw away from that spot.

6. Thunder and Lightning defenses have only one safety: throw the ball to whichever wideout he doesn't head towards.

7. Know the hot receiver: this is usually a back with a short route to the side. If you are under heavy pressure, know to throw a swift pass to this guy. He is the safe way out, instead of chucking a floater upfield.

Ok now, these are more mechanics-type stuff:

1. I;m sure that everyone has heard it, but for posterity's sake: Before you have your QB release the ball, stop moving and plant his feet. Throwing on the run can make your passes WAY off. The only pass I would recommend making on the run is a short route t oa back out of the backfield. Otherwise the chances of INT's are high.

2. Do not take control of your reciever unless he is crowded by DB's. The CPU will generally run a nice route itself for you, and unless the pass is high or off-target, you needn't move your WR around. If there is more than one defender there, then you should position your man to make the catch while protecting he position from the D.

3. Yo needn't always press the "catch" button, considering all it does is make your guy jump a little. Throwing a ball into traffic can be VERY bad in this respect, because while catching the ball, the WR can be hit, and then the ball pops up and there's an INT.

4. Unless the defense is in man coverage, you needn't use any lobs or leading usually. A normal pass should be crisp, and more or less a bullet. QB THP is very important. THA is affected mostly by your own habit of planting the QB's feet or NOT planting them.

5. There is a button, for Playstation it is triangle. It is the "throw-away" button. If you can't find anyone worth risking a throw to, get out of the pocket, and if you can't scramble for yards, then just throw it away. When you are out of the pocket, it's not intentional grounding.

6. If a DL is coming right at you, just tuck the ball in and fall. If you try to throw with a guy rsuhing in your face, it makes your throw innaccurate, and you could be intercepted easily, or just fumble the ball away right then and there.

This is mostly all I can think of right now. If anyone's got any questions about stuff I have in here, or stuff that should be in here, please gimme some feedback here!