It could be that my stick skills are terrible, or maybe it’s because I play with the Washington Redskins so much that my sorry DB’s are to blame, or maybe just maybe my opponents have mastered the total control passing. Whatever the reason, it frustrates me to no end the inability to catch interceptions near the sidelines in Madden NFL 13. It doesn’t matter where I am, back of the endzone, side of the endzone or anywhere close to the white sidelines, I just can’t catch an interception. If you are having the same problem in Madden NFL 13, then you’ll like the fact that all that changes in Madden NFL 25.
The thing is we see it all the time in the NFL. Amazing 1 handed picks near the sidelines while going out of bounds or leaning out of bounds while keeping both feet in. Who can forget the sideline grab by Richard Sherman (SEA) against the Cardinals last year?
You never saw that in Madden NFL 13 to a lot of fans disgust. I can’t tell you how many times my guy has dropped an INT along the sidelines. Every time my guy had a beat on the ball near the sidelines he would drop it. Even DBs with great catch ratings like Revis would drop the ball if he was even close to being out-of-bounds. Let’s not even discuss how fades in the endzone were hardly caught in the back of the endzone for a touchback. This made throwing outs to the sideline and anything in the back of the endzone somewhat of a non-risk factor for the offense. There was hardly any danger at all to throwing the ball late on a 10 yard out to the short side of the field other than an incomplete pass.
Well all that changes in Madden NFL 25 and thank goodness. I recently got some hands on time with Madden NFL 25 and not only did I see some sideline interceptions, but I also saw some great sideline catches by DBs. These weren’t just standard catches either. I saw interceptions where the DB couldn’t get two feet down but he caught the ball. I saw a reaching interception, interceptions where DBs broke on the ball and intercepted it and their momentum carried them out-of-bounds. I even saw some interceptions in the back of the endzone where guys toe tapped it. I had to go to replay a couple of times to make sure I was seeing it right.
The other thing that feels different about interceptions in Madden NFL 25 is how the screen rotates. It still freezes and rotates but it seems a lil more fluid.
Updated: After talking with someone from EA, the screen does freeze when you intercept it. Sorry for those that like how NCAA is, because I do think that was better but was unsure how it looked. I could have sworn the build I played it was fluid and not a freeze. We’ll see what the E3 build tells us next month.
Being able to catch on the sidelines may be a subtle change, but I think guys will generally like the way you can snag them near the sidelines in Madden NFL 25. Now if I can just get my DBs to stop dropping wide open interceptions, I’d feel better.
For more impressions about Madden NFL 25 Gameplay and Connected Franchise, follow me on Twitter @Shopmaster and leave your thoughts and comments below. Be sure to read some of my other “Madden NFL 25 Quick Hits” articles and catch another game play article tomorrow.
Also be sure to check out the Madden NFL 25 News and Information Central with all of the news from around the web and updated daily to get you ready for the release of Madden NFL 25.
