I wanted to make a video but am not going to have time with the holiday. Just wanted to touch on a few things as we head to the playoffs and offseason.
First off, thank you the the tryout team for getting games in and giving good, positive feedback. You guys are doing great! Also, thank you to Tigers20 and Burns for heading up the scheduling thread team. That has been a big help! Everybody chipping in to help makes things go so much smoother and def makes it a lot more fun for me and pack1797.
There are a few things we wanted to point out and make sure everyone was on the same page about really quick:
A-gap runs - Remember to mix up your inside the tackles runs. We all know dives, ISOs and inside zones are pretty easy to gain yardage with. Let's just be sure to mix in sting, blast, plunge, power, counter, etc as other inside the tackle runs. Also, don't rely on a dive or ISO every time you are in 3rd or 4th and 1. That's kind of a money play inline with 4 verts. Let's keep setting the example of sim by being diverse with these runs and ok with not converting some of these sometimes. That's just realistic.
Streaks to slot - This isn't a huge issue but we have noticed it a few times. Keep in mind that the streak to the slot, especially out of certain formations, is a known exploit. We aren't saying that you cannot use it occasionally, but it should be rare and shouldn't always be a bail out play for a big gain.
Hot routes - This kind of goes inline with the streaks. Let's use realistic hot routes and run plays the way they are drawn up. We've seen a few guys streak their TE or slot WR just to try and run off coverage. That kind of goes inline with making up play at the line and exploiting an edge in Madden. Again, not saying its never realistic to streak a slot or TE, just not usually to open up space for a route. Typically they are for hot reads of a streak on outside vs press and single high safety or slant behind obvious blitz etc.
Kick returns - The run up the middle or slightly off the middle and then juking outside to create a lot of running room is a known exploit. Jukes are certainly allowed and occasionally you may try to juke a guy and that happens. Just don't try to do it every return or even a majority of them. Most returns go up the middle and break open when a hole is created.
Blitzing - A lot of guys are falling into the trap of of blitzing every 1st down or obvious running downs. It probably has something to do with the overuse of the A-gap runs but it has become a little excessive. Teams very rarely send 6 guys anywhere other than inside the red zone. 6+ man blitzes are used less than 10-15% of the time in real life. Let's see more line shifts to plug gaps and more 5-man blitzes so as to replicate real life a little more. Less use of the dive, etc should def help.
QB contain - We've seen a few guys using this vs non-scrambling QBs. This wouldn't be a realistic defense in that situation usually. There used to be an exploit where contain would get excessive pressure form the ends. I'm not sure its all that much more effective than a standard rush but using contain plays against non-scrambling QBs leads to that impression. It's not a huge issue but something we have noticed. Just try to keep those things to realistic scenarios.
As promised, we are going to start team selection for Madden 17 this week. We will be posting a thread which everyone will post your top team choices for Madden 17. Matt and I will then sit down and figure out how to split up the talent and create interesting divisions based on everyone's team choices. Look for that thread to come soon!
Thank you guys for staying active and keeping us moving as we head toward Madden 17. We have one more season left for guys that haven't made the playoffs yet to do so. We have another season to find more quality users as well. Let's rock it in the playoffs and the offseason and show all these new comers why we're the best league on PS4!
Mike and Matt
First off, thank you the the tryout team for getting games in and giving good, positive feedback. You guys are doing great! Also, thank you to Tigers20 and Burns for heading up the scheduling thread team. That has been a big help! Everybody chipping in to help makes things go so much smoother and def makes it a lot more fun for me and pack1797.
There are a few things we wanted to point out and make sure everyone was on the same page about really quick:
A-gap runs - Remember to mix up your inside the tackles runs. We all know dives, ISOs and inside zones are pretty easy to gain yardage with. Let's just be sure to mix in sting, blast, plunge, power, counter, etc as other inside the tackle runs. Also, don't rely on a dive or ISO every time you are in 3rd or 4th and 1. That's kind of a money play inline with 4 verts. Let's keep setting the example of sim by being diverse with these runs and ok with not converting some of these sometimes. That's just realistic.
Streaks to slot - This isn't a huge issue but we have noticed it a few times. Keep in mind that the streak to the slot, especially out of certain formations, is a known exploit. We aren't saying that you cannot use it occasionally, but it should be rare and shouldn't always be a bail out play for a big gain.
Hot routes - This kind of goes inline with the streaks. Let's use realistic hot routes and run plays the way they are drawn up. We've seen a few guys streak their TE or slot WR just to try and run off coverage. That kind of goes inline with making up play at the line and exploiting an edge in Madden. Again, not saying its never realistic to streak a slot or TE, just not usually to open up space for a route. Typically they are for hot reads of a streak on outside vs press and single high safety or slant behind obvious blitz etc.
Kick returns - The run up the middle or slightly off the middle and then juking outside to create a lot of running room is a known exploit. Jukes are certainly allowed and occasionally you may try to juke a guy and that happens. Just don't try to do it every return or even a majority of them. Most returns go up the middle and break open when a hole is created.
Blitzing - A lot of guys are falling into the trap of of blitzing every 1st down or obvious running downs. It probably has something to do with the overuse of the A-gap runs but it has become a little excessive. Teams very rarely send 6 guys anywhere other than inside the red zone. 6+ man blitzes are used less than 10-15% of the time in real life. Let's see more line shifts to plug gaps and more 5-man blitzes so as to replicate real life a little more. Less use of the dive, etc should def help.
QB contain - We've seen a few guys using this vs non-scrambling QBs. This wouldn't be a realistic defense in that situation usually. There used to be an exploit where contain would get excessive pressure form the ends. I'm not sure its all that much more effective than a standard rush but using contain plays against non-scrambling QBs leads to that impression. It's not a huge issue but something we have noticed. Just try to keep those things to realistic scenarios.
As promised, we are going to start team selection for Madden 17 this week. We will be posting a thread which everyone will post your top team choices for Madden 17. Matt and I will then sit down and figure out how to split up the talent and create interesting divisions based on everyone's team choices. Look for that thread to come soon!
Thank you guys for staying active and keeping us moving as we head toward Madden 17. We have one more season left for guys that haven't made the playoffs yet to do so. We have another season to find more quality users as well. Let's rock it in the playoffs and the offseason and show all these new comers why we're the best league on PS4!
Mike and Matt
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