OT: I've Got It (ESPN NFL 2K5)

[gstelmack]

Originally Posted by mrsimperless

Assuming you can set both, we need to find optimums for both. Mizzou has already recommended 10 minutes for playing. Anybody have any idea on simming length or if it can even be changed? (stuck at work right now)

Can you save in-game? I felt last year that 10 minutes was about right for playing as well, but you could not save while playing a game, and 10 minute quarters takes something like 1.5 hours of uninterrupted play time. With an 18-month old I don't have many 1.5 hour blocks for uninterrupted play time. That was one advantage of NFL Fever.

[kingnebwsu]

I played a pro-level game vs the AI and won 31-28. It was a great game, though I gave up 350 passing yards. I was up 14-0, then down 28-21, then threw my biggest passing play of the game with :22 left to WIN!!! It was exciting. I only completed like 4/18 passing or something, but most of those were me being stupid. The LB's were amazing, and picked off some passes when I didn't even see them.

XBL gamertag: KingNeb. Look for me after 1 AM tonight!!!

[MizzouRah]

No in-game saves.

I've read they corrected the sim stats and you should use 12? Don't quote me on that.


Todd

[GrantDawg]

What are good boards for 2k5 info besides OS? I registered there but they still haven't sent me a confirmation.

[GrantDawg]

Originally Posted by GrantDawg

What are good boards for 2k5 info besides OS? I registered there but they still haven't sent me a confirmation.

No one know?

I'm testing out coach mode right now (that's right, this game has a real honest to goodness coach mode). I'm trying it on All-Pro. So far in less than two quarters I have seen 5 ints (3 by my QB and 2 by the CPU). That is not good.

[LastWhiteSoxFanStanding]

I would love more updates on the coach mode. Last year the computer did not run nearly enough on Coach mode.

[GrantDawg]

Originally Posted by LastWhiteSoxFanStanding

I would love more updates on the coach mode. Last year the computer did not run nearly enough on Coach mode.

So far it looks like the CPU is running fine. I've started a new game and checking how it goes, but the CPU is running.

[Troll]

Originally Posted by Maple Leafs

Do you have the hard-drive? If not, are the highlight shows still fun or are they pointless?

I do not have the hard-drive. The half time and post game shows where they show highlights of your game are pointless. But sportscenter shows highlights of other games in video. It just can't take highlights from the games that you play. I believe all the plays that are pulled up for sportscenter are pre programmed onto the disk. Although I haven't seen the same play twice, yet.

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by GrantDawg

No one know?

I'm testing out coach mode right now (that's right, this game has a real honest to goodness coach mode). I'm trying it on All-Pro. So far in less than two quarters I have seen 5 ints (3 by my QB and 2 by the CPU). That is not good.

You might try ESPN videogames forum, but that board is hit or miss for good information. Sometimes I wonder if they delete out anti-ESPN posts. OS is my standard visiting place for info on games like this.

[Eaglesfan27]

Dola - Who were the QB's in that game? Are other coach games producing similar results.

[ahbrady]

Originally Posted by MizzouRah

No in-game saves.

I've read they corrected the sim stats and you should use 12? Don't quote me on that.


Todd

I know you said to not quote you, but I couldn't resist.

I was using 15 minutes for the games I was simming and was getting crazy stats like 360 receiving yards, so I put the sim time down to 8. That has seemed to work pretty well so far, although I must admit I haven't simmed very far at all. I was just posting this to see if anyone else has found a sim time that seems to work well. 12 seems a bit high to me.

[mrsimperless]

Maybe we'll get lucky and can use ten for both? I'll give it a shot tonight.

[akw4572]

I play coach mode only. Played my first game, with 9 minute quarters and stats came out ok. Running wasn't good, so i need to bump up the blocking. The coach mode is awesome.

[Eaglesfan27]

I played this game for the last few hours and I'm amazed. The passing game is just a wonderful thing. The presentation is excellent. I'm having trouble running, but I imagine that will come with time or some slight slider adjustment. However, playing on All-Pro I'm finding it challenging but not in a cheesy AI cheats sort of way. I feel like if I really read the defense I can pick them apart. This is especially true because Terrell is a tough WR in this game to match up with one on one. However, I can't just rely on him. If I throw into double coverage, it is usually going to hurt my team. Also, I find that zone defenses seem realistic, you can find the seems in them if you know where to look. Man coverage it really matters who the WR is and who the CB is and what their respective skills are.

I love the fact that McNabb actually throws some wild passes. They aren't *usually* really far off target, but just a little bit behind the receiver or a little bit high. Seems life like to me (unfortunately.) Occasionally T.O will reach behind him and make a spectacular catch but sometimes McNabb's inaccuaracy causes me an interception. Brian Westbrook had an amazing jumping catch for one of McNabb's high passes. Of course, the time that it took for him to do that left him wide open for a viscious hit. He held onto the ball amazingly. I'm not having insane numbers of INT's and the numbers seem right so far with 9 minute quarters. However, I also fell asleep twice and am sleep deprived so I guess I will have to see how it plays tomorrow when I'm at 100% efficiency. Getting back to hits, big hits will make receivers drop balls. Throwing the ball a bit behind them will make them drop balls. Throwing the ball too hard will *occasionally* make them drop balls (at least if they are a very good WR) They don't just drop balls for no good reason from what I've seen.

Then again, my sample size is 3 short exhibition games (2 of which I fell asleep during due to no fault of the game)

I want to keep playing so bad, but I know when to listen to my body. That being said, I can't wait to wake up tomorrow and play some more

As far as the "extra" presentation, it is amazing.

The only things I don't like about the game. I hate that I have to tap A quickly to make my players run fast. I also am not sure that I like having the charge button. I don't think players have to charge up to do powerful moves, and I'm worried it might be too powerful when you use it. However, I need to play with it more to be sure about that. Other than needing to tap the A button to run fast, I haven't found a single major complaint (although I haven't had the misfortune of seeing a penalty reduce my RB's rushing numbers and I haven't seen the bad trade AI as I've only played quick games so far.)

Anyway, I'm off to crawl into bed. Hopefully, someone will have some better idea of the best sim times for games tomorrow as I'm looking forward to starting an Eagle's Franchise game in the near future

[hukarez]

I managed to stop by and pick up my pre-order, after a few eventful delays. In any case, I'm having 2K4 flashbacks with gameplay - a good thing for me, especially since it's been awhile when I last played a console football game.

In any case...the weekly preparation thing seems like a blast. Too bad I suck horribly at it. (horrible!)

I guess I'm not much of a good planner, seeing as my players are actually losing points, instead of gaining any! Anyone come up with a decent regimen yet? Or have folks been bypassing this?

I've been spending quite sometime on it, and I'm just barely in the second week of pre-season.

[Pumpy Tudors]

Carmen Electra kicked my ass.

[Bearcat729]

Originally Posted by Pumpy Tudors

Carmen Electra kicked my ass.

I've got to play Funkmaster someone and Steve O. Beat them both but the Funkmaster was a close game 17-7. I beat Steve O 56-7

[mckerney]

Two bugs I've noticed so far:

1. After a short gain on a run was called back due to a clipping call, Michael Bennett was credited as having run for a 31 yard loss on the play.

2. The other team had the ball at about the 17, Chris Claiborne came up with a pick and was downed at the 2 yardline. Flag on the play for roughing the passer, but the half the distance to the goal was taken from the spot Claiborne was downed, first and goal at the one.

[RPI-Fan]

I've played the tutorial mode, and two online games, both 5 minute quarter verse relatively weak/inexperienced players (much like myself). Let me preface this by saying I'm very bad at video games, and my experience with football games is minimal. I played a decent amount of NCAA 2k4 last year with my buddy in the dorm (we loved doing GT verse FSU), but before that I played about 2 hours worth of NFL 2k0 on Dreamcast, and that's it.

So I decided before doing anything I better learn the controls. Having had a fairly busy day at work, I wasn't in the mood for reading the manual, so I went to the tutorial mode. It did a solid if unspectacular job of teaching me all the basic buttons, in 15 minutes or less. Definitely liked the way it worked.

From there, I was ready to play online. So I started up an unranked game on 5 minute quarters, and was ready to rumble. He was the Browns, and I was the Falcons (living in Atlanta for half a year piqued my interest in them).

I won a fairly close game, and I'll run through my thoughts (keep in mind, these are not comparisons to any other game, just thoughts):

-The animations are a bit slow/unresponsive for my liking. Meaning, personally I'd like to sacrifice a bit of animation detail in return for immediate responsiveness. When I hit the juke, I'd like to see the juke happen right away; currently there is a small delay. Realistic or not, it's not my preference. However, far from a gamebreaker - this is probably one of those things I'll like better when I get more experience with the game.
-The passing game has been tricky for me, so far. With Mike Vick, I had a slightly easier time because he was able to escape the pocket so well, but generally things were a little tougher than I'd like. It might be possible, but it sure has heck doesn't feel natural to step up into the pocket. I'm thinking that will take a lot of practice to learn to do... but who says that's a bad thing? For right now, I had a hard time watching the blitzers/DLine and receivers at the same time, but as with NCAA 2k4, I'm sure that will come with experience.
-I like the module for escaping the pocket. All you need to do is hold down the R button, and you can let go to get back the passing icons. This makes for a very easy escape if you have the right QB. For now, it was very well balanced for me, but before long I think it might be too easy to get out of the pocket.
-The running game is tricky. But the nice thing is, I definitely feel like it will be one of those practice-makes-perfect things. That's ideal for video games, IMO, and I'm fairly confident it's present here.
-I haven't touched custom soundtracks yet. That is a very good sign. Considering they are something I was really looking forward to, the fact that I played two games before even looking at them is promising.
-Again, I haven't touched the VIP profiles. See above for why this is a good thing.
-On defense, I feel a bit lost. I don't really know if there's anyway for me to have an impact on the play. Granted, I played as the Texans and Falcons, so I didn't ever have a real star on defense. With the Texans, I had some modest success with Kylie Wong as a de facto DE in the 3-4, but that's about it. Hopefully with some mastery of the controls I'll be able to learn how to have an impact from the defensive backfield as well as DLine.
-Small complaint here... on Offense, you can hold the L or R trigger to see the whole field and (in the case of L) all your routes diagramed. On defense, you can't do the same thing (where you see your players' responsibilities), as far as I can tell. Now, I may be missing something, but I don't think I saw that option.

That's all I've got for now; sorry for jumping around so much.

So my opinion, in summary, is as follows...

I'm not all that enamored with the game right now, but I can definitely envision it growing on me VERY quickly. I simply love the idea of online play, and the VIP profiles will just enhance that so much. There are little/no gameplay flaws that I've experienced, which combined with the VIP system will make this game potentially brilliant.

So, right now, for me: C+
Future potential: A/A+.

Hope this is helpful to some people,
~kyle

[GrantDawg]

The cheerleaders boobies jiggle. I guess that's something.

[Flasch186]

the highlights are way off, wrong team on Defense from what Berman says. Wrong score quoted. One time during sportscenter the highlight showed the Chicago QB hand off to the other teams rb....not sure wy this is happening but its discouraging...game is certainly fun though.

[GrantDawg]

Originally Posted by Flasch186

the highlights are way off, wrong team on Defense from what Berman says. Wrong score quoted. One time during sportscenter the highlight showed the Chicago QB hand off to the other teams rb....not sure wy this is happening but its discouraging...game is certainly fun though.

There does seem to be many annoying little bugs like that.

[kingnebwsu]

Click the white/black button on D to bring up their assignments. It's the button on the left

Gonna go online and see if I can find a FOFC'er to play against!!!

[MizzouRah]

Get some rest EF! Doctors orders!!

I just got back from another great night of work! You have to love those DAT drives.

Anyhow, more with the game tomorrow...


Todd

[kingnebwsu]

Just had a good game with Pumpy. 17-7 game on all-pro online, and it seemed to be pretty good. Our connection wasn't that good, and it disconnected with 2 minutes left... Oh well.

Game seemed more solid on all-pro as opposed to pro (which I was playing vs the AI). This game was a steal at $20

Hopefully I'll be playing SackAttack momentarily!

[Pumpy Tudors]

Good game, Neb. I have to remember to plug in my mic before I sign in, otherwise it won't work. I couldn't stop Palmer from scrambling, and I had no running game to speak of. Maybe next time!

[aquatix]

I can't seem to buy enough time in the pocket to find my wr's!

[Sun Tzu]

3 or 5 step drop, then throw. Try to get into the habit of throwing as soon as you finish your drop back and plant your feet.

[scooper]

Originally Posted by kingnebwsu

Just had a good game with Pumpy. 17-7 game on all-pro online, and it seemed to be pretty good. Our connection wasn't that good, and it disconnected with 2 minutes left... Oh well.

Game seemed more solid on all-pro as opposed to pro (which I was playing vs the AI). This game was a steal at $20

Hopefully I'll be playing SackAttack momentarily!

Give em hell, King. Who Dey!!!!

By the way, I was face to face with the 88 and 82 AFC Championship trophies yesterday.

[Maple Leafs]

My thoughts after a few hours of trying it (note: I've never played the series before, so I'm sure some of this has been around for years).

- OK, let's get this out of the way first: the presentation is spectacular. Quite simply, it's going to be hard to go back to Madden after seeing how ESPN does it. SportsCetner has some hiccups, but it's going to be great to watch it every week and really feel like I know what's happening in the league (injuries, transactions, etc). Could this finally be the game that gets immersion right?

- Like all of you, I'm having a lot of trouble with the running game. Barlow averaged about 1.5 ypc in my first game. In Madden, I felt like it was pretty simple: wait for the blockers, see the hole, and accelerate through. In ESPN it seems like the RB drops on first contact almost every time (the CPU's Tomlinson only averaged about 3.0 ypc). Looks like I'll need some slider settings. Sigh.

- Speaking of sliders, would it kill these game companies to make it clear what to do with them? If I want more of a rushing game, do I increase Human Run Difficulty? Or decrease it? And do I move the CPU slider on the same screen the same direction or the opposite? Am I just supposed to move them, then play again to see if I guessed right?

- Finally, on the running game: I'm new to the series and maybe I'll get used to it, but I don't like tapping the button to speed burst and I don't like the charge feature. Just seems too arcadey to me.

- As much as I didn't like the run game, I loved this passing game. Just the little touches, they're perfect. I love the way the QB will take his drop without me doing anything. It just makes the whole thing so much simpler. And as others have mentioned, the one-button QB scrambling is done perfectly. I know it's essentially the same concept as Madden, but this one just "feels" right.

- I had a terrible game passing, with four INTs and only 200 yards. But as someone mentioned above, for some reason I didn't feel annoyed or like the AI was cheating me. I just felt like I played bad. Contrast that to Madden, where I felt like the AI was just getting silly on pass coverage. This is a good sign for ESPN.

- I'll echo what someone said above: everything feels like it happens just a fraction of a second too late. In my case, I really notice it when I'm trying to get off a quick pass (due to a blitz, broken play, etc). It doesn't seem like it's possible to do anything quickly. I'm playing as the 49ers, so maybe Rattay just has a slow release, but throw the ball already dammit!

- (P.S. Man, does it suck to be a 49ers fan this year. Just no good players. I guess years of Jerry Rice, Terrell Owens and HOF QBs have spoiled us. I won't win a game with these scrubs.)

- I don't understand the point of the Cribs feature, but my wife thought it was the coolest thing she'd ever seen. Take that for whatever it's worth.

- The crowd noise: like most sports games, the crowd doesn't seem to know what's happening until it happens. Kick a long field goal and the crowd sits silently until the ref puts his arms up, then it suddenly explodes. I wish they'd worked this out a little better.

- Speaking of kicking: what the hell am I doing wrong? I tried a couple of field goals and missed both by a mile. Isn't the ball supposed to go in roughly the direction of the little drifty arrow thing? Or is there some whole other component I'm not seeing?

- Overall, so far so good. Once I get the running game sorted out (either through sliders or just experience) I think the game will be a lot of fun. And if it is, the immersion level could make it dangerously addictive.

[NevStar]

Got the PS2 version, don't have a hard drive. Disappointed by SportsCenter still showing stock footage for other games & only a couple each week; I thought they were going to show real clips for all games (does this happen with the hard drive). The horrible UI when navigating free agents is back, but signing them seem to be a bit better.

Couldn't care less about Carmen Electra challenging me to a game.


Gameplay hasn't changed much from last year, which is a good thing. It just LOOKS more like a football game. Hooray Gang Tackles!

Secondary AI seems much improved. In my first game, Grossman threw 3 INTs in 5 minute quarters, and this was on Varsity sliders.

[Bee]

Do the celebs challenge you in dynasty mode? That just seems really cheesy to me.

Also, can someone elaborate a little more on the coach only mode?

[mrsimperless]

Originally Posted by Bee

Do the celebs challenge you in dynasty mode? That just seems really cheesy to me.

I was challenged by Ms. Electra while playing in dynasty mode as I got a notice that I had a call on my "celebrity telephone". However, if you accept the challenge it is played as an exhibition game. Her team is an all-star team anyway.

[Tzar007]

A question for guys who played ESPN NFL of last year and this year: does the gameplay feels really different this year? I have tried ESPN NFL 2004 last year and it just did not feel that right for two reasons:

A) Gameplay: it’s not bad, but it did not feel right. I wasn’t able to get into it. I should say however that I am a hardened Madden player so I guess I have trouble getting into a new type of gameplay. The passing, the running is different in terms of control, feel and even after a few hours of gaming I still wasn’t comfortable. Perhaps I would have needed days of gaming before getting into it.

B) Graphics: I am mostly a PC player, and TV graphics suck, period, and nobody will ever convince me of the contrary (perhaps the high-definition next gen consoles coupled with a HD TV will put an end to that ugly difference between TVs and monitors but for now, TV graphics suck). I have to admit that close-up of player models in ESPN (after a play or during a replay) are surprinsingly great, but at the line of scrimmage, it really looks bad compared to Madden on a PC.

[Eaglesfan27]

Todd, I just slept for 12-13 hours relatively uninterrupted and I'm feeling great.

RPI-fan, I'm glad to hear you aren't a dominant player in this game, sounds like we could have a good close match-up online today (assuming I'm not busy playing host to Ms.Eaglesfan's friend - I really hope she goes and sees some of her other friends today so I can play.)

I also used the tutorial to learn the basics of playing. I think it is very well done. It took me a while to get the maximum passing to work, but every other drill was easy but informative.

After playing this game, I can definitely see how some NCAA/Madden guys are having trouble with the conversion, but I think it is going to be well worth the effort. However, there are certain things I still prefer about NCAA/Madden and I will keep playing them as well.

Has anyone determined the "best" sim length for accurate league stats yet? Also, has anyone simmed ahead to see if the crazy trades stop once teams get themselves in a decent financial situation?

If not, besides playing some exhibition games, I'm going to at least attempt to answer those questions today.

[RPI-Fan]

Originally Posted by Eaglesfan27

Todd, I just slept for 12-13 hours relatively uninterrupted and I'm feeling great. RPI-fan, I'm glad to hear you aren't a dominant player in this game, sounds like we could have a good close match-up online today (assuming I'm not busy playing host to Ms.Eaglesfan's friend - I really hope she goes and sees some of her other friends today so I can play.)

Glad to hear you're feeling a little better.

I did indeed ride my bike to work today (~5 miles), so I won't need to worry about exercise. There's a chance I'll go out with a friend after work, but I think I'll probably just want to go home and play ESPN. So, game-on for 6pm EDT, still? (assuming you don't have to entertain your friend)

[JeeberD]

Just played the first quarter of my first game and I'm really liking it so far. No problems with the running game like some of you folks are talking about, Julius Jones ripped off a 25 yarder and is averaging about 3.1 per carry besides that one run. A little low, but I have run into d-lineman a couple of times. I feel like I have a pretty good shot of gaining yardage just about every time.

I've only played one series on D so far, so don't have muchto say about that.

Q is having a good passing game,though Antonio Bryant dropped a perfectly catchable TD pass earlier...

All in all, I'm really enjoying it so far!

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by RPI-Fan

Glad to hear you're feeling a little better.

I did indeed ride my bike to work today (~5 miles), so I won't need to worry about exercise. There's a chance I'll go out with a friend after work, but I think I'll probably just want to go home and play ESPN. So, game-on for 6pm EDT, still? (assuming you don't have to entertain your friend)

As long as I'm not entertaining our house guest, I have that time reserved to play you

[JeeberD]

Originally Posted by JeeberD

No problems with the running game like some of you folks are talking about, Julius Jones ripped off a 25 yarder...

And on the first play of the second half he just ran for a 77 yard TD! Hopefully he's this good IRL...

[Franklinnoble]

Originally Posted by JeeberD

And on the first play of the second half he just ran for a 77 yard TD! Hopefully he's this good IRL...

Not likely... unless he happens to be playing my Redskins.

[JeeberD]

Julius Jones:

25 carries 230 yards 3TD

Hell yeah!

[Franklinnoble]

Somewhere, SkyDog sheds tears of joy and pride.

[Eaglesfan27]

You know something else I like about this game?

WR reverses actually work! Not all the time or even most of the time, but a realistic percentage of the time they work! (at least it seems that way to me)

I've gotten everything from a -4 yards to a 70 run just practicing reverses with Terrell Owns (with him as the slot receiver in a 3 wide out set) I just made the 70 yard play where he ran over one guy, stiff armed another, and then turned on just enough speed to beat out the last defender (it probably doesn't hurt that I'm playing the fairly low rated Giants defense in scrimmage mode - but I am using All-Pro)

Most of the reverses were 1 or 2 yard gains, a few 4-8 yard gains, quite a few stopped for slightly negative yardage or 0 yardage, and now this big play!

I still hate tapping A to run faster, but I'm starting to really enjoy the running game.

[Sun Tzu]

Is it just me, or can you not change the controller setup? I've been trying to switch up what a couple buttons do on defense (the speed burst and switch to closest player are swapped from EA's setup), but aparently you can't change the default defensive controls. UGH. Also, does anybody have any good All-pro running sliders?

[mgadfly]

Originally Posted by Maple Leafs

- Speaking of kicking: what the hell am I doing wrong? I tried a couple of field goals and missed both by a mile. Isn't the ball supposed to go in roughly the direction of the little drifty arrow thing? Or is there some whole other component I'm not seeing?

- Overall, so far so good. Once I get the running game sorted out (either through sliders or just experience) I think the game will be a lot of fun. And if it is, the immersion level could make it dangerously addictive.

I've found that when kicking the ball I always have to aim a little more to the left than I thought I'd have to. Whenever I kick it "straight" from my perspective, it always seems to veer off to the right. I've missed an extra point in both of my first two regular season games. The first one didn't matter, but the second one totally sucked. Tampa Bay had the ball at the one yard line. I stuffed them on the first two plays and it brought up 3rd and goal from the two. The QB faked the hand-off and tried to throw it to the TE in the right flat. My SS stepped up, snagged the pass and went 100+ yards for the TD. That put me up 13-0 in the 2nd Quarter, but I missed the extra point. They scored the next four touchdowns (I couldn't stop their passing game-I did a complete redraft and they had Culpepper and three good WRs-Moss, Moss and someone else). I found myself down 28-13 going into the fourth quarter. I drove for a score with 3 minutes to go and decided to go for two (I'd have to either on that possession or the next) and missed it. I got the ball back and scored again and lost 28-26. Stupid kicker (I actually had driven to the 34 yard line on the last possession but didn't think I had a chance at a 51 yard field goal if I couldn't even make extra points, so I went for it).

My running game was too easy on Pro mode (76 yard run the second play of the game) but is now a little too tough on the next level up. Maybe I should give it time since I still don't use many moves except for juke (right or left) and tap A for speed.

I like the game and am hoping that I can get connected to XBox Live later today. I have DSL, but nothing ever works right when I try to hook stuff up.

[Eaglesfan27]

I'm just running through each of the plays in the Eagle's playbook to get a feel for the playbook. I think the playbooks have more plays than Madden. Least it feels that way to me (I haven't counted the number in each game.)

I'm enjoying practice mode quite a bit. I just tried the flea flicker play, and I love the variety of things that can happen on the play. Very rarely, the DT breaks through and hits the running back (I had it happen once in 20 plays or so), most of the time the RB manages to pitch the ball back without problem, however, occasionally the RB just gives a bad pitch causing a fumble. I think that is so cool. Also, sometimes the flea flicker fools the safeties and they come charging in (leaving T.O. or Pinkston somewhat open for a deep bomb - I got a 70 yard TD pass to T.O. thanks to that) othertimes they aren't fooled and they stay back in their zones. That is great. It's not a predetermined reaction to the play each time. Also, sometimes my receivers break off their patterns and McNabb starts scrambling, I'm not sure why this is happening, but it is interesting.

Also, from practicing so far, I love how the QB does his automatic dropbacks. It gives you an idea of when you should pass to the primary receiver (although I better be sure to alter my timing if he is covered and I'm throwing to someone who needs more time to make their "move" on their route.) Also, the automated dropback gives me time to scan the field better, rather, than worrying so much about how far I'm dropping back.

Also, I'm really enjoying using the right stick to shrug off potential sackers. Usually I'm scanning upfield so I don't have time to do this, but occasionally I see someone coming at McNabb and I can usually flick them off (hopefully the implementation of this is realistic - McNabb is good in real life at breaking tackles, I wouldn't expect a much smaller, less mobile QB such as Koy Detmer to be able to do this nearly as often) I like how it takes some time for him reset his feet to be able to throw again.

Despite the bugs I've read about here in this thread and on OS, this game looks like a great keeper especially for 20 dollars.

[Maple Leafs]

What do people do in the run game? I mean you ESPN veterans. I feel like the game wants me to be doing something -- spinning, juking, something -- and when I don't do it my RB just decides to lay down.

Should I be using this "shoulder charge" or whatever it's called when I hit the line of scrimmage? Stiff arming? Just speed-tapping all the way?

Help me, oh wise ESPN veterans....

[Eaglesfan27]

As a former high school offensive lineman, I just saw the most beautiful thing yet in this game. I was running my practice playbook, and there is a play that calls for a weakside trap. It's a beautiful thing I'm like, oh no, he isn't going to make it that DT is going to nail me, but then the center moves over and traps the big DT creating a nice little whole for my HB to squirt through. So far, this is my most consistently successful run play (I don't hit any buttons on that play Maple Leafs, except juke or A if I break through - I actually juke the linebacker and ran past the safety for a 70 yard TD run using this play once.) However, true to real life, sometimes the guys mess up and don't pull off the trap successfully in which case my RB gets hit hard behind the line

Now, I have to quit playing the game to take my wife and our guest out to lunch

Oh well. Hopefully, I'll be able to play some more this afternoon/evening

[JeeberD]

Originally Posted by Maple Leafs

What do people do in the run game?

Not an ESPN veteran, but in my 230 yard game with Julius Jones the only thing I did was the speed tap. Of course, it probably helped that I was playing against the Texans, but that's all I had to do for a big game...

[GrantDawg]

I picked this weekly schedule up from Gamespot forums. The guy claimed that no one on the team went down using these. He said just tweak them for the team you're playing and your weaknesses.


Monday:
Meeting- Happy
Conference- Happy
Coaching- Coverages
Film/ 2/ ALL WRS/ Coverage
Film/ 2/ All DTs/ Pass blocking schemes
Film/ 3/ All DEs/ Route combinations
Film/ 1/ All TEs/ Fronts
Film/ 1/ All QBs/ Coverages
Film/ 3/ All CBs/ Route Combinations
Film/ 3/ All Cs/ Blitz Packages
Film/ 2/ All Gs/ Blitz Packages
Film/ 2/ All Ts/ Blitz Packages
Film/ 1/ All FBs/ Blitz Packages
Film/ 1/ All OLBs/ Pass Blocking Schemes
Film/ 1/ All FSs/ Route Combinations
Weights/ 2 /All DTs/ hamstring and quads
Weights/ 1/ All SSs/ arms
Weights/ 1/ All CBs/ hamstring and quads
Alternative/ 2/ All SSs/ Stretching/Flexibility

Tues:
Full Drill/ 1/ 2nd team /no pads
weights/ 1/ all dts/ arms
pos drill/ 1/ all olbs/ beat the block
7 on 7/ 2/ all/ partial pads
full drill/ 2/ 1st team/ no pads
film /2/ all wrs/ coverages
pos drill/ 1/ all cs/ run blocking
pos drill/ 1/ all gs/ pass protection
pos drill/ 1/ all dts/ pursuit drills

Weds:
Pos drill/ 2/ all wrs/ wide receiver release
7 on 7/ 1/ all/ partial pads
full drill/ 2/ 2nd team/ partial pads
full drill/ 2/ 1st team/ partial pads
pos drill/ 3/ all ts/ the big sled
pos drill/ 1/ all des/ recognition

thurs:
7 on 7/ 1 al/l full pads
pos drill/ 1 all dts/ special move focus
film/ 3 all wrs/ man/zone tendencies
full drill/ 1/ 3rd team/ no pads
weights/ 1/ all/ cbs/ calves and ankles
pos drill/ 1/ all/ cs/ enemies at the gate
pos drill/ 2/ all/ gs/ enemies at the gate
full drill/ 1/ 1st team/ partial pads
pos drill/ 1/ all cbs/ pattern recognition
film/ 1/ all sss/ run/pass distribution
pos drill/ 1/ all des/ get off the ball
weights/ 1/ all dts/ arms

Fri:
film/ 3/ all ilbs/ run blocking schemes
pos drill/ 1/ all wrs/ pattern depths
pos drill/ 3/ all ts/ pass protection
7 on 7/ 3/ all/ no pads
pos drill 3 /all tes/ the gauntlet
pos drill 2 /all fbs
pos drill/ 3/ all fs/ ball reaction