Madden 10

[Admin]

Thanks to a good friend of mine I was able to get Madden 10 a week early and after playing it for a few hours tonight I have to say that it's about damn time for Madden to finally become more of a real simulation type of game. No more of the crazy icons for players, no more "truck stick" or anything silly like that. There is a new system for the animation of how the players are controlled so you have a lot more control over tackling, being tackled, etc. Plus no more "jumping" left or right with the trigger buttons so it really feels realistic to me. Commentary is about the same as last year so that's kind of disappointing but overall this is the biggest improvement that I can remember with Madden.

[HalfHawk]

Thanks to a good friend of mine I was able to get Madden 10 a week early and after playing it for a few hours tonight I have to say that it's about damn time for Madden to finally become more of a real simulation type of game. No more of the crazy icons for players, no more "truck stick" or anything silly like that. There is a new system for the animation of how the players are controlled so you have a lot more control over tackling, being tackled, etc. Plus no more "jumping" left or right with the trigger buttons so it really feels realistic to me. Commentary is about the same as last year so that's kind of disappointing but overall this is the biggest improvement that I can remember with Madden.

Mind telling me what Matt Ryan is rated and if any new additions to franchise or career mode were made?

[mattlanta]

I was involved in quite a heated argument in another forum because I was arguing that EA always hypes up their game and even though it looks good in about a week or so after buying it, it doesn't come through in terms of expectations. Madden never failed to disappoint me, and I was very bitter against EA Sports because of how terrible of a game Fight Night Round 4 was. I hope I'm right with this one. Dolfan you usually say a game is really good after you buy it... which is why I'm thinking maybe people say it's good after a week or so because they're trying to convince themselves that it was worth the $60 investment. lol

[Admin]

Mind telling me what Matt Ryan is rated and if any new additions to franchise or career mode were made?

Ryan is an 85. All of the ratings are down this year from last year which is good since they were inflated last year.

You can view all of the ratings for every player on every team on ESPN. Here is the link to the Falcons page: http://espn.go.com/v...den10?teamId=14

As far as new additions are concerned I'm not sure yet since I've only played 3 pre-season games in Franchise mode. I usually won't play career mode until I've played a few seasons of Franchise mode.

One thing I can say is that the entire menu system has changed and it seems easier to navigate.

You can set the speed of the game which defaults to slow, but you can increase it to normal, or faster. You can also set a slider that adjusts the speed difference between the fastest players and the slowest players from either a huge difference or almost no difference at all.

When there is a fumble you can actually fight for it at the bottom of the pile.

If I think of more features I'll post them later.

[Admin]

I was involved in quite a heated argument in another forum because I was arguing that EA always hypes up their game and even though it looks good in about a week or so after buying it, it doesn't come through in terms of expectations. Madden never failed to disappoint me, and I was very bitter against EA Sports because of how terrible of a game Fight Night Round 4 was. I hope I'm right with this one. Dolfan you usually say a game is really good after you buy it... which is why I'm thinking maybe people say it's good after a week or so because they're trying to convince themselves that it was worth the $60 investment. lol

The games that I play every year are Madden and NBA 2K. Have I been wrong about saying those games are good?

Madden 2009 rated 8.8 ("great") by IGN.

NBA 2k9 rated 8.5 ("great") by IGN.

I think the only other game I have mentioned was Fight Night Round 4 and it's also an excellent game. IGN rates it at 8.8 which is "great".

Every year Madden has improved a bit but this is the first year that it feels like an accurate simulation and the game seems to have matured as I said with getting rid of those ridiculous player icons and the defense reading your play or their QB reading your defense.

This year IGN rates Madden an 8.9, which is again "great", so obviously they feels that it was improved upon.

So you can feel free to believe me or not but I have yet to be wrong about a game, which granted isn't saying a lot since I only play a couple few games a year.

Oh yeah one more thing that I remember about the game is that you can change your uniform up before the game by choosing the helmet, jersey, etc and you can choose from home, away, throwbacks but it's cool that you can wear an old helmet with the modern jersey or vice versa.

[EazyRoc]

Wow. They gave our offensive line some pretty bad ratings. It's kind of disappointing. I also think players like Babineaux and Coleman deserved better rankings as well.

[Admin]

Wow. They gave our offensive line some pretty bad ratings. It's kind of disappointing. I also think players like Babineaux and Coleman deserved better rankings as well.

Everyone that I have heard talk about their teams ratings feel that way which I think just shows how much they brought the ratings down overall in the game which I think is a good thing.

Another cool thing that I just remembered is that there is an option to "accelerate the clock" by your choice of 15, 20, 25 seconds when you call your play quickly which should lead to much more realistic scores since the play clock will almost always be under 15 when the ball is snapped instead of the unrealistic play being run with 30+ seconds left on the clock like previous games. Of course you can disable this and play without the accelerated clock but I like it and have it set to 20 seconds. If the game clock is under 2 minutes in the half (I believe it's only 2nd and 4th quarters) the accelerated clock is disabled.

Oh and when there is a fumble and a pile of guys land on the ball you have to "press Y repeatedly" and there is a bar that moves back and forth like a tug of war and once the refs pull the guys off the pile and they see the ball whichever side has the bar in their favor has the ball.

Okay the commentary is just as bad as it was last year. For example I just ran the ball up the middle from the 5 yard line on 3rd and 1 with Ronnie Brown and scored a TD and I didn't have to break a tackle and Collinsworth said something about me being trapped behind the line of scrimmage and breaking free. The previous play I ran for 9 yards off the left side and he said a veteran QB would have recognized the blitz and audibled out of it. So far that's my only complaint about the game and I really complain about the commentary in every sports game I've played except for MLB 2K9 which has awesome commentary.

Another neat thing is when you have an injury he is evaluated (without you seeing this) and then a play or maybe a few plays later if he can come back in the game a bar pops up on the side of the screen during the choose play screen asking you if you want to bring him back in, shows his rating as a player, the risk of further injury and the player and player rating of the guy who replaced him.

Something else that I'd like to say is annoying but I understand why they did it is that when you have 3 plays to choose from in order to pick the play on the right you press the Y button (top of the diamond of buttons) instead of the B button (right side of the diamond of buttons) so it's odd to get used to that. The B button is used to go back throughout the entire game so I guess it functions like that for consistency.

[Dsinner]

Good to hear Dolf. Madden is the King at adding VERY minor tweaks and promoting it as "groundbreaking." The worst thing that's ever happened in the gaming industry was when Madden bought out the NFL's rights. I'll rent it then make my decision because so far they've been living off the name "Madden" for years.

[Admin]

Good to hear Dolf. Madden is the King at adding VERY minor tweaks and promoting it as "groundbreaking." The worst thing that's ever happened in the gaming industry was when Madden bought out the NFL's rights. I'll rent it then make my decision because so far they've been living off the name "Madden" for years.

If you're looking for groundbreaking then I don't think this new game will satisfy you, although I'm not sure what they can do to the game to satisfy that requirement. I am confident that there are enough new minor additions to this game to make it a worthwhile purchase but renting it first is probably a good idea.

I do agree that Madden getting the exclusive rights has been a bad thing, much the same way (and even more so to me) with DirecTV getting the exclusive rights to NFL Sunday Ticket.

[mattlanta]

The games that I play every year are Madden and NBA 2K. Have I been wrong about saying those games are good?

Madden 2009 rated 8.8 ("great") by IGN.

NBA 2k9 rated 8.5 ("great") by IGN.

I think the only other game I have mentioned was Fight Night Round 4 and it's also an excellent game. IGN rates it at 8.8 which is "great".

Every year Madden has improved a bit but this is the first year that it feels like an accurate simulation and the game seems to have matured as I said with getting rid of those ridiculous player icons and the defense reading your play or their QB reading your defense.

This year IGN rates Madden an 8.9, which is again "great", so obviously they feels that it was improved upon.

So you can feel free to believe me or not but I have yet to be wrong about a game, which granted isn't saying a lot since I only play a couple few games a year.

Oh yeah one more thing that I remember about the game is that you can change your uniform up before the game by choosing the helmet, jersey, etc and you can choose from home, away, throwbacks but it's cool that you can wear an old helmet with the modern jersey or vice versa.

I wouldn't exactly rely on IGN for game scores. They've been rumored to be paid by EA to put out some good reviews. And it's not hard to believe since they always put good reviews out for every game. For example, I think Fight Night Round 4 was a terrible game.

I posted this in the topic of OperationSports though, Dolfan or anyone else who has bought this game can help me out. I'm having a bad feeling about cancelling my order but am still thinking if this is worth it or not. I don't know if I'll have time to play this this fall since I'll definitely be buying NBA 2k9 and playign Marvel Alliance 2 with my brother on the 360....

What are the worst parts about this game? I pulled my pre-order from Amazon that I bought for $57 but also included a $10 discount from the next purchase of that site. There are still plenty of offers out there that are good, but I'm just wondering if this game is just EA hype or if it's the real deal. I don't trust a lot of sites because I have a feeling they get paid by EA to put out good reviews. So I'm going to try to draw my opinion from the weaknesses of this game...

What are the worst parts of the game? Is the running game fixed and is it realistic? Do the player models and faces look more realistic? Etc. Please post your honest opinion. If you think you're just happy to get the game today, then wait a week or two before posting so you get a more un-biased post. Thanks.

[Admin]

I wouldn't exactly rely on IGN for game scores. They've been rumored to be paid by EA to put out some good reviews. And it's not hard to believe since they always put good reviews out for every game. For example, I think Fight Night Round 4 was a terrible game.

I posted this in the topic of OperationSports though, Dolfan or anyone else who has bought this game can help me out. I'm having a bad feeling about cancelling my order but am still thinking if this is worth it or not. I don't know if I'll have time to play this this fall since I'll definitely be buying NBA 2k9 and playign Marvel Alliance 2 with my brother on the 360....

You thought Fight Night Round 4 was a terrible game? I'm not sure what you're expectations are for games but if they're so high that you think that game was terrible when it's widely considered the best boxing game then you might as well pass on Madden.

GameStats.com has a press score of 9 and a gamer score of 9.4 for Madden 10

Here is a review of Madden 10 from Operation Sports so feel free to make your decision based off of that.

http://www.operationsports.com/SBartlett/blog/4200-madden-10-first-impressions-xbox-360/

My Impressions

Right out of the case, Madden NFL 10 has some of the best presentation elements you will see in a sports game. With that said, the game play remains stagnant. So it comes down to great visuals against mediocre game play. Let’s go into detail.

Presentation

Most of the presentation elements that have been added to the game you all have already seen through the OS media coverage of the game. The sound and atmosphere of the stadiums is phenomenal in person. It feels like you are entering a FIFA World Cup match, and the FIFA atmospheres are alive so this is a great achievement.

The pregame warm-ups will bring back memories of the Madden NFL 2002 days. Or, if you are a NFL2k5 fan, you will notice the visuals of the fans entering the stadium going through their Sunday rituals. So it is very similar in that aspect in terms of these cut-scenes, which will be much to the enjoyment of the 2k football die hards.

The player detail seems to be one of the main focuses of the Madden NFL 10 team. You will see all those small details on all your favorite players. While it adds great realism, it doesn’t mean much to me. I could go without it. Arm bands and towels are cool, but mean nothing.

The franchise NFL quarterbacks have their voice overs in the game, as they have in year’s past, but they also have added new throwing motions for most of these premier qb’s as well. It is a nice touch of realism, an area where the Madden NFL 10 team seems to have listened to their fans.

Game play

If you are looking for revolutionary game play in terms of new physics and less canned animations, well, you are going to have to keep looking. While the pro-tak animation system is awesome, it doesn’t have influence on any other aspects of the game. The tackling is great, but there will be times where you will be in the open field and your wide receiver will get caught from behind into a fight for every yard scenario which is kind of awkward.

A positive from the pro-tak animation system is that you never know what is going to happen with your runner. He can get through a guy, get tripped up, get slowed down then keep fighting and continue, or cause a pile up. It's pretty entertaining running the ball against certain match-ups and line backers out there. The physics with the pro-tak animation system seem to be a success this far in. I like it a lot. Guys like Ray Lewis almost always will take you down in your tracks - these are things we like to see.

The game is slowed down and it is on the slow setting out of the case so you can go in and adjust if you want. I found that the normal speed setting made it speed up a little bit more and it was much more playable. Overall, the game play remains very similar to last year. The passing was changed so that your quarterback has to do his drop back before you can release the ball, which is a nice improvement. I'm having trouble with completing the deep passes so I will continue to practice.

You still can’t throw jump balls, fades, or any sort of lobs when you are in the redzone. This is mainly due to the ball flight’s mechanics that have not been addressed. The producers said it was changed, but it doesn’t matter what type of change they made because these types of passes still do not work or come off with a feel that is natural.

Cutting is another issue that slows the game down – the players directional movement remains unchanged. Even with all those momentum improvements and the animations of players supposedly running in and out of breaks don’t do much. These improvements, while present, don’t effect the overall game play. Not to mention ball carriers still run awkwardly. It’s frustrating when your player doesn’t turn and run in coverage to get back on a deep ball; or when you have a hole to the outside, but your running back breaks into a awkward cut animation that doesn’t really make a cut fast enough to reach that hole.

There are some nice pieces that have been added to the passing game though. When a quarterback is hit in his throwing animation, he will continue the throwing motion while going down. The ball will come flying out like a wounded duck – as many of you have seen in the demo – or the ball will come out in an inaccurate wobbly pass. I will get into more detail with another set of impressions based on the passing game as I play through it more.

So at first look, Madden NFL 10 has some sick authenticity – great visuals, great presentation, and great sound. Pro-Tak, for the most part, is a straight up awesome addition to the game. The rest of the game play and core engines remain the same as Madden NFL 09. There are some sweet adjustments that have been made – and believe me, I love the subtleties in a sports title – but the core game play still has serious issues.

These are my first impressions and I will continue them this week; the next with a focus with the offensive sticks.

http://www.operationsports.com/SBartlett/blog/4209-madden-impressions-part-2-you-cant-c-me-addition-2pac-from-m10-soundtrack/M10 Passing Game

M10 is a game I am wanting to love and I’m sure a lot of you will feel the same way. The NFL feel it brings is awesome and so are the new hits. 2Pac even has a song in the game which makes the game so gangsta it's funny. There are some elements holding this series back, though (in my opinion of course). So here are some pro’s and con’s I drafted up and observed in the few days of playing.

Let’s start with the quarterbacks. The quarterback drop back feature is pretty sweet. It forces you to play from the pocket for the most part. The pocket formation is better than it has been on the past 360 and PS3 Maddens so that is a plus. In my Seahawks franchise, Hasselback is awesome with the short to mid range passes. You can really tell where his strengths are with his accuracy in a quick fire west-coast offense. It’s actually a blast picking defenses apart from the pocket.

The passing game is more difficult to go deep this year. I noticed you really can’t get much separation with wide-outs with the current speed settings. You can adjust the speed settings and player speed threshold to give the players more drastic separation. I find the game to be more enjoyable once I bump the speed up.

The new quarterback ratings are most prevalent when you fire the ball to medium and long distance. If you hold the button down and those lengths, your quarterback better be accurate; otherwise they throw missiles over guy’s heads like Donovan McNabb (I still got love for you Donovan, just saying).

The quarterbacks aren’t as realistically detailed as you would find 2k football where each QB was very unique in feel when it came to their throw power, accuracy, mobility, and touch…but the detail in each unique QB is a step up in the right direction. Cutler throws darts out there, and guys like Warner and Brady are highly accurate at any yard distance. It’s good to see quarterbacks being differentiated in other ways than a vision cone.

Another nice lil addition is the spiral on the ball – when you’re rushed and hurried, the ball comes out flatter and wobbly as opposed to planting your feet and delivering a strike. It’s not drastic, but there was some attention paid here so that is a positive.

There are still issues plaguing the passing game when you lead a wide receiver on a crossing route. The wide out almost jumps towards the line of scrimmage when catching the pass slowing him down in the process. The result is not being able to complete a quick hit in stride to catch and go – instead you have to steer your guy upfield again before you can continue running. - Dolfan23 note this bugs me as well and is a carry over from previous years.

It’s hard to lead wide-outs on any type of fade, or even on in-routes for that matter – similar to last year. Sometimes you will lead them with a lob pass perfectly, and other times the ball will come out 20 yards short of where you want to throw it. This unpredictability in the passing game really holds back the overall gun slinging mentality I used to bring to Madden back in the Playstation 2 days. Man, back then I was dropping 50 on people like it was my job – none of my friends could C me in it. Maybe M10 is trying more simulation based. I don’t know. I just find leading wide-outs inaccurate and in some instances it can just be ineffective which detracts from the game experience.

The wide receivers break in and out of their cuts much better, but you the passing game still isn’t really timing based. I mean at times, you can throw an out pattern early and your guy will break and get to it, but it isn’t seamless or fluid.

The wide-receiver defensive back interaction at the line is slightly improved, but they don’t really fight for position with their hands or anything when the ball is in flight. It’s more like the corner just runs into the wide-out and tries to push him out of the way.

They added a few catch animations to the game this year. The over the shoulder catch is very well done. Once the wide receiver snags the ball, he can keep running in stride. His head snaps over his shoulder to look the ball into his hands. Another catch animation is the Torry Holt circus catch. It’s pretty cool to see in a video game, although I have only seen it once so far.

On a side note, I scored a 90% on the IQ test and created my superstar and I was drafted by the New England Patriots – my hometown team. I will most likely cover the ground game next.

[ATLJA316]

I was very bitter against EA Sports because of how terrible of a game Fight Night Round 4 was

I LOVE Fight Night 4.... What was wrong with it to you?!?

[Admin]

I LOVE Fight Night 4.... What was wrong with it to you?!?

I'd like to know that as well since that game is a lot of fun and quite addictive.

[coachx]

Falcons got ripped off.

We had the best rushing attack in football last year and gave up just a few sacks............so why is the O-Line so low ?

Why is Babbineaux only a 73 when the rookie, Jerry, is a 78 ?

The Falcons got ripped off !

Its like your either a star or your a bum with Madden's new rating system. The Falcons have a ton of tough, hard nosed players who should be rated 5 to 8 points higher such as Babineaux, Lofton, Blaylock, Dahl, Clabo, McClure, Davis, Bierrman, ..............I do agree that our secondary is unproven so I understand the low rating for a secondary but our O-Line is a proven as a group and should be rated better.

Edited August 10, 2009 by coachx

[Admin]

Falcons got ripped off.

Matt Ryan should be a 87-88

We had the best rushing attack in football last year and gave a few sacks............so why is the O-Line so low ?

Why is Babbineaux only a 73 when the rookie, Jerry, is a 78 ?

The Falcons got ripped off !

Its like your either a star or your a bum with Madden's new rating system. The Falcons have a ton of tough, hard nosed players who should be rated 5 to 8 points higher such as Babineaux, Lofton, Blaylock, Dahl, Clabo, McClure, Davis, Bierrman, ..............I do agree that our secondary is unproven so I understand the low rating for a secondary but our O-Line is a proven as a group and should be rated better.

I believe that almost every player in the game is lower than they were last year which is a good thing because the ratings were way too high last year. This gives the ability to have truly elite players in the 90's, guys like Tom Brady and Adreian Peterson. Maybe the Falcons O-line is too low although 4 of the 5 starters are 77 or better which isn't bad but I honestly can't say since I don't even know who some of the Falcons linemen are.

[EazyRoc]

I believe that almost every player in the game is lower than they were last year which is a good thing because the ratings were way too high last year. This gives the ability to have truly elite players in the 90's, guys like Tom Brady and Adreian Peterson. Maybe the Falcons O-line is too low although 4 of the 5 starters are 77 or better which isn't bad but I honestly can't say since I don't even know who some of the Falcons linemen are.

Yea Dolfan, they got over on us as far as the offensive line is concerned. We had one of the better offensive lines in the league, but looking at the game, it certaintly doesn't show. Babineaux should be higher like I said, and Erik Coleman played damn good last year. He deserved better ratings. I see what you're saying. They are adjusting the ratings to be more like Live. However, I think Live's ratings are retarded too. They rate Shawn Marion as a better player than Joe Johnson. I'm sure there are other examples of the failures of Live's rating system, but I'll save my energy.

[coachx]

I believe that almost every player in the game is lower than they were last year which is a good thing because the ratings were way too high last year. This gives the ability to have truly elite players in the 90's, guys like Tom Brady and Adreian Peterson. Maybe the Falcons O-line is too low although 4 of the 5 starters are 77 or better which isn't bad but I honestly can't say since I don't even know who some of the Falcons linemen are.

I realize the ratings our down across the board but when you compare the Falcons O-Line to those of other teams you quickly realize they are rated as below average when it is clear that Atlanta O-Line is in the top 6 or 7 in the entire NFL.

Atlanta gave up 17 sacks all of last season. That was the 5th lowest in the entire NFL.

http://www.nfl.com/stats/categorystats?offensiveStatisticCategory=TEAM_PASSING&season=2008&seasonType=REG&d-447263-o=2&conference=ALL&tabSeq=2&role=TM&d-447263-p=1&d-447263-s=PASSING_SACKED&d-447263-n=1

Atlanta was 2nd in rusing offense last year:http://www.nfl.com/stats/categorystats?archive=false&conference=null&role=TM&offensiveStatisticCategory=RUSHING&defensiveStatisticCategory=null&season=2008&seasonType=REG&tabSeq=2&qualified=true&Submit=Go

I know both of these stats have something to do with Ryan and Turner but they are definately 2 stats that are directly attributal to the excellent play of the O-Line.

The whole O - line should be full of "B" rated players. They rate our best lineman as Sam Baker, who hardly played last year. Meanwhile other guys had excellent years and are ignored.

I understand why are team Defense rating is only a 74............we have LBs and DBs who must start without any expierence. They are unproven. However, the O-Line unit is proven but not rewarded.

For example:

Look at the Giants O-Line

The Giants gave up 28 sacks last year (11 more then Atlanta)

The Giants were the only team to rush for more yards then the Falcons by about 8 yards per game.

Look at the Giants O Line compared to Atlanta:

Giants: 97, 91, 88, 88, 87

Falcons: 84, 81, 78, 77, 76

What kind of logic is that ? There worst O-lineman is better then our best ? Even though gave up 11 more sacks ? There was no huge disparity in pass attempts either.

Oh well !

I am anxious to play the game. Seems very few QB have much arm strength. Some teams look like they will be limited to playing short and intermediate passing routes. I love how the ball carrier can now carry people foward or be thrown backwards..........seems much more realistic.

Can't wait till Friday to check it out.

Edited August 10, 2009 by coachx

[Admin]

I realize the ratings our down across the board but when you compare the Falcons O-Line to those of other teams you quickly realize they are rated as below average when it is clear that Atlanta O-Line is in the top 6 or 7 in the entire NFL.

Atlanta gave up 17 sacks all of last season. That was the 5th lowest in the entire NFL.

http://www.nfl.com/s...ED&d-447263-n=1

Atlanta was 2nd in rusing offense last year:http://www.nfl.com/s...=true&Submit=Go

I know both of these stats have something to do with Ryan and Turner but they are definately 2 stats that are directly attributal to the excellent play of the O-Line.

The whole O - line should be full of "B" rated players. They rate our best lineman as Sam Baker, who hardly played last year. Meanwhile other guys had excellent years and are ignored.

I understand why are team Defense rating is only a 74............we have LBs and DBs who must start without any expierence. They are unproven. However, the O-Line unit is proven but not rewarded.

For example:

Look at the Giants O-Line

The Giants gave up 28 sacks last year (11 more then Atlanta)

The Giants were the only team to rush for more yards then the Falcons by about 8 yards per game.

Look at the Giants O Line compared to Atlanta:

Giants: 97, 91, 88, 88, 87

Falcons: 84, 81, 78, 77, 76

What kind of logic is that ? There worst O-lineman is better then our best ? Even though gave up 11 more sacks ? There was no huge disparity in pass attempts either.

Oh well !

I am anxious to play the game. Seems very few QB have much arm strength. Some teams look like they will be limited to playing short and intermediate passing routes. I love how the ball carrier can now carry people foward or be thrown backwards..........seems much more realistic.

Can't wait till Friday to check it out.

I hear ya on this one but you also need to consider what is it that makes the line good. Is it the individual players or is it a combination of the system and the QB/RB? There have been plenty of examples in the real NFL where a team has had big name OL players but statistically speaking they stunk as a unit for whatever reason. It's quite possible that the Falcons have a great blocking scheme, plus tremendous talent from the RB and QB spots which lead to them being statistically superior to many teams in the real NFL but that still doesn't mean that the individual lineman are all that. Could you take those individual lineman and put them on other teams and improve that line a lot? I don't know the answer to that as I really don't know more than 2 guys on the Falcons line whereas I know all 5 of the Giants starters, I know most of the Panthers starters on the line. Not that I'm the end all be all for knowing players but I think you get what I'm saying might be the reason why the individual players have lower than expected ratings. You'll really need to look at the game and see how the team OL is rated when they show the head to head breakdown of their opponent. They rate them on a 1-3 scale with 3 being the best so it's possible that the Falcons could have a 3 out of 3 rating there based on the stats they put up last year.

[coachx]

You'll really need to look at the game and see how the team OL is rated when they show the head to head breakdown of their opponent. They rate them on a 1-3 scale with 3 being the best so it's possible that the Falcons could have a 3 out of 3 rating there based on the stats they put up last year.

Falcons starting OL average a 79.2

Giants starting OL average a 90.2

Falcons are probably a borderline "2" out of "3" if they are lucky.

Maybe there is an O-Line "Chemistry" characteristics where players do not just straight up miss blocks or miss an assignment. Atlanta would be 100 there to make up for their low ratings on their O-Line.

In reality this is a smash mouth, blue collar, physical O-Line. I was looking foward to being able to play that way.

One other thing. Our RT Clabo is a mean and nasty run blocker and an average pass blocker. For some reason they give him a 83 for run blocking and a 90 for passing blocking.................Mean while, Sam Baker is a better pass blocker then run blocker but EA sports rated him backwards as well......What gives ? They obviously did not pay much attention to the Falcons since their O-Line was not well known like the Panthers and Giants..........even though they out produced both of those O-Lines throughout the regular season.

I hope the on line version will modify players more then last year based on what kind of year they are having...........especially with rookies who blossom early in reality but are rated in the 60's in the game.

[Admin]

Falcons starting OL average a 79.2

Giants starting OL average a 90.2

Falcons are probably a borderline "2" out of "3" if they are lucky.

Maybe there is an O-Line "Chemistry" characteristics where players do not just straight up miss blocks or miss an assignment. Atlanta would be 100 there to make up for their low ratings on their O-Line.

In reality this is a smash mouth, blue collar, physical O-Line. I was looking foward to being able to play that way.

One other thing. Our RT Clabo is a mean and nasty run blocker and an average pass blocker. For some reason they give him a 83 for run blocking and a 90 for passing blocking.................Mean while, Sam Baker is a better pass blocker then run blocker but EA sports rated him backwards as well......What gives ? They obviously did not pay much attention to the Falcons since their O-Line was not well known like the Panthers and Giants..........even though they out produced both of those O-Lines throughout the regular season.

I hope the on line version will modify players more then last year based on what kind of year they are having...........especially with rookies who blossom early in reality but are rated in the 60's in the game.

I just played my regular season opener which was the Dolphins (me of course) at the Falcons and the Falcons are definitely good on there as Turner averaged 5.4 per carry with 130+ yards on me and Ryan was pretty good too. The O-Line was able to open up all sorts of holes and I didn't get any sacks on Ryan although I did pressure him once and hit him as he was throwing which forced an INT. I was able to run on the Falcons a bit with Ricky Williams who had about 90 yards and 5.2 per carry. Other than that I wasn't able to do anything offensively but I won the game 21-13 because I ran back the 2nd half kickoff with Ted Ginn for a TD and then on the ensuing kickoff Norwood fumbled and I ran it back. Then after the Falcons got their 2nd FG to make it 14-6 they kicked to Ginn again and once again I ran back another kick for a TD which prompted Cris Collinsworth to go off on them. The Falcons had a chance to make it 21-19 with a shot for a 2pt conversion but Jenkins dropped a pass that would have converted on 4th down inside of the 20. I'd say if you want to play smashmouth run the ball football with the Falcons you won't have any trouble!

Now here's a super cool feature that I just found after the game called "The Extra Point" where it goes to the "studio" and there is video of a real guy (can't remember his name) talking and then he sends the broadcast over to this real girl (can't remember her name either) and she runs down the recap of each game by looking at the box score and says who did this and who did that and then after all of the games they preview the upcoming games of the week. I thought that was REALLY cool, even though it didn't actually provide highlights or any groundbreaking info.