Should the Calvin Johnson Rule Be 'In The Game'

Feature Article

Submitted on: 01/12/2015 by Chris Sanner

Unless you live under a rock, and/or chose to boycott the NFL Playoffs this weekend -- you've probably heard about a certain incomplete pass thrown from Tony Romo to Dez Bryant. Bryant caught the pass, took three steps in lunging for the goal line and lost the handle of the football as he hit the ground -- by rule that is an incomplete pass in the NFL.

But yet, that is a rule you won't see enforced in Madden 15. Amongst various penalties which are hardly, if ever called, obscure rules like the Calvin Johnson rule are also not seen within the game. It's understandable given their highly complex nature, and no matter how EA did it they'd have an outcry from gamers in some fashion -- but one wonders if obscure rules should find their way into Madden.

Yes, people would rage quit if the exact same thing that happened to Dez happend in Madden. Yes, others would say it's not sim if you could somehow jump over the line to almost block a field goal like Kam Chancellor.

But at the end of the day, these are the things which make football so unique and so unpredictable -- and really, some realistic randomness is one of the biggest thing Madden's approach to football desperately needs to liven the experience up a bit.

Should there been more crazy things happening in Madden like what you saw this weekend? Let us know in the comments.

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Member Comments

# 41 Godgers12 @ 01/13/15 05:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Black_Tom_Brady


	the best qb's of all time??? i think you may be pushing it buddy

Nope, Rodgers is the best QB I have ever seen play the game of football, period. I just used the term "One of" to please the masses.

# 42 Mechcaniq @ 01/13/15 05:59 PM

NO!! It's not that important. EA should concentrate on better game play.

# 43 roadman @ 01/13/15 06:51 PM

If it's ever put into the game, if,......... it's called marketing 101.

They capitalize on anything that's talked about forever on social media.

# 44 ianlast @ 01/13/15 07:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jyoung


	All they'd have to do is give these kind of events an appropriate probability of occurring. All-Pro Football 2K8 had bobbled snaps, dropped hand-offs, blocked kicks, and bad snaps flying way overhead. Plus in bad weather, there would be plays where the athletes just slipped and fell down. But those things happened so rarely in APF 2K8 that they were just cool and interesting when they occurred, not frustrating. A little randomness, even if the random event punishes the player, can go a long way towards making a sports game feel more tense and exciting.

I agree with this 100%, but I've given up hope that this matches the Madden devs vision for the game. It seems like Madden doesn't want to include:

1. Gameplay elements that trigger randomly or based on player ratings (ie. out of the users control)
2. 'Easter Egg' animations that occur very rarely. For every gamer that would find these animations awesome, there are probably 10 Madden gamers that couldn't care less and wouldn't even notice.

To me, this is the explanation for why Madden feels so bland and not really like real NFL Football at all. Everybody hates canned animations, but IMO they're absolutely essential to a simulation experience.

# 45 thehitokiri @ 01/13/15 08:53 PM

Chris Sanner should get slap in the face for this posting because they game can't even do the challenges right ... there are so many times the players catch the ball out of bounce with one and sometimes two feet out of bounds and they say its a catch .. I hate to say it but NFL2K5 challenge system was and it still is better than madden ... it gave you options on what you were challenging and it was accurate ...

# 46 mariner690 @ 01/13/15 08:55 PM

They cant even put out a game that calls penalties and is missing the most common one of all in defensive holding. Let's get past step one before we start talked about step 57.

# 47 ManiacMatt1782 @ 01/14/15 10:36 PM

No. Wasted programming when they can't get blocking interactions correct yet.

# 48 hustlehard0785 @ 01/14/15 11:53 PM

Nope. Because if they have any sense, they will change that rule this offseason!

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports...112-story.html

OR AT LEAST GET CONSISTANT

http://www.bengals.com/media-lounge/...4-16a799df3cb2

If at 1:45 highlight is ruled a fumble, then Dez was certainly down inside the 1 yard line!

# 49 xzghn @ 01/15/15 03:02 AM

No I dnt like this made up rule to give a win to the home team that paided for a win. Because it's a catch all day.

# 50 ManiacMatt1782 @ 01/15/15 08:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rudeworld


	It would be difficult to add something like this into madden, without people complaining about it happening too many times. Also that play in yesterdays game (as well as the Calvin Johnson play)is a judgement call. When I saw the play I thought Dez Bryant made a football move when he lundged to the goal line which should have resulted in a spectacular catch, dive, fumble at 1/2 yard line and a recovery in the end zone..... Should it be in the game? Yes.... Does "its in the game" even matters anymore? Which brings me to even if the play was in the game.... Would the correct challenge be in the list of challenges available to pick from??...

Getting 2 feet down while falling forward does not constitute making a standing catch and being a ball carrier, the football move does not come into play her because Dez was going to the ground immediately. By going to the ground he has to maintain posession throughout. There is no interpretation here. If Dez would have came down on his feet and actually made a move towared the endzone, you would be correct. But just because he is athletic enough to change his direction while coming down still doesn't change that he was always going to the ground the entire way, nothing was a judgement call. The ball hit the ground and popped out.

# 51 Cardot @ 01/15/15 08:05 AM

I echo most everyone else here and say "No". These things always feel a bit forced to me. As a off-line player, I have hated the Challenge System in every football game I have played....and that includes NCAA and 2K5. 90% of the time it is an obvious call with zero suspense, and amounts to a frustrating button mashing waste of time. And then you have those cases where the replay doesn't even get an obvious call correct....which I believe are glitches caused by the replay system itself. So I could see all sorts of issues and side effects if they tried to implement the Calvin Johnson rule.

# 52 ManiacMatt1782 @ 01/15/15 08:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hustlehard0785


	Nope. Because if they have any sense, they will change that rule this offseason! http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports...112-story.html OR AT LEAST GET CONSISTANT http://www.bengals.com/media-lounge/...4-16a799df3cb2 If at 1:45 highlight is ruled a fumble, then Dez was certainly down inside the 1 yard line!

Huge difference. The Bengal remained standing and made a move to the endzone. Dez altered his body on the way down but never came down standing.

# 53 SGNN @ 01/15/15 10:04 AM

YES - This should implement this rule in the game as long as it is a real rule in the NFL.

We play sport video games to simulate the real game.

@SGNNeSports

# 54 Gleebo @ 01/15/15 03:59 PM

EA can not get penalties right, you expect them to implement this rule correctly #nochance

# 55 charter04 @ 01/15/15 05:00 PM

absolutley not. It's a dumb rule that shouldn't be in the NFL at all. Much less Madden. Lets try and get holding, false starts, offsides, and pass interference right first. lol

# 56 phenom2311 @ 01/16/15 11:11 AM

This game doesn't even have the basics down, and we're asking if they should include complex rule such as the Calvin Johnson rule? Madden doesn't have proper physics or enough animations. It's ridiculous that at this point, they haven't nailed those things, but that's what they need to work on before adding a rule that may be done away with here shortly by the league.

# 57 ManiacMatt1782 @ 02/26/15 02:11 PM

There is nothing that complex about it other than people trying to throw their own inaccurate interpretations of it in there because of other rules. To be honest there aren't nearly enough plays where the receiver is going to the ground upon catching the ball in Madden for this to ever come into play anyway. And it is already in if the ball does happen to come out on a bang bang hit. If the ball comes out at all on the way down when he gets hit before coming down with the ball, it's incomplete. So it is kind of already in the game. There just aren't nearly enough situation in the games very limited animation system for it to ever come into play.

# 58 Riggins @ 02/26/15 02:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by charter04


	absolutley not. It's a dumb rule that shouldn't be in the NFL at all. Much less Madden. Lets try and get holding, false starts, offsides, and pass interference right first. lol

This and it was miscalled, Dez not only took 3 steps, but made a football move to try to put the ball in the end zone (which he did)

# 59 CM Hooe @ 02/26/15 04:54 PM

Should it be in? Sure, as long as it's an NFL rule.

Are there other things I'd rather see EA add to the game first? Absolutely.

# 60 mestevo @ 02/26/15 09:02 PM

Makes sense to add as what is basically a variation on a drop animation.

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