Overcoming Momentum

[malek05]

momentum has pretty much made me stop playing this game altogether, as lately it has been so atrocious till i can barely believe some of it myself. I haven't had a close game in quite awhile, either i blow the cpu out from the jump or they blow me out from the jump. I tried slowing down the tempo of the game, only running the play inside 10 seconds of the play clock, but that just seemed to make the cpu play dumber, i noticed that when I did this and they had 3rd and less than 6 they would always run some stupid play like toss or qb draw against my inside blitz. I can't seem to get any decent sliders, I had the cpu passing and catching at default and teams were completeing around 70% against me, then i dropped it to 45 and now they complete around 40%, that doesn't make any sense. Earlier this week i lost to pittsburgh in about 5 real time minutes. They score, i fumble, they score, i fumble...next thing i know the score is 24-0 and balko has 250 yards (all td's came courtesy of 60+ yard bombs) against cover 3 quarters, the guy would just catch the ball and all my men would fall down. Everytime i get 3rd or 4th and inches...i never get it. How on earth can my line get pushed back 6 yards in this situation every time? How can an impact linebacker make me fumble 50% of the time he tackles me, and why is my 90 speed running back routinely getting caught from behind by 86 speed linebackers, but my 92 speed cornerback can't keep up with a reciever who has 88 speed? And the final straw, the thing that pisses me off the most, is how my secondary falls for playaction even though the cpu hasn't run the ball effectively or at all. I had a game where my corners took a step up every time the cpu ran playaction even though there running back had negative yardage in the game. That is completely dumb.

It has sucked all the fun out of the game for me. I guess its time to pop in some nba2k6 so i won't be rusty when 2k7 hits shelves

[TWOSILK]

Quote: Originally Posted by malek05

momentum has pretty much made me stop playing this game altogether, as lately it has been so atrocious till i can barely believe some of it myself. I haven't had a close game in quite awhile, either i blow the cpu out from the jump or they blow me out from the jump. I tried slowing down the tempo of the game, only running the play inside 10 seconds of the play clock, but that just seemed to make the cpu play dumber, i noticed that when I did this and they had 3rd and less than 6 they would always run some stupid play like toss or qb draw against my inside blitz. I can't seem to get any decent sliders, I had the cpu passing and catching at default and teams were completeing around 70% against me, then i dropped it to 45 and now they complete around 40%, that doesn't make any sense. Earlier this week i lost to pittsburgh in about 5 real time minutes. They score, i fumble, they score, i fumble...next thing i know the score is 24-0 and balko has 250 yards (all td's came courtesy of 60+ yard bombs) against cover 3 quarters, the guy would just catch the ball and all my men would fall down. Everytime i get 3rd or 4th and inches...i never get it. How on earth can my line get pushed back 6 yards in this situation every time? How can an impact linebacker make me fumble 50% of the time he tackles me, and why is my 90 speed running back routinely getting caught from behind by 86 speed linebackers, but my 92 speed cornerback can't keep up with a reciever who has 88 speed? And the final straw, the thing that pisses me off the most, is how my secondary falls for playaction even though the cpu hasn't run the ball effectively or at all. I had a game where my corners took a step up every time the cpu ran playaction even though there running back had negative yardage in the game. That is completely dumb. It has sucked all the fun out of the game for me. I guess its time to pop in some nba2k6 so i won't be rusty when 2k7 hits shelves

I dont think that is all momentum, i can have all the momentum and my YOUNG db's fall for a play fake for no reason and the speed is relative and 3-6 points are pretty much the same. I think that momentum catches a bad rap it is not the fault of all of the bad play.

[Cardot]

Quote: Originally Posted by malek05

momentum has pretty much made me stop playing this game altogether

I hate to say it, but I am getting close to haning up the '07 cleats myself. After shutting down the Gators in a game that should have been more challenging, I host Tulane. I have a nice opening drive that results in a missed FG......That missed field goal put Tulane at +3 and they pretty much dominated from there. Every time I started to get close, a nice pass into triple coverage put the Green Wave in charge again. Their QB had an 82% for the game and they put up 46 points.

I don't mind losing. In fact I really don't like running the tables (its been years since I did that). I like having a vested interest in the out of town scores and battling all season. But getting destroyed by Tulane at home??? Come on.

4 Games left in the season. Maybe the game can win me back. Otherwise, it may be time to call '04 out of the bullpen.

[malek05]

Quote: Originally Posted by TWOSILK

I dont think that is all momentum, i can have all the momentum and my YOUNG db's fall for a play fake for no reason and the speed is relative and 3-6 points are pretty much the same. I think that momentum catches a bad rap it is not the fault of all of the bad play.

I don't think all the bad play can be attributed to momentum, but it magnifies everything tenfold. And if the speed is pretty much the same from 3-6 points then the guy should not be running away from me in the first place. In all the games I've played i can probably count on one hand the number of times the cpu got past all my defenders and one of my guys came back and caught him. I played with FSU who's running back has like 94 speed or higher and in 12 games he did not break out one large run where he just blew everybody away. He would consistently get ran down in the open field by CB , Safeties, and the occasional linebacker. Several times i replayed it to see a guy come from about 7 yards behind him only to go into the depth chart and see that said guy had 88 speed and 85 acceleration.

It makes absolutely no sense for my corners to run into the backfield on play action when the cpu hasn't had one run for positive yards. Of course this happens OCCASIONALLY in real life, but to have it happen virtually everytime the cpu does play action is insanely stupid and cheap at best. It's either sack or big play, there's seems to be no inbetween.

Something else i notice about this game. When the cpu does PA and if I have a guy rushing the qb he will almost always tackle the rb instead, often times having to turn around to catch the rb to do so. On the other end, when i run play action the cpu hardly ever tackles my running back, they just act like he's not even there and sack me before the animation ends. About 80% of my sacks stem from play action.

[rudyjuly2]

I think some of you guys are giving momentum WAY too much credit. I do believe it tends to lead to more blowouts than in the past but I think people are exagerrating the effects on the game. I have been down 21-3 with full momentum against me and come back and won. It is possible. The problem with a lot of people is I think they look at that momentum bar and get intimidated and psyched out about it. They tend to leave their gameplan, abandon the run and force the play which just snowballs everything. Don't get caught in the quicksand philosophy of calling pass plays trying to get back into the game and forcing things. The problems just get multiplied. Run the ball - it is still possible with momentum against you. Pick up a first down and you can knock off a point on the bar. Don't give up.

Most of my games are higher scoring but I did beat Virginia 13-9 one game so low scoring games are possible. Don't look at that meter or don't let the momentum meter take you out of your gameplan. Some of you guys are getting way too intimidated by it. While it can certainly make the other team harder to play against, I find it a more powerful tool for me and not the CPU.

Remember, it gives opposing players a maximum 5 point advantage across the board - that's not outrageous. Your 90 rated OT going against an 85 rated DE now becomes a 90 vs. 90 battle. An 85 rated DT going up against an 88 rated G now is at a disadvantage by 85-93 but that's not total domination. I think a lot of you are simply beating yourselves by giving too much credit to momentum.

[rudyjuly2]

Quote: Originally Posted by malek05

It makes absolutely no sense for my corners to run into the backfield on play action when the cpu hasn't had one run for positive yards. Of course this happens OCCASIONALLY in real life, but to have it happen virtually everytime the cpu does play action is insanely stupid and cheap at best. It's either sack or big play, there's seems to be no inbetween.

I don't notice that at all on the PS2 unless I commit to the run and my def. awareness is set at 35. I never use the commit feature. Anybody that uses the commit to run feature will be burned very badly on passing plays.

[Cardot]

Quote: Originally Posted by rudyjuly2

Remember, it gives opposing players a maximum 5 point advantage across the board - that's not outrageous. Your 90 rated OT going against an 85 rated DE now becomes a 90 vs. 90 battle. An 85 rated DT going up against an 88 rated G now is at a disadvantage by 85-93 but that's not total domination. I think a lot of you are simply beating yourselves by giving too much credit to momentum.

Rudy, that sounds good, but I am skeptical that it really works that way. That 90 vs 90 battle sounds fair, but the CPU 90 seems to be pancaking my 90 pretty frequently. Their mediocre QB is suddenly completing passes into double and triple coverage. Their line is pushing mine back 4 yards even when I am stacking the line and their ball carrier is dragging defenders for an extra couple yards. If their RB is in the open, then goodbye..... This is what it should be like playing USC or Ohio St, but not Tulane or SMU.

I am just an average player. I know that some of the pro's here can overcome this stuff, but I just ain't that good.

[ehh]

I've decided to put NCAA on the shelf for a while. I've moved onto Madden for the time being (played two games last night and didn't like it at all) so we'll see what happens in the future.

Maybe a break from the game will do me some good - I'm sure I'll come back to it.