FanPost

Of Madden and The 'Boys


I hate the idea,but I raise the question can Madden teach a coordinator how to call a game?

I used to play Madden starting back in the beginning,I was a monster those first few years prior to grown-up life falling in place,We'd get together 2-3 times a week 3 consoles,a dozen gamers or so throw down a Hamilton and play for hours,just knowing nobody was getting my $10.I could take the few Cowboys plays they gave us and crush anybody,flip them,audible them and run them to maximum effect.Couldn't stop me,same draw play,TE up&out,'kwik slants,Irvin to the post all game long.Then it happened...create your own plays,create sub. packages,moving players to new positions.You remember how couldn't you put Deion on offense.

That's when I became a 'offensive genius',so I thought...far from it was the reality.Nothing farther from the truth, most of the time I spent my time letting the clock run down,getting penalties,that's when the OLine would do some of the weirdest things false starts by the bucket,holding calls,Irvin,Moose and Novachek dropping balls they always caught,Emmitt had fumblitis,Aikman at times couldn't hit the side of a barn, I mean just goofy stuff.

Years later I was fortunate to make a friend whose nephew programmed for EA in Cali,after some BBQ and a few beers later,we started watching Madden with the kids playing,1 kid is cruising along playing with the Saints well before they became what they are now,while the kid who had his profile team the 49ers with Rice and Young getting smashed.That's when the programmer explained that a part of the games new abilities came with a lower probability of success,factoring in how far the plays were from the offensive base formations and players ability to move from one spot to another and so forth.Never thought of it again until recently,does it make sense that all these different formations and player substitutions and such actually create the false starts,the delay of games and players not being where they are supposed to be on certain plays,miscommunication between the QB and his recievers.I think that Romo and Witten/Austin/Hurd have spent enough time together to be on the same page when a defense lines up that they should see the same thing.

I hope JJ does what everybody says he does and sticks his nose in...Tell RHG to cut the playbook and go with what suits this team,his 'mad scientist' is not helping the players build any continuity by shuttling them in and out.Just give them time to find a groove.

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