Madden NFL 10 Blog: Blocking Improvements Part 2 - The Run Game

[PlatooN]

Re: Blog is up! Run blocking improvements...

I didn't notice any 2 on 1 blocks

[Drukman]

Re: Blog is up! Run blocking improvements...

As a primarily APF2K8 player, who tried to play Madden '09 and found it wanting, it's really hard to make the adjustment of not having control of your line calls. I'm watching the videos again and I see a lot of straight line DLine calls for your examples (no stunting), which is fine, but what I don't like is that they are all straight up engagements. There's no control of gap right/left to take away edge runs, or razors/pinches/all in to take away the gaps, or a fan to try to control the QB roll outs. Will Madden ever give us the ability to control the DLine assignments instead of binding it to a specific play, thus greatly reducing the strategy of defensive play?

You have the ability to do that in 09. Before the play, press LB or L1 and you should get options on what you want your DL to do. You can crash left, right, pinch, fan.

[blackngoldfan]

Re: Blog is up! Run blocking improvements...

Nice blog Ian, but I have a minor concern.

In the 1st video, #51 has position to get the ball carrier, then he seems to go into a swim animation or get sucked into the tackle. There was no way the tackle should've gotten under his right arm and block him out of the play from that position. Does that happen often?
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[noplace]

Re: Blog is up! Run blocking improvements...

Impressive!!! I may finally be able to stop playing a 5 yr old game!

[adembroski]

Re: Blog is up! Run blocking improvements...

Don't mean to clog up the thread with a useless argument but I'm sorry bro, there's no bracing there. Not that I can tell, anyway.

While admitttedly it's probably not intentional and more tied to that animation, it's there.

This guy noticed it...

I'm sure it only looks that way because of the way the animation was captured. It takes two people to mo-cap a tackle (obviously), so whoever the ballcarrier was, he dipped his shoulder a little before being hit. But there really isn't any "bracing" going on outside of the animation.

Anyway, nice blog. One thing I noticed wasn't touched on was lead blocks. Have those been tweaked at all? Sometimes in Madden 09, the FB or whoever was lead blocking would make the wrong decision in picking up the block. If there's a blitz and someone gets in the backfield, sometimes he'd ignore him and go on to assignment. Also, inferior lead blockers should get blown up in the hole, not just sidestepped like they do in 09. This would slow down people who love to run dual tailbacks in the I Formation.

This is something I talked about, but I'm not sure anyone really listened too unfortunately.

I look at it like this... each position has a specific job when you break it down to it's bare essentials... for instance, the QB throws the football. If you had QBs throwing to the wrong receiver, that would be a massive game killer, so why is it any better to have linebackers breaking off their lead block assignment and running off in some random direction? If linebackers, for instance, ignored the run and dropped into coverage on an Iso, that'd be a massive game killer. Fullbacks not fulfilling their isolation assignment, to me, isn't quite a game killer because most of the time they hit the hole and take on someone significant, but it's very annoying.

There should be a concerted effort to ensure that each position performs there job correctly and that mistakes due to awareness deficiencies are the kinds of mistakes player really make. Fullbacks don't "accidentally" peel off before they even reach the line and go block a blitzing cornerback.

[LBzrule]

Re: Blog is up! Run blocking improvements...

As a primarily APF2K8 player, who tried to play Madden '09 and found it wanting, it's really hard to make the adjustment of not having control of your line calls. I'm watching the videos again and I see a lot of straight line DLine calls for your examples (no stunting), which is fine, but what I don't like is that they are all straight up engagements. There's no control of gap right/left to take away edge runs, or razors/pinches/all in to take away the gaps, or a fan to try to control the QB roll outs. Will Madden ever give us the ability to control the DLine assignments instead of binding it to a specific play, thus greatly reducing the strategy of defensive play?

This was the last point I made in that other thread. Will the defensive line be able to have movement. So if I call crash left or right the Dline has its own movement and is not controlled by the Oline. If they don't have their own movement then we will not have anything that mimics a run fit and that will be highly troubling in my book.

[LBzrule]

Re: Blog is up! Run blocking improvements...

You have the ability to do that in 09. Before the play, press LB or L1 and you should get options on what you want your DL to do. You can crash left, right, pinch, fan.

You have the ability to do that, but to spell out the point more, even when you did that, the line never crashed. It was as if the Oline controlled where the Dline could go via suction blocking. So even if you did call crash right or left, the Dline did not have it's own movement. They never hit the gaps they were supposed to because they were basically controlled by the Oline via hoover blocking. This was one thing that I did not remember to check at CD. If the Dline does not have its own movement, dealing with the run game is going to be a pain in the @@@.

[Valdarez]

Re: Blog is up! Run blocking improvements...

You have the ability to do that in 09. Before the play, press LB or L1 and you should get options on what you want your DL to do. You can crash left, right, pinch, fan.

Really? I had no idea. I never took the time to learn all of the options other than some of the basic ones. I'll have to go back and take a look at them again. Thanks for the heads up.

[carolina_boi]

Re: Blog is up! Run blocking improvements...

ooking better and bettere week ! I cant wait for E3 nd see what else will be unveiled to the Madden faithful !

[droopizzle34]

Re: Blog is up! Run blocking improvements...

While admitttedly it's probably not intentional and more tied to that animation, it's there.

This guy noticed it...



This is something I talked about, but I'm not sure anyone really listened too unfortunately.

I look at it like this... each position has a specific job when you break it down to it's bare essentials... for instance, the QB throws the football. If you had QBs throwing to the wrong receiver, that would be a massive game killer, so why is it any better to have linebackers breaking off their lead block assignment and running off in some random direction? If linebackers, for instance, ignored the run and dropped into coverage on an Iso, that'd be a massive game killer. Fullbacks not fulfilling their isolation assignment, to me, isn't quite a game killer because most of the time they hit the hole and take on someone significant, but it's very annoying.

There should be a concerted effort to ensure that each position performs there job correctly and that mistakes due to awareness deficiencies are the kinds of mistakes player really make. Fullbacks don't "accidentally" peel off before they even reach the line and go block a blitzing cornerback.

like i said earlier,this was a controller breaker for me in 09.The fb was so dumb! u run a sweep,he peels off in the other direction for no reason.That is why u used lead blocker control so much. If you wanted a decent run,u had to make it happen.People in lgs and online straight up abused the 4-6 defense last year,because it seemed to make the whole o-line confused.The DTS were swimming in so fast it was crazy.And the lbs?? I think it is the center and the FB's job to seek out those pesky LBs,and they never did it.

I hope the new improvements help,because i love to run the ball.

[Valdarez]

Re: Blog is up! Run blocking improvements...

This was the last point I made in that other thread. Will the defensive line be able to have movement. So if I call crash left or right the Dline has its own movement and is not controlled by the Oline. If they don't have their own movement then we will not have anything that mimics a run fit and that will be highly troubling in my book.

The blog seems to primarily be from the perspective of the offensive side as well, so it's a little hard to understand how the defense can handle the run, or if the DLine calls (now that I know they can be made) have an effect on the gap that the running is running towards.

[lgxjames]

Re: Blog is up! Run blocking improvements...

Good blog overall, Wish I could complain but I can't

[da bucs gm]

Re: Madden NFL 10 Blog: Blocking Improvements Part 2 - The Run Game

I didn't see any double team blocks

[billyboy316]

Re: Madden NFL 10 Blog: Blocking Improvements Part 2 - The Run Game

Oh thank you times a million. I have always been a run first type player but last year was based off chance. I loved the clip of #77 taking the Dallas defender right out of the hole it was lovely.

Now building a great line will actually mean something. I love it!!

[rudyjuly2]

Re: Madden NFL 10 Blog: Blocking Improvements Part 2 - The Run Game

I wish I could SEE the blog. I'm at work (Canadians had last Monday off) and I'll have to wait until I get home. I'd still like to know how this applies to NCAA 10 as well.