If you're new to the Madden franchise, you might be wondering how passing works in the game. After all, it's an important part of scoring in real football, and the same can be said of Madden. Luckily for newbies, the learning curve for success in Madden is relatively quick, and it's pretty easy to figure out the controls.
Before making a pass, you must invoke a pass game on the play call screen. To do this, simply select Play Type from the play-call menu and scroll down until you see the Play option. From there, you'll see a variety of short, standard, and shotgun passes to choose from. If you want to go deeper and select a passing game from a specific formation (i.e. I Formation, Shotgun), you can select the Formation option on the play call screen and you can find a game from different setups from there. To select a specific concept (for example, Slants, Post), click on the Concept option. You can also choose games with a specific number of eligible receivers (i.e. 3 WR, 1 TE or 2 WR, 2 TE) by selecting the Personal option.
The layout of the play-call menu screen in Madden 21. (Madden 21 screenshot)Once you've called a play and are on the pitch, press A / X to pick up the ball. Once you do that, the quarterback will return to the pocket and you will have a number of eligible recipients to choose from. To throw to a particular receiver, press the button above that target. The buttons used to target receivers are RB / Y / X / B / A for the Xbox One and X / Square / Triangle / Circle / R1 for the PlayStation 4.
The length of time you press the button will also affect the type of pass. If you press and hold a button to target a receiver for a very short period of time, the pass will be a Bullet Pass, which is quicker and straighter. If you touch it lightly, the pass will be a Lob, which has a higher top and is not as fast as a straight bullet pass. You can also change the pass by pressing LB / L1 for high passes and LT / L2 for low passes.
If you feel the heat of the pass and want to get rid of the ball, quickly a throw option is also available. To do this, hold down the middle of the right joystick to throw it over the key. Keep in mind that you have to scramble and throw it out of the pocket, otherwise you will get an intentional grounding penalty.
