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2008 Commentary
Your Game will Get Better
Many people contact the insider
with one question in mind, how can I get better. Most of the
guys I speak with really want to play better and get better
in the game we all love Madden. Today I am going to list some
things that apply to any level of players to improve your game,
online or offline. I am going give you a few things you can
work on at home to start improving your game and winning more.
I will bill you for the cost of this later. Only kidding this
is info provided by the BFL insider at no cost to you……….Just
try it and see if you game does not improve.
Read the instructions for the
game, many people open the game and never have read the booklet
that comes with the game. There is info in the game that changes
every year that you need to be aware of. For example if you
have a mobile QB did you know you could do a spin move or a
juke move with him behind the line of scrimmage? Some of you
may say 3rd all you have to do for a spin move is press the
B button. Well if you are behind the line of scrimmage and you
press B, the ball is thrown to the B receiver. This little move
will get your QB out of trouble long enough to complete a pass.
Learn your playbook from the
computer, you can learn from letting the computer run plays
in the practice mode whether the play your are running calls
for a 3, 5, or 7 step drop. Allow the QB to drop back on his
own before you take control of him, he will take the necessary
drop back steps and set you up in the pocket. Do this before
you start running around in the backfield. Practice running
every play in your playbook at least 6 or seven times before
you determine this play is not going to work. You would be surprised
how people find money plays by just practicing them vs. the
computer.
Play bend but don't break defense,
to many times I see guys playing these blitzing types of Defenses
and I want to say to them you are taking to many chances on
defense.
Here is the key, when you go to the practice field to play defense
you will notice the computer will always hit the open man. That
is the key for you to recognize that is where your D has holes
and this is the area you want to shore up. You have to understand
what the D you are calling gives up each time you call it. For
example if you call man to man all day. You will give up down
and outs and down and ends all game, and comebacks. You can't
cover these routes in man to man, so you are going to have to
mix in some zone coverage.
Personnel moves offensive when
you are looking at you team try playing different players don't
worry so much about ratings. You will sometimes find a guy who
is a 61 overall but can play. Here are some things for you to
look at as it concerns personnel. On your offensive line the
bigger the guy is the less likely he will get run over by a
D tackle of defensive end. I always look for the big fat guys
for my O line I don't care about ratings, put the 6 foot 7 guy
in the game and watch him move people on the line. Here is how
you want to look at this call an offensive play with you bigger
but lower rated linemen in the game then look at the replay
with the overhead shot and watch which linemen get a good jump
which linemen hold their blocks and which linemen move people
out of the way. You will want to practice this against a top
rated D line.
Personnel moves for the defensive
side of the ball you will want to make sure if you are playing
a right handed QB that your fastest DE is coming from the right
side of the screen. This will almost always make the QB throw
sooner because of the pressure of the DE coming off the end.
Just like the offensive linemen you want big people up front
as much as possible they don't get run over or moved as quick
as the speed DT and DE. Check the STR of your CB the stronger
they are the better they are at holding WR's on bump and run
coverage. When calling zone coverage find zones where the DB's
are always looking into the backfield they provide better coverage,
than the zones where they turn around and the WR's cut underneath
the coverage. Always choose speed over AWR you can click to
a guy and his AWR becomes 100 but you can make him faster.
Go to the mini camp and work
on the drills, I spoke with Young Gunz one year at Nationals
and asked him about his stick he said he did the DB swat drill
for about 2 hours every day. It helped him get better. We all
know his stick is legendary.
When you are on offense here
is what you should look for on passing plays pay attention to
the players in the box as you drop back are they blitzing are
the dropping back into coverage. Do you see any linemen or LB's
coming free? What is your hot read, the player you have to throw
to quick in case of pressure. As you look down the field do
you see people running free about to get open do you see one
on one coverage anywhere?
Here is a practice drill for
you, play against the computer and call only four passing plays
and only 4 running plays (the same plays) the entire game. Example
HB slam, Off tackle a Dive play and a toss running play. You
can run these from any formation just practice running them
in a game vs. the computer or online against someone. Do the
same for the 4 passing plays. You will start to see the field
better and understand what and where to go with the ball. On
defense call only 2 defenses 4-3 man lock and nickel man lock.
Notice how many big plays you give up and how the offense has
to nickel and dime it's way down the field.
The bottom line here is you can
get better there are some things you will have to do to reach
the level you want. As this game continues to get better each
year, the people that understand football. Will have an advantage
make sure you are one of them.
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