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!
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.*
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
Thursday, July 2, 2009
With each new Madden release comes new teams, new plays, and new schemes. Every new season dawns a new day, a resurrection, the rebirth of each and every one of our games. We have hope, we have excitement, and then we have the Madden 2010 Dallas Cowboys. Unfortunately for Madden 2010 we may still be seeing the Cowboys, and seeing them a lot. The 2010 squad appears to pick up where the 09 team left off virtually, despite failing to meet real world expectations. Ultimately, its would seem not even the departure of Terrell Owens will slow this team down.
Jerry Jones must be a Madden fan, why else would they have all these Madden studs!
The 2010 Cowboys are poised and ready to be Americas team!
Madden 2010 Dallas Cowboys - ESPN Ratings
Last years 09 team was in all terms of the sense, “the perfect team”. Offensively they had a scrambling QB with solid THP and THA, a speed and power back, WR/TE with speed and height, there O-line gave you enough time to make two peanut butter sandwiches with fluff, and if one of your starters got hurt just sub one of the reserves and you wouldn't notice a thing. Defensively they had enough line backers to cover 2/3of the World (1/3 is covered by Namadi Asomugha), there secondary was tall and had speed in all the right places, and not to mention two guysthat could lay the lumber with hit sticks. Then in the middle of the season, they got better. As if they didn’t need anymore help they acquired Roy Williams from the Lions. This was every school boy’s fantasy, the stars had certainly aligned for America’s team. Now we have 2010 and I think it’s safe to say that we all fully expected a big time downgrade (recent podcast). Not so fast.
The Cowboys may have lost Terrell Owens but they still have Roy Williams, Jason Witten, and Martellus Bennett. In the backfield they have 96 speed Felix Jones and Marion the Barbarian. Romo still has enough speed to make some noise on the ground and there O-line is absolutely savage. There may not be a more balanced attack offensively in Madden 2010. If there is an area of concern for the Cowboys its speed on this side of the ball, other then Jones there are no real burners on this team. If the deep ball is a big impact on this years game then the Cowboys may disappear on radar’s across the country.
Defense may be the Cowboys strong point this season. Once again they have a plethora of linebackers, three of which have 90+ tackle. In the defensive secondary they have Terrence Newman with 97 speed and Orlando Scandrick with 95. Pat Watkins is back on the roster and his 6’5 frame will be a big acquisition. He may be the glue that holds this all together. The ability to make plays with Watkins may play a vital role in the success of this defense. Mix in hard hitting Ken Hamlin and we once again have a well balanced attack. I can see already see my starting lineup now…
Keith Brooking will have a huge impact on the Cowboys defense in 2010.
Offense
QB- Tony Romo
HB- Felix Jones/Marion Barber
FB- Marion Barber
WR- Roy Williams/Martellus Bennet (TE split end package)
TE- Jason Witten
O-line- Gurode/Davis/Adams/Kosier/Columbo
Defense
Quarters formation with a LB at DE package
DE- Keith Brooking/J. Williams (87 speed, 90 accel, 89 jump)
DT- J. Ratliff
MLB- Demarcus Ware
CB- Mike Jenkins/Gerald Sensabaugh/Terrence Newman/Orlando Scandrick
FS- Pat Watkins/Courtney Brown
SS- Ken Hamlin/Courtney Brown
What will YOUR lineup look like?
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
In all seriousness, look to get Calvin the ball on almost every play. He is your first and second read. Look to utilize his deep play ability. For all player ratings from ESPN click here
WR- Calvin Johnson- Key Stats- 6’5 is just the first attribute to mention. Then add in 95 speed, 99 jump, and 91 catch to make the best WR in Madden not named Randy Moss. There isn’t a DB that can shut this man down. If you’re a Lions user and your looking to be successful you will need Calvin to be in on every play. The only thing preventing Calving from being higher then a 92 overall is his AWR. At 78, his AWR can only go up, right?
QB- Matthew Stafford- Key Stats- 97 throw power doesn’t get much better at the QB position. Not only does Stafford have the big arm but he’s a rookie as well. The future of the Lions looks bright. It will be interesting to watch Stafford and Calvin grow over the next few season’s
LB- Ernie Simms- Key Stats- Even with the downgrade of speed in this years game Simms still maintains a freakish 88 speed rating at outside linebacker. You will want to have Simms guard hb’s out of the backfield to really take advantage of his coverage ability. Not only can he help you in coverage but his 90 tackle rating should allow him to play in-between the tackles as well. Simms is complimented by Julian Peterson who will be doing his part in locking down te’s in the passing game. The defense for the Lions won’t scare anyone but look for Simms to play a vital role in any success they may have.
Do you think the lions will be the worst team in Madden 10 or even Madden history?
Friday, June 19, 2009
Cutler is better than me?
Brett...Hang it up
It hurts my brain to think about Brett Favre and the Green Bay Packers saga. Im not gonna elaborate on the situation as you should have heard about it by now. The pack is a new team and well...they are very average.
Strength- They have a top five secondary (93,93,90) and even the new ratings couldn't take that away. The D-line and Lb's are average but if they start out with some wins, updates could be very friendly.
Weakness- Ryan Grant is back on earth (85) and their O-line is very average. The WR's are pretty solid but not much depth there or height. It could just be the new ratings but I expected them to be alot better for some reason.
However, Sgibs has found some Madden gems and is in love with the packers...
The Green Bay Packers are certainly and intriguing team. The Packers are one of the only teams in the league that have more then one playmaker on both sides of the balls. The packers are certainly loaded with Madden Gems. Lets take a Lambeau leap into the 2010 Madden NFL Packers!
QB- Aaron Rodgers- Key Stats: Rodgers finally “got his”. Last season he was able to showcase his talent that had previously been shelved for the wrangler wearing, back yard football playing, gun slinging Brett Favre. Not only did the entire NFL take notice EA did as well. His 86 overall, 94 throw power, and 69 speed raise him to “elite” status in Madden. Compliment Rodgers ratings with big targets such as, Jordy Nelson and Jeramichael Finley and you can expect big points from this unit.
TE- Jeramichael Finley- Key Stats: If you were to ask me who I thought was the biggest Madden Gem in all of Madden 2009, I would say this man right here. Without a doubt he is a game changer. He is 6’5, has 79 speed, and a amazing 92 jump at tight end. The ability to RC will render him a bit less for the Madden 2010 season. If you play with the Packers in 2010, I recommend making Finely your focal point.
SS- Aaron Rouse- Key Stats: On the defensive side of the ball there aren’t many that stand six feet four inches tall. Not many can say they are, mediocre to sub par on Sundays, but a absolute all star in Madden. Well Rouse can say both. He posseses average speed (79) , he has average tackling ability (67), and he hes average catching (63). He does have height though. That 6’4 frame, when user controlled, can make him be one of the most feared user players in all the game. Click on and make BIG PLAYS!
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Today's Maddenbible Mailbag Question is from Preacher
He is selecting 13th in an upcoming fantasy draft for Madden 2010. We have drafted up a small guide to help him get the best value for his picks. I have made a podcast to go along with some of the ideas we talk about as well. We will be elaborating more on this subject as well as adding to this post in the future. If you have a question for the mailbag get live 24/7 answers by aiming maddenbible. Drafting may be the sweetest thing in all of Madden plus its going to be all the rage with online franchise and 32 users. I have completed one before and lets just say I had Derek Anderson and Tavarias Jackson. Even Reggie Bush and his over valued Madden Skills couldn't have bailed me out there. How was I supposed to see Vince Young going 3rd? Human drafts are totally differnet, be prepared.
(See site for podcast)
For the presentation of this article we will break down the both starting sides of the ball and where/when we can get the best value available. Keep in mind this is our assumption based off of countless hours played on past versions of Madden. This list is subject to change when the game releases on 08/14/2009. We will also take in account that we will have the 13th pick in the draft. Lets get to it!
1. QB-Most important position for any team in Madden. If you don't have an adequate arm we wont be able to move the ball. With the 13th pick we can still manage to get an upper echelon QB. At this pick I certainly think a QB like Donovan Mcnabb will be available. Mcnabb has always boasted a big arm, above average throw accuracy and a more then adequate speed rating. The same story goes for Madden 2010. Mcnabb boasts a solid OVR rating of 91.
*If Ben Roethlisberger is still available look to pick him up here. He has better passing ratings but lower speed. Also he is much younger then Mcnabb, this can pay dividends a few years into your franchise.*
ZFarls Take:I feel that QB is more important in this years game than ever. Rather than a guy like Vince Young, Pocket Passers are at a premium. It looks like snaps can be taken under center and someone who can wiggle is no longer over valued. Long and medium range passing also seem to be important in this years game. No longer will acc be just one category. It looks like they will be broken down further which of course makes getting a good qb important. I still love drafting a fast backup qb, but he may not be your first choice anymore.
Sgibs7 Take: I'm a big fan of THP and speed. Give me a QB that has tons of THP and a little bit of speed and I'm a happy camper. My reason behind this is that with big THP we can make any throw on the field, it may sail overhead a few times but hey I can live with that. I love speed at the QB position as well. Its another weapon the defense has to worry about. If you followed me in Madden 09 you saw that I loved Jamarcus Russel. However early reports are showing that Madden 2010 may be the year that brings Madden studs like Russel to an abrupt end.
2. RB- For those who like to pound the rock, Running backs are always a good investment. Ideally speed is the most important category. Reggie Bush who is a poor NFL Running back is someone that really dominates in Madden. We also like the ability to use him on passing routes and screens.
We also want a good second back in the mid to late rounds to complement this first pick. We wont be FB diving as much in Madden 10 but I still feel it will be available.
Adrian Peterson is always the top choice but other backs have emerged and speed is at a premium this year. Back's like Chris Johnson will be going early in this years game and carry high value.
ZFarls: Also when looking into taking a running back early, make sure you have some of the other pieces in place to make it a success. If your going to spend the next 5 picks on speedy wr's then it doesnt really correlate. We need to focus our team for some solid defense and maybe a lineman up at the top. We must realize that it may make it harder to come from behind. If we think we want to control and posses and running is equal to passing than pick away at RB. You must commit though.
Sgibs7 Take: Taking a running back with the second pick is a bit iffy for me. Unless there is an absolute stud still available I would bypass a back at this pick. Speed always kills in madden and there are certainly a handful of lower rated players that we can pick up later on in the draft. If we do see a stud still available with our 13th pick lets look to select them here. If not look to progress another area of concern.
3. WR Corps
As always, Speed and height combos are as deadly as it gets in Madden. I feel strongly that this will be the case in Madden 10. Although I think that the number of players will be tuned down. Solid recievers like steve smith always struggle in Madden due to lack of height where a guy like Brandon Marshall is a stud.
There is a top pack of Moss, Fitz and everyones favorite sleeper, Calvin Johnson. We must find out how the ratings and lack of RC will affect Madden 10 before we can determine how important this selection will be.
Zfarls Take- I see 3-5 top picks being worth it. With the new speed and no rc I think there will be a good second tier of talent which will reward solid recievers who have never been great in madden like torry holt. (in his prime)
I think if once the top guys come off the board you can hold and grab two solid real life number ones for great value. Route running will be imporatnt so don't hold out for scrubs with speed like hester, berrian or my old favorite Bethel Johnson. This madden is shaping up to be different.
Sgibs7 Take: With RC being "removed" from the game this year that may make guys like Hines Ward FINALLY effective, right? WRONG, I for one don't completely believe this. We have heard time and time again that this is the year that so and so will be good. Sadly, we are typically disappointed.
One thing seems to always hold true at the WR position. Speed and Height is ALL you need. Taking a WR at this pick, this early could be detramental to your teams success. How much of a difference, in Madden, is there between Randy Moss and Chaz Schillens? Not THAT much.
TE- If you are going to use a lot of 2 TE sets then do yourself a favor and get one stud and one solid backup (Heath Miller) early. If we are going to use these guys than they have great value. You can also trade one if you get a Gates and a Winslow! However, if your more into speed and 5 wr sets than don’t waste your time here. In a human draft these guys go a lot earlier than a CPU draft. There are some solid late round options that we can look into later.
O-Line- Unless you lack good protection and manipulation than look into these guys later. If you decided on that run heavy offense then start selecting these guys well before you take a 2nd and 3rd WR. They will make life easier but as long as you focus on there strengths, you will survive.
Defense
CB- How do you combat everyones favorite way to score points? CORNER BACKS! Unfortunetly up until this point WR and the offensive side of the ball have almost always had the advantage in this situation. Numerous reports, from E3 and from lead game designer Ian Cummings, are saying that this is the year that lock down CB's are going to actually lock fown there opposition.
If this holds true we may want to put a little more value in this pick, potentially moving it up to either two or three. If this does happen and the top CB's are gone (C.Bailey, N.Aso) look to grab Antonio Cromartie or his cousin D. Rodgers Cromartie. Both are tall, speedy, and can jump.
CB's are VERY important in Madden. They are also one of the only positions where you never play as the user. We can make up for lack of awarness at other positions but with Cb's they are out on an island. If you had Champ and N. Aso out on the edges would you be scared to bring alot more blitzes? This is a pick that can add serious value to your team.
As ive stated I feel less players will have that burning speed in this years game. I would select one CB high, and then 2 fast and 2 smart cbs. The 2 speed guys will be for blitzing and the 2 smart guys for coverage. Once we determine if zone or man will be the best way to play this years game, we can determing if the ratings matter. Then we pick the gems and you are on your way to dominating on defense.
Sgibs7- I love CB's in Madden. Back on Madden 07 I was in a fantasy draft franchise league called the VGXL. Two of my first three picks where Antonio Cromartie and Jimmy Williams. Many may not remember Jimmy Williams but he was on the same playing field as Cromartie back then. Both were 6'2 and both had 94 speed. They allowed me to play ANY type of defense and I was never affraid of having them get burnt one on one, on the outside. They were great against all WR's.
This combination of CB's really allowed me to expand my defense and allowed for other weakness on my team to not stand out as much. Unlike other positions elite CB's in Madden are NOT a dime a dozen. Thats why I hold there value to be a bit higher on the list.
Linebackers- Grab one solid stud to play the middle. On the left side get a fast guy for coverage. On the right side draft an avg speed player who plays the run well. We will learn how to get the right guys on the field in proper situations. This will maximize your draft value and give you better versatility.
Zfarls and Sgibs : Manny Lawson
DE- If you like to user with these guys and can find good ways to scheme them, by all means draft high. However, in a human draft they should stick around for a bit. There is no point in letting a good DE like Peppers ROT on your D-line if your not going to be mixing him into coverage and getting creative. This can be a value pick and you can either get stalwart on the run or go for total speed. Stick to a theme here and make your picks count.
Safeties-
This is an interesting category with users because the computer may draft very high, however good humans know the value of usering with lower rated players. Ed Reed is an absolute ball hawk and coverboy troy is also a good pick. However, would you rather spend a 2nd round pick or a 13th round pick and grab a guy like Tyrelle Johnson who with your user awareness is just as good as these types of players? There are plenty of good safetys that are later round values. This is a big spot to save on picks. I would spend it on cb's instead.
DT: See 80 ovr, sort by STRENGTH, pick late. We take these guys off the field anyway when not in run situations.
If you need more breakdown hit us up!
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