EA sports released it's second patch for both the XBOX 360 and PS3 recently and the results are good to mixed. In many ways they've improved the game, and in a couple of ways they left something to be desired. We're going to address the main game play issues one at a time, so let's take a look at the patch in detail.

Improvements in covering of the flats

The flat routes have been abused by online players since the game was released. For that quick 4-5 yards and possibly more, the flat route was the choice by many gamers as they abused the route on their way to victory. Combine the fact that the deep ball was no longer present in this game the way it was in years past, throwing short passes such as the flat route and turning them into big gains with fast receivers have forced gamers to abuse the AI on a regular basis.

This time, EA has patched that so the defenders cover the flat route better. The pursuit by defenders is much better, and the pass only gains a typical yard or two at the most. Against a cover 3 defense, the flat zones ran by the slot cornerbacks immediately develop, and when trying to trick the same corner by hot routing the slot WR to an inside slant, the cornerback still makes a pretty decent play, despite being in a flat zone. A great job on WR flat routes by Ian and his team.

There is a catch with this patch, however. While running any form of Shotgun 2 back, WR Corners will still beat both man and zone defenses, with the exception to press or bump 'n run man coverage out of the dime formation. The problem is the fact that you have to have your defenders lined up outside of the hash marks in order to cover runningback flat routes. If you simply call a normal, 43 or even nickel defense with man press coverage, the offense will be moving the ball 10-15 yards a pop every time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9T8mr0nxwgg

Because we are a Madden strategy guide website, we immediately sought out a way to beat a Dime defense in a man press coverage. Not only did we find a way, but we found something that should be corrected as soon as possible. We ran the play Deep Cross out of the Atlanta offensive playbook, from the formation Gun Split Offset. The trick to this play is the two HB delay flat routes. Against man press coverage, the defenders simply ignore the blue routes and drop into coverage. We can take an HB delay flat route for an easy 20 yards against man coverage.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61H_LlhdZrM

A zone based defense plays these delay routes MUCH better, but we also found a flaw in flat routes versus zone.

When coming out in a compressed offensive set, such as Shotgun Tight Flex also from the Atlanta playbook, we chose the play Bench Switch and picked a cover 3 defense from Dime. Now the defense does play the route better -- until we roll out with our QB. Once we get outside of the hash marks, the defender surprisingly stops defending the flat/out route, and we can make a perfect throw on the run for a wide open 10 yards.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnMNeKs7RTk

So while progress has been made, we've found that it's only been for flat routes thrown while we're in the pocket. We've also uncovered the idea runningback flat routes have been unaffected, and we can basically beat both man and zone defenses with the flat route although it does require a little bit more effort.

Improved pursuit angles

The improved pursuit angles are are just that: Improved. Drastically. Before the patch, over half of the interceptions were returned for 6 points the other way. Now, linemen and quarterbacks make tackles because they take angles as opposed to simply running in a straight line towards the endzone.

We ran a few plays, and took our best example. Before the patch, the defenders simply chased and followed the man with the ball. This time, as you can see in our example, one man follows the WR and the next guy immediately creates an angle for the sideline.

Let's take a look at it here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXk4kK7lLeo

Worked on eliminating various exploits such as with the RB Direct Snap

First and foremost I want to thank Ian and his team for this. He stopped this cold, and nothing could have been done better in this situation. We'll again visit a quick video displaying the before and after.

Here's the old version: http://askmadden.com/stopping-the-hb-direct-snap-play/

Here's the new version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epGWnhGPHAk

Nothing more needs to be said. Great job by EA from stopping AI abusing glitchers and forcing them to play football by using their head. It's unfrotunate that it comes in the form of a stutter step/slow first step and not an actual fix, but we'll take what we can get. We no longer have to shift over our entire defense to stop this play.

Reduced the number of times the chain-gang measurement scene occurs

The chain gang was frustrating for those who play this game regularly. The chain gang would come in on short yardage situations and stop any sort of momentum the offensive would have. The only problem with the chain gang scene, is that it would force the offensive to pick another play without allowing a no-huddle to happen. When players went back to the playcall screen, their offensive players would be either red with fatigue or sitting on the bench altogether. That's a pretty crucial scenario when you're running a two minute drill with the game on the line!

While we're on this, the short yardage situations happen all to frequently. On every drive there seems to be a "3rd and inches" or even a critical "4th and inches" -- far more than it happens in the NFL. If we tone back that fact, this area of the patch is done to perfection as well.

Stats tuned for franchise mode

Many gamers on Operation Sports claim that the stats for rushing, sacks, and passing seem to be extraordinarily high. They claim that when they sim a franchise with the patch, there will be 3 or more runningbacks with 2,000+ yards, 5 defenders with 20+ sacks, and a couple of QB's threw for 50+ touchdowns.

When I recently simmed two seasons, nothing was extremely out of the ordinary. Sure Adrian Peterson ran for just over 2,000 yards and, sure Drew Brees threw for over 5,000 yards -- but is that really out of the question? No defender had over 20 sacks, and the leading passer had 40 touchdowns. This is extremely accurate compared to the past.

A night and day difference to the times when Michael Vick would rush for over 2,000 yards per season while averaging 15 yards per carry.

Notable Mentions:

Play Action and QB first steps

We used to be able to immediately take off with our quarterback right away. Now, we have to take a mandatory drop back, even on canceled play action pass plays. The only thing that needs fixed in this area is the QB red routes, and the HB screen passes as we still can take control of our quarterback right away.

Green Seahawks Jerseys

These look arcadish, but they're stylish at the same time. While they've been retired in real life, they're introduced into Madden. Just in time to give your opponent a seizure as you run the play fake FB dive, HB toss.

Motioning After Audibling

With the patch comes the fact that when we audible we have to let everyone on offense set in their position before we motion anyone. The jury's still out on whether this is a good thing or a bad thing, but it does prevent glitches such as flipping corners.