But those aren’t the only two titans of the football world still standing these days. Madden 2005 by Electronic Arts and ESPN NFL 2K5 by Sega Sports still are competing for console football supremacy since they were released more than five months ago.

So just as Bill Belichick and Andy Reid and their respective staffs have worked tirelessly to break down film and evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of their opponents in all areas of the game, it’s time to look at the plusses and minuses of Madden and ESPN NFL in a head-to-head comparison, and pick a winner between the two games.

PRESENTATION

ESPN NFL 2K5 made a huge jump over Madden 2005, and probably any other sports game on the market, in presentation. From the ESPN overlays, studio bits with an animated Chris Berman and post-game interviews with an animated Suzy Kolber, ESPN NFL has the look and feel of a real NFL broadcast.

The halftime and postgame highlight shows in ESPN NFL also are stunning, causing suspended belief at times that this is a video game and not an ESPN broadcast.

ESPN NFL also returns First Person Football, a mode which places the human player inside of the helmet of his team’s players for the entire game. It’s never a mode that became the default way to play for me, but it is a refreshing, challenging and fun change of pace.

Madden has solid presentation but nowhere near the pizzazz of ESPN NFL. The replays aren’t as lifelike, and there’s no seamless integration with a real TV network to create the feel of a real broadcast.

Storyline Central was added to Madden this year, complete with headlines from local and national newspapers about your Franchise team and also a weekly radio show with national sports radio talk-show host Tony Bruno.

Edge: ESPN NFL 2K5, by a wide margin

GRAPHICS

The gap in graphics between ESPN NFL 2K5 and Madden 2005 can be summed up easily: ESPN NFL is arguably the prettiest team sports console game ever created.

ESPN has more attention to detail, crispness in the colors and better animation than Madden, plain and simple.

Player numbers and letter text are perfect in ESPN, while Madden still uses the same generic font for the letters and numbers. Both games feature much more texture this year in the uniforms, with more folds and creases. Bulging muscles and veins also are more prominent this year on players’ arms.

But ESPN’s graphics are just plain sharper and more life-like than Madden’s.

ESPN also has the edge in animation. Its player movements look very, very realistic in replays, and none of the special moves create over-the-top animations except for the cut, which still resembles a water spider. Passing motions by quarterbacks also look more fluid than those in Madden.

The run-in-place “Mario running” animation by running backs who lose their holes at the line is diminished this year in Madden, but it’s still present. Running animations in Madden seem much choppier than those in ESPN NFL, too.

In Madden, both grass and turf fields look like vivid or faded indoor-outdoor carpet. The fields lack the detail and texture of those in ESPN NFL.

Madden finally has eliminated the bubble-head model for its player models, but the players still have the “zombie eye” syndrome that has plagued past Madden games.

Edge: ESPN NFL 2K5, by a wide margin

SOUND

The Madden 2005 announcing team of play-by-play man Al Michaels and analyst John Madden is much maligned by gamers, and with good reason. Their commentary is dry, repetitive, stilted and dull. It adds absolutely nothing to the game. Jill Arrington is just as useless in Madden 2005 as she is while roaming NFL sidelines and sweeping aside her blond tresses while on the air in reality.

But the commentary of the longtime fictitious booth tandem of play-by-play man Dan Stevens and analyst Peter O’Keefe in ESPN NFL 2K5 isn’t much better. Stevens and O’Keefe are livelier than Michaels and Madden, but Sega hasn’t changed some of their clichéd dialogue in a few years. For example, O’Keefe’s “caffeinated origami artist” line was just as stupid in ESPN NFL Football last year as it is this year in ESPN NFL 2K5.

ESPN NFL 2K5 has a slight edge in on-field audio because the player trash-talking is more vivid than in Madden. But the player taunts haven’t changed much in NFL 2K5 for a good three years, so Madden easily could have surpassed ESPN NFL. But it didn’t.

But Madden gets the nod for crowd audio. Its fan noise rises and falls at appropriate times and just sounds louder at the default than the sound in ESPN NFL.

Edge: ESPN NFL 2K5, slightly

INTERFACE/CONTROLS

ESPN’s control scheme is largely unchanged from prior 2K series games on the Xbox. Its interface is quite clean, with the same fonts and colors as ESPN “SportsCenter” and ESPN NFL programs. It’s very cool, adding to the immersive presentation of the game.

Xbox Live menus are intuitive and get players in and out of games and leagues easily.

On the offensive side of the ball, it’s very easy to audible within each formation, and the menu showing the X’s and O’s of each audible play option appear on the screen after you call for an audible.

Both games offer a bevy of slider settings on offense, defense and special teams, letting players tailor the game to their strengths and weaknesses.

Controls are one of the most improved and strongest areas of Madden 2005. Two additions to the defensive controls play a significant role – Defensive Playmaker and the Hit Stick.

Defensive Playmaker allows you to make pre-snap adjustments with a selected defending, instructing him to double team, blitz or focus on a specific matchup.

Speaking of pre-snap adjustments, there are more in Madden 2005 than in ESPN NFL 2K5. In Madden, not only can you call audibles, but you can make formation shifts on offense and call individual blitzes before the snap.

I thought the Hit Stick would be like every other gimmick EA has devised for the right analog stick on the Xbox controller, such as the overdone Playmaker control in NBA Live. I was wrong.

The Hit Stick is a really fun new control feature that offers equal amounts of risk and reward. Players can flick the right stick just before attempting a tackle, and if your player is lined up properly, he’ll make a big hit on the ball carrier, possibly causing a fumble. But if he’s not lined up square, then the big hit will miss or fail, and your player will be taken out of the play.

It’s very cool and very effective if used at the right time. But I’ve also been burned a number of times when attempting a big hit with the Hit Stick and missing.

Both of these new features help to create a level of control in Madden that’s not present in ESPN NFL 2K5. This will be touched upon more in the Offense and Defense sections, but bottom line, there still are times in ESPN NFL where you don’t feel like you have complete control of your players’ actions.

Edge: Madden 2005, by a wide margin

OFFENSE

The offensive gameplay of ESPN NFL 2K5 and Madden 2005 is very good, as both have unique strengths and weaknesses.

Both games handle passing very well, with a few minor flaws.

Past versions of the NFL 2K series have used dropped passes as a way to create realistic completion percentages for passers, more so than errant throws. Thankfully, that problem has been rectified for ESPN NFL 2K5. Using the Maximum Passing feature also helps to eliminate drops, as you can lead your receiver to make a smooth catch.

Madden allows players to direct receivers with the right analog stick, adding to the passing control. I also think Madden has a more realistic balance of errant throws, drops and big hits causing incompletions than ESPN NFL 2K5.

Both games require you to make quick reads with your quarterback. For example, completion percentages will be aided if you know the number of steps in your quarterback’s dropback and then throw the ball as designed in the play. Knowing your drops and reads is even more important in ESPN NFL than Madden because it seems much easier to scramble from the pocket in Madden than ESPN.

Even though scrambling is easier in Madden, planting your feet before throwing has a greater role in a completed pass in that game than in ESPN. If you throw on the run without planting your back foot in Madden, the pass will miss the target, especially on mid-range-to-long throws. Planting feet also is important in ESPN NFL, but I’ve completed some crazy passes when throwing off the wrong foot in that game. That wouldn’t happen in Madden.

Madden’s passing also seems more touch-sensitive to controller input than ESPN, which is an advantage when you want to lob a ball into the corner of the end zone or throw a bullet over the middle. The sensitivity gives you more passing options.

Screen passes are a small, but important, part of any team’s offensive playbook. Well, I hope the screen isn’t a primary part of your favorite team’s offensive playbook if you’re playing ESPN NFL because you’re in trouble if that’s the case. Screen passes are not handled well at all in ESPN. Backs don’t swing out in the open field enough and do little to separate themselves from linebackers. And it seems that linebackers swing out to cover screen backs from damn near every defensive formation except goal line in ESPN.

Madden handles screens much more effectively and realistically than ESPN. Sometimes they work for big yards; sometimes they’re stuffed in the backfield.

ESPN holds a clear advantage in the running game, something the 2K series has done better than Madden practically since the dawn of NFL 2K on the Dreamcast.

Holes open and close realistically in ESPN, and you can actually see this occur just as a running back would in the NFL. If a hole closes, a CPU running back sometimes will try to kick to the outside to find another hole, just as in reality. And that’s an easy, smooth tactic for human players to use when holes close. Running feels fluid, and both computer and human-controlled teams use the ground game as an effective weapon.

Madden, on the other hand, still suffers from “Mario running,” where the running backs for computer-controlled teams will stand and run in place behind the line for a split-second after the hole closes. Holes and running lanes don’t seem as pronounced in Madden, either, forcing you to slip through holes almost as often as running through them with power and speed.

The overall ground game just feels more realistic and satisfying in ESPN. It almost seems that running is only effective in setting up the pass in Madden unless big slider-setting adjustments are made to create a better running game.

That said, Madden does have one small but distinct advantage over ESPN in the running game: It is possible to break long runs as a human player, especially at default settings. I rarely ripped off a run of longer than 20 yards in ESPN, either at default settings or after making slider adjustments.

But CPU backs do produce long runs in ESPN, which leads to frustration. And those breakaways are caused by one of the major flaws of ESPN, which we’ll address next in the analysis of the defense of both games.

Edge: ESPN NFL 2K5, slightly

DEFENSE

Like the offensive side of the ball, there’s little to separate the defense of Madden and ESPN regarding the “front seven” – defensive line and linebackers.

Both games offer realistic amounts of sacks and broken tackles and play a very solid game of football among the front seven. The pre-snap adjustments and Hit Stick give Madden a slight edge over ESPN before the ball is snapped, but both play equally well up front when the ball is in play.

But trouble begins for ESPN in the secondary. And it’s big-time trouble.

The term “defensive back artificial intelligence” regarding ESPN NFL 2K5 is a classic oxymoron that ranks right up there with “jumbo shrimp.” The DB’s simply don’t play smart football in ESPN NFL at all.

For starters, CPU quarterbacks still complete passes into double- and triple-team coverage by human defensive backs too often. The DB’s that you don’t control often have their backs to the ball in the air and vainly raise an arm in a poor, mistimed attempt to break up the pass. Or worse, some goofy backpedaling animation runs the defensive back right out of the play when the ball is in the air.

The only help is to use the Y button with the Xbox controller to have the defensive back nearest the ball attempt to break up the pass. And there’s still only about a 50-50 chance that will be effective.

Despite the brain-dead defensive AI, the final passing stats still look accurate because big hits and drops account for most of the incompletions, not pass breakups. But the number of completed passes by the CPU into double and triple coverage is a source of frequent frustration.

That frustration, however, pales compared to the breakaway speed bug present in ESPN NFL. It’s the biggest flaw in the game.

Too often running backs or receivers make a play and get 5 to 7 yards of separation from the defense and rocket into the end zone for a score. It doesn’t matter what kind of angle a speedy linebacker, safety or corner has on that player – chances are he’s gone if he can get at least 5 to 7 yards in the clear.

This flaw has caused some moments in which I nearly ground my controller into dust. Take this example. I was playing as the Packers against the Giants, and Giants tight end Jeremy Shockey caught a quick out around my 35, with about 5 yards of separation from my defensive backs, which I had pinched in slightly to cover the middle.

Shockey was gone. Went to the house. OK, Jeremy Shockey is quick for a tight end. But he’s a tight end, and a fast safety or corner should be able to catch him. But it didn’t happen. And that wasn’t an isolated incident. The breakaway speed bug happens too often in ESPN NFL.

Conversely, the speed of defenders feels just right in Madden. When a tight end catches a ball in the clear, he almost always is caught and dragged down by a linebacker or defensive back.

The defensive back AI in Madden also is solid. Corners and safeties play in position and use either hard hits or a well-placed hand to break up passes at a realistic clip.

But not all is perfect with Madden’s pass coverage. Gamers complained that Madden 2004 was too much of an offensive-oriented game, so EA worked to put more muscle into the defensive game for Madden 2005. The Defensive Playmaker, pre-snap adjustments and Hit Stick all have helped make Madden 2005 a much more fun and satisfying defensive experience. But in typical EA fashion, in which it overreacts to correct a perceived or real problem, there is a bit too much “robo” pass coverage by linebackers and defensive backs on computer- and human-controlled teams.

In “robo” pass coverage, defensive backs and linebackers sometimes use what appears to be super-human leaping skills to break up passes even though they’re 3 or 4 yards in front of the intended receiver. It’s unrealistic, and it happens a bit too frequently.

But I’d rather have “robo” pass coverage rear its ugly head occasionally in Madden 2005 than see breakaway speed and moronic defensive back AI on nearly every play in ESPN NFL 2K5. That’s why Madden 2005 has clear superiority on the defensive side of the ball compared to ESPN NFL 2K5.

Edge: Madden 2005, by a wide margin

SPECIAL TEAMS

ESPN NFL features the same kicking meters as prior editions of the franchise, and they’re clean and effective. But kicking isn’t the problem with special teams in ESPN NFL 2K5 – returns are.

It’s damn near impossible to break a return of a punt for more than 15 yards or a kickoff return of more than 25 yards in ESPN NFL 2K5. In well more than 50 games of ESPN NFL 2K5, online and offline, I never returned a punt or kickoff for a touchdown. In fact, I never returned a non-onsides kickoff past midfield.

The CPU return teams in ESPN NFL 2K5 are like homing missiles. It makes touchbacks on kickoffs almost a standard practice, as few returns pass the 25-yard line anyways.

Madden includes a kicking meter that measures both power and accuracy, giving numerical values to each after you’ve completed the clicks to kick. It’s effective, and both the accuracy and distance of kickoffs, punts and field-goal attempts can be adjusted in the sliders.

Where Madden has a massive edge over ESPN NFL 2K5 in special teams is on returns. Madden’s are a hell of a lot more realistic, especially on kickoffs.

On kickoffs, you can actually see a wedge form in front of your return man, and those teammates execute their blocks and create return lanes. That’s something that never happens in ESPN NFL.

I’ve returned kickoffs and punts for 30-plus yards at times. Punt returns in Madden 2005 do have one niggling flaw, though, as it seems the gunner for the CPU return team is on top of your punt returner quite quickly in some return formations.

Edge: Madden 2005, by a wide margin

THE WINNER

ESPN NFL 2K5 and Madden 2005 are both very good games. Football gamers should appreciate their spoils of riches, as few other team sports’ console games boast two games of such quality.

Yet both titles aren’t perfect.

Madden has a few niggling flaws here and there that detract from the overall experience, such as ease of scrambling by quarterbacks, “Mario running” by backs and an ineffective running game by both human and CPU teams at default slider settings. But none of those flaws are game-killers.

ESPN NFL 2K5 is the prettiest and arguably the most immersive team sports console game ever. It also has great sound, and it plays a very solid game of football most of the time.

But three flaws in ESPN NFL 2K5 – the dopey AI of the defensive backs, the breakaway speed by CPU receivers and rushers when in the clear and the ineffectiveness of punt and kickoff returns – are major, potentially game-killing flaws in my eyes. They all led to a lot more frustration when playing ESPN NFL than when playing Madden.

ESPN was so close to nirvana, as I think it has fewer overall flaws than Madden. But the three big flaws in ESPN hurt the game more than all of the minor flaws in Madden combined.

So the edge in this smashmouth console football struggle goes to Madden 2005, slightly. In summary, those who place a premium on graphics, presentation and sound over gameplay should stick to ESPN NFL 2K5. But those who crave realistic gameplay and tight controls should opt for Madden 2005.

Edge: Madden 2005, slightly

Paul Kelly