Madden 10: AskMadden Tip of the Week

[homeycool]

Quote: Originally Posted by jsquigg

And though picks are illegal, teams get away with it 80% of the time at least.

86.3% of all percentages are made up.

[Valdarez]

Quote: Originally Posted by homeycool

86.3% of all percentages are made up.

No, it's 86% of all percentages are false.

[RyanMoody21]

Quote: Originally Posted by Valdarez

This is why I wanted to lab it. If it happens every single time, it's clearly a bug, and not part of the game. EA has gone out of their way to keep the game clean as can be, there's no way they programmed the ability to execute illegal moves into the game.

I hate to say this but from what I have seen most Madden "Tips" (and this isnt reflective of the OP) seem to rely on exploiting the game, rather than real football strategies.

This video just happens to be a good example, regardless of how many people wanna sit around and justify it as realistic. Charles Woodson would never run directly into another receiver at the line of scrimmage. Bunch formation or not, in man coverage you have a firm understanding of who you cover.

Now if the other receiver had ran toward Woodson to cause the pick, thats one thing. However in this example is the Woodson that instigates the contact, almost as if he had no idea McCoy was on the field.

[northface28]

This is on the verge of getting out of control. You tell me to stay on topic yet you bring up another game (APF2K8) that has zero to do with what we are debating? I digress, the "pick" is the only suitable way to offset the superhuman bump and run coverage. Is it phony? Yes. However it is the viable option users have to get other users out bump and run plays all game. In theory it makes perfect sense ("pick plays"), the problem is the way its carried out in the game. I am done expecting the world from EA sports and just take Madden for what it is.

[jyoung]

In real life, I would say this is a legitimate strategy, but in Madden, it's definitely an exploit.

Reason being, this will get a receiver open against man coverage 100% of the time in Madden, whereas in real life, the DB would start looking for the pick and play it accordingly.

As for legit ways to beat press coverage in Madden, how about getting some guys on your team that have high release ratings instead of trying to beat it unrealistically with small, weak WRs?

Guys with a release rating over 80 will tear apart press coverage by getting off the line quickly and shoving the DB out of the way.

[Valdarez]

Quote: Originally Posted by wEEman33

In real life, I would say this is a legitimate strategy, but in Madden, it's definitely an exploit. Reason being, this will get a receiver open against man coverage 100% of the time in Madden, whereas in real life, the DB would start looking for the pick and play it accordingly. As for legit ways to beat press coverage in Madden, how about getting some guys on your team that have high release ratings instead of trying to beat it unrealistically with small, weak WRs? Guys with a release rating over 80 will tear apart press coverage by getting off the line quickly and shoving the DB out of the way.

So the release rating is what indicates how well they can get away from bump coverage? Makes sense. Ideally every team should have at least one WR with a high release rate then. I know when I play against good players in APF2K8 who employ Bump Coverage, I like to have a really good HB for flats / screens and a Bump Buster WR (especially true if my opponent is good at manual coverage).

North, I just reference APF2K8 because it's what I know best, that's all. It's pretty much my point of reference for all football related discussions, and ironically it's where I actually learned the concepts and strategies employed in football. I haven't played Madden online, so I don't know what does or does not work against human opponents, which is why I listed options that I thought should work and asked for clarification on whether they do or do not work. Playing against a human opponent is always different / more difficult than playing against the AI. What works against one may not work against the other, and vice versa at times.

[jyoung]

I try to stay away from the flats in this game because they are so cheap and broken, so yes, just throw to the one or two guys on your team who have high release ratings (most teams have at least one) and you will get your opponent out of press coverage very quickly unless he likes giving up easy pass plays over and over again.

Slant route + high release rating = 10 yards or more just about every time.

Or go for a streak/fade if there's no safety help over the top.

[KBLover]

Wouldn't this be offensive pass interference on #29 if we were mirroring the NFL?

#29 ran into the DB, impeding his path. I didn't think receivers could do that to DBs, especially intentionally. This wasn't incidental coverage or the WR routes causing the DBs to interfere with their own man coverage (a true rub route combination), or using the umpire as a "pick".

Also, why didn't the DB just follow the receiver across the formation? Why was he charging in like a blitz? If he was playing bump coverage, why is he 3 yds off the receiver? Hard to jam a guy when you're 12 feet away from him.

That seems more like bad pathing more than a true pick/rub play. There are plays in Madden set up like that (Curls Attack is one. There's a flood right play where two WR are running outs at different levels and one WR running deep - if they are playing Dime/Dollar man, it can rub them).