This Week in Madden Episode 71 Mail Bag: Return of TWIM

What’s up, Madden NFL Gamers?!

We’re ready to kick off the TWIM season this week and we’re pumped!

Week 1 is a great time to get everyone up to speed on this year’s game, so we’re hitting the ground running. On this week’s inaugural show, we will show you an unbumpable route; we’ll talk about our top teams; and we’ll get all the information on the next Madden Challenge powered by Virgin Gaming. In fact, Virgin Gaming founder, Zack Zeldin, will join us live to give you the latest details on the tournament scene.

Also, don’t forget to tune into the Lightning Round to win free eGuides, then watch as ZFarls and SGibs battle it out in the Game of the Week, sponsored by Virgin Gaming.
It all starts this Thursday at 8 PM EST/5 PM PST here on www.MaddenTips.com!

But first, we’ll need your questions for this week’s Mail Bag. Leave your question below in the Comments section, and we’ll choose some of the best to answer live on the show.

See you on the field!
The MaddenTips Team

Plays Worth Trying - TIght Shakes

 

This is one of the best plays in the game hands down. It has so many options to attack all different types of defenses that you will leave your opponent scratching their head!

Baltimore Ravens Playbook Singleback Doubles Flex (Hidden Formation) Setup 1. *optional* block the TE for protection 2. Motion the X WR left 3. Snap after 4-5 steps Your first read is the motioned WR this is a unbumpable route that is very difficult to. Next look to the deep corner WR to see if he opens against zone. Look to the far right WR on the corner route as a nice user catch option. Your final read would be the HB out of the backfield.

Madden NFL 12 Daily #216 Philadelphia Eagles

Gibs breaks down the Singleback Doubles Flex as well as a extra Goaline run formation that can be used from any playbook in the game!

The singleback spread formation is a Calhoun County favorite and its a very easy formation to make reads against defenses. If your looking for a nice mini scheme to add to your playbook be sure to see if yours has any type of spread set available!

Madden NFL 12 Daily #211 Raven Maniac Run N' Gun Scheme

Nick put a ton of work into this guide and you will all benefit from his hard work!

Follow Nick on twitter @vgravenmaniac

Below is the link to the FULL Guide provided by Raven Maniac for the Run N’ Gun scheme.

https://docs.google.com/present/view?id=0AVT1DFQFa5uIZGZrY3J6NjJfMjl2NHJwOTRkZw

Eli Manning Is Elite Now?

In 2010, Eli Manning was left off the top 100 players coming into the season list on NFL Network. That season, he stood on the podium holding his second SB MVP Trophy! Lets take a look at how the dialogue created this error by NFL Network.
My Argument: If Eli is “elite” now, than he already was prior to this season.

Point 1 – The Giants won MORE games in 2010, than they did in their 2011 Super Bowl Regular Season!
The 2010 Giants were 10-6 but missed the Playoffs with Green Bay grabbing the final spot ahead of Tampa Bay and NY. While in 2011, they finished 9-7 but won the NFC East.
What is the one loss that everyone specifically remembers from the 2010 season?
Week 15! aka – The Miracle in the Meadowlands.

Yup, the game the Giants needed, where Eli had 4 TD’s and his 3rd highest rated game of the season. The Giants scored 31 points and had a huge lead before … well, you know! This L took 11 wins and a potential playoff run away.
The same week 15 game in 2011, season was a seemingly a must win game. The Giants controlled their destiny and Eli came out and had his worst rated performance of the season vs Washington. This cost the Giants control of the NFC East.

Point 2 – Eli threw for more TD’s and had a 2 pct higher completion percentage in his “bad” year.

I agree that Eli turned it over too many times during the 2010 season, but to put Flacco, Freeman and even DONAVAN MCNABB!!!!!!! in front of him on the list is totally insane. The Giants were still winning games despite the turnovers and those who watched ALL the games (not just the Packer game) knew how many of those interceptions were not on his shoulders.

Kirk Morrison on NFL Network saying Eli was shaky early in 2011 is laughable…When the Giants were 6-1 and he was in MVP Talks behind Aaron Rodgers. He also had the worst Rushing Attack in the league despite perception of Giants as a smashmouth team.
Also with all new weapons around him. (Steve Smith gone which EVERY Giant fan I talked to couldn’t figure out, until Eli made Cruz a beast. Giants also lost Kevin Boss)
Morrison also mentioned Eli is now finally in control enough to audible at the line which he has been doing forever. I can remember his rookie year where he took his bumps, Eli audibled to a run at the last second to beat the Cowboys 28-24 in the last game of the season. Yes, he still can let the playclock get low, but now he uses those timeouts better and is in full control at the line.

So, if the Packers had lost that week 17 game to the Bears and the Giants slipped into the playoffs in 2010, are we having this conversation simply one year earlier? So many things happen that you can’t control with schedules and how the dialogues are made up. Vince Young is a Winner Dialouge (Despite NO Playoff Wins) Cam Newton can have all the gaudy stats. I’ll Take Eli, been saying it since 05.

Eli the Hall Of Famer? Why create this dialogue now? Did he retire yet? If he keeps 25-30 TD’s with 12-15 Ints for 6 of the next 8 seasons, probably. But why create all these alternate universes and angry commentators figuring it out? Until then, lets just hope Eli can crack the Top 50…

Madden NFL 12 Daily #209 - Patriots Giant Loss

I’m heartbroken. Such a difficult loss to stomach. It hurts because we played well. It hurts because the Giants played better. It hurts because we didn’t lose this game, the Giants won this game. You can pin point specific plays all you want but fact of the matter is that Eli Manning is without a doubt one of the best QBs in the game. His composure and big play ability in the 4th quarter is what scares me most moving forward.

Can’t wait for the combine, can’t wait for the draft, and can’t wait for the NFL 2012 Season.

-Gibs

5 Players To Watch In Super Bowl 46!

Here are the top 5 Players who will determine who wins on Sunday in Superbowl XLVI – The Rematch between the New York Giants and New England Patriots!

Honorable Mention – Chris Canty (Stay in Base Run D) Tynes (Touchbacks) Wilfork (Shutdown Giants Run) Chung (Force a Turnover) Ballard (Split the middle vs Cover 2)

5. Victor Cruz

Cruz has taken the 3rd down role occupied by Steve Smith last season and in Super Bowl 42. He has 7 TD’s with his team trailing and 9 plays of 40+ yards! Welker works the middle for New England, Cruz however, has breakaway speed and can go the distance on any play. Cruz will either make a huge drop or a huge run after the catch, one of these could be the factor either way!

4. Rob Ninkovich
The Patriots lost their best pass rusher to injury during the season when DE Andre Carter went down. New England is now blitzing more than most people realize and a big key is LB Rob Ninkovich. While Manning does a good job reading the defense pre-snap, the Patriots hope to bring pressure and fool the mediocre Giants line. San Francisco had success with LB Aldon Smith and NE will look to do the same.

3. Antrell Rolle

The Patriots Offense has moved to a fast paced horizontal passing attack. Safety Antrell Rolle will come down and play some man to man against WR Wes Welker over the middle. If he can hang with him, that leave an extra defender to match up against the talented TE’s. This allows Deon Grant and Kenny Phillips to occupy the middle and punish receivers who attack it.

2. Rob Gronkowski

With Gronkowski’s injured ankle, the Patriots may not be able to run the hurry up personnel that makes them dynamic. Aaron Hernandez isn’t the blocker that Gronk is, and his shift to TE means means a bigger role for unproven Underwood or Ochocinco at WR. Gronk’s 15 Catches and 3 TD’s in the playoffs are huge and his range allows Brady a great safety valve. He is expected to play, but the Giants will look to test him early with bumps and chips at the line.

1. Tom Brady/Eli Manning

With a win, Brady catapults to the time of the all-time QB discussion list. Eli Manning with a win, ascends into a true top tier and would even have an advantage over his Hall Of Fame Brother, Peyton! These two won’t be on the field together, but they are the biggest factors in their teams winning. If Brady can stay on his feet or if Manning can make another miracle play, both teams will position themselves to win. NFL is a QB league and here are two of the best back at it!

#Rematch