Madden beats Texans, 21-17, Aussie Chris believes otherwise

I'm a pretty objective guy. I can tell you when I'm wrong, or when I suck at something. I can tell you when I lost a game because the other team was better. First off, this was a tense, wonderful/shitty game. Chris had a big comeback, but was clearly the beneficiary of some huge Madden-ized happenings. Great, entertaining game to Chris, and I hope to see his stupid ass in the playoffs. Much love, man.

Now, Aussie Chris is already spouting off that his defense was stellar, so let's look at the team stats first:

Titans / Texans
Total Offense Yards - 209 / 352
Passing Offense Yards - 119 / 249
Rushing Offense Yards - 90 / 103
First Downs - 10 / 8
3rd Down % - 11.1 / 25.0
4th Down % - 66.7 / 0.0
Turnovers - 3 / 4
Redzone Scoring % - 50.0 / 33.3
Time of Possession - 13.0 / 19.0

Now, this is not to take away from the solid game that Chris played, but we all know him well; give him a win, and he talks like he's the king of the world. He already took to saying his defense was phenomenal. Well, I'm not having that, ha!

Absurdly long game recap:

Texans kick off first, and after a few minutes force the Titans to punt. After a few passes and a run, Texans HB Earl "Bones" Bowman takes the ball 58 yards for a TD. Now, Chris said to me that this was him getting kicked in the dick by Madden, because Bones hit two defenders, then spun around them and took it to the house. But Bones' 99 trucking and my epic stick skills actually manually spun him out of the tackle. Brilliant run, as seen here:

http://www.easports.com/media/play/video/86082082

Then, after forcing the Titans to punt, Stafford did what would have gotten him traded prior to the trade deadline: he threw a big pick-six. I give Chris credit on this one, his safety stepped in front of a post to the outside, and made an excellent play on the ball. Kudos for evening the game in my favorite way, and ending the first quarter with it. To start the second, Texans WR Lenoy "The Playboy" Tucker snagged a mid-pass and carried it a total of 48 yards to the red zone, spinning around multiple fools. A couple more dick moves, and the Texans kick a FG, 10-7.

Once the Titans get the ball back, they immediately hit Chris Johnson on one of those seemingly unstoppable screen passes for 39 yards.And then after some advancing and just being pushed around, Titans K Rob Bironas gets screwed by Madden/Aussie lag while missing a 35 yd FG. Throwing laser-like passes to TE Jermichael Finley and WR Marques Colston, the Texans score again on a dart to Colston over the middle, 17-7.

Marching down the field, whiny-ass Vince Young eventually throws a pick to Texans SS Aspha "@asphasavage" Savage. Then to end the first half, Texans K Neil Rackers misses a 36 yard field goal, also due to Madden/Aussie lag.

A few plays to start the 3rd, and the Texans are forced to punt. On the next play, 3rd string SS Dominic Morris user-picks off Young (I had to control him because he was in man coverage, and his man coverage stinks!). WR Nate Washington then got his only catch, a beautiful over-the-shoulder 43-yard bomb. Two plays later, and Stafford throws another pick, this one to CB Alterraun Verner. The Titans get the ball, but a turnover on downs gives it back to the Texans at the very end of the 3rd quarter. AC chose to go for it on 4th twice, and this time on 4th and 7, it didn't pan out.

To start the 4th, the Texans nab 33 yards from one of those seemingly unstoppable screen passes to Bones, and a combination of runs and passes leads them to just under 5 minutes left, where Stafford gets completely screwed by Madden. On a blitz, the Titans hit Stafford as he throws the ball, and it feebly falls into the hands of LB Gerald McGrath, who returns the interception for a TD. It was one of those pure "dammit Madden" moments, which gave the Titans new life.

The Texans get the ball, then take a 12 yard sack. 3rd and 22, and Stafford finds Colston for what should have been the first down, but apparently 6'4" and 97 catch in traffic didn't get the job done, as Colston couldn't hang onto the ball (kinda BS, of course). The Titans nickle and dime their way to the goal-line, where Chris Johnson carried the ball for two yards on one of those seemingly unstoppable runs up the middle (really, goal line defense? Really?).

Tearing what little hair they have left out, the Texans get the ball and immediately throw a pick to CB Brandon Flowers. A couple runs mostly stuffed, and Texans LB Titus Ridder knocks the ball out of Chris Johnson's hands to give it back to the Texans with just over a minute to go. One complete pass, and then Stafford missed THREE receivers to end the game. Could they have won? On 4th and 2 on the Titans 24, Stafford wildly missed Tucker on a drag route where he was wide open, with the speed to take him further into the red zone and out of bounds. Threw it clean over his head when Tucker was five yards ahead of the guy covering him, and over 15 yards open down the field ahead of him. Stafford's great throwing rating just couldn't get the job done, Titans win 21-17.

Texans FS Ed Reed fractured his foot during the game, and is out 7 weeks. Meanwhile, Titans WR Bensly Blake broke his collarbone, and is out 11 weeks. I take credit for two of the four picks I threw, simply for being bad decisions. But that hit-stick-pick crap in the 4th was ridiculous. Titans (6-2) get the win heading into their bye week, while the Texans (5-2) go on to face the Paris Broncos tonight, which they will likely lose as well.

Fuck you, Madden 11. Stafford, you lost the game for us.

Passing:
[TEN] Vince Young QB - 8/21, 119 yds, 2 INTs
[HOU] Matthew Stafford QB - 14/28, 261 yds, 1 TD, 4 INTs

Rushing:
[TEN] Chris Johnson HB - 17 for 75 yds (4.4 avg), 1 TD
[HOU] Earl Bowman HB - 12 for 102 yds (8.5 avg), 1 TD

Receiving:
[TEN] Chris Johnson HB - 2 for 43 yds
[TEN] Jalen Driskell TE - 2 for 34 yds
[HOU] Marques Colston WR - 5 for 80 yds, 1 TD
[HOU] Jermichael Finley TE - 5 for 45 yds

Wish there were more replays.

Wish I knew which screen pass was so unstoppable. I never throw a screen for more than 10 yards.

LOVE that everyone made a big deal out of Ed Reed being traded and now he is out for 7 weeks*.

* I hope I didnt just jinx Revis further (he is already had a negative impact)

RealJeffSolo wrote:Wish there were more replays.

Wish I knew which screen pass was so unstoppable. I never throw a screen for more than 10 yards.

LOVE that everyone made a big deal out of Ed Reed being traded and now he is out for 7 weeks*.

* I hope I didnt just jinx Revis further (he is already had a negative impact)

In my experience, screen passes are easy yards in Madden 11. They ARE stoppable, but you have to basically plan for it before the hike even.

As for Ed Reed, yeah it's karma, ain't it? My secondary has taken a beating. Aspha out temporarily, traded to get a broken Kyle Wilson, Shields out the whole season, and now Ed Reed. One more major injury and I'm calling the season over, as I'm stretched pretty thin.

I do have lots of replays saved, including Stafford wildly overthrowing Playboy to end the game. I mean, that and the shitty near-sack pick six are enough to gripe about. Take away those shitty plays, and I easily would have won this game. Chris had a few things that didn't go his way either, but I don't think it's even close to as "balanced" as far as getting screwed by the game as he said to me.

I sniffed out a Screen against the chiefs. I was then blocked in a horrible suction way. SO MUCH SO that I saved the video on my phone. I havent been able to upload it yet though.

https://youtu.be/GTbtgr66JDU

Boom!

RealJeffSolo wrote:https://youtu.be/GTbtgr66JDU

Boom!

Oh my god. That is HORRIBLE.

Madden 12 can't come soon enough, so I have a new game to complain about. Suction blocking is god-awful.

A post to the outside is a flag route.

mikesuszek wrote:

RealJeffSolo wrote:https://youtu.be/GTbtgr66JDU

Boom!

Oh my god. That is HORRIBLE.

Madden 12 can't come soon enough, so I have a new game to complain about. Suction blocking is god-awful.

I KNOW! When it happened I was so confused how I was blocked. It was so egregiousness upon replay that I had to save it on my phone. The madden replay at full speed did not do it justice.

Dascenzo wrote:A post to the outside is a flag route.

True, forgot that.

mikesuszek wrote:

RealJeffSolo wrote:https://youtu.be/GTbtgr66JDU

Boom!

Oh my god. That is HORRIBLE.

Madden 12 can't come soon enough, so I have a new game to complain about. Suction blocking is god-awful.

EA SPORTS:

IF IT'S IN THE GAME:





ITS IN THE GAME.