For console gamers, the Madden franchise has been changed significantly ever since EA Sports released their annual title, then featuring Rams all-time great Marshall Faulk as the doomed cover boy, back in August of 2002.  Gamers throughout the world connected big, black bricks known only as “network adaptors” to the back of their Playstation 2 consoles and, with that, the landscape of console football gaming had changed forever.

Prior to the release of Madden NFL 2003, the options for console gamers were extremely limited; play against the artificial intelligence or play against any geographically close friends who may also happen to have the game.  When online gameplay was introduced, however, Madden fanatics the world over were exposed to something entirely new to them; a phenomenon that has since been labeled “East Room Cheese.”

If you are unfamiliar with the term “nano blitz” and have never witnessed the “methodical” shifting of players to block both punts and field goals, consider yourself lucky.  These issues, among many others, exist as a result of flaws in the development of true artificial intelligence. Yet for some people, they exist as a crutch to aid in climbing all the way to the top of the Madden online ranks.

These actions may be kosher for “gamers,” but for football fanatics such tactics represent a repulsive lack of skill and ingenuity.  Where is the proverbial coaching chess match in having to roll out with the quarterback on every play to avoid instant pressure from the defense?  Where is the fun in having to go for the conversion on every 4th and long, if only to avoid a blocked punt? 

Soon enough, the battle lines were drawn between gamers and football fans. The gamers were left to match wits in pursuit of mastering the newest glitches while the football fans were left to forge their own paths in online leagues and communities.  As websites such as Maddenmania began fostering a home to these dejected nomads, a new enemy arose:  The Madden Addict. 

Playing a season of football online against other dedicated players certainly brings about a whole new level of excitement when compared to the mundane alternative of trudging through season after season offline, each time giving the ’72 Dolphins one more reason not to pop the cork off a bottle of bubbly. 

Why is it that some of the same people who roll through their franchises undefeated offline have trouble mustering a single win throughout a sixteen game season online, even while playing with teams such as the Indianapolis Colts?  The Madden Addict rears his ugly head.

Upon venturing into leagues or communities such as Digitalsportsmania, it becomes quickly apparent that many of the men and women competing against one another are on a higher level than those guys down the street and the unjustifiably confident brother-in-law.  Even still, there are four tiers of competitors in these communities.  At the bottom of the totem pole are those who can’t seem to buy a win, no matter which team they play with.  Above them is the largest sampling; those who can defeat almost anyone on any day, but can just as easily be defeated. 

Resting directly above them are the individuals who lose a game here and there, but come out victorious around 75% of the time.  Finally, peering down at all the rest from their perch way up high is the rarest breed.  They are the mantes; a rare sight, but majestic in presence.  They lose once in a blue moon and when they do, it is often as a result of fluke fumbles and the like.  Indeed, even the best players cannot feel safe from the infamous “Madden gods.”

Regardless of which class a player may be part of, there is one universal truth:  Many have fallen victim to the Madden Addiction.  By a show of hands, how many people, in general, play Madden at least once a day?  Twice?  Three times?  In my estimate, there are quite a few hands held high at this point. 

Think about that for a moment:  Three games of Madden every day.  That is an average of course, taking into account the occasional day where there may not be time for video games, and the rainy Saturday where some might make an afternoon of it.  Even still, the amount of time invested into this game is tremendous. 

A single game takes approximately one hour.  At three hours a day for the 365 days in between Madden release dates, that equates to about 1,095 hours spent playing the game every year or, about 46 days.  46 days!  That’s over a month and a half some competitors invest playing this game throughout a year’s time.  Is my Madden Addict label justified?

The more important question, however, is how can anyone not investing those long hours manage to compete?  Be warned, there is no room for defeatist attitude here.  Yes, Madden Addicts play the game a lot but they cannot be condemned for that.  It is a passion. 

After all, this football simulation is as close as any of us will get to playing in or coaching a professional football game, so its mass appeal is completely understandable.  Yet somewhere amongst the four aforementioned tiers are “casual competitive” Madden gamers who might play the game two or three times a week but still manage to compete and win even when pitted against the toughest of opponents.  Not to toot my own horn but, beep beep.  I fall into the casual competitive category.

How is it that people such as myself can hang with and often times defeat Madden Addicts?  I believe that at a certain point, the casual Madden gamer reaches a plateau where they’ve spent enough time with the game and have enough knowledge surrounding the game of football that there is simply little room left for improvement.  They won’t be manually controlling a cornerback and shutting down Ocho Cinco, whereas the Madden Addict will have his or her stick skills decidedly sharp come gameday. 

Once this plateau is reached, whatever advantage that the casual competitive can muster will come from an equally sharp intellect.  It is the classic battle of brains versus brawn in a contest where brains can very easily emerge victorious. 

It is important to note that this is not meant to imply that the “brawn” have no “brains,” but rather that they may neglect to fully utilize them in the heat of a game, relying more on their manual skills than on calling smart and appropriate plays.  That is what it all comes down to for the casual competitive player:  Football 101.  As any crash course in Football 101 would indicate, the first and most important facet of the game is preparation.

In the realm of Madden, what preparation comes down to is knowing your playbooks inside and out, both offensive and defensive.  If your opponent is trying to nickel and dime their way down the field, you need to know where those soft zone coverages are located.  If your opponent is attempting to exploit your defense with a hook route to their outside wide receivers, you need to know where those plays are that allow defensive players to sit in the flats. 

On the opposite side of the fence, if you find that the opposing defense is blitzing hard up the middle, you need to know where those halfback sweeps are.  Being intimately familiar with your playbooks is useless, of course, if you don’t dig deeply into them come game time.

Finding variety in play calling is, from my experience, one of the tougher challenges that many will face.  After all, if you have a play that seems to work, it’s only natural to go back to the well and run it again, but that is not the best option. 

Mixing up the play calling causes unrest for the opposition.  You have put your opponent in a true bind if they don’t know whether you’ll be running or passing out of that four wide receiver set and perhaps an even larger bind if they can’t figure out whether your free safety is blitzing or playing centerfield.   Still, that is easier said than done.  The temptation is always there to stick with what’s working but eventually, a worthy opponent will see what you’re doing and make you pay.

To resist that forbidden fruit, it is important to maintain focus on the game at all times.  Hey, you love the game and only play it a few times a week, so commit yourself!  Turn your cell phone on silent, or vibrate if you so prefer. 

Bring it to the attention of your better half that you will be unavailable for at least an hour.  Turn off AOL Instant Messenger.  If you really put yourself into the game and you really, truly have an appreciation for the way Madden, no, football is meant to be played, varied play calling becomes second nature.

Now that you’ve really inserted yourself mentally into the game and you’re mixing up the play calling, Terrell Owens beats you deep down the field for a touchdown because you blitzed the cornerback instead of running the man coverage with two safeties deep that you’re so comfortable with. 

Herein lies the touchiest part of the game:  Luck.  Sometimes you’re going to get beat deep, sometimes a running back is going to break through the line on a simple dive, and your blitzing outside linebackers helped him get those eighty untouched yards.  Sometimes that unstoppable halfback counter is going to get stopped for a four yard loss.  Things happen.  The important thing is to pay close attention to what your opponent is doing and adjust accordingly. 

Yet no matter how closely you watch your opponent’s tendencies, there is never a sure-fire play selection.  Using your informed intuition, however, forces luck to play a smaller role in determining whether you picked a stud or a dud.

I know what some of you are thinking at this point.  “Who is this bum DSM has writing for them?  It took him all those words to say ‘use common sense?’  What a tool.”  If you would prefer the Cliff Notes version, sure:  Use common sense.  But is it really that easy?  I don’t believe so. 

Any time that you suffer a momentary lapse in failing to acknowledge these simple pieces of “common sense” and it affects you aversely, you are suffering.  With that, the final piece of advice that I can offer is to approach the game one play at a time.   Every play counts!  From offense, to defense and yes, even special teams, no play can be viewed as inconsequential.  A botched punt can quickly put your opponent in field goal range.  A sack can knock you out of field goal range. 

A forced throw or calling your running back’s number relentlessly despite fatigue can mean seven points going the other way.  Any and all of these scenarios can cost you the game.  To shrug it off under the belief that it is “just one play” is extremely ill-advised.  Have you ever found yourself trailing your opponent on the scoreboard toward the end of the game, with your offense struggling and no hope in sight? Then all of a sudden you start moving the ball. 

It might be enough to win you the game or it might not, but the end result is irrelevant.  You find yourself asking “Why couldn’t my offense play like that the entire game?”  It could be the defense playing soft, prevent defense, or it could be because there’s a sudden sense of urgency and a need to get the job done. 

At that point, you acknowledge each play as essential in getting back into the game and hopefully securing the victory.  Is it coincidence that, often times, this is when your offense seems most potent?

Just wait until the Soccer Moms of America come across this diatribe and begin showing their kids how the game is supposed to be played.  Indeed, everyone reaches a plateau where they simply will not get much better at the game itself. 

It is at that point that if you use the tips provided herein, Madden becomes a mind game; a chess match, if you will.  Whoever wins that mind game will ultimately have their opponent in checkmate nine times out of ten, even if it means sending a Madden Addict straight into rehab.