Maddenbible
Friday, November 13, 2009
http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/2544704
Guide to the show -
2:00 - In the Trenches - Sgibs and ZFarls Battle about the top 5 low rated players who dominate in Madden 10!
Ramses Barden
Pat Watkins
Pat White
8: 30 Jordy Nelson
11:00 D'angelo Hall
16:00 - Sgibs and ZFarls battle in Madden 10. We give you our thoughts during the game.
26:30 - Skype call (508-318-5790 during show) from Chris, How can I improve my running game? Goal-line breakdown
33:30 - Sgibs tip of the week - How to stop the outside run (ZFarls shows his running prowess with Adrian Peterson)
44:00 - ZFarls NFL Picks for Week 9 - We bring in our off shore man to talk about the upcoming week!
60:00 - A physical paper copy of the New York D-Book. Thing is a beast, so many pages! Check it out.
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Let’s first take a look at the play setup and then we will talk about the strengths of each individual setup.
Setup #1
3 Deep Under
RB + left on the joy stick
Place DT, over center, on DE contain
Place DT, over RG, on purple zone
Place DE, on right, of screen on QB Spy
Place OLB, on right, of screen on a flat zone. (optional-slide defender out to increase his coverage to a quick flat)
User FS over the short middle (in yellow zone). Look to shade left side of field.
The dynamics of this play are in depth and extensive. However they are all in place for specific reasons and not simply used out of pure insanity. In the community these days there is no doubt that there is a terrible understanding of what a “nano” is and what a “overload” is. Everyone these days think that any type of blitz that gets pressure is a nano. We here at Madden Bible are from a more old school Madden age where “nano” actually meant something. For those that may not know the difference between the to:
Nano- any type of pressure that has been proven to consistently provide unevaded pressure on the QB. To be considered a nano we can not bring more defenders then there are pass blockers. The best nano’s bring the least amount of defenders as possible. Typical nano’s will usually contain 3-4 pass rushers. Slide protection DOES NOT defend against nano’s
Overload- any type of pressure that has been proven to consistently provide unevaded pressure on the QB by overloading specific gaps on the offensive line. To be considered a overload we will need to bring one extra pass rusher then there are blockers. Typical overloads bring between 5-6+ pass rushers. Pressure will be great but coverage can be weak.
Now that you understand the difference between the two lets start the breakdown of this play. Yes, it is a nano. No, most sites do not provide nano’s these days. With this play we are only pass rushing three defenders and containing one. When we look at the alignment of the goaline set we can see that we have a defender lineup directly in front of an offensive linemen. We then also have a LB on each side to line up across from a TE, if the formation calls for one. What this means for us is that it will be EXTREMELY easy to create overloads. It also means we have the possibility to create confusion on the offensive line. We do this with our hot routes.
The primary reason we place the DT on a QB contain is to prevent the QB from rolling out and escape the pressure coming from the left. What the contain also does is draw attention from the C and RG. You will see that they both actually draw towards the contain and away from the pressure on the left.
Our next playmaker is the d-linemen placed on a purple route. A special secret that no one in the Madden world knows, until now, is that anytime you place a d-linemen, in the goaline formation, on a purple route or a light blue route they will actually fake blitz and then drop into coverage. This works just as the contain and will pull the offensive line even further up field.
We next move on to our QB spy. QB spy is by far one of my favorite playmakers. The QB spy absolutely plays blanket coverage over any short route over the middle of the field. Your opponent will not be able to throw anything over the middle of the field as our defender will consistently jump routes.
Our last playmaker is the OLB in the light blue. What this does is prevent a quick flat to the weak side of where we are going to be USER’ing. This is important because we can feel completely confident that the right side of the field is 100% shutdown. We have a contain, purple, light blue, and a deep blue zone on the right side, dare your opponent to throw into this coverage. The contain will prevent quick passes to the HB out of the backfield i.e. fades, the purple route will shutdown corner routes, the light blue will shutdown any flat routes, and the QB spy will shutdown anything over the short middle. Our user defender’s primary focus will be to shutdown anything on the left side all the while we have three deep defenders splitting the deep part of the field into thirds.
Our last step is our user defender. We will want to shade the left side of the field as that is where we are weak in coverage. However look at the formation your opponent is using. If they are in a trips bunched to the right we shouldn’t be overly committed to the left as the offensive formation only has one WR lined up on the left. We will overly commit to the left only if the formation our opponent calls for this type of coverage i.e. 5 wide, 4 spread, trips to the left etc.
Let’s now take a look at the pressure. I have mentioned in previous write-ups that playing defense all starts with controlling the center. Once we do that we can break the offensive line up in segments and cause confusion. That is exactly what we are doing here. We are forcing the center and the entire right side of the o-line to literally block no one. Meanwhile we will sneak a defender in the back door to sack the QB before they can even get the throw off! The LG will block the defender in front of him as well as the LT. This leaves the OLB with a free shot at the QB. The offensive line has only one option to save the QB and that is to try and recover. Many times you will see the linemen make an attempt to recover but they miserably fail every time!
Ladies and gent’s this is only one of our setups. It gets even better! Stay tuned for our next writeup and our next show where we will break down more setups of The Best Defense in Madden 2010. Expect only the best from The Madden Bible!
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
This is the final post in our popular three part series
Part 1 -Breaking Down Pre Play Adjustments! Part 1 of 3
Part 2- How To Win - During The Play (2 of 3)
Part 3 - Post Play Breakdown
Once the whistle blows and you begin the jog back to the huddle, you have many decisions to make and many are predicated on the last thing that happened during that play. Lets take a look at possible situations that happened during the last play and breakdown thoughts.
Key: All of these come from the viewpoint of a player with confidence, if you lack confidence you won't be able to have these same thoughts and positive outlook for the next play. Assume your opponent is scared of your defense and is nervous your offense will score every time you touch the rock. Don't be cocky, but have some confidence people!
Offense- You got the rock and the right to control the game, lets look at the scenario.
Success- You have just gained a first down, or whatever pre play thought you had (run clock, get first down on 3rd and 1, get out of bounds, set up another play worked in your mind)
Immediate thought - should I run hurry up? This has to be one of your quickest thoughts due to the window pressing this button being so tight. I rarely use this tactic (you will see why with the defensive mindset below) I am more apt to run hurry up after a succesful play than a non succesful play. I usually won't run the same play either.
Next, why was that play a success?
Did it advance your gameplan, field position, set up a future play, beat a specific defense?
Would I expect my opponent to change his defense or run the same play against that formation again?
Do I have any adjustments to make to that play that he hasn't seen at this point in the game yet?
Did he try and shut down and specific thing or area of the field? How can I attack that with the same look?
Fail- Your play didn't meet the desired result, you might have had a 23 yard gain but on 3rd and 26th wasn't what you needed or tried to do before the play.
Should I hurry up? One reason I hate the hurry up in failed situation is because you think you saw something and want to exploit it, chances are your opponent saw the same thing.
Common scenario not to hurry up - you get sacked because all your WR's are covered but you notice the rb was open. You call hurry up offense to try and hit the RB quick. Your opponent makes one tiny adjustment by manning up a blitzer or using a flat zone and BAM sacked again. You ran the same play which didn't work and only gave yourself ONE option to look for, which chances are your opponent knows where his defensive weakness are better than you know after one play.
Why didnt that play work?
Was it a pre play error or a bad read?
Was it just bad stick work, should have cut it inside or followed blockers better?
Was it a gameplay randomizer like a dropped pass?
Did my opponent do, what I expected him to do against they play? Would he run that same defense again with same result?
These are the types of questions that need to quickly run through your head on offense BEFORE you select your next play. This is why having a scheme and idea like our detroit offense helps you be confident in knowing a book and what play to run when you ask these questions.
Defense- What is my goal on this defensive series. Do I need a stop, playing vs the clock, trying to get the ball back, just a normal series, limit his run game, FG is okay but TD means loss?
Success- Your opponent runs a play and the pass is incomplete. You expected your opponent to run a certain type of play and were ready when he did. Now, on this side of the ball here are some questions you can ask.
Did my opponent expect me to run that defense against this play?
Would he call the same play against this defense?
Is he still trying to accomplish the same thing on this drive? (still looking for TD or has he shifted to FG mindset)
Was he trying to set me up for something?
Can I make any adjustments or would I call that SAME defense again?
Fail - You let up a big play or aren't ready for a certain style of play.
Example of this play and not correcting it. - Randy Moss catching his 23rd TD pass and Tom Brady's 50th TD Pass against the Giants in the final game of regular season (08). Brady aired it to Moss for an incomplete pass, the Giants thought, we won that play because the ball was incomplete. However, it was just a physical error, the thought was right and the Pats on the NEXT PLAY went right back and just threw the ball a little better for seven points.
The Giants may have said, well the pass was incomplete so thats a good play when they infact blew the coverage. Adjustments are huge in Madden. You need to anyalze whether it was a user error, calling cover 1 against 4 go routes or if you just didnt click on in time or hit the wrong button.
Now, don't abandon your gameplan after one failing play. Be ready to get in a great chess match with the offense. You have numerous chances throughout a game to make big plays, remember it only takes ONE PLAY to shift a madden game!
Frequently asked questions:
At what point, does post play, turn into pre-play? Once you select your play, until then you should be considering down and distance, situation in the game and drive.
Article 1,2,3 repeat and 3 quickly blends back into 1. You will be thinking about many of the same things during preplay and post play. You will be reconsidering game situations and advanced strategy after the whistle of every play and then setting yourself up to succeed in those situations pre play.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
The 23 Year old who wish he had more time to play but tries to get by with the same stuff each year
Sunday- Sunday for me is always a big day for football, with the NFL being in action it always gets the blood pumping to hop on the sticks and make some coaching calls. You see things during the real NFL games that remind you of Madden and make you wanna play. The Giants were in action against the Raiders and they were scoring TD's left and right.
Although, I never usually play as my favorite team, I decided to take them out for a spin. I played a pretty good player and couldn't generate the offense I needed. Manning was turning the ball over and it made me un confident with my personell. I got the ball back with 3 tries to get the win but finished with turnovers each time.
Sundays Final Tally - 1 game and a 28-14 Loss. Crushing, I love to play more games on Sunday and only getting one in hopefully wont put me in a funk.
Monday - Back in action for a quick game before bed. It is a game for one of my leagues so I get to play with Dallas. I nearly always score on my first drive which gets me in a good rhythm. However, each drive I have less and less gadgets to help me score. If I don't get up early than it can be pretty frustrating. Fortunately, this kid can't move the ball for more than five plays without throwing an INT. I get the easy win which prompts some nasty emails about how to play the league properly.
Mondays Result- 1 huge win where I run out the entire second half. Needed this win to get some confidence back and hopefully get on a roll this week.
Tuesday- I hop on the sticks and work on my offense. I have 3 formations with 3 plays in each that I am confident in. This works well during the first half but once the opponent has seen the plays multiple times, they become ineffective. I get back to basics and start to remember all the beautiful plays we dreamed up for the detroit book. Against top talent you have to be ready to fire away with multiple plays and situations. Watching my own youtube video is creepy but its like I sent a message to myself in the future. MIX IT UP!
Tuesday Result - Some labbing that will make me supremely confident heading into my next league matchup. Work on my Gun Bunch set because I really like the one play I had, however it is a dead give away when I come out in that formation late in the game. Hopefully no more.
Wednesday- Super busy and am unable to get on the sticks, I can feel the Madden plays I worked on slipping out of my mind and really want to try the mini scheme I dreamed up in action. It will have to wait until tomorrow.
Thursday- Have another big league matchup. Offense starts out hot as usual but sputters. I move to the gun bunch and CANT work the plays I put in. I hesitate and realize I am shutting him down on offense. I keep telling myself, RUN RUN RUN FG, RUN RUN RUN. No matter what in the 2nd half I run the rock with Felix even breaking one.
My opponent can't get the football downfield and is looking for screens which I am shutting down. He breaks a long wildcat TD and I say to myself RUN RUN RUN. The clock is ticking down and the game is still in my favor.
Thursday's thoughts - This was a big day for me. I tried some new things but remained SMART. I had a 14 point edge and the ball in FG range. I could make it a 3 score game and waste time by running. It was an absolute must. He could have blitzed all 11 and I didnt care. I did take one risky 4th and 3 late but I converted on a short pass...Wait that was dumb but it worked, you must be a little risky to win games though...? Right?
Friday - Hop on for one quick game before bed. I gotta be up early on saturday but with the GF asleep, its optimal time. I am getting torn up on offense and the blitz isn't getting there. Thinking about my defense I get a little nervous. I only have 3 plays and adjust them with play maker.
1. Inside Man Blitz
2. Inside Zone Blitz
3. Outside Blitz (rarely used only when PA or player believes inside one is coming)
Now this kid is settling back there so I start to playmaker my guys all around.
This is one aspect where I still retain confidence from playing Madden for many years. If something isn't working I will scrap it in game and make changes. When my NT Jay Ratliff gets an interception in a QB Spy, I know I have innovated well. Optimally, my defensive adjustments win me this game handily and remind me that defense is always huge. I still waiting to work in more plays though and stop blitzing so much because good players can move the ball.
Saturday- Of course college football makes you wan't to play Madden but it just wasn't in the cards for me. The busier life that aging brings on isn't conducive to a Madden lifestyle. While I play 3 games a week now, Its a far cry from when Sgibs and I would stay up to 3 am playing Madden and screaming which nearly woke up everyone on campus.
The little things you pick up from playing many games always add little sparks to your offense however I am still very basic. I know my offense is solid but lacks multiple pieces to play at a high level. Not knowing if I'll ever make it back makes me nervous. For now I just need to survive with solid instincts and quick fingers. My 3 offensive sets and 3 defensive plays will have to be called with perfection to keep winning games but the more feel and knowledge I gather each week helps.
Experience is my key factor...
Thanks for reading, If you would like to be featured on the Madden Confessions, leave a blog comment...
Follow ZFarls on Twitter here @Maddenbible
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Once a game is finished, you can think back to a few key plays and think about missed opportunities or chances that you grasped for big gains. However, this only tells part of the story as we have very selective memories. The E-mailed stats will not lie to you and help you recall a greater portion of the game. You will see certain stats and think "Wow I was only 2 of 7 on 3rd and short?"
From this knowledge, you can realize a few things. Thankfully you are getting in a good amount of short 3rd down situations which are always converted at a higher success rate than third and long, but also that you need to convert a better percentage. Now this could be a one game anomaly but if you see this trend over more than 5-10 games you know its time to switch things up.
Lets look at a 5 game stretch for me and analyze my key stats. For me my key stat is...
Gm 1 : 14-7 win over lvl 18
(ZFarls is First Column, Opp is 2nd)
Rushing attempts for 15 16
Rushing yards for 83 57
Passing attempts for 15 19
Passing yards for 121 122
Number of third downs 4 7
Third down conversions 3 3
Shotgun plays 4 21
Blitzes 0 3
Time of possession 10:06 9:54
Hurries 13 2
Knockdowns 5 0
Passes deflected 3 0
Now this is one of the best players I had faced in Madden 10. My QB hurries left him literally no time
to get any comfort in the pocket though. He was flustered and it truly was the only off- balance stat.
How can you get a rhythm when you get pressure on half your snaps?
Lets take a look at Game 2
This player came out and only attempted 1 run the whole game. I knew he was locked up. I put my foot on the pedal and brought heat.
Hurries 17 4
Knockdowns 13 0
Passes deflected 7 3
Shotgun plays 3 37
Blitzes 6 0
With all the pressure I brought in this game, I was able to keep him in shotgun and force turnovers. I also had 2 return td's which was unexpected!
Here is another sample, Game 3
Hurries 25 3
Knockdowns 18 0
Passes deflected 8 3
Shotgun plays 6 19
Blitzes 8 6
Time of possession 10:29 9:31
Passing touchdowns for 4 2
Returns touchdowns for 2 1
Defensive touchdowns for 1 0
Now this game, my pressure led to a touchdown and he was uncomfortable again. This was a solid win and I had good time on offense which BREEDS conifidence and TD's.
Now here is a game that I lost 27 to 24. (Game 4) Very frustrating but it still helps my sample stats.
Rushing attempts for 5 5
Rushing yards for 28 20
Passing attempts for 21 28
Passing yards for 132 301
Blitzes 4 11
Time of possession 8:40 11:20
Hurries 10 8
Knockdowns 6 2
Passes deflected 2 4
Passes tipped 0 0
Offensive yards 160 321
Total yards 338 441
Return yards 178 117
Total touchdowns 3 3
In this specific game, I couldn't get to the QB as well as I had been during my 7 game win streak. He was KILLING me with flat routes to Brandon Jacobs of all people.
I knew I had to make adjustments as he was a good enough player to deflect the heat. He possesed well and got many quick first down conversions. I started to play the bend
dont break style of offense and it didn't work too well. I had a chance in the end and even scored the first TD on a SACK, FF, TD. He never ran that play again and started
kicking it out to the flats. This is a game where looking back shows the stats and has me forgot about the 1 or 2 plays that happened on the last drive. All I remember was
the last plays where he kicked the FG but other than that I wouldn't be able to get better.
EA Sports has done a good job allowing us to review plays, and sending out the stats is one way you can get better. Clearly here, my QB hurries which seems abnormaly high even withou
big blitz numbers was down. This is my key stat personally because it helps me slow down the big plays and force turnovers.
Whats your key stat?
I re focused on my next game and was able to take back another win! (Game 5)
Rushing attempts for 15 4
Rushing yards for 59 -2
Passing attempts for 21 17
Passing yards for 214 94
Hurries 8 8
Knockdowns 2 1
Passes deflected 2 1
Time of possession 15:43 4:17
First downs 11 3
First down yards 183 40
Thats how you look at the stats, posses the ball and demorlize the opposition! His hurries let to quick dump offs. Mine made him make bad throws and never get a rhythm.
Whats your key stat?
Thursday, September 10, 2009
In every play on either side of the ball there are always three situations that occur,
pre-play- Pick your play until the snap
live play- From the snap until the whistle is blown (part 2 next)
post play- From the whistle until you select your next play (part 3)
Remember, Madden at its highest level is a chess match. Once the play is picked you can still make any hot route or defensive playmaker to give you an edge. Don’t snap the ball until you are comfortable with the play you have called against the defense you see. If your opponent motions out his RB, then call a playmaker flat zone real quick. If you him bringing some A gap heat, know your audible to an outside run. These are all pre play chess type battles that even players take on before every snap. Always try and make the last adjustments and when you are comfortable, SNAP THE ROCK!
All three need the finest attention to detail otherwise we will see weakness in our game. The vast majority of gamers can certainly grasp hold of the live play aspect, as that is the most practiced and sought after scenario we want to obtain. We all want LIVE play knowledge, we all need the best LIVE plays, we all seem to forget about the pre and post play situations. Once you get a feel for this type of Madden gaming you will see your game success rise like it has never before. Let’s take a look at each specific scenario and break it down!
Every time we get ready to battle on the virtual gridiron we get ready maybe with a few practice reps in the lab, play a unranked game with a friend, or maybe even play against the computer to get ready. Is this really going to get us ready for a live opponent though? Are we really using our precious free time in the best manner? Most reading this right now are saying to yourself, “Why YES! Of course I am” however what are all those preparation techniques focusing on? LIVE play! What are you doing to actually prepare for your pre-play game plan? Focusing on a pre-play game plan can certainly be a daunting task. How can you truly prepare for something that hasn’t even happened yet? First and foremost you need to know the weakness of your own play. If you truly don’t know the weakness of your own play then how can you expect to know the weakness of the defense? What we mean by knowing the weakness of your own play can bare weight on a few areas: pass protection, deep threats, quick hitters, the ability to run, and the ability to pass.
The list can certainly be bigger but those are primarily our general weaknesses.
With whatever play you decide to pick you need to first look to see what category your formation is weak in (that’s where that list above comes in hand!). For the sake of this breakdown we are going to assume we are playing the greatest Madden player on the planet. We assume this because if we can realize our own weakness it is safe to assume that our opponent has keyed on this as well. If we know our weakness we know what our opponent will try to use to beat us. The same can be said for the flip side of this argument. If we know our strength we can assume that our opponent knows as well. Our opponent will then be trying to attack our weakness while reducing our strengths! Coming together now isn’t it! Let’s take a look at what we mean by this…
We come out in “HB Power O I-form Normal” now what are the strengths of this formation and what are its weaknesses?
Strengths- the ability to run, quick hitters, and moderate pass protection
Weaknesses- deep threats, moderate ability to pass, and elite pass protection.
You may be asking yourself how we came to these conclusions, here is why. Any under center formation is going to have the ability to run the ball effectively. It is also going to have the ability to pass quickly and attack the flats quicker then shotgun sets because we will have a good snap every time as well as having the defense have to respect play action off the run. Our pass protection can be good under center but if we don’t properly block our players then we won’t have much time in the pocket to evade a good pass rush. Now that you understand how and why we came to these conclusions lets now look at what we can assume the defense will be doing based solely off the formation we are using.
In the above example we are going to come out in the HB Power O I-form Normal play. We have already figured our strengths and weakness and so has our opponent. Our next goal is to try and anticipate how our opponent is going to attack us. Based of our strength and weakness list we can narrow down the possibilities of what they may actually be playing. For this example we can anticipate that the defense will not be playing a cover 4 or cover 3. The defense doesn’t need to respect any type of downfield routes due to the fact that this formation is does not fit this type of game plan, therefore it wouldn’t make much sense to place a good portion of our defense to protect downfield assignments. We can assume now that the defense will be in some sort of a cover 2 zone or a man to man defense (both of which will provide a bump n’ run).
Now that we have the defense shell analyzed we now move on to who may or may not be blitzing the LOS. When we are consistently pounding the rock the defense will need to continue to commit more defenders to stop the run. The best way to do this is by attacking every gap on the offensive line. In order to achieve this the defense will need to commit at least 6 defenders to blitz. We have now just successfully broken down the defense pre-snap. Now that we have a good gauge of what they might be running lets see how we may want to attack that defense.
With this formation we are really going to want to use its strengths first and foremost as it would be crazy not to. Our first look is going to be the intentions of the formation. For this example that is running the ball. We want to run, run, and run again until the defense is actually over committing to what we are doing. Once we do that, that is when we start mixing it up. We are going to assume that we have been pounding the rock and now the defense is completely over committed to the run game. We now know they are in a cover 2/man to man and are blitzing 6 defenders. This means that of the remaining 5 defenders in a cover 2 zone they have 2 in the flats, 2 deep, and one shallow. If it is man to man we know that everyone is man’d up besides the HB. Now we want to attack this in by always sending our HB into the flat, we can accomplish this by either using a play that has the HB on assigned flat route, or by simply hot routing the HB on a drag, slant, or out route. This is our first read, if the HB is open keep on hitting him. Our opponent will have to soon make the adjustment to defend against the pass to the HB, that’s when we start running again. It will be a nice cat and mouse game we play. Our next progression will be with the TE and the FB. Seeing as we have our HB running to the flat we want to work these two players over the middle of the field. The reason being is that the defense only has one defender in this area and last I checked its near impossible to defend two players with only one defender. Whatever combination you get to work for you, stick with it! Our last progression is our outside WR’s. A weakness in the cover 2 is the sidelines. If we want to attack this we want to send routes that will attack that area. Once we get into the flow of the game we will be consistently going back and forth with our opponent.
Now imagine if you did this with ever formation, I bet you feel almost unstoppable right now. As you should, once you start going about Madden correctly there is no reason you should ever be stopped unless you make the mistake. Amazing that this is only part one of our 3 step process. Stay tuned for next weeks breakdown as we analyze the “live play” aspect of the 3 step scenario!
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
If you go into the game against a level 6, what are you thinking? Are you confident that you can win?
If you go into the game against a level 18 what are you thinking? Are you scared that he is out of your league?
Do you have the same strategies against both players? Are you more nervous against one or the other?
Here is a small chart revealing my thoughts when I head into a game. If I am in a downspell and had a few unlucky games I can quickly get into the lacks confidence side. It is very dangerous because there is no benefit. Now if I am OVER confident that can be dangerous, however if I just play MY game and know what I am trying to accomplish, it gives me the best chance to win.
Confidence Lack of Confidence VS.
Good playerAlright, this guy is a solid player but my scheme is still solid and I have enough confidence to run this on anyone. He may be able to adjust his D, but that is when I will adjust my offense and hit him with something new. This is going to be a great chess match and I am ready and confident in my defense. I am gonna blitz him and force him to prove he can beat my heat.
Oh no, this kid is going to shut down everything I do. I will hardly have enough time to throw the ball and he is going to have all types of super nano's that sack me instantly. Hopefully I will have enough time to throw picks. I would be better off to sit back and make sure he can't score quick touchdowns and prevent big plays. If I blitz he will pick me apart and is too good to throw int's.
VS.
Bad player
This kid sucks, Can't wait to get in the game with him and get a 21-0 win before he quits. On defense I am going to blitz the heck out of him because I know that I can make quick adjustments to stop his offense. He probably wont change it up and I will destroy his average defense with my offense. Can't wait to have some time in the pocket and force some turnovers on D!
Alright, we should be around the same level. Hopefully he doesn't get any lucky turnovers because I can't overcome that. I will just wait him out on offense and hope he can't be my conservative defense. On offense I will just run my few plays and I hope he won't be good enough to make adjustments.
Our tips and tactics here on this site will have you up to speed. You need to realize that if your getting hit in the flats, just stick a flat zone out there to deter the throw. Against a good or bad player this will work, yet when we are getting gashed we get down on our selves and think that we are incapable of winning which is not true. In Madden, nearly any player can win atleast one game especially with accel clock and a lucky fumble. Be confident in yourself when heading into a game no matter who you are playing.
Would you rather play a guy who is 50-5 and preys on level 1 players or someone who is 25-20 and consistently takes on players in the level 20's? Clearly the second has seen more advanced plays and tactics then the first guy who probably can win without breaking a sweat.
As always, Madden Bible recommends playing top talent because you will always get better and no matter who you are going up against HAVE CONFIDENCE in YOUR GAME!!!!
Stay tuned for "This Week In Madden 5" as we will be breaking down a team and giving out Sgibs tip of the Week!
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Now, if they do not call bump n' run pre-snap then we will see different looks from the defense. Cover 2 the DB's will be closer to the WR at the LOS. The deep safeties will be back deep at equal depths. If it is Cover 3 then the DB's will be lined up OFF the WR's on the LOS. One of our safeties will be playing deep while another one of our DB's will slowly begin to creep forward into the box. Finally if it is cover 4 we will see the DB''s playing off of the DB's and also see our deep safeties playing at equal depths. If it is man to man we will get the same look as we do with cover 2.
Unfortunately, Madden isn’t that simple. Typically our opponent will call bump n' run every play and will manually re-position its defenders. This almost always removes any pre snap tell we can have fortunately we have a little tactic we can use to combat that.
If we come out in a compressed set...shotgun tight (snug’s flipped) we can get a read on what the defense is in. It’s very important to read the defenders as the play call screen breaks to the game play screen. We will want to watch the defenders if they are sliding IN, we know it is zone. If they do not slide and lineup across from the WR it is man. That’s one the best and easiest tells we can get pre-snap.
However again what makes a great madden player great is the ability to change on the fly. I know when I play and someone does this to me, I will come out in a play to show them zone/man etc then I will immediately audible once they get there read. I do this because it makes them uncomfortable with what there doing. Ok so now on to the final way to read the defense.
AFTER THE SNAP! I know genius right? We first want to look for bump N' run. If we see bump n' run we know a few different things. It is either a cover 2 or it is man to man (keep in mind this is barring any manual adjustments to the defense). Our next read is right to the safeties. We want to key in on what they do. If they both drop back and split the deep half of the field we know its cover 2. If one drops in and one drops deep we know its cover man to man cover 1 of some sort. If we see no safeties deep it is a man to man cover 0 ( I don’t know many people that play a cover 0 zone)
Now if we don’t see a bump we know that its a cover 3 or cover 4. To tell if it’s a cover 3 we look at the safeties again if one drops in its cover 3 if they both drop deep and split it’s a cover 4.
Also note that you can use motion to read man or zone. Or you can flip your play in certain formations to get the same read. It’s a little quicker!
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Watch it here - www.tinyurl.com/maddenshow3
Sgibs tip of the week!
MLG Dallas News
Gamespeed issues
Check out this week in Madden show 3!
Thursday, August 20, 2009
On this week show, ZFarls and Sgibs break down:
The Madden Release
Online Franchise
Online Franchise Game Speed (for OS own TJ Da Sports Guy!)
Accelerated Clock
Fatigue
Tournament Scene
We also bring you Sgibs7 Tip of the Week!
http://tinyurl.com/n88dhe
If you have any questions for the show, or would like to hear your topic debated "in the trenches" just let us know! Thanks.
Next week, we are going to be talking sim players and fantasy drafts. We would love to hear the OS Community thoughts!
Monday, August 17, 2009
Madden is all about finding Madden Gems, above are a few of my favorites! (Nasadi, Haynesworth, Reed, and T.Pauls)
It is very important to understand that in order for our scheme to be the most successful we are going to want to come out in dime defense. You may be asking why? The reason we do this is because we manage to fully grasp our teams biggest strengths in all areas. We manage to have 6DB’s 3 LB’s and our 2 most athletic DE’s on the field. We certainly have the “beef” to stuff the run but still have the versatility to bring pressure with our speediest defenders. It is really a great balance. I also want to note that we are going to be controlling the DB on the right side of the screen (our 4th CB in the depth chart) on every play. A key to success is being able to make every play look the same. When we do this we can confuse our opponent. Now lets take a look at our depth chart setup:
Depth Chart
DT
1. Best Pass rushing DE (we do this because when we audible to the 1-5-5 this defender will be the ONE down linemen. We want to have our best pass rusher for this situations.
2. Most athletic D-linemen (height is a BIG factor hear as well, when we audible to the 155 this player will be dropping back into coverage. This player may be one of the most important pieces of the puzzle. If your deciding between a defender that is 82 speed and 6’2 or a defender that is 78 speed 6’5 choose the6’5 defender.)
DE
1. Place anyone here (we will use the LB pass rush package from Dime, rendering this player obsolete)
2. Place anyone here (we will use the LB pass rush package from Dime, rendering this player obsolete)
OLB’s
1.Fastest LB’s here (if we have a backup that is 6’5 88 Speed…ie New England Patriots Gary Guyton…we will play him over a someone like Mike Vrabel. Seems crazy but is much more beneficial to have a 6’5 88 speed defender on the field over a smaller, slower defender.)
MLB
1.Fastest/Best tackling linebacker (typically our MLB will be our best tackler. If he has a nice speed rating that’s an added bonus. The better the player we have at this position the better it will suit this dime scheme. You will see later on why I say this. Look for a hybrid player here, someone that encompasses, speed, height, and tackling ability.
CB
1. Best overall CB
2. Height/Speed (if you have a team that is blessed with a lot of either of these we want to use this player in this position. Height first and speed second.)
3. speed/height (if we have a team that is blessed with either we want to use them here. Speed first and height second.)
4. Fastest defensive back. (he will be our manual rusher)
FS
1.Second fastest defensive back, look for height as well (this defender will be our user controller for the 1-5-5. Speed is certainly important here, however if we are deciding between a 90 speed 5’11 defender or a 6’3 88 speed defender, opt out for the height)
SS
1.Height/Hit Power/Speed (this defender main objective is to be tall and have a good hit stick. We want a guy here that can help defend in the run game. He is a our 6th “big” defender when we add him in the mix with our other 5 LB’s/DE’s on the field)
In the Sgibs 1-5-5 D-Book, I chose to use the Raiders to fill out my depth chart breakdown. There are 3 teams that fit this schemes mold PERFECTLY.Those three teams are the Raiders, Cowboys, and the Rams. Now there area handful of other teams that can be used and still have lights out defense. These teams however have speed for days at all positions on the field. Ideally the Raiders are the best team to use. If you can make there offense work I would 100% recommend using them.
Lets highlight a few other teams in which this scheme can work:
•Cardinals- Dominique Rodgers Cromartie is a monster on the manual blitz. They also posses one of the tallest secondary’s. Adrian Wilson is an absolute monster to user with at the FS position in this scheme.
•Jaguars- Rashean Mathis is shutdown along side him we have Reggie Nelson who is a great fit for our FS position. Our manual blitzer off the edge is the best in the business for this scheme. Witherspoon boasts 98speed!
• Chargers- Jammer and Cason defending the outside and Cromartie blitzing off the edge equals pain for the offense. There is a glaring hole in the secondary as there are no real madden studs to put back there. There secondary other then these three is extremely slow and short.
• Patriots- Solid speed, solid defenders, NO HEIGHT. The Patriots won’t be a team your choosing solely for defensive purposes. However, they do posses enough speed to make this scheme work.
With the Dime scheme expect to see ALOT of deflected passes!
*Let me also say that these teams are NOT the only teams that you can run this defensive scheme with. These are just the teams that I recommend using.*
Thursday, August 13, 2009
"In addition to these game modifiers, players can purchase "EliteStatus" through the game's multiplayer lobby. What does it do? It'llgive you access to "exclusive VIP lobbies, leaderboards" and will grantyou access to "the all new Elite Gametype" which features "All-Maddendifficulty level and is tuned exclusively for the hardcore." Wait,what? EA, you're seriously charging money for a new difficulty mode? (IGN reports that it'll be $5.) Those looking for the ultimate Madden experience will have to prepare for sticker shock when the game ships next week."
ZFarls- Wait a tick here, So not only do I have to buy the game but now I have to pay the extra 5 dollars to hop on and play the way I want to play it? Now we aren't sure if this rumor is true but if so it will be BS.
Imagine paying 60 dollars to play at a local golf course and you line up to drive off the first tee. The ranger walks up and says hey buddy, you can only tee off from the whites, if you want to play the blue tees that will be another 5 bucks? Would you stand for that?
EA has taken unfair criticism in my mind for being a conglomerate and having the exclusive Madden license. However, if this is true then they are taking it to a whole new level. They have already started partnering with gamestop for exclusive demo codes and this will be the worst of all.
Why not make two different lobbies for online play, one for sim and one for "tourney style" for now? I mean the majority of gamers will not be affected by paying for elite status but the ones who care enough to stand for it will be. The true gamers that wait for release and play a ton will be the ones paying not little timmy who screams into the mic and whose mom buys him the game.
If you pay 60 dollars for something, you should be able to play it however you want. I am totally cool with sim players who are trying to recreate that NFL experience and they should not be affected by more hardcore players.
However, I completely understand those gamers who want to be the best at everything they do and will RC because it increases the chances of winning. When they matchup against other players using the same tactics then it creates a level playing field. I am not down with glitches, but those are banned at tourney's anyway and take no skill. Someone who is taking the quick way out for wins will never be a good player and I stand by that.
Overall, Madden 10 is a great game so far and I hope EA has a decent explanation besides money and that this may just be a rumor. Ultimately, 5 dollars isn't alot of money but the principle and standard it sets could be worth millions. Should you have to pay for a patch or should they do it for free because you expect the game to be working originally?
I think NHL 09 did the absolute best job in patching a game that I have ever seen. They took our most glaring complaints and quickly resolved them. Then they tuned the gameplay with the second update. Now EA doesn't just sell me CD Discs. They sell me a commitment and product year after year which should only be getting better. NHL 10 is an absolute MUST BUY for me because the developers truly cared about their fans and did an amazing job listening and implementing. On the other hand, NCAA 09 didn't give me this feeling or experience and I skipped out on NCAA 10.
In the end, tourney players don't want rocket catching in the game. The true guys at the top like the problem and Kstarr will be able to get "dots" no matter how the game is configured. They will play whatever game comes out in August. If its a sim style game that pleases the masses then they will still dominate and then everyone can play that style and have a chance.
I guess in the end its the question of what paying 60 dollars gets you, the disc or the overall madden 10 experience? I think in the long run EA will make more money providing the overall experience instead of nickel and diming consumers to death.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
If your not scoring those clutch fourth quarter touchdowns, then here is a play that can help you get those clutch wins you never seem to be able to pull out.
Pass Balanced
Trips Twin Te-WR Screen
Setup one
- Slide protect left ( Left Trigger +left on the D pad)
- Streak inside slot WR ( A + WR icon + Up on the D pad)
- Smart route corner route (or leave as is)
Now your first read is going to be the screen of course. First you are going to run straight back between 5-10 yards. If the screen is there dump it off and run behind the blockers for an easy 10+ yard gain. If they manually defend this look for the corner route and RC this route all day. Our last read is going to be the streak. Lots of times guys will try and defend this by bringing there safety up into the box and manually stop the screen. Look for the streak WR to gain inside position on the deep secondary.
Setup two
- Slide protect left ( Left Trigger +left on the D pad)
- Place both te's on drag routes. (A + TE's icon + down on the right stick)
- Smart route corner route (or leave as is)
I will be breaking down more plays from this unique formation in upcoming articles. This formation is one of the best in all of madden 09. Most have not defended against it this formation rendering it almost unstoppable.
See you in the lab - Sgibs7 & ZFarls
Monday, July 27, 2009
There are moments in video games that make you get up off the couch and do a little Tiger Woods fist pump. These are the reasons we play the games and they give us that rush that we couldn't pull off in real life.
Over the last generation, EA has made there controls more intuitive and allowed the user to feel as if they were actually controlling a specific part of the player. This has come along way from button pressing and will hopefully lead us into even more realistic simulations years from now when we are actually in the game.
In this article ZFarls breaks down the best uses of new controls and how they allow you to feel as if you are part of the game. These are my favorite things to control in sports games and things that get me fired up when I do them.
In reverse order:
7. NCAA 2K7- Making it rain with the stick-
The first game on the list is the only non EA game on the list. Sgibs and our college roomates had the filthiest Dynasty mode in this game. It had elements of drama, comedy, sabotage, tragedy, and greatness. We all picked average SEC teams and took them on 5 year missions. When I played one of my roomates in the NCAA Tourney and drew back that stick for a GW 3, one thing was clear, if the shot went in I was going to go NUTS! This led to one of my sober college stories.
I drilled the game winning three as time expired from the deep corner. I put my shirt over my head and ran outside in the courtyard screaming and doing the soccer like airplane celebration. I forgot that it was 3 a.m. and it was very quiet and dark outside. I went back inside and about 2 minutes later we received a knock on the door from the campus security.
Im responding to a noise complaint, sir have you been drinking?
No sir, Im dead sober but I just advanced to the final four by drilling a 3 from the corner and I got a little excited.
Although he asked me how old I was, I believe he had the spirit of a gamer and told me to be quieter next time. I invited him back for some tecmo superbowl but he never showed back up. He must have known we would shut him out.
6. FIFA - Curving one in from outside the box!
Coming down the wing and using the spin back in FIFA 06 or 07 was a great experience for me. When you use the RB and tucked it nicely, there was nothing quite like it. Properly executing a scoring play in soccer is something that get me fired up. Maybe you see one pass ahead of the defender and finishing it properly feels so natural.
5. Tiger Woods- Holing out from 75+ yards
Tiger probably has the most realistic controls seeing as how the club relates to the analog stick. I would argue that golf is probably the most difficult thing to do on the list. Everyone can golf, but so few do it well that the game is a great escape. In real golf, knowing what you want to do and completing it are rarely done.
When you play Tiger and you know that the wind is 6 mph left and the hole is 10 feet up you start to think that you have a shot at it. Then you pull back right to 87 percent with that stick and fling it forward. Alot of the times you just know that good things are going to happen. The screen goes black and the heart rate picks up. That ball make the distinctive sound of whacking the green and then just two seconds later you hear the ball holing sound.
Now its clear why tiger gets so jacked up on big putts. The anticipation is so big and when that ball finally drops a fist pump is coming. When you properly execute a shot that you lined up its is one of the best feelings in EA games, also because its so much more difficult in real life.
4. NCAA Football- Running the option and timing the pitch or cutting it up
For me this extends back to NCAA 03 with Joey Harrington on the cover. The pitch was very easy in this game and you could throw it longer and later. This led to me and the Huskers with Jamal Lord and Diedrick running the show. I would hit the outside and look to slice it or let it rip. When you fake a pitch and hang onto it everything just feels right. This has properly been slowed down in new versions but when you could hit that bumper button and pitch the ball it just feels right.
3. Madden-Throwing a TD like you drew it up
Madden is a game where things are repeat and alot of the work is done before the play. However, when you control the QB and make a proper read with the game on the line almost nothing feels better.
You are playing some chump online who has gotten a few fumbles. He keeps running the same play and finally you see how to expoit it. You need to be quick because only 13 seconds remain on the clock.
You snap the ball and drop back, his safety stays short with the curl you placed and you have a shot at the end zone. You huck the ball and user control the receiver as you get into position you SLAM down on the Y button as your WR jumps up into the air! TD and finally you have the W against some joke who shouldn't have been in the game with you in the first place.
That will get you up off the chair and pumped.
2. Fight Night Round 3-Dropping you opponent with a mean combo
The punching stick was a welcome addition and brought some of the most intuitive controls to any boxing game yet. This made it more natural feel to a match and could lead to some beautiful knockdowns. When you target an opponents weakness and hammered back on that right analog stick for a quick 1-2 combo it feels great. With the beautiful knockdown animations and realistic reactions it got you fired up no doubt about it. You felt good because you controlled the action with the right stick and there was nothing he could do to stop it. You then got up in your little brothers face and let him know about it as well.Fight Night Round 4, will not be featuring buttons which will hurt the casual gamer, however this will also lead to good stick on stick battles and not one person throwing more punches because they are just mashing buttons.
ZFarls is on a fight night podcast for Round 4 and will let people know about it when they are getting released.
1. NHL 09-Dangling and finishing upstairs in OT-
This is the game online that has made the biggest strides. Since the game is continuous with no real set up, you always find yourself in new and interesting situations. You must be creative with the sticks if you want to win some games. You have many moves at your disposal and putting one away always feels good. NHL 09 completely took a risk with adding these controls and they got a huge payoff by becoming the dominant hockey game in the market. If your friend uses classic controls let him know that he is a chump.
When you scoop up the puck in OT and get on a breakaway so many things flash into the mind, you must get that right stick and mind on the same page and finish. I would say scoring a game winning goal in this game elicits the biggest reaction. I always seem to stand up when I finish and get a little pumped. The right stick makes for such a good feel to the game and when you make a sick dangle you just gotta get excited. Thats why were on earth right, for fun?
With more realistic simulations in the future, hopefully the controls can continue to become more realistic and natural feeling. I hope users will continue to want more from their games each season and the developers have the ability to deliver. If you have a game or move that you enjoy please post in the comments section or Email ZFarls
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
5 More Tips to Own the Octagon in UFC Undisputed!
I used this pic before but can you blame me?
1) Make sure you know how many rounds are in the fight you are playing. Some people manually change it to 5 rounds prior to the match. (I've never seen a match be 2 min online, but still this is something you should know). If you are engaging in a 5 round match, just throwing hay-makers left and right in the first two rounds is probably a bad idea. Don't get me wrong, if a window to connect on someone the way that Dan Henderson did to Michael Bispings jaw, take it. However, if for some reason the fight goes into the championship rounds (rounds 4 and 5) you want some energy to play with. If you've ever watched a UFC championship fight, generally there is not a lot of action in the first round because they want to make sure they have some gas left in the tank for the later rounds. On the other hand, if you're matched up in the rare 2 round fight, you can go a little more balls to the wall, but keep in mind your stamina because you don't want to get caught in a situation where you are dominating and get caught in a submission attempt.
Yowza, how could I not repost!!!
2) Stop being predictable. Playing a person is 100x different than playing the computer. After transitioning from the ground back to a stand up position, most people try for a head kick or a superman punch/swinging hook. It works against the computer, but when you're playing another person, it usually does not. Most people, myself included, primarily defend the face rather than the body, and from playing online apparent that a lot of people try to execute head kicks or strong head punches immediately after regaining the stand up position. Meaning, you should either be ready to block this, clinch off of it, or hit the other person in the stomach! Blocking their attack with a clinch can be VERY frustrating for the opponent,and they might even stop trying that tactic all together after a couple of times. The clinch is a very underrated position in this game. If you have the right fighter, you can perform trips, tosses and slams out of this. It should cause your opponent to stop throwing wild hay-makers. If you are playing with your friends in person, watch your friends tendencies. If after every stand up Timmy is going for a high leg kick, make a mental note, expose it when you fight him, and dominate off of it.
Bald guy in the background is like mcdonalds, LOVIN IT!
3) Try to score the fight in your head. Its fairly rare online,but some fights do end up going the distance and there is a decision tobe made by the judges. When entering the third round (assuming its a three round fight), you should think about how the fight has gone so far. Who was landing more strikes? Who was in more advantageous positions on the ground? Who was controlling the flow of the fight? If you honestly feel like you're winning at that point then keep that in mind. Don't put yourself in a position to get knocked out or submitted. There is no shame in being victorious via decision. Sure knocking out the opponent or making him quit is great, however a victory is a victory. But on the other hand, if you have been knocked around like a red headed step child all fight, go for the gusto in the third round. If the fight goes the distance, then you will probably lose the decision anyways, so at this point you need to go for the home run. Go for the knockout or submission, if you end up getting caught and get knocked out, as mentioned before, you probably would have lost already, so whats the big deal? But with all of this talk about judges decisions leads me to...
4) At all costs, DO NOT leave the fight in the hands of the judges. Sure keeping track of the fight in your head and scoring it yourself is helpful, but at the end of the fight, its out of your hands. While you may or may not agree with the decision of the judges,there say is final. You may think you dominated the fight, but the judges might think otherwise. If you had the opportunity to win the fight in the middle of the last round, but held back because you thought you would grab the decision, then shame on you. Do what Master Chief did in Halo 3: Finish the Fight.
5) Not only should you know your fighters strengths, be aware of the other fighters strengths. If you are not constantly taking advantage of your opponents weaknesses you're not a fighter. One of the most popular heavyweight fighters in the game is Brock Lesnar,especially after UFC 100. If you are locking up against Lesnar, you must realize that his main strengths are power and his great wrestling. If you're squaring off against Lesnar, you should be trying to avoid the power punches, and at all costs avoid being mounted. (You should always avoid being mounted, but when fighting power fighters this is mandatory). You should NEVER pull guard against Lesnar. However, if someone is overly aggressive with Lesnar then there stamina will rapidly decline, opening a window for a very easy submission against him. Lesnar can deliver devastating punches but is extremely easy to tapout if he has low stamina. When fighting against a submission specialist make sure your stamina never goes below half. You will need some energy when trying to get out of a submission.
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