Zone Teams At a Disadvantage

[Downtown Bob]

Is it just me or does it feel like zone teams are at a disadvantage in Madden compared to mainly man coverage teams? Because no matter how good a zone is, the AI will always find the open man on All-Madden. Wondering if this is just me or no

[vannwolfhawk]

In years past (every year) If you play a zone vs the CPU they can and will pick you apart for the most part. Sometimes depends on qb or your qb accuracy ratings or sliders but out of the box yes they will. If you play man vs the CPU the CPU struggles as they call curls or verts plays so much (which work vs zone) that they don't have anyone open and take sacks far to often.

This is the opposite though vs another user. If you run man it's take your pick which wide open receiver to throw too especially with crossing routes or drags. But users struggle if you mix zones in more so, especially the exotic zones with some zone blitzes thrown in.

[Downtown Bob]

Quote: Originally Posted by vannwolfhawk

In years past (every year) If you play a zone vs the CPU they can and will pick you apart for the most part. Sometimes depends on qb or your qb accuracy ratings or sliders but out of the box yes they will. If you play man vs the CPU the CPU struggles as they call curls or verts plays so much (which work vs zone) that they don't have anyone open and take sacks far to often. This is the opposite though vs another user. If you run man it's take your pick which wide open receiver to throw too especially with crossing routes or drags. But users struggle if you mix zones in more so, especially the exotic zones with some zone blitzes thrown in.

That makes sense. I am doing a Franchise as my favorite team the Panthers and know that they predominantly run zone. So I've been trying to do this and have been getting destroyed as I have one of the worst pass defenses in the league. I guess I'll switch over to playing man more

[Nickda55]

I much rather prefer to play zone than man. It seems like my corners always get beat in man coverage for a big play, while in zone have a much better chance of playing a bend but don't break defense

[SageInfinite]

In previous Madden's I played alot of man, in Madden 16 I almost always run zone, seems like my defenders are always a step slow......

[Sgexpat]

Quote: Originally Posted by vannwolfhawk

In years past (every year) If you play a zone vs the CPU they can and will pick you apart for the most part. Sometimes depends on qb or your qb accuracy ratings or sliders but out of the box yes they will. If you play man vs the CPU the CPU struggles as they call curls or verts plays so much (which work vs zone) that they don't have anyone open and take sacks far to often. This is the opposite though vs another user. If you run man it's take your pick which wide open receiver to throw too especially with crossing routes or drags. But users struggle if you mix zones in more so, especially the exotic zones with some zone blitzes thrown in.

I found this to be a big problem on default settings (aka Robo-QB). This issue can be significantly mitigated by sliders. With the changes they've made to how zone is played, I don't think it will be an issue at all in M17..

I'll be more worried about man coverage being under-powered then, and perhaps zone being over-relied upon.

[ithinkimchipkelly]

As someone who runs man 90% of times i hope it doens't become under powered. In m16 in a no switch lg its moor of a risk but with quality cover guys and good game planning aka study tendencies of players i was successful at least half the times.

Zone once a player was beat or open no was around with man if even if they get beat their close by to make tackle.

[cusefan74]

People think zone doesn't work in Madden but it does, not as good as it should though. I use it and have a lot of success with it, you just have to figure out when is the right time to use it.

One time that I always use it is when the other team gets inside my 20 into the redzone, once there I use nothing but zone.