`Madden
NFL '97 strategy
Note: This is the HTML version of the Madden '97 Guide for
the Sony Playstation authored by Chris Muelbacher.
Material that was inapplicable has been omitted.
Winning by at least 50 points yet??? If not, read up! If I do
not beat the computer by 50 then I do not consider it a real win.
How do I do it you ask? VOLUME!!! That and a number of plays and
techniques that work. There are two ways to start your season:
- Fair - pick a team, play with full rules and go for New Orleans.
- Cheese (le fromage) - Follow these steps to be unstoppable!
If there is a way for cheese in a game, I will find it!
Setup
Turn off the salary cap and turn off all the rules. Now you
may want to choose a good team such as: Dallas, Green Bay, the
49ers, Pittsburgh or who ever and make some trades for some stars
and then for it right? WRONG! What you want to do is create players!
By creating players you can get may players with 100's in a lot
of categories. Reorder your roster so that the players you have
created will be starters to save you time from subbing them in
at the beginning of every game. My best team totaled over 74.5
million dollars. You can trade for real players too. For some
reason Madden 97 does not remember some adjustments you make like
audibles, penalty levels and substitutions, so if you do decide
to adjust these, you must do it every game.
Offense
There are certain plays that will almost always work! No play
will work every time as some may have you believe. There is that
99 out of a hundred times when the computer will break up the
play. Here are some of my favorite plays:
Shotgun - 5 WR - Slot Back (My Personal Favorite)
Pull the WR in motion to the left by pressing Left.
If two defenders follow you are almost certain to have a big TD.
(My longest so far is an 80 yard TD to Myself.) Then hut the ball,
run down a touch then to the right, when you are open, hold Up
and tap Circle. After that, you just have to practice your
catching skills. Be careful when doing this play inside the 30,
you will throw the ball out of the end zone. If when you bring
the man in motion no one follows him you can gun the ball to him
by holding X.
or
If you only need a first down, when you hut the ball, run down
a touch and press and hold R1. This play is VERY effective.
With some careful running you can gain mega yards on this play.
(My longest so far is a 49 yard TD to Jerry Rice.)
Singleback - Normal - Fleaflicker
A simple play to perform, hut the ball, wait until your quarterback
has the ball back then hold R1 button. This play should
almost always work. If the computer is covering that guy, hold
Up and tap Circle to throw to your WR1. He should
be open. (My longest so far is a 46 yard TD to Tim Brown.)
Goal Line - QB Sneak
As long as your quarterback is fairly fast this play should
always get you at least a first down. After you hut the ball,
run down and to the left. One of the defenders will be right on
you. Go down and around him and run up the left side of the field.
With some careful running you can get down field fast. (My longest
so far is 51 yard TD with Kordel Stewart.)
Pro Form - All Streaks
Another good play for lots o' yards. Hut the ball, run down
a touch and to the left, then hold Up and tap Square.
Your WR2 will usually have single coverage. Catch the ball and
go for the end zone. (My longest so far is a 67 yard TD to Rocket
Ismail.)
A few passing plays
Far - Normal - TE Slant Out (bomb to Circle guy)
Far - Normal - WR Fade (bomb to Square or Circle
guy)
Near - Normal - PA Pass (bomb to Circle guy)
Near - Normal - QB Roll Pass (quick pass to X or Circle
guy)
Single Back - Normal - TE Quick Out (bomb to Square or
Circle guy)
Single Back - Normal - WR Screen (bomb to Square or L1
guy)
Single Back - Normal - Slot Screen (bomb to Square or Circle
guy)
Single Back - Normal - Circle Pass (quick pass to R1 guy)
Pro Form - Normal - FB Screen (bomb to Circle or quick
pass to R1 guy)
Pro Form - Normal - HB Opt Pass (quick pass or bomb to Square
guy)
Shotgun - 5 WR - Quick Slant (bomb to Square or Circle
guy)
Shotgun - Normal - Shovel Pass (bomb to Square or L1
guy)
Shotgun - Normal - WR Post (bomb to circle or quick pass to R1
guy)
Goal Line - Normal - Power Slant (bomb to Square or X
guy)
Goal Line - Normal - PA Pass (bomb to Square guy)
A few running plays
Far - 2 TE - HB OT Strong
Near - 2 TE - HB Toss
I Form - 2 TE - Power Strong
I Form - 2 TE - Power Weak
I Form - 2 TE - HB Toss
Single Back - 2 TE - Slot Reverse
Pro Form - 2 TE - HB Toss
Pro Form - 2 TE - HB OT Strong
Goal Line - Normal - Power Strong
Goal Line - Normal - HB Sweep
Goal Line - Normal - QB Sneak (run down and left, then up)
Defense
Against the computer I usually only use 3 defensive setups:
Nickel - Double Out, Dime - Double SE and 3-4 54 Man Angle for
blocking field goals. My defensive technique is fairly simple.
Take control of your linebacker on the left side of the field
by pressing X(4) then wait where he is positioned, if the
play is a run, go cream that guy. If the play is a pass, hang
back and look for any open people. If you see an open guy, go
to him as quickly as possible. Odds are he will get the ball if
he is open.
If the ball is thrown to a guy that you are not covering, press
X when you can and get in the way of the ball. Just stand
there and let it hit you or jump by pressing Triangle.
Interceptions are hard to come by. Usually a computer controlled
guy will get one. Every time that a player I have control of has
picked off a pass I am usually facing the quarterback jumping
in the air. I have also noticed that I seem to pick off more passes
by jumping earlier than you usually do when receiving a ball.
Try to time your jump so the ball hits you right in the numbers
or a little lower.
Catching and running tips
At first I found it very hard to catch the ball, after some
practice you get the hang of it. Here are some tips to help you
become a better receiver:
The first way I found to catch the ball easier was to do long
throws to your WR (by holding Up and tapping the button
of your open WR) and get in front of the landing target by about
a half inch on the screen and jump by pressing Triangle.
You will usually always catch the ball, though sometimes you
get creamed and the ball pops out. However, you will almost always
gets tackled right away.
The second way is to throw long to your WR. Then, go on the right
of the landing target. Time it so you are running to the left
just as the ball falls into your arms. This way you can run up
the field. You need to have your feet just on the bottom of the
target to catch the ball. Sometimes the computer will jump to
get the ball, if they do and you catch it while the computer is
still in the air, you will have lots of open field to run. The
best thing to do is to run straight and press X for speed
bursts as much as you can until someone is right behind you, then
start running left and right on a slant. You can either try pressing
Circle to spin off their tackle or Triangle to try
to jump over their tackle.
Personally I do not like to use the running game against the computer.
I like to air it out. I have found that the most effective way
to run against the computer is to use pitch plays. If you can
lead the man in motion away from the side of the field that you
will run to, sometimes he can take a defender or two with him
giving you more open field to run. If the man in motion does not
take anyone with him, the best thing to do is make him run right
in front of where you are going to run so he can run block for
you. I have found that draws and off tackle running plays does
not work too well. I have also found out that sometimes if a play
calls for you to sweep left, try to run to the right. It seems
when the computer sees you offensive linemen going left to block
for you, that going right will throw them off for some big yard
gains.
Special teams
When it comes to kicking field goals and punting, only one
thing will help you... practice. You just have to become used
to the speed of the power meter and the distance of the punts
when it comes to trying to punt the ball out of bounds on their
one yard line.
When returning punts, I have found that most of the time, the
computer will kick to ball to the right or in the center of the
field. So, I usually bring one of the blockers from the far left
of the field to help block. Bring him down to be beside the first
blocker right in front of the person returning the punt. Be careful
no to run too close to the returner or he will think you are calling
him off to catch the ball. Have control of this blocker right
until the punt returner catches the ball. Run the blocker to the
left so he can help clear a path for you to run. When you are
running press X for speed bursts as much as possible (every
yard counts). (My longest punt return was a 72 yard TD by Rod
Woodson).
When returning the ball on a kick off, I usually call for an onside
kick so the blockers are mostly on one side of the field. Do this
by pressing Square to call the audible, then press Square
or Circle to make everyone on the left or right. Then,
run up the field when the other team is about 20 yards away. Run
to the weak side of the field (where the least amount of your
blockers are) for about 5-10 yards. Then, cut back to the side
where all of your blockers are. Most times you can run down and
around the pile of people and then up the field. Remember to press
X as much as possible for more yards. It always seems that
you can get around the pile and the kicker will end up stopping
you, or slowing you down enough so that you are caught from behind.
(My longest kick off return in 53 yards with Rocket Ismail.)
Other tips and stuff
My main offensive technique is to go as deep as possible on
the first two downs. Then, use the slot flag R1 guy to
get the first down on third down if I need it.
I like to trade for or make lots of linebackers and put them right
on the defensive line. They are quicker than the usual guys and
can sack more and intercept when they jump up to block the pass.
I usually turn off injuries because once you stack a team you
seem to get a lot more injuries than usual. The first play of
a new season when I stacked a team I lost Dion Sanders for four
weeks. (EA is wise to this plan?)
Turning off all penalties will let you stand right in front of
a WR and you will not get the pass interference penalty. You can
get interceptions too. The computer will rarely take advantage
of the penalties being off.
When playing at home turn the false start option all the way up,
most of the time the other team will false start because of your
home crowd being loud during first downs.
Here's my play that will block field goals or extra point attempts
almost every time. 3-4 - 54 ANGLE MAN. When the computer huts
the ball, all you have to do is run straight down toward the kicker
with the defender in the center, the point will be blocked every
time!
I also like to set my audibles to the following:
Offense:
1 to Shotgun - 5 WR - Slot Flag
2 to Singleback - Normal - Flea Flicker
3 to Goal Line - QB Sneak
Defense:
1 to Nickel - 3 Deep
2 to Dime - 3 Deep
3 to 3-4 - 54 Man Angle
I like to set my Full back as a Running back. Example: If my running
back is Emmit Smith, I will make Marshall Faulk my full back.
The running backs are a lot quicker than full backs.
Playing a human
First of all, most of these plays only work against the computer.
Whenever anyone uses these plays against me the ball will either
end up on the grass (or turf) or with their quarterback adding
an interception to their days stats. The computer is stupid! They
just stand there and watch you catch it, then tackle you. Playing
against a person is completely different than playing the computer.
When I do play my friends, I mix up running and passing as much
as I can. When I pass, I look for short yard plays and gun the
ball to the WR as fast as I can.
You can have some fun when you run the ball against another person.
Some good techniques are to stop when you have a defender against
you. Most times the other person will dive at you, and you can
run right around them, or try running on slant while jumping.
A fun but risky play is to do a big circle down and around them.
Another tip is to try to get as many points as you can, such as
field goals. It may only be 3 points, but I think everyone can
remember a game or two when two or three points would have given
you the victory. Have fun and remember that even if you are losing,
that in two player mode there seems to be way more interceptions
and fumbles so the game is never really over (unless you are losing
by 50 with 2 minutes to go in the game).
Copyright © 1997 Chris
Muehlbacher; HTML version © 1997 Al Amaloo. All rights
reserved.
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