Practice, Practice, Practice: Take a half an hour before and after a game to sharpen your skills. Get your timing down on pass plays. Practice and learn new plays during this time and work on the weak areas of your game.

Offensive Theories: It is good to have an offensive philosphy as part of your game plan. Your game plan should be dictated by your personel, playing style and other intangibles.

Smash-Mouth: The three yards and a cloud of dust offense. Good if you have a strong running back and offensive line. Also can help if your quarterback is not so talented.

The Running Back: The ideal running back should have enough speed to get outside and get away from defenders and enough size and strength to pound it up the gut and break tackles

The Running Game: A solid running game can accomplish several things. First, it protects the ball, keeps the clock moving and the defense on the field. Second a solid running game will set up the passing game which will in turn set up your running game. One of the most frustrating things you can do to a person is hold the ball and let the clock run down and get a first down via the run.

Running Tips: Don't always speed burst or juke-save the juice for when you need it. When you dive through the middle of the line, use the D-pad to manuever between and behind your blockers. On outside runs, be patient and wait for your blockers to engage the defenders. Don't overrun your blocking. Keeps your eyes open and look where you are going. As far as the juke button, wait until you are past the line of scrimmage and they doing a "double juke"--juking one way then the other. Use the stiff arm like a punch to knock down defenders. You can also juke a defender by stopping letting him fly by you then running again.

Best Time to Run: Is on passing downs. A good time to run is 2nd and long when the CPU or your opponent is lined up in a pass defense set.

West Coast: A precision ball controlled passing attack that utilizes all eligble receivers. Most passes are short and are intended to control the clock and move the sticks. Good if you have the players.

Spread the Ball: You have five eligible receivers on your team. Make sure that they get equal justice so that the defense will not key on your best players and keep them honest.

Know Your Role: Know who are going to be your primary and secondary receivers and know where they should be. You don't have time to be feeling and fumbling with your controllers. Knowledge of which button to press and when will help you get your passes off quick and effectively.

Don't Ask For too Much: Don't expect your non-big play players to make big plays. Asking an average tight end to go long for the bomb may be asking him to do something that he may not be capable of. A simple five yard hitch may be better suited for his talent.

Ball Control: Take what the defense gives you and move the sticks. You don't need to throw a 40 or 50 yard bomb every play, just enough to keep the ball moving in a positive direction. Find the plays that are going to gain a constant 5 or so yards. This is your bread and butter.

Recognize Coverages: The first read that you should do is recognizing if it is man or zone coverage. Does the defensive back follow your WR in motion? Do they go out and "meet and greet" your WRs? Do they bump and hold them at the line of scrimmage? Then you are facing man coverage.

Reading Coverages: Reading coverages is not an exact science. Different plays versus different defenses will have different reads. If you are unfamiliar with it, I suggest that you go to the practice field and run different defensive coverages until you are comfortable recognizing them. The way I read coverages is that I try to read the passing lane and defender drops. Since I should already know where my receivers should be, my decision is based on the defenders general location (where they aren't). Crossing routes require that you read the drops of the linebackers and defensive backs into their zones and finding the "soft" spots in the coverages.

Flood the Zone: An effective way to beat zone receivers in the area then defenders. By doing this you can create one or one mismatches that will give you the numerical advantage.

The Layered Look: This goes under the part of flooding the zone. Send one player deep, one player medium and one player short on one side of the field. This gives you an easy read while also creating a mismatch. A good play to use is the FAR WEAK FLOOD. Put you Flanker in motion and send him on a go route. Now you have your Flanker going deep, your Split End doing an out (medium) and your Halfback doing a flare (short).

Defeating Man Defense: One way to beat man coverage is a "pick" play ( receivers who routes cross and take out a defender). Another way is to have your wide receiver simply outrun the defender. Then you have to make sure that the pass is up and over the defenders head. A final way is to have a big, physical receiver do a short hook route and muscle his way into position. Make sure that you throw the ball in a place where he can use his body to shield it from the defender.

Route Based Passing: A new concept to Madden is the Route Based Passing (RBP). Basically it allows you throw the ball where the receiver should be. This is good for out patterns and hitches. Timing is crucial because a miscue could lead to an incompletion or interception. To use Route Based Passing, hold L2 and the receiver button.

Hot Routes: Another new feature for Madden 2000 are the "Hot Routes". These add a entire new element to play calling as you can audible just a single player at the line of scrimmage. Don't like the way the play was originally designed? Well now you can change it. To activate a "Hot Route" press the triangle button, then the receiver button. After that press the D-pad up for a go route, down for a hook, left/right for an out and in pattern.

Directional Passing: Sometimes you may need to "place" the ball in a certain position in order to complete the pass. Different coverages will require you to make different throws. Basically you should try to put the ball in a place that is (1) hard for the defender to knock away or intercept (2) in a spot that places the receiver between the defender and ball or away from the defender.

Stop Me If You Can: Sometimes you may find a play that works over and over and over again. I say this: If it ain't broke don't fix it.