Why don't players fall down on their own more often?

[discspeed]

When I watch football, especially college, one thing I often see is players falling down on their own. This happens when footing is poor or when the player is not very agile, and at least once a game it happens to about every player no matter how skilled he is. Many big, game changing plays happen due to this.

In NCAA '11 I've seen players fall a couple of times, which is nice compared to older games where it never happens. However, it still doesn't happen enough to even make an impact. When a skilled receiver makes a great move, the defender should fall sometimes, especially when he sucks. This would make agility much more of a factor and would negate some of the advantages of speed. Less agile guys (Dlineman especially) should fall a lot more often.

What do you think?

[Pogo27]

I think with the default 5 minute quarters, you can't really turn up the falling down all that often.

It seems to be significantly easier for a player to spot a falling player while playing the game than it is for a real QB or RB to spot this and exploit it in a real game.

I tend to notice the fallen player every time and make the right play to abuse the fallen player, and while yes, you see players fall down often in real life, it's not always noticed by the ball carrier so that he can exploit it.

[Yeti_2009]

I've never seen players fall. I've seen players get juked before but never really fall to the ground. It sounds good to me, but what I dont want to happen is it happen to often, especially on the offensive side.

i.e. if you have a HB that cuts or jukes and has a wide open hole sometimes they do fall, but it will cause alot of frustration if it happens too often.

If the game somehow incorporated the idea into a balance rating, it could work, then at least you would know if the HB or WR had a greater chance of slipping and falling.

[Pogo27]

I think the only time I've really seen players falling, actually, is in rain/snow, and it's only receivers/corners before I've thrown the ball (or while it's in the air).

So, the more I think about it, it'd be cool to see a RB punching through a smallish hole get tripped up occasionally and just kind of dive forward despite not hitting any opponent players (essentially getting tackled by his own players, as sometimes happens).

Also, when in space, any time a player makes a move, he should have a very small chance of falling because he got his footing wrong. Of course, the more agile, and the better his move ratings, the less likely he is to fall. This would prevent people from going juke/spin crazy with players like TEs and FBs.

[discspeed]

I think if a player (like a DE, DT, or big LB) without a lot of agility tries to change direction quickly he should trip or fall. Imagine how much better this would make counters, misdirection plays, and play action. As it is, those plays often look stupid and "video gamey". This issue is directly related to player momentum...I think players should fall a lot of kickoffs, punts, blitzes, and other situations where a player going full speed tries to quickly change direction. Even if they don't fall on their butts, they should at least trip and have to correct it with an animation (like using their hands to catch themselves and get back up).

[IlluminatusUIUC]

I definitely notice my guys getting knocked off balance. It happens to me a lot when I try to run a drag or slant from the TE or close slot WR against a LB zone. They'll run by the LB and get chucked as they pass, so they go into a stumbling animation and can't make a catch.