Madden NFL 17 Wants to Make Special Teams Special Again

[RaychelSnr]

Special teams play a crucial part in deciding wins and losses in the NFL:

-Clutch field goals
-Field-position-flipping punts.
-Electric, game-changing returns

But for more than a decade, special teams have been anything but special in the Madden NFL series. Field goals were near automatic. CPU punters would routinely blast punts through the back of the end zone. And you want to try to block a kick? Forget it, it wasn’t happening.

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[Trick13]

Re: Madden NFL 17 Wants to Make Special Teams Special Again

They need to add the ability to swat a punt to attempt to avoid the touchback...

[Black_Tom_Brady]

any one else finding it impossible to get a proper jump on the snap now?

[Davon_A_Brown]

Re: Madden NFL 17 Wants to Make Special Teams Special Again

any one else finding it impossible to get a proper jump on the snap now?

It's not impossible it just isn't automatic. I had a perfect jump last night that resulted in a roughing the kicker penalty because I timed my dive wrong.

I'm loving the risk/reward and I actually feel like all three aspects of the game matter now.


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[Sparkles]

Blocked a field goal last night and it was the greatest feeling ever. I hold down the left stick facing down and wait to press RT, and I get moderately close to blocking it

[BruinsHockey08]

I had a "special' special teams play against my brother last night. I was pinned at my own one yard line on fourth down so I did the smart thing and decided to put, ever if it was a blow out in his favor. Anyway on the punt play I snapped the ball and for some reason the blocker off to the right moved left directly into the path of the football causing it to hit him in the butt and landing in the end zone for a safety, me and my brother got a great laugh out of the situation. But it never should have happened lol.

[snc237]

I blocked a extra point online the other day and returned it for 2. It was more exciting then breaking a 90 yard run.

[therizing02]

Re: Madden NFL 17 Wants to Make Special Teams Special Again

Can anyone tell which way the wind is blowing during games? I've had kicks that look to be with the wind get knocked down and vice versa. Sometimes the arrow is accurate and sometimes it's opposite. This needs to be looked at by the devs


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[DeuceDouglas]

Re: Madden NFL 17 Wants to Make Special Teams Special Again

I'm really glad they decided to give special teams some love this year and it's a nice step but I can't help but feel like they're still a very long way from feeling special or still anything more than an afterthought.

The kick meter is a welcome change and I have actually missed XP's and a few FG's but I'd say my accuracy is still somewhere in the high 90's and even the longest FG's don't seem like as much of a challenge as they truly should. The first thought would obviously be to lower the kick accuracy slider. Let's just say it doesn't exactly work as intended (this was at 25):

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Bump it up to 40 and everything is automatic again. Hopefully in the future they'll add a speed setting or option to make the meter less forgiving. I also haven't seen a CPU kicker miss anything under 50+ yet.

The blocks are also a welcome addition and are the one new addition that actually makes special teams feel like it's worth playing. Before I'd just sit through the CPU's field goals or XP's but now every time I'm trying to block the kick so that's nice. The inorganic nature of them is what is disappointing though. As soon as the ball is snapped if a player gets a good jump you immediately know because the camera changes and you know either it's getting blocked or it's going to be close. That completely ruins the surprise element they're trying to create and makes things almost feel staged when they happen. At some point I wouldn't mind if they added the ability to choose any player along the line or had the ability to have kicks organically blocked at the line, that would be really cool.

The biggest disappointment for me is the fake plays. It's nice that they're added but I would have much rather seen attention paid to the plays that happen 99% of the time rather than the 1%. CPU returners still just run in a straight line until they're hit the majority of the time. The kick return plays should be more dynamic especially when the vast majority of the time you can't even choose the type of return you want because the game won't let you. Punt coverage almost always allows for at least a 10 yard return on both sides. There are a ton of aspects that because they're special teams could get some attention and then basically be untouched for the next several years.

The punting is by far the best addition. It finally feels like you can punt a ball in the field of play and count on it not hitting the ground and taking a 30 yard bounce through the endzone. The CPU is also much better at doing this and not angling their punts out of bounds at the 25 or 30 like previous years. My only issue is that I don't think I've had to fair catch one punt in M17 yet. Punters routinely blast 55+ yard punts and with no CPU special teams sliders in CFM (which is still mind boggling) and poor coverage it pretty much guarantees my punt returner leading the league by far every year.

[DeuceDouglas]

Re: Madden NFL 17 Wants to Make Special Teams Special Again

Can anyone tell which way the wind is blowing during games? I've had kicks that look to be with the wind get knocked down and vice versa. Sometimes the arrow is accurate and sometimes it's opposite. This needs to be looked at by the devs

The wind arrow is all kinds of screwed up again. Sometimes it's backwards, sometimes it's sideways, sometimes it's accurate. Never really know until after the fact.

[azdawgpound]

Re: Madden NFL 17 Wants to Make Special Teams Special Again

I like that they paided attention and added and fixed things

The coverage is a great fix in previous Madden's u was lucky to catch ball before a defender was in your face blasting u useally causing a fumble...now u have time to catch and actually get a good return here and there instead of 10 yard returns every time.

Kicking is another fix I like nomore automatic kicks esp for cmp..in 16 the cmp was taking shots from almost midfield and hitting them right down middle not in 17 it's a risk reward which I like.

The blocked kicks another great addition ...although seems to me the cmp can be a lil OP on them some times played 2 games after patch and had fg, punt, extra point all blocked so far in 17 the cmps blocked 11 total I've gotten one... Came close buncha other times but useally get roughing the kicker.

I love the back spin addition nomore watching ball bounce for 10 or more yards into endzone I have pinned cmp deep multiple times even got a turnover on one because it bounced back and hit defenders shoulder pad and I recovered it.

Sky high as well let's your coverage get into place before a good return can happen.

The blocking as well I like before like i meantioned u was lucky get 10 yards now u can break off huge return or take it to house I've gotten more punt returns and KO returns for tds In 17 then I had combined the last 2 or 3 Madden's combined.

Corey Coleman with all that speed Is deadly in the open field almost always a huge return it not td with him returning which gives offense great field postion if not a instant td.

[ggsimmonds]

Re: Madden NFL 17 Wants to Make Special Teams Special Again

I blocked my first field goal in a actual regular season franchise game. What is better is that I scooped it up and ran it in for a TD.

[whosgotcha]

Well they have accomplished their goal. I've missed quite a few field goals that were pretty much money in Madden 16. I have also gotten nervous and missed extra points lol. I have returned a punt and kickoff in the same game for touchdowns (Offline franchise). So yes it is exciting.

[miknhoj1983]

Re: Madden NFL 17 Wants to Make Special Teams Special Again

So does anyone know how to assign players to kickoff special teams? What are the positions that are selected and what alignment on the special teams?


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[SonicBoom2040]

Go to formation subs and then at the bottom says special or special teams ....should see kick team and pick players by number and switch em out