CPU Slot abuse

[Pass_The_Cows]

This really bothers me. Today I started an offline franchise for the first time in Madden 11 after spending the last few months playing exclusively Online Franchise games, now I remember why. The CPU "abuses" the slot WR like crazy. Against a human this is very annoying and if they have someone really fast there they can play WAY better than their ratings (HeyBey for example). But against the CPU it just makes playing Defense boring as hell.

On every pass play, every time, I KNOW FOR A FACT unless someone else gets WIDE open by way of a botched press or being uncovered the CPU will ALWAYS throw to the #3 WR. Always. The way I see it I have a few options:
1. Do nothing about it and watch some scrub WR make 15 Rec for 180 yards
2. Spotlight him every pass down and watch the CPU QB go 9/30 for 100 yards, the majority of those completions being 2 yarders or sideline catches by the #3 slot WR.
3. If I REALLY want to stop him (if it's Welker for example) I can manually double cover him from the FS spot and end up with at least 2 probably more INTs every game.
4. Matchup my best CB with the #3 WR and watch him pick up 2-3 INTs a game.

Being a very sim-minded guy who hates seeing stupid stats, none of those options are very appealing to me. I'm the kind of guy who would play through franchise mode after franchise mode on the PS2 all year long, and I can finally do that again on NCAA 11 this year. This stupid CPU slot crap makes playing defense mind numbingly simple and no fun. I have never seen anyone else complain about this so I assume there is a way to end it, fill me in please.

[rooney8]

Re: CPU Slot abuse

I know exactly what you mean. I always try and play my games realistically but with Madden it's like you have to cheese to compete.

[carnalnirvana]

Re: CPU Slot abuse

the single greatest reason i HATE madden now..

the cpu has no priority in the pass game

i tried everything to edit this, i did roster edits where the slot guy was beyond slow he still got open quicker, he ran routes under the D or angular routes that the DB cant cover.

even if i put revis on the slot he gets wide open quickest....

the only thing that helped was the reaction slider at 100....

this is never mentioned for patching EVER. its in NCAA too.

all the sim heads HERE never SEE THIS as an issue to put our efforts behind. we have been searching for a cure for this last yr as well.........

typical game the slot guy gets 8 catches and the #1 WR gets 2.

manningham
doucet
bryant
collie
nanee
knox
harvin
avant
L Moore & Mechum

according to madden 11 gameplay these are the best WR's in the NFL.

they get 10 grabs and 15 targets per game,

[Meast21Forever]

Re: CPU Slot abuse

why hasn't anyone posted a 'your mom' joke about 'slot abuse' yet?!

on topic, i've noticed this too. eli manning throws to mario manningham 18 times a game. it's insane. i hate it. with the most recent patch, i've been seeing some of the other WRs get involved, but i'm thinking that's coincidental. i think the reason is the way db's and wr's react, slot guys get open way easier than outside guys do. even if outside guys do get open, the other corners can adjust easier. i've been controlling the mlb to combat the shot slants and crossing routes from the slot guys, but it's still a concern.

[gr18]

Re: CPU Slot abuse

I've been seeing this less with the patch but I'd say you have to do what it takes to pay extra attention to the slot or,which kinda sucks,place the #1 receivers of the team your playing in the slot before the game.They won't see the field in the 2-receiver set but will be possibly targeted more.To this point many teams do position their receivers all over the field so it's not that extreme of a thing to do.

[sgibs7]

Re: CPU Slot abuse

the only comparison I can give for a slot WR compared to madden and real life...

Austin Collie 15 Receptions 16 targets thusfar in three games. Just saying.

On a side note I see your frustration but I have been able to consistently force the CPU to look for different reads by bringing pressure on the QB as this forces him to scan the field quickly and make a read.

I have yet truly run into a issue where the SLOT WR has caught a ridiculous amount of balls.

[gr18]

Re: CPU Slot abuse

the only comparison I can give for a slot WR compared to madden and real life...

Austin Collie 15 Receptions 16 targets thusfar in three games. Just saying.

On a side note I see your frustration but I have been able to consistently force the CPU to look for different reads by bringing pressure on the QB as this forces him to scan the field quickly and make a read.

I have yet truly run into a issue where the SLOT WR has caught a ridiculous amount of balls.

Actually Collie is leading the league with 27 receptions in 3 games in real life.Welker has been great in this role with the most receptions over the last couple years.

The #1 receiver is usually getting the most receptions after the patch but not targeted as much as they should be.Before the patch Bess would get more than Marshall and B.Johnson more than C.Johnson almost all the time and by a sizable amount.They still spread it out a little too much when there's a distinctive #1 on a team.

[Gordy748]

Re: CPU Slot abuse

If ya can't beat 'em, join 'em. I just finished my post 1.03 franchise first season last night and ran Golden Tate as the slot receiver. My last 2 games he got 6 and 11 catches for over 250 yards and 3 TDs.

It's annoying having to cheese a CPU but hey, I feel the CPU deliberately goes out of its way to win sometimes. I do feel a little dumb feeling good about sticking it to a computer program, though.

[jpinard]

Re: CPU Slot abuse

How do you Spotlight a receiver in Madden 2011 (Xbox360)? I haven't been able to do this yet and the computer is carving me up like nobodies business.

[sgibs7]

Re: CPU Slot abuse

Actually Collie is leading the league with 27 receptions in 3 games in real life.Welker has been great in this role with the most receptions over the last couple years.

The #1 receiver is usually getting the most receptions after the patch but not targeted as much as they should be.Before the patch Bess would get more than Marshall and B.Johnson more than C.Johnson almost all the time and by a sizable amount.They still spread it out a little too much when there's a distinctive #1 on a team.

hmmm CBS sportsline must have been wrong then- apologies for the incorrect statline.

i had the lines for the first 2 weeks.

[Steelers=SuperBowl]

Re: CPU Slot abuse

So I found this topic pretty interesting so I thought I would keep track of which positions are being targeted/catching the most. I am doing an offline franchise with Oakland...here is what happened over a 3 game stretch(obviously not a huge sample size...but still almost 25% of the games in a season):

Game 1 vs St Louis:
WR 1 - Clayton: 4 targets - 1 reception
WR 2 - Robinson: 6 targets - 3 receptions, 1 TD
WR 3 - Amendola(spelling?): 6 targets - 4 receptions
WR 4 - Gibson: 1 target - 1 reception
TE - Fells: 2 targets - 2 receptions, 1 TD
HB - Jackson: 2 targets - 2 receptions, 1 TD
FB - Karney: 2 targets - 0 receptions


Game 2 vs Arizona:
WR 1 - Fitzgerald: 11 targets - 4 receptions, 1TD
WR 2 - Breaston: 6 targets - 1 reception
WR 3 - Doucet: 4 targets - 3 receptions
WR 4 - Williams: 5 targets - 2 receptions
TE - Patrick: 2 targets - 1 reception
HB - Hightower/Wells: 2 targets - 2 receptions(1 each)
FB - Mauia: 2 targets - 2 receptions


Game 3 vs Houston: (Schaub got hurt so part of the game was Leinhart)
WR 1 - Johnson: 5 targets - 0 receptions
WR 2 - Walter: 8 targets - 0 receptions
WR 3 - Dickerson(Jones hurt): 8 targets - 3 receptions
WR 4 - Anderson: 0 targets - 0 receptions
TE - Daniels: 7 targets - 1 reception
HB - Foster/Slaton: 3 targets - 1 reception
FB - Leach: 0 targets - 0 receptions
*The Texans completion percentage was AWFUL for this game...Leinhart went 0 for 10.

SO now being the statistical nerd that I am...here is a cumulative percentage breakdown of targets and catches based on position:

WR 1's: 20 targets(23% of total targets) - 5 catches(15% of total receptions)
WR 2's: 20 targets(23% of total targets) - 4 catches(12% of total receptions)
WR 3's: 18 targets(21% of total targets) - 10 catches(30% of total reception)
WR 4's: 6 targets(7% of total targets) - 3 catches(9% of total receptions)
TE's: 11 targets(13% of total targets) - 4 catches(12% of total receptions)
HB's: 7 targets(8% of total targets) - 5 catches(15% of total receptions)
FB's: 4 targets(5% of total targets) - 2 catches(6% of total receptions)

So I think what this shows is that it's not so much the number of targets that is unbalanced in the game...but the number of catches definitely weighs in the favor of the slot receivers(3 & 4 WR's). Obviously to get a complete feel for this I would need to tally the whole season...who knows maybe I will and then post an update on here.
Also I use Playmaker sliders on All Pro 10 minutes 20 second run off.

[carnalnirvana]

Re: CPU Slot abuse

^ hmmmn if you are continuing your tests i am very interested in your data.

nice work.

[gr18]

Re: CPU Slot abuse

So I found this topic pretty interesting so I thought I would keep track of which positions are being targeted/catching the most. I am doing an offline franchise with Oakland...here is what happened over a 3 game stretch(obviously not a huge sample size...but still almost 25% of the games in a season):

Game 1 vs St Louis:
WR 1 - Clayton: 4 targets - 1 reception
WR 2 - Robinson: 6 targets - 3 receptions, 1 TD
WR 3 - Amendola(spelling?): 6 targets - 4 receptions
WR 4 - Gibson: 1 target - 1 reception
TE - Fells: 2 targets - 2 receptions, 1 TD
HB - Jackson: 2 targets - 2 receptions, 1 TD
FB - Karney: 2 targets - 0 receptions


Game 2 vs Arizona:
WR 1 - Fitzgerald: 11 targets - 4 receptions, 1TD
WR 2 - Breaston: 6 targets - 1 reception
WR 3 - Doucet: 4 targets - 3 receptions
WR 4 - Williams: 5 targets - 2 receptions
TE - Patrick: 2 targets - 1 reception
HB - Hightower/Wells: 2 targets - 2 receptions(1 each)
FB - Mauia: 2 targets - 2 receptions


Game 3 vs Houston: (Schaub got hurt so part of the game was Leinhart)
WR 1 - Johnson: 5 targets - 0 receptions
WR 2 - Walter: 8 targets - 0 receptions
WR 3 - Dickerson(Jones hurt): 8 targets - 3 receptions
WR 4 - Anderson: 0 targets - 0 receptions
TE - Daniels: 7 targets - 1 reception
HB - Foster/Slaton: 3 targets - 1 reception
FB - Leach: 0 targets - 0 receptions
*The Texans completion percentage was AWFUL for this game...Leinhart went 0 for 10.

SO now being the statistical nerd that I am...here is a cumulative percentage breakdown of targets and catches based on position:

WR 1's: 20 targets(23% of total targets) - 5 catches(15% of total receptions)
WR 2's: 20 targets(23% of total targets) - 4 catches(12% of total receptions)
WR 3's: 18 targets(21% of total targets) - 10 catches(30% of total reception)
WR 4's: 6 targets(7% of total targets) - 3 catches(9% of total receptions)
TE's: 11 targets(13% of total targets) - 4 catches(12% of total receptions)
HB's: 7 targets(8% of total targets) - 5 catches(15% of total receptions)
FB's: 4 targets(5% of total targets) - 2 catches(6% of total receptions)

So I think what this shows is that it's not so much the number of targets that is unbalanced in the game...but the number of catches definitely weighs in the favor of the slot receivers(3 & 4 WR's). Obviously to get a complete feel for this I would need to tally the whole season...who knows maybe I will and then post an update on here.
Also I use Playmaker sliders on All Pro 10 minutes 20 second run off.

Using the Raiders the CPU would be smart not to throw at Asomugha when the other corners can be abused.This wouldn't bother me at all but when you play against a team with mediocre corners/similar ratings the same shouldn't occur.

[zeromph]

Re: CPU Slot abuse

How do you Spotlight a receiver in Madden 2011 (Xbox360)? I haven't been able to do this yet and the computer is carving me up like nobodies business.

Hold down the right trigger and press the button for the corresponding receiver icon that you want to spotlight.