madden league anyone?

Discussion in 'Video Games' started by GMITTS, Dec 16, 2008.

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  1. A Fightin'Titan

    A Fightin'Titan Starter

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    I'm on a 3 game skid .......:grrr:
     
  2. SEC 330 BIPOLAR

    SEC 330 BIPOLAR jive turkey

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    call me. How about Thursday afternoon?
     
  3. Gut

    Gut Pro Bowler

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    Well...

    A lot of Madden is about strategy and skill. You need a sound strategy and need to have the skill to impliment it.

    Strategy - OFFENSE
    I find a few formations I like and then have 3-5 plays that I REALLY know well from these formations. You'll want more run heavy formations...like 2 TE's or a FB lead. For double TE balanced, you force the defense to not overload either side since you can run either way or overload either side with the pass. I pass and run out of the dbl te sets. With the Titans, this is a good formation as few who have LB's and S's who can cover both scaife and Crump. I usually only use a FB when Im running between the tackles or playaction.

    I also have a few passing formations like 3 wr and a TE or 4 wrs w/CJ. I have fewer plays from these formations because I change a lot of routes based on what the defense shows me.

    In general, be able to run and pass out of any formation. I have 1-2 audibles for each of my main offensive formations so if I come out in a passing formations and he has a 3man front and splits them wide, i quickly audible to an inside run and gain 5-10 yards. You get the point.

    You also wanna be very aware of his weak personel. Can you slip your best wr to the slot to face a weak nickel back?

    You must have a balanced attack unless he can't stop your rushing attack...then wait for him to show blitz and audible to a quick pass or post with your best wr. The only caveat to this is if he plays a goal line or 8 man front the entire game and is daring you to pass.

    Pay attention to what he does on first down and 3rd down. If he normally plays zone on first and 10, you can call a play to exploit this...like a deep playaction pass. And what does he like to do on 3rd and long...zone, man, blitz? A lot of players have a preferred defensive play for 3rd and 10 when they don't blitz. Dos he play a lot of man or a lot of zone?

    Another thing a lot of online guys try to do is set up blitzes by moving people around. two ways to defeat this strategically are...call a play and have ur guys run to the line and hike the ball. Not a lot of time to move players around on D. Alternative is to call a play that overloads one side. If he looks like he's gonna bring heat from the other side, flip the play and hike before he can reset his D and personell.

    Practice your plays against various man and zone D...especially cover 2, cover 3, 4 deep, 4 deep/safe. Be able to throw short, medium or deep. Playing against the comp, a lot of players get used to HOW the comp plays specific defenses. Humans adjust them. Know which defenses cause you problems and then practice your plays against them. You'll find by throwing to a different WR or adjusting a route may help you a lot. Be balanced in pass protection and be aware that human players will call exotic cb blitzes a lot more than you'd ever see it from the computer.

    Hope this helps. Any questions, lemme know.

    Gut

    PS - throwing past lb's requires you to see them and then have the button control to get it over them but still have some zip on the ball. I assume you know how to lead your reciever by throwing with the stick?
     
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  4. Gut

    Gut Pro Bowler

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    One more thing...

    My friends hate it, but I adjust a lot of passing routes. If you change one or even 2 routes, the play works very differently and you can really catch people off-guard. After I taught my son to do this, he became a 100x more difficult. He liked to use a bunch formation that brought 2 players across the middle. Once I figured out a D to stop this, he gave me the same formation and had his RB flare to the outside opposite the crossers. He knew I wasn't gonna blitz because he knew I couldn't get to him in time before his underneath guy would be open...and he knew I'd have to use a lot of personell to contain these crossers so he was free to release his rb and it worked to perfection. 15 yard gain on 3rd and 5. In our fantasy league, his rb is reggie bush so this adjustment makes this play devastating! And if you have a good QB don't be afraid to run hitch passes. They can be hard to stop unless the cb is really good or the QB isn't accurate.

    Gut
     
  5. Carpy

    Carpy Disgruntled foreign veteran

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    I 100% agree with this. My passing game is all about the hitch routes. There is a Shotgun 4-WR play where the outside receivers each run a hitch. CJ runs an out'n'in over the middle and the slot receiver from either side flares out.

    This play is excellent against most nickel and dime zone packages on 3rd down because your WR will make the hitch right at about 10 yards, and if a team goes into a man defense, then you have the MLB covering CJ, which is another match-up you should win.
     
  6. Gut

    Gut Pro Bowler

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    Defense
    Defense is all about managing down and distance and controlling risk vs reward. If you have a defense like the Titans, there is little need to blitz a lot since you can get pressure and cover well rushing 4. However, you must ALWAYS make the offense honor the potential blitz. On 3rd and long, I frequently will move people up just as if I were blitzing. He doesn't know Im only gonna blitz 15% of the time and will need to keep RB and TE's in to block. Now he has a little more time but I have more defenders to cover is 3 recievers. When he starts releasing RB's out of the backfield, that's a good sign you need to 'change' his mind with a well designed blitz!

    Unless you manually control defensive backs, I don't play a lot of man on 3rd and long unless blitzing or if I'm trying to bait him to throw the ball where he likes to go. The more you pay attention, the better you'll be. A guy I played knew I liked a certain play on 3rd and long...and watched that when he blitzed I tended to throw it to a particular WR on a particular pattern. He baited me into this and controlled a LB at the line who he dropped right to where I threw the ball. So watching how your opponent handles your different defenses out of a particular formation can tell you a lot. Some guys play out of very few formations. Even when your blitz isn't successful, you can get a feel for how he tries to deal with it. Does he send everyone long? Does he try and throw a hitch or slant or drag a WR across? All of these can be well defended...especially if you can anticipate what he'll do.

    I always have a balnced run front...meaning I don't give up free runs to one side by trying to improve my pass rush by sliding the line one way. If I slide the line left, then I usually slide my LB's right or leave them in the middle and drop a S down.

    If you have a WR like Moss, your options are to put your top CB on him, play man and keep a S over the top. On 3rd and long, you can drop the CB back making it hard for Moss to beat him deep and frequently, your s can make a better play on the ball. Other options are to put your best CB on him, drop him off in man coverage and control a LB to that side. Loosely running underneath Moss will discourage a lot of deep comeback routes...but you need to be aware of how he uses a great WR like that. Does he predominantly throw it to him and move him around to get him open, or does he spread the ball evenly?

    If you think like a NFL DC, you want to take away what he does best without selling out. You want to control 1st down and try to force him into 3rd and longs. You want to keep him off balance with multiple looks/defenses/blitzes/man/zone/personell and GET HIM OFF THE FIELD ON THIRD DOWN!

    With a D like the Titans, you can keep a balanced run front and sooner or later KVB or AH will stuff him on 1st down. Control 2nd and he'll be in 3rd and long.

    I find the hardest d's to play are 3-4's since you don't know who's coming, who's dropping into zone and who's manning up. I tend to play more FB formations vs a 3-4 since the OG will take the ILB ahead of him and I like the FB to take the next LB.

    If you guy who truly has your number...play nickel personell and let him see one D...then switch to another D. It will make his pre-snap read very hard. Also, watch your opponent. Does he like to run to the line and snap the ball, or does he look over your d and make pre-snap adjustments.

    Some food for thought...

    Gut

    PS - I don't know if this info is too basic or not since Ive never played you. Don't be insulted if you already know this stuff.:)
     
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  7. A Fightin'Titan

    A Fightin'Titan Starter

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    Pretty good breakdowns.
     
  8. Gut

    Gut Pro Bowler

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    Hey...

    Thanks!:)

    Any tips you wanna share?

    Gut
     
  9. Gunny

    Gunny Shoutbox Fuhrer

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    Gunny's sure fire way to win at Madden:

    Score more points.
     
  10. A Fightin'Titan

    A Fightin'Titan Starter

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    I think you got it covered.................but i'll say my piece.



    On defense I like to show a lot of looks. That and I will always double their main threat. As the game goes on I try to adjust to whomever their main guy turns out to be.After you get a feel of your opponent you should be able to get an "idea" of the plays prefers. There is a lot of different categories I would put different players in. Some like to run, some like to pass, some like to run out of pass formations and vice versa. Some run a lot of screens where some will only play the middle of the field. Hardly ever will you come across someone who does everything. Almost everyone has a play or two that they rely on and once you can figure that out you can get them of the field in those certain situations. Once I feel like I have an idea I will work from there. I try not to blitz too much unless they are a run heavy style offense. I always use Tennessee so blitzing isn't necessary like was posted. Switching up my play calling and pre-snap adjustments is a way to force my opponent into doing what I want.

    Ex: If I figure he is going to run on me I will play a cover 2 or something similar. Coming out of the huddle I will audible to show bllitz and tighten the line. This will usually press them into making an audible when they expect pressure. And if you know the player you can make an educated guess where they will quick throw it to playing coverage that way or doubling the man.


    On offense I tend to run it heavy and again it comes down to seeing what your opponent prefers. If he is playing man I will beat him all day with Johnson. If he plays zone I will work the TE's more. With the way I play I try to really minimize the turnovers. I would say I run about 70% of the time. Having a good game plan is the way to go. Like showing heavy run sets in the first half and then throwing out of those in the second or when they blitz more. Play action works well for me.

    I also liked what was mentioned about picking a formation and really knowing some plays out of it. This really screws up players like me who try to predict what the guys is going to run. Coming out in the same formation with three or four different plays will really throw your opponent through a loop. But the key is knowing those plays well so you can capitilize on almost any defensive formation you see.


    Regardless of this all, the biggest thing to me is being able to adjust on the fly. The earlier you can get a read on your opponent the better.


    I probably just regurgitated what Gut posted but oh well.
     
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