Quest to Madden 16 Perfection: 49ers vs. Cardinals, Week 12

You'd think when I switched to Blaine Gabbert in the only move to keep this franchise team consistent with the real life roster, I'd be having severe problems when Arizona comes around. Surprisingly, the Cardinals provided little challenge yet again. That's great for me! Less attempts at this game leaves me with more time to eat turkey leftovers!

Now to be fair, the Cardinals were by no means easy, but with two attempts this time and few attempts way back when we went over there in week 3, I'd say Madden doesn't like them very much. Which is odd, because the Cardinals are, well, pretty good. Let's do this:

Attempt 1:

The Niners received and within just four plays, I managed to have Blaine Gabbert return to form with a stupid pick that's on me more than it is the AI. It still was ridiculous, the throw was a circus catch that should have been  left incomplete. Somehow a ball that bounces off my receivers hands, and then a defenders hands, will be caught when the same defender has a free arm to catch the ball as they are diving away from it. Did all of that make sense to you? Yep, I didn't really understand any of it either. I'm fine with these amazing catches happening once or twice in a Madden campaign, but for Pete's sake they happen every game. It wouldn't bother me if it wasn't for the fact Madden is supposed to mimic football in real life. If this were an arcadey game like the old NFL Blitz titles, this would be part for the course.

Anyways, after another Blaine Gabbert interception on the preceeding drive thanks to those erratic throws that come out of nowhere, I found myself at 14-0 and actually moving the ball down the field. That was until I found myself on 4th and goal on the 1 yard line. Unlike real life, I went for it, because we were down 14 points, and had Bruce Miller hit right as he hit the goal line.

Obviously, even though he crossed the plane, I wasn't granted 7 points, so I granted the game a reset.

Attempt 2:

The Cardinals received this time (thank God) and struck first in what I thought would be another quick reset. Luckily, the Niners responded just as quick as I had the Real American Blaine Gabbert throw a nice dime to Torrey Smith that got taken all the way for a touchdown (oh, so that's how we use him). This was after I couldn't run the ball on two downs.

On the next possession, Palmer threw a typical Carson Palmer pick (you know, the ones before this year) that Jaquiski Tartt returned to the 3 yard line. I was nice enough to not only punch it in, but also convert a 2-point attempt to raise the score.

The thumping continued as the second half began with a 3 n out on one of the best offenses in the league that resulted in a San Francisco field goal. All of this was done passing as the running game couldn't do much of anything against the Cardinals front seven.

After all this, the game stunted. I couldn't do anything, and neither could the Cardinals. That was until the last minute of the game when Carson Palmer marched down the field for a touchdown. They failed at recovering the onside kick

I had 10 seconds left, so I threw a touchdown pass to Anquan Bolden just to raise the score. It's the Cardinals. Why not?

Final Thoughts:

If Madden is any indication, I couldn't run the ball against Arizona. At all. The only way I managed my high scoring successful attempt was through the air, doing slant routes and the occasional deep throw. With Blaine Gabbert. Just like the last time we faced the Cardinals, this game was more bizarre if anything. Arizona is a very easy team to beat in this game. Which really makes no sense either at the time of our franchise or with a current roster. Because, Madden.

Let's see how our simulation turns out.