Madden 25?

[Danimal]

This has been the norm for the past few seasons, really. If you go to the 'DSP Online Leagues' forum instead of this board, you'll see we've had a Madden CCM running for each version for the past few years--until this year, for some reason.

I think besides Todd, Zeppo and me everyone else bailed. Vader didn't even buy the game and 34 was out. At the time you were on hiatus from DSP I think. Be nice to do one on the PS4 because we could stream the superbowl.

[Danimal]

BTW my stat line with Cutler 5 TD - 25 INTs through 12 games and I have reduced reaction time and coverage. It seems they super juiced the DB abilities of the cpu to make the game harder. It also seems every time I try and fixe it with sliders it gets worse. I wonder if the sliders are backwards again.

Whats really frustrating is when I started I could win a lot of one on one jump balls with Marshall and Jefferies and now they don't win any.

[XXXIV]

This has been the norm for the past few seasons, really. If you go to the 'DSP Online Leagues' forum instead of this board, you'll see we've had a Madden CCM running for each version for the past few years--until this year, for some reason.

I think besides Todd, Zeppo and me everyone else bailed. Vader didn't even buy the game and 34 was out. At the time you were on hiatus from DSP I think. Be nice to do one on the PS4 because we could stream the superbowl.

I didnt buy the game for the first time since I dont remember when..... Ill probably be back with Madden on a next game system next year but I dont think my problem with the game was ever the graphics.

[TCrouch]

OK I don't feel bad, then. I played an entire season with the Raiders on offense only (fast sim defense, get games done in 20 or 30 minutes), and struggled with picks horribly all season long. Pryor was the worst, as he'd frequently spray a ball a good 3 to 5 yards off target. Realism, you'd say, I guess. But damn was he fun to run and scramble with!

I think by the season's end, I had 3 quarterbacks that all had over 1,000 yards, and all were right around the 5TD/6INT range. Pryor, though, had like 8 TD and 20 INT. So all in all, about 20 TD and like 35 picks. I think I've had only two or three games where I went INT-free, which is a good and a bad thing. I can tell when I throw them, forcing balls into coverage, and on 3rd and long, etc. IMO, it's actually much better in that respect.

I just don't know how to stop it. I think I just have to retrain myself to know that forcing that deep out with the corner even leaning backwards is a pick waiting to happen, or if the safety isn't in a backpedal, don't throw the post. Most of my picks are from trying to force what I thought I saw pre-snap, that I should have checked out of post-snap.

I had one play that I was so pleased by on Saturday night--I threw a TD to my FOURTH READ in the game. I rarely make it past a 2nd read, but in this one I looked at the curl on the left--covered. TE on a square in, covered. Flanker on a post, covered. Finally got to my FB on a wheel route, waited for him to release past the flat zone defender and lasered one in for the TD. I must have replayed that thing over and over, just thoroughly impressed with myself

Then I turned around and threw 3 picks the next game as I forced balls into coverage again.

And in the QB-only league Steve and I are playing, we're 8 games into the season and I've thrown 28 picks, Steve's thrown 24. That's after my 10-pick meltdown against Baltimore, of course.

Bottom line--I agree. It'd be nice to see defenders break up a pass now and then instead of picking it off, but honestly it's turned it into a much more fun game for me. I went 9-7 and snuck into the playoffs with a week 17 home victory over Denver (33-28, in a game in which I led 33-14) in my season, knocked off Cincinnati, and then got absolutely blasted by the Broncos in Denver to get knocked out of the playoffs.

I hadn't had a season like that in...well, ever. I've always gone 16-0 to 14-2 in any Madden game, even when I simulate the defense I only lose a handful of games. But I was struggling all year in this one. At one point I was 2-4 and couldn't close out wins. My defense would implode, and I'd turn the ball over 5 times. I FINALLY got to a winning record at 7-6, so it wasn't until 13 games in that I crossed the .500 threshold.

I think the turnovers are a bit out of control, but it sure makes it a challenging game for me this year...at least on PS4.

[Dave]

I am trying a QB career and don't know if I'll continue playing that way or not. I'm tired of watching my AI-controlled RBs and WRs leave tons of yardage on the field, they are a bunch of idiots out there and making it hard to sustain drives. The CPU is picking me off a lot as well, but in a realistic way I suppose, but on the 360 version more passes would bounce of the CPU's hands.

I'll probably just start a regular coach career and go back to doing a fast sim of the defensive series soon.

[wco81]

The picks are crazy, a lot of them are LBs and CBs being beat by a lot, sometimes more than 5 yards, and they're able to leap and intercept the ball way short.

So the super leaping LBs are there. In online games, the defender could be way out of position, such as being beat soundly, and you can just switch to them and press triangle. I'm sure some defenders are better than others. Kuechly had two ints. like that, leaping while trailing the TE by 5 yards on at least one.

Some versions of Madden in the past had this tendency, where the ints were out of control. But the counter to that was to throw corner patterns and flatten them by leading the WR wide. However, it's hard to throw them from the pocket in this game. Really need to roll out to the side in order to get more consistent depth.

[Danimal]

I agree Terry, I like the challenge and i wouldn't mind so much if it wasn't so predictable and if my DB's while not under my control would play the same way.

I'd say 60% of my INt's are forcing into coverage or throwing one on one jump balls which I am convinced i will never win unless I take control of the WR which I do not like to do.

The rest are usually one of 2 things.

- I have a guy beat and I throw the pass and it mysteriously ends up being short. This happens a lot, I mean a whole lot.

- A DB will break off his guy the moment I throw the ball and jump the guy he wasn't covering an make the pic. It is amazing how much ground they can cover when the game wants an INT.

I'd rather have it this way then being able to pick apart the defense but at some point they need to get it right.

[TCrouch]

Yep. I haven't been playing many games as a "full game", so it's tough for me to say what my CPU guys do. But in my limited action of full games, I had been something like 7-1 with Jacksonville in a tester league Steve and I were doing. I didn't see huge, gaping holes by my CPU guys, but games still came down to the end. It wasn't like past years where I'd be up by 30 and on cruise control by half time trying to avoid cheesing the CPU.

If I had to choose between superhuman LBs (although LBs haven't been my problem at all. I can zip balls right by LB's when they aren't set in their stance and looking straight at me) or a defense that I can do whatever I want to it, I'd choose this version by far. Games are much more engaging.

But it'd be nice if I could find a balance where they don't pick it every time. Currently my QB accuracy is down to 20, and WR catching up to 65, and I still get tons of WR drops. The windows are just so small that it's tough to fit one in without a defender anywhere near the wideout, and I have receivers dropping tons of balls upon contact.

In any case, I'm doing tons of games and having a ton of fun with it, which I didn't expect after playing the 360 version a few times prior to getting it on Next Gen.

[wco81]

I agree that I would prefer a tougher defense to one that's too easy.

I haven't seen too many of it but I suspect fast QBs rolling outside will be the new cheese online.

I haven't explored different play books but I haven't seen any DE contain plays.