Madden NFL 10 Blog: Player Ratings - A New Philosophy, A New Era

[glitchditcher]

Linebacker Coverage

One thing that drastically needs some changing is the coverage ratings of Linebackers. You have some linebackers with 70+ Man Coverage and 85+ Zone Coverage. That is absolutely ridiculous. Did you know that in Madden 09, if you put Brian Urlacher at CB his overall rating is an 86 ? Eighty effing Six. Brian Urlacher. That's higher than most #2 CBs in the game. It's absurd, man. I know guys like Brian Urlacher, Gary Brackett, and Kirk Morrison are some of the best coverage Linebackers in the game, there is no doubt about that, but you simply cannot have Linebackers with higher coverage ratings than some corners.

The fact of the matter is, no LB in the game today is better at coverage than any CB in the game today. I don't care if you're talking about Jason David.. he still should have higher coverage ratings than any Linebacker. In Madden 09 you have most Linebackers running 30 yards downfield with WRs and HBs. Jumping 10 feet off the ground to blindly super swat a pass. That is asinine. There is no way in hell that would happen in real life. That's why coaches uses motion and try to get HBs one on one with a LB in real life. It's caleld match-ups. Because no LB is able to have good coverage more than 10-15 yards downfield. It just doesn't happen.

The highest MAN COVERAGE rating any LB should have is 60. The highest ZONE COVERAGE rating any LB should have is 75. No if, ands, or buts about it.

[LBzrule]

Quote: Originally Posted by glitchditcher

Linebacker Coverage One thing that drastically needs some changing is the coverage ratings of Linebackers. You have some linebackers with 70+ Man Coverage and 85+ Zone Coverage. That is absolutely ridiculous. Did you know that in Madden 09, if you put Brian Urlacher at CB his overall rating is an 86 ? Eighty effing Six. Brian Urlacher. That's higher than most #2 CBs in the game. It's absurd, man. I know guys like Brian Urlacher, Gary Brackett, and Kirk Morrison are some of the best coverage Linebackers in the game, there is no doubt about that, but you simply cannot have Linebackers with higher coverage ratings than some corners. The fact of the matter is, no LB in the game today is better at coverage than any CB in the game today. I don't care if you're talking about Jason David.. he still should have higher coverage ratings than any Linebacker. In Madden 09 you have most Linebackers running 30 yards downfield with WRs and HBs. Jumping 10 feet off the ground to blindly super swat a pass. That is asinine. There is no way in hell that would happen in real life. That's why coaches uses motion and try to get HBs one on one with a LB in real life. It's caleld match-ups. Because no LB is able to have good coverage more than 10-15 yards downfield. It just doesn't happen. The highest MAN COVERAGE rating any LB should have is 60. The highest ZONE COVERAGE rating any LB should have is 75. No if, ands, or buts about it.

I agree, but I'm not sure that's how it works in this game. If they lower it too far then we'll have the NCAA problem, where backers can't even keep up with backs flaring to the flats and that isn't right either.

[dave374]

You guys really should consider releasing one more Madden 09 roster with these re-worked roster ratings.
It would be a great way to have thousands of people testing them.

[Mo_Magic]

Quote: Originally Posted by AlexBrady

Did I say that Tom Brady is not the best qb in the NFL? I believe he is the best, but he does have shortcomings. ( believe it or not) Those shortcomings include: -Floating passes high when his back foot is not set ( you saw this more in the 2006 season) -Does not throw well on the run and must set up to fire deep balls -Struggles with his intermediate accuracy and does not throw well if he is forced left -Arm strength is not elite, he is still among the top arms and his overall abilities are in the top 3 -Used to have the bad habit of throwing late over the middle (more common in the 2006 season) -Has a slight hitch in his delivery -Will fail to see a zone corner which will result in errant passes -Not a threat to run That being said, he is the best player in football. Lets see how he rebounds from injury though.

You do realize you just described about 95% of all QB's to have EVER played?

Is there a QB who's ever had frequent success off of his back foot or thrown as well as the best QB's in the league on the run rather than off?

The thing is, all this stuff you said that Brady doesn't do well, he still does better than 90% of the league.

[TheWatcher]

Quote: Originally Posted by Rgiles

Some people want to point to that SuperBowl loss and say that pressure makes him struggle. I don't know of any QB's who can consistently pass the ball with pressure and hands in their face. With that said, if he was rated a 99, I wouldn't bicker one bit.

I thought Brady handled things pretty well considering that he had no time to throw for most of the game and his receivers were getting blanketed (which was largely a result of the questionable offensive playcalling that happened almost all game... what the heck was McDaniel doing?) His stats were pretty good too, and he did lead the Pats on that late TD drive that would've won the game had the Pats D not completely melted down on the Giants GW drive. Had the D held, we'd still be talking about how clutch Brady's last TD drive was.

I still can't believe a defense stacked with impact players, Pro Bowlers, All-Pro's and future hall of famers could blow it at the end like that, especially since the Pats usually end the game and win in those situations. But the NFL is so unpredictable today, and I guess that's why it's popularity is ever increasing. I mean, the Cardinals made the Super Bowl... and not only made it but with a 9-7 record... and almost won it! It doesn't get any more unpredictable than that.

Quote: Originally Posted by AlexBrady

Did I say that Tom Brady is not the best qb in the NFL? I believe he is the best, but he does have shortcomings. ( believe it or not) Those shortcomings include: -Floating passes high when his back foot is not set ( you saw this more in the 2006 season) -Does not throw well on the run and must set up to fire deep balls -Struggles with his intermediate accuracy and does not throw well if he is forced left -Arm strength is not elite, he is still among the top arms and his overall abilities are in the top 3 -Used to have the bad habit of throwing late over the middle (more common in the 2006 season) -Has a slight hitch in his delivery -Will fail to see a zone corner which will result in errant passes -Not a threat to run That being said, he is the best player in football. Lets see how he rebounds from injury though.

Yeah, but I could pick apart all of Joe Montana's weaknesses too. He wasn't terribly athletic. Wasn't good from outside the pocket. Had questionable arm strength for most of his career. Yet, most consider him the GOAT (myself included). The thing is, all great players have weaknesses. Jim Brown wasn't a good pass blocker (mostly because he was just disinterested in doing it as he said himself), but he's still considered by many to be the greatest runningback of all time (not my personal opinion necessarily, but many people believe it and they have a strong case).

[roxnsox]

This is excellent!

On a side note. I see you are using SQL Query Analyzer. Have you ever used Toad for SQL Server? It allows you to do so much more than SQA. For example, It keeps 5 result sets in memory (or more if you choose), so you can go back and forth between selections to compare. You can filter result sets if you are looking for a specific player, and add sums or averages at the bottom. It has a much more robust search and replace than SQA, too.
It 's a great tool.
FYI, I do not work for Quest Software the company that makes it, but I am a beta tester for new versions.

Here's a link to the free version if you'd like to give it a try:
http://www.toadsoft.com/toadsqlserver/toad_sqlserver.htm

Please delete this post if it is against the TOS for Operation Sports.

[BezO]

Quote: Originally Posted by glitchditcher

Linebacker Coverage One thing that drastically needs some changing is the coverage ratings of Linebackers. You have some linebackers with 70+ Man Coverage and 85+ Zone Coverage. That is absolutely ridiculous. Did you know that in Madden 09, if you put Brian Urlacher at CB his overall rating is an 86 ? Eighty effing Six. Brian Urlacher. That's higher than most #2 CBs in the game. It's absurd, man. I know guys like Brian Urlacher, Gary Brackett, and Kirk Morrison are some of the best coverage Linebackers in the game, there is no doubt about that, but you simply cannot have Linebackers with higher coverage ratings than some corners. The fact of the matter is, no LB in the game today is better at coverage than any CB in the game today. I don't care if you're talking about Jason David.. he still should have higher coverage ratings than any Linebacker. In Madden 09 you have most Linebackers running 30 yards downfield with WRs and HBs. Jumping 10 feet off the ground to blindly super swat a pass. That is asinine. There is no way in hell that would happen in real life. That's why coaches uses motion and try to get HBs one on one with a LB in real life. It's caleld match-ups. Because no LB is able to have good coverage more than 10-15 yards downfield. It just doesn't happen. The highest MAN COVERAGE rating any LB should have is 60. The highest ZONE COVERAGE rating any LB should have is 75. No if, ands, or buts about it.

IMO, this is why the game desparately needs realistic footwork. Footwork is why Urlacher shouldn't cover as well as any CB. He shouldn't get in & out of breaks nearly as quickly as a CB and shouldn't be able to cover any WRs because of that. At the same time, he'd be able to cover most RBs due to their lower route running ratings.

[K_GUN]

Quote: Originally Posted by AlexBrady

Did I say that Tom Brady is not the best qb in the NFL? I believe he is the best, but he does have shortcomings. ( believe it or not) Those shortcomings include: -Floating passes high when his back foot is not set ( you saw this more in the 2006 season) -Does not throw well on the run and must set up to fire deep balls -Struggles with his intermediate accuracy and does not throw well if he is forced left -Arm strength is not elite, he is still among the top arms and his overall abilities are in the top 3 -Used to have the bad habit of throwing late over the middle (more common in the 2006 season) -Has a slight hitch in his delivery -Will fail to see a zone corner which will result in errant passes -Not a threat to run That being said, he is the best player in football. Lets see how he rebounds from injury though.

ha hah

are you a scout?

or just a gamer like the rest of us?