Support NeoGAF

[Cloudy]

I wrote this up for the GA league but I might as well post it here. Please no trolling in this thread cos I'd like to keep it on topic


------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Just cos I'm a nice guy, I'll share some tips with everyone. I'm pretty sure I lead the league in INTs and pass deflections and if you look at my online profile, you'll see my turnover +/- is +9. So for you doubters, this is credible info

Pass Defense (My specialty):


The Golden Rule - First things first, for the most part, you want to avoid controlling DBs (especially cornerbacks) BEFORE the pass comes near them. It seems like VC wanted to simplify the defense this year so manually controlling a player and going for a tip/INT is not nearly as effective as it used to be. The best way to play pass defense this year is to wait till the ball gets near the reciver and hit Y to make the closest defender make the best play on the ball. This will result in a tip, INT or hit (if the guy makes the catch) and you can jar the ball loose if you time it right. Do NOT depend on the AI to make a play for you. For example, if the QB throws a lazy floater and the defender's ball awareness is not high, he probably won't make the auto-pick. On the other hand, if you press Y right as it's getting to the WR, he will eat it up.

Exceptions to the Golden Rule - There are times when you have to control the DBs before a reception though. Like if you get badly burned on a lob, you can try to turbo to the spot with the closest DB while it hangs to pick it off or at least hit the reciever for a drop. In general, it's best to play as the d-line (with no cheese. just the usual swim moves and spins). If you really like playing DBs, stick to LBs or safeties but I don't recommend it against a pass-happy offense.

TE Whores - For the guys who like to throw to their TE, assign either outside LB to cover him all game. Chose the OLB with the higher coverage stat.

Zone Is Your Friend - Contrary to what some think, the zone is not "broken". In fact, man coverage will get you burned a lot if your opponent has fast WRs. And maybe it's just me but the majority of my INTs are in zone coverage.

Scout Your Opponent - Check the season stats and see which WR your current opponent likes to whore. Assign your best CB to him all game. If he whores 2, assign your second best CB to the guy with less receptions. A few things about this:

- Never assign players to more than 2 WRs
- If both recievers are closely rated, look at their speed and catch ratings and match that accordingly with your CBs speed and coverage
- Never assign LBs or safeties to a WR

Know Your Plays - Again this goes to scouting. Check out your opponent's play-by-plays and figure out what part of the field he likes to throw to. Flip your plays to have more DBs in that part of the field. It's almost like calling a double team but the player on offense won't usually see it till it's too late. The cool thing is you can also flip before the snap by hitting Y and the flip button so survey the formation and see what he likes to do with his recievers.

Defensive Adjustments - Always hit L to see the possible recievers. For the guys who like to run the screen plays, it's best to hit A or X to assign a lineman or LB to cover the HB or FB if you think they will pass to them cos that can burn you for huge yardage.

Nickel Blitz - If you're the type that blitzes all game, this won't work. Let the guy get comfortable in the pocket and bust him up with your favorite blitz from this formation when you see no potential blockers in the backfield.

Double Teams - This should be a last resort for someone who is just destroying you with a certain reciever. It kinda hurts your run defense and leaves you vulnerable in the middle if the WR in question is lining up on the outsides. Try everything else first and you shouldn't have to use this.


I hope this helps (it works for me ^_^) and I'll give my Run Defense tips in a reply later

 

[FrenchMovieTheme]

what button do i push to make my defender run around in circles?? oh wait... that happens automatically!

i kid, i kid because i care!

p.s. wait wtf? i'm not kidding, that shit really does happen!

 

[Ned Flanders]

I call a lot of zone with DB/LB hot route coverage on the "money" recievers. So for instance, if I'm playing the Eagles and call a 2 Hard zone, but don't want to get beat by TO deep when the corner doesn't run, I might assign the corner or (occassionally) the safety to man coverage. I'll also occassionally assign LB doubles if I'm convinced they're gonna throw, but rarely.

The computer is smart enough this year that if I consistently shade too hard to one receiver that they'll start hitting the "B" guy (ie Pinkston) for big yards, so thats why I like to switch coverages a lot and hot route different defenders to cover the hot receivers. It always pays off.

Another good zone/hot route strategy for covering the pass in nickel/dime coverages(preferably when the offense needs 10+ yards) is to call a soft zone (even cover 12 if they need 12-15 yards) and hot route the inside nickel/dimebacks to man cover the outside receivers. That way you have the deep ball covered over the top with the corners and the safeties, but when the nickel/dimebacks break to man-cover the outside receiver, they have the perfect angle to intercept in the event they run a short out/stop route. This can leave you vulnerable across the middle, but a highly rated middle LB can compensate, or you can switch to a safety and hold him in, in case they dump it to the TE or the slot receiver on a slant.

Just my 72 cents..

 

[Ned Flanders]

And WTF is with all this bullshiet talk about DB's running in circles? I've seen that happen fucking ONCE since I've got the game. But these Maddenites come in talking like its every fucking game..actually more like every fucking play. Just like you can just shoulder charge, shoulder charge, shoulder charge with rookie RB's through top rated defenses for a TD every other running play, right Madden whores? Shut the fuck up already.

If I were to complain about anybody running in circles or just generally stupid it would be FB's/TE's blocking on toss plays. But then I actually PLAY the fucking game. Jesus..

 

[FrenchMovieTheme]

And WTF is with all this bullshiet talk about DB's running in circles? I've seen that happen fucking ONCE since I've got the game. But these Maddenites come in talking like its every fucking game..actually more like every fucking play. Just like you can just shoulder charge, shoulder charge, shoulder charge with rookie RB's through top rated defenses for a TD every other running play, right Madden whores? Shut the fuck up already.

If I were to complain about anybody running in circles or just generally stupid it would be FB's/TE's blocking on toss plays. But then I actually PLAY the fucking game. Jesus..

do you even play online? if you don't then stfu. i don't care what happens offline. if you want to play me online, i will show you most of these flaws within the first quarter. even konex will agree the DB play is shoddy a better part of the time. how about you tell them about the time when you had 8 defenders surrounding my WR and i still caught it koney?

and about the shoulder charge, ned i got fucking 18 BROKEN TACKLES IN ONE GAME with kevan barlow. 18. I've had a 28 broken tackle game with stephen davis. do you not see anything odd about that?? you can ignore these problems all you want, but if you think i'm just nit picking you're full of shit.

i play the game too, i enjoy ESPN a lot, but when stupid shit happens i'm going to comment on it, not sit there and keep my mouth shut like a good little sheep. the pass D is broken as fuck and there's no two ways about it. talk to me after you've played some HUMAN opponents and not your franchise CPU opponents.

 

[Matrix]

do you even play online? if you don't then stfu. i don't care what happens offline. if you want to play me online, i will show you most of these flaws within the first quarter. even konex will agree the DB play is shoddy a better part of the time. how about you tell them about the time when you had 8 defenders surrounding my WR and i still caught it koney?

and about the shoulder charge, ned i got fucking 18 BROKEN TACKLES IN ONE GAME with kevan barlow. 18. I've had a 28 broken tackle game with stephen davis. do you not see anything odd about that?? you can ignore these problems all you want, but if you think i'm just nit picking you're full of shit.

i play the game too, i enjoy ESPN a lot, but when stupid shit happens i'm going to comment on it, not sit there and keep my mouth shut like a good little sheep. the pass D is broken as fuck and there's no two ways about it. talk to me after you've played some HUMAN opponents and not your franchise CPU opponents.

"Respect"

 

[Ned Flanders]

No FMT, I don't play online, and I'm sorry that these things apparently happen to you while playing over the internet, but if you're going to force me to limit my rebuttals since I don't play online, then how about you qualify your statements as criticisms regarding the way the online game plays. Becuase I play offline all the time and I don't see this shit you speak of.


But your statements are blanket criticisms of the game, making it sound as though these things occur with regularity regardless of how you play the game, which is simply not true. If the online game is flawed, then I can make no excuses for it, because I've never played it. But if you continue making blanket statements when you admit that you don't care how the game plays offline, then it is you sir, who is out of line.

 

[Ned Flanders]

Oh and Ali G is fucking corny.

 

[Meier]

"Respect"

Dont you mean Respeck in this instance?

 

[FrenchMovieTheme]

http://www.ga-forum.com/showthread.php?t=10491

read there if you want single player impressions from me. do you think i'm making this shit up? what do i have to gain? you think i work for EA? everything i've said that happens DOES happen on normal occassions, and people in our league can back it up. I put a lot of time into the GA espn league. I wouldn't put a lot of time into a game i hated. I don't give a flying fuck WHO has the best football game. i love playing football videogames regardless of who makes them.

 

[Cloudy]

Can we stick to defensive strategy, please

 

[Ned Flanders]

Do you have the PS2 version or the X-Box version FMT? I have the X-Box version and I'm itching to play the PS2 edition just to see if any of this stuff is more prevalent.

Anyway, as per your request:

*Passing

"+ From time to time your DB’s will play some awesome D
- But that rarely happens, and you never know when it will happen."

This is true. I don't expect awesome D out of crappy DB's however, particularly against quality receivers.


- Often times your DB will run around the receiver in circles as the ball is coming to him.

Again I can't say I've never seen this happen, because I have, but not with the regularity with which it has been alleged. And the time I distinctly remember seeing it was on a high lob where several DB's had time to get under the ball and crowd the receiver.

- Often times, your defenders sitting in a zone will simple watch the ball go by in front of him.

I've seen this happen...in ESPN and somewhere else. Oh thats right, THE NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE. I mean I don't want my DB's to act like complete drones, but there are plenty of times in football where DBs in zone coverage get caught dozing (usually getting "looked off" etc) and have the ball whiz by them. Pump fakes are a good way to illicit this reaction from the opposing defenders. Again I don't want to defend blatant ignorance, but yes, sometimes a DB should get caught napping in a zone. Its REALISTIC.

- Players in a zone will not pursue the QB until he officially crosses the line of scrimmage… even if it is clear the QB is gaining an incredible angle on the defender by him not moving his feet.

Sounds like good football to me. Also sounds like you'd be bitching if your DB's stepped up to pursue the QB, and then he stopped behind the line of scrimmage and drilled a receiver who moved into the now vacant zone. I do this to opponents all the time on rollouts and scrambles. Bait them by approaching the line and hit the receiver in the vacant space before crossing scrimmage. If they are playing a zone, they should play the zone, plain and simple, and particularly if a receiver has a pattern crossing their vicinity. Don't like it, don't call zone or switch on the damn DB yourself. S'what I do..

- Double and triple teams don’t work half the time

By "don't work" do you mean that the receiver still sometimes catches the ball? Ever see Randy Moss, Tory Holt, or Marv Harrison play football? One thing I will agree with in regard to this is that sometimes if I assign a hot route double with a same-side LB and the receiver goes in motion, sometimes the LB will stay put and end up trying to double from all the way across the field. And yes sometimes DB's get crossed up or fubar each other's coverage. It's a side effect of having so many people in the same space. But I don't think that double and triple teams are unrealistically "broken" per se, and most of the time when my doubs and trips get beat its by a receiver who should be capable of such feats.

- Zone defense is pretty much worthless

I don't really know what to say to this. I'm sure Madden zones are far more lucrative when the DB's have that "spidey sense" (what I've heard, still haven't played 2005), but in ESPN the guys generally play the zones as assigned, which is all you can ask for. Since you didn't quantify the statement more then I won't dwell on this further either way. I do run plenty of zones though (see original thread post).

- Blitzing is retarded because it seems as though the defender will take the scenic route to the quarterback. He will go ALLLL the way around the outside instead of heading straight for him. This doesn’t happen always, but it happens at crucial points in the game.

This does happen, particularly at higher difficulties. I think it's a cousin to the sometimes retarded run blocking and the apparent circling of the DB's to which you refer. It's like when they dumb down the pursuit the guys don't take the correct lines. But then of course if they did it perfect every time, it would be far too effective, and to be fair DB and safety blitzing should be risky and occassionally sketchy. So I do understand what you're talking about, but I've also run the occassional corner blitz with success. If the QB has a pocket to step up into, its usually not effective, but if you get inside pressure from the front 4, then QB's can be exposed to a blitzing corner, which is why I usually switch on the tackles and try and get manual pressure when I corner blitz.

- Sometimes my DB’s won’t even bump the receiver when I ask him to. The danger in this is two-fold: not only have I NOT knocked the receiver off his intended route, but now my DB is pretty much standing at the line of scrimmage doing nothing while the WR goes on a deep route for an eventual touchdown.

I don't call much bump aside from what certain plays call for. So I don't want to speak too much on this. Good receivers can pre-emptively anticipate bumps however and leave DB's burned. I would expect at least SOME contact if it's called, but I wouldn't be shocked if it wasn't executed perfectly just because it was called. But again I don't often do this or pay much attention to it so I won't go so far as to consider your impressions innaccurate or skewed.

- You can easily abuse the stupid offensive line by simply bull rushing up the middle or speed rushing to the outside. Often times, the offensive linemen won’t even block you.

On All-Pro the O-line can give me a pretty good go, but spins are pretty effective against them. I seem to notice the O-line slacking and missing blocks more when I'm on offense, personally. But hey, real NFLer's miss/confuse assignments and blitz pickups every Sunday too! I've seen All-Pro guys *cough*JohnRunyan*cough* wind up merely standing up when they get their assignments crossed. It shouldn't happen every play, but inferior lines should get beat, sometimes with consistency. This doesn't seem like a huge problem for me, and again if it is, it's more from the offensive side of the ball.



All IMCO of course.

 

[StoOgE]

He has the Xbox version, and the DB play is terrible.. you cant play man because your DB's will get burned by a fast WR.. and you cant play zone because they just stand on their spot. Its terrible.

The only way to stop a pass is to bump a reciever off his route.. which isnt pass interference for some reason if you simply run into them without pushing a button.

 

[impirius]

I like to choose a full zone or 2 Corners and just assign defenders to receivers with Hot Routes based on the offensive formation. I play MLB and get plenty of picks on All-Pro that way.

 

[bishoptl]

Man, I was playing some ESPN tonight...both FMT and DM were on! DM, why didn't you respond to my response to your challenge? Sat there for five minutes.

 

[Cloudy]

I don't know what kind of D you guys are playing but my DBs aren't "dumb". Anyhow, if you must bash/defend the game, make your own thread. This is for strategy only...PLEASE

PS: Run defense thoughts coming tomorrow

 

[Ned Flanders]

"I like to choose a full zone or 2 Corners and just assign defenders to receivers with Hot Routes based on the offensive formation. I play MLB and get plenty of picks on All-Pro that way."

Thats much like what I do (see above).

"You cant play man because your DB's will get burned by a fast WR"

Fast receivers are supposed to get by DB's. Thats why you a) assign your fastest DB's to cover the fastest receivers, b) have safeties playing cover 2 over the top, c) can back your DB off the receiver to compensate for the quickness disadvantage.

"and you cant play zone because they just stand on their spot"

Um, thats HOW you play zone. The defender is assigned a space to cover..not a man. So as the offensive players move the defenders are supposed to maintain their ground and react as the play develops. Zones are inevitably going to have gaps, and good QB's will find those gaps. When you're playing the videogame, on D, YOU should be looking for those gaps, anticipating where the QB will throw as the play develops, and switching on the appropriate people to ensure you're there to break up the play/tackle the ballcarrier. YOU should be expected to make the appropriate reactions..thats why they allow you to switch on everyone. These seem like simple concepts to me..

 

[Blackace]

Just let a thread talk about ESPN.. no need to compare the games any more.. if you like MAdden...let the people who like ESPN have a thread where they can talk about ESPN...