Read option is broken

[feeq14]

This is real game footage. I try to be very explicit and break down the problems that exist here. If you don't see it then I cant show you otherwise.


https://youtu.be/jH-ZnpA9wf8

[Fist Of Kings]

Quote: Originally Posted by kennylc321

The other issue, which has been an issue since I can remember is when you hit the RT for a speed burst, that triggers shed block so all the defenders are all over you.

I get that's how they want us to run this year, but I still don't like it personally. To me, players shouldn't magically shed their blocks just because I hold the turbo button...not unless they have elite awareness and block shedding ratings.

[ijumpedthegun]

Don't know why the "lol I don't use that play but get good" bastion is out in full force today.

The read option has never been a fun play to use in Madden. I've only ever had 1 or 2 yard gains with the QB, no matter which iteration Madden I've played, no matter when I've used the speed trigger, no matter what the "read" defender is doing. Like OP said, handing it off to the running back will give you some good variance on success, but the "read" part never really works.

You're just as well going to shotgun and calling a HB dive or sweep without the option for QB keeper.

[bkrich83]

My opinion and it's simply my opinion, is that it's clearly not broken. In fact the video I believe had the opposite of the intended effect.

[TheDominator273]

Just because the player you are reading reacts to the QB keeping the ball does not mean the play is broken. Sometimes players make plays, you are looking at this from a purely video game aspect of if the end crashes the QB should keep the ball and that player is out of the play.

There's a reason the read option fad died off quickly in the NFL and it was only partially due to the injury risk it puts on the QB. The fact is that it relies on leaving a specified defender unblocked, and NFL caliber athleticism and game planning means that sometimes players can see that they made the wrong initial read and then are able to react.

I think what you're looking for in the NCAA 14 style read option where once you read the unblocked defender they were out of the play if you made the correct give/keep decision. That is an extremely video game way for the play to work and it caused the play to be insanely overpowering in NCAA to the point that sim leagues made rules about how often you could run it.

[pietasterp]

Quote: Originally Posted by feeq14

I'm thinking this may be part of the greater problem with defensive pursuit being too strong. In previous maddens the read option was a two way read on the outside defender. If he crashed down you kept it, if he stayed at home you handed it off. However I noticed that in this madden if the outside defender crashes down he can make both plays at once. Ironically he isn't affected by the new motion physics and is able to alter course on a dime to make the play. If there was any place where the new physics should come into play it's on these plays as they rely on the defense making the wrong first step, but it doesn't matter cause they can easily correct. I tried this a bunch of different ways btw. https://youtu.be/dHZwTW7ylhY

I'm with the OP 100%. I complained bitterly about this in prior NCAA football games until they finally 'fixed' it in NCAA '13, when a properly working read-option was a "feature" of the game (LOL). Until then, the DE's would miraculously be able to recover despite picking the wrong angle of attack and stop the play no matter what. The way they made the play 'work' was basically by forcing the unblocked defender - just like in real life - to choose between staying home or crashing down to help tackle the RB.

To wit:

NCAA 12 Read Option


NCAA 14 Read Option ('fixed')


The problem has always been exactly as the OP points out and as his videos show: the entire point of the play is that it forces the unblocked defensive end (whether that be the outside DL or LB, whoever is lined up there) to commit to EITHER crashing down to tackle the RB, OR stay home/change his angle to contain the QB from pulling the ball and running it to the outside. He can't do both. It's physically impossible to crash down into a position to get the RB and still recover to tackle the QB if he pulls it back, if the play is run correctly (despite what NCAA 12 would have you believe...).

The issue is that EA probably got complaints that the play worked too well or people couldn't stop it (there are many ways to do it, but the defenses have to actually work appropriately in the game for it be effective), so their lazy-a** "fix" is to make the unblocked DE able to make either play - just like they did in NCAA 12. Good to see they're going back to their roots! (insert crying emoji here...)

This is typical in my experience with Madden and EA. For example, when the wildcat was all the rage 7-8 years ago, they put it in the game (Madden 10) and it worked marvelously - just like it did in the real NFL. And then everyone complained, and then they pushed out an "update" to the game that bricked the play, not by making defenders react to the play better, but by introducing a phony-baloney "pause" during the handoff on the wildcat jet sweep that gave defenders time to penetrate the LOS and get to the ball carrier. This basically made the play completely useless, even in offline games against the CPU. I was so completely flabbergasted that EA would ruin my game because someone else had a complaint, that I never bought another Madden to this day.

Some things never change, I guess....or, they quickly change, then quickly change back.

[pietasterp]

Quote: Originally Posted by lbj273

Just because the player you are reading reacts to the QB keeping the ball does not mean the play is broken. Sometimes players make plays, you are looking at this from a purely video game aspect of if the end crashes the QB should keep the ball and that player is out of the play.

Agreed, but the point is that when the unblocked DE is able to make the play in the backfield, it's almost always because there is a delay or a hitch at the 'mesh point' between the QB and RB, and the DE takes the beeline directly at the mesh point and blows up both players. Once the read and handoff/pullback happen, the only way the unblocked defender makes that tackle is if the QB reads it incorrectly.

Quote: Originally Posted by lbj273

There's a reason the read option fad died off quickly in the NFL and it was only partially due to the injury risk it puts on the QB. The fact is that it relies on leaving a specified defender unblocked, and NFL caliber athleticism and game planning means that sometimes players can see that they made the wrong initial read and then are able to react.

The reason it diminished in the NFL was because of injury. It was phenomenally effective and still can be, as it is still run by many teams. The issue is that the NFL has a 53-man roster limit, so unlike college ball, you can't just have a stable of QB's that can all run the read-option and keep sending guys in there if one get banged up. Also, you have way too much money tied up in QB's in the NFL, which obviously isn't the case in college (for most teams, anyway...). But it had nothing to do with the unblocked defender somehow being able to figure out how to make the play no matter which read occurred.

Quote: Originally Posted by lbj273

I think what you're looking for in the NCAA 14 style read option where once you read the unblocked defender they were out of the play if you made the correct give/keep decision. That is an extremely video game way for the play to work and it caused the play to be insanely overpowering in NCAA to the point that sim leagues made rules about how often you could run it.

It wasn't overpowered or 'video game', it was realistic. That's actually what happens in real football - the unblocked DE has to make a decision and no matter which decision he makes, he's wrong (if the QB reads him correctly). That's the genius of the play design.

The issue was that the normal ways to stop the play - bringing a DB to the LOS to contain the QB, run-blitzing, or simply winning at the LOS with the interior linemen and leaving the unblocked defender in contain every time to force the hand-off, didn't work well in NCAA 14 because defense basically didn't work all that well in that game. But the one thing that game actually did well was accurately represent how the mesh point and read of the play is supposed to work, vis-à-vis the interaction and key read of the unblocked defender.

[Kaanyr Vhok]

Quote: Originally Posted by bkrich83

My opinion and it's simply my opinion, is that it's clearly not broken. In fact the video I believe had the opposite of the intended effect.

There are three videos with multiple plays. The defender is able to play the handoff and the QB at a rate the turns the read option into an inside zone handoff with a foolish option that nobody should use. So I would say your opinion is wrong. Watch the other vids and form a more thoughtful opinion.