Was Eli's TD pass possible????

[jarviswise]

After watching from the endzone view, I was impressed by Eli Manning's touchdown pass in the first quarter. Eli perfectly timed the pass, linebacker jarod mayo was turning to double team, and eli throw it right as he was turning. Putting the ball right under mayo's arm, who wasn't facing the ball and had no way of deflecting it, let alone pick it off.

Now I ask, would a pass like that be completed in NCAA? wouldn't the linebacker turn around and deflect or pick it, because of how the AI is set up. Has anybody been able to make a pass like that or anything close. This is something that needs to be addressed in NCAA because of how much passing can be improved.

Sometimes the DB doesn't see the ball, and QB will burn them because of that. This isn't seen in NCAA, the DB's always see the ball. Which should not happen because young DB's do not always have perfect technique. and even if they look like they don't see the ball, they do find a way to see it.....

[CcAaRrSsOoNn3]

The DB/LB would've picked that pass off. In NCAA, they likely would've been and a break down position. They would've then jumped in front of the pass.

Now, in NCAA, we all know how 50/50 it is when it comes to INT's. So they likely would've attempted the pick, but dropped it.

[DerkontheOS]

It would be picked off 10 out of 10 times.

On a side note I think that touchdown was one of those plays where Eli already made up his mind that is where he was going with the pass before the snap. I don't think he intentionally threw it at that time.

[TDenverFan]

It wouldn't always be picked in NCAA. The ball might just fly through the defender's chest. That happens a lot.

[TDAWG89]

The ball never would have gotten lower than the LB's shoulders.. he would have looked into Eli's eyes and mind and known that he was going to throw that pass even before the snap

that's why I always give my QB's dark visors

[bigbob]

Had Mayo actually turned and looked for the ball like you're taught to in those situations, it would've been picked off.

For the sake of discussion though, I do believe that it's one of those 10 times out of 10 things that would happen, unless of course you'd try and switch to the defender yourself and try and user pick it, it would probably bounce off your hands.

[GGGswim]

Counterpoint.

Maybe everyone but me knew this tip, but....
Been watching a Free NCAA 12 Tips series on YouTube and I found it noteworthy how many times the guy said, in the offensive vids, "...then throw the ball as soon as the LB or DB turns his back."
Started doing that in both a dynasty and RTG (playing as QB obviously) and was shocked at the success rate.
I'm thinking that since the LB was turned away from the QB -- unlike, as another poster pointed out, he should have been -- the throw would have made it past the LB. Wouldn't venture a guess on whether a DB would ghost through the WR to pick it off, or not, though. (we've all seen that video here in the forums.)

[stcloudgopher]

To answer the question, no, that pass is not possible. As was stated above, it would have been picked/knocked down/gone through the defenders chest or, as is the case with many of my slants, thrown on a line 10 yards from the intended target.

But my question is this: how many of the throws you see in any NCAA/NFL game are possible in the NCAA/Madden series? Is Manningham's 4th quarter catch a possible play? No way. That ball had some serious arc and touch, and settled nicely on the sideline hashmarks. Simply not possible in EA's games. And though he didn't catch it, Welker's 4th quarter drop is an impossible play because the receivers can't adjust to something thrown behind them. Granted, that pass is rarely seen in the series, but that's another point (much like the back-shoulder throw that is prevalent in both college and pro ball).

The passing game, and the spread/triple option have passed these games by. I'm not even really complaining about it. Think of when the current-gen consoles shipped. Now think about what was happening in the real-life versions of the sport. In 2006, Pittsburgh won the Super Bowl. The Pats won three of the previous four with Tampa Bay, Tampa Bay winning the other. Not exactly the pass-happy league we have now. (Those NE teams weren't the 5,000-plus yards passing offenses of the current Brady-led Pats.)

The NCAA champs from then? Ohio St., LSU/USC, USC, Texas, Florida. Only the Horns and Gators in 2005-06 had anything resembling a modern offense. The Bucks, Tigers and Trojans all ran pro-style offenses at the time.

Basically, this game was built on what football was from 2002-06. It will likely be next-gen until we see a change that reflects the change on the field. Right now, EA is trying to turn Jim Tressel's playbook into Chip Kelly's.