If a receiver is giving you headaches, a simple button press calls for a double team or bump and run coverage. Gang tackling is at a premium in this game, as the first tackler will often hold the runner up long enough for the posse to nail them. This leads to some sweet tackling animations of ballcarriers getting jacked up. There are a lot more animations in this year's game on both sides of the ball. In previous installments you could see all the tackling animations the game had to offer halfway through that day you called in sick to play this game. Although watching Will Smith put his helmet square into Warrick Dunn's chest should be put on an infinite loop, I never tire of that.

It's not just the tackling animations that look pretty. You'll actually see wideouts drag their feet to stay inbounds on critical sideline catches,or lay themselves out to make that catch in the middle of the field. Touch sensitive control on the Y button lets you determine what kind of catch you want to make. A quick tap will try for that circus catch that makes all the SportsCenter highlight reels, while holding the button down goes for an all-important possession catch. Hey, it may not earn you the Wheaties box but your coach will thank you.
The weapons and new animations increase the amount of things that can happen on the field. The bonecrushing tackles will probably take trash talking to all new levels. The latest features really drive home the human game of chess that NFL Football is.

There's a robust owner mode for that player that wants to see T.O. freeze his butt off in Buffalo, or thinks the Colts should move back to Baltimore. You'll be able to do everything from raising ticket prices to moving the franchise if you're willing to take the proper steps. The ambitious but busted Superstar Mode from last year received a necessary overhaul. Now you can import an NCAA Football '08 player, create yourself and chase that rookie dream, or play with a real high-profile rookie like Brady Quinn or Calvin Johnson. Using this mode, you could even make JaMarcus Russell show up for Raiders training camp. EA fixed the problematic camera from last year too. Madden is a game that really lives and dies by multiplayer, but these other modes greatly increase the single player experience.

But there are a couple of hangups that stop this one from entering the Hall of Fame. A few years ago a rumor started that EA wanted to remove Madden from the game completely, letting it stand on the strength of its NFL license. That may be a smart move, because Johnny isn't getting any younger. Other than the traditional "Ask Madden" the legendary coach doesn't appear in this installment. I understand Madden's near absence, but much younger broadcasters Marshall Faulk, Merrill Hoge and Mark Schlereth are all barely there as well. Marshall Faulk gives a pregame prediction and refers to it during the nonexistent postgame show. Hoge and Schlereth only appear to explain the various weapons and the best way to counter them.