Neglected Special Teams

[crenk]

With special teams being such a part of football I believe EA needs to overhaul this aspect of their game. I mean They really treat it like it is some minor part of football.....I find myself simming punts/kickoffs and even FG's because they are either so stale and irrelevant or I want to get more lifelike results than I will by kicking field goals myself, and to me that means it is broken....

Field goals need to be more difficult as well as extra points. With the line moved back it is now more frequent to see a miss. This needs to be reflected in game. Need to feel the pressure on big kicks more as well(incorporate the controller more rumbles heartbeats etc)

Need to be able to block the occasional punt/FG without it being a glitch

Muffed snaps on punts and FGs. It is random but so are penalties, they are part of the game. It will make the long snapper position relevant. If muffed the holder/punter can try to run but will obviously be swamped, try to throw, but with almost no time/from a terrible position in terms of balance and theirfore horrible accuracy or in the case of muffed punt an attempt to still get the kick off.

More onside options, surprise onside, kicking to different part of the field, kicker recoveries, maybe the dropkick we saw the patriots try this year is too much but we need more options.

Obviously the ability to run back a kick/punt is huge. Ive never done it. I will bet some have but I would guess it was a result of spins/jukes ie not realistic. Kick return team needs to set up lanes and effectively block.

other ideas that I am missing?

[scoobyskyline3]

Haha, in my league we have some opponents playing over wifi and their glitchy internet is enough to effect special teams, kick meter freezing up and causing horror.

Without 4th down rules this probably would just raise the probability for everyone to go for it on 4th down.

I am in favor of squib kicks, pooch kicks and surprise onside kicks to be added but i am leery of adding things that cannot be prevented by a user, like bad snaps and such.

It kind of sucks to be holding a controller and all you can do is watch yourself get screwed, however if there was some sort of mechanism or button sequence that has to be initiated for things to go smooth im all for it.

[UFCMPunk]

Quote: Originally Posted by crenk

With special teams being such a part of football I believe EA needs to overhaul this aspect of their game. I mean They really treat it like it is some minor part of football Field goals need to be more difficult as well as extra points. With the line moved back it is now more frequent to see a miss. This needs to be reflected in game. Need to feel the pressure on big kicks more as well(incorporate the controller more rumbles heartbeats etc) Need to be able to block the occasional punt/FG without it being a glitch

I think you pretty much hit the nail on the head with your post. What's amazing about these two things you said is how easily EA Sports is influenced by what happens on Sundays and how quickly they get in the game. Take OBJ and the overuse of the one handed catch within the game one year later.

You had two specific plays this year where EA Sports if they were serious about fixing special teams could use as why they wanted us to have those same experiences.

Example 1: AFC Championship Game. Gostkowski misses an extra point forcing the Patriots to go for 2 to tie the game, thus losing. In Madden we can never replicate that.

Example 2: Ravens @ Browns on MNF. Tied at 27, Browns going for the game winning Field Goal. The Ravens blocked it, Will Hill returned it for a Touchdown giving the Ravens the win 33-27. In Madden, most likely it would have been automatic FG and Browns win 30-27.

Those two games gave EA the blue print of ok it's time to fix special teams and make those results happen in the game. Will it happen? Sadly probably not.

[crenk]

Quote: Originally Posted by scoobyskyline3

Haha, in my league we have some opponents playing over wifi and their glitchy internet is enough to effect special teams, kick meter freezing up and causing horror. Without 4th down rules this probably would just raise the probability for everyone to go for it on 4th down. I am in favor of squib kicks, pooch kicks and surprise onside kicks to be added but i am leery of adding things that cannot be prevented by a user, like bad snaps and such. It kind of sucks to be holding a controller and all you can do is watch yourself get screwed, however if there was some sort of mechanism or button sequence that has to be initiated for things to go smooth im all for it.

I think it would be pretty easy to turn these on/off as options but in my opinion its no different then having players with low penalty ratings costing you 10 yards for holding.
A button sequence is interesting(the worse the snapper rating the harder the sequence) not sure though....

[Essex Blue]

I definitely agree on being able to block field goals, and PATs being way too easy. I think they have it right with kick off and punt returns though. Most get back to around the 20, which is fair enough. Probably one or two a season I can return for TDs. I don't think it should be more frequent than that and it always feels like an achievement when you manage it.

[Ueauvan]

as an aside iirc didnt Hill step out of bounds but they never reviewed even though a scoring play?

[prhiam]

I don't think it should be "easier" to return kicks per say. Much like anything else in Madden, I'm not looking for the pass game to be easier when I say why does every pass have to be directly at the intended receiver and either caught, caught and dropped, dropped, or intercepted, with the occasional "inaccurate pass". There should just be more passes defensed and leading too far, more variables that can be decided by ratings.

For kick returns the idea is that you need to use return middle, right and left yield zero blocking. There is no dynamic setup for the runner and there are never any "lanes" you have to weave uncontrollably to create a lane. I've returned probably about 4 kicks and one punt for touchdowns. But most were by luck, and I've had a few where I was run down by a slower defender. That is another topic for another time, I mean they have ratings for speed, why do they continually not know how to use them in the game??? But I digress, the point is the act of blocking for kick and punt returns needs to be MUCH improved.

All of this being said, I really think it comes down to the player movement model being pretty horrendous. With all of the new changes in game play, the "ignite" engine or whatever they call it is looking more and more aged. The players have no weight, there is no physics to the running motions and the plays feel dead at times. They could improve the game greatly by
slowing the players down" or rather have them move more like real people rather than robotic animated players that have no context. Make this change and then work in the blocking changes. I bet the game would feel much more dynamic.

I would think all of that would change the way that Madden plays. It would feel like every game is different and every situation is different. Again, I'm not looking for easier, I'm looking for more realism in the game.

[MountaineersSon]

The only thing neglected is this thread lol.

Special teams needs an overhaul in the worst way.