How to build a dominant defense

[Pass_The_Cows]

Does anyone know how to go about building a dominant defense (what scheme?)? I have used the Bears and Bucs recently, which are both great defenses, but I want to get to the level of say the 2000 Ravens. I play in game with adambroski's sliders and have good to great games regularly until the last ~5 minutes when the cpu starts tearing apart the Cover 2 for 400+ passing yards while they usually have less than 150 going into the 4th quarter. This makes my defense look like a cupcake even though we are very good most of the time.

Also with my Bears I use a 4-2-5 and consistently hold the cpu to <50 yards rushing and get 10+ sacks about every other game but I CANNOT stop the pass unless I get a int, this is with ELITE dbs. So the real question may just be how do you stop the cpu passing game?

[ebongreen]

Tall fast skilled-at-man-press cornerbacks and a relentless blitz is how I stop the pass. (e.g. Nnamdi.) Good safeties help, as does the occasional zone blitz for variety's sake. It also helps when the other team's receivers suck. (Any zone can be holed if the QB has enough time & the right play - so either don't play zone, or zone-blitz.)

That being said, I don't always have all of those things. But when I do, there is a$$-kicking and name-taking to be had.

[Glorious Arc]

While I have not tested this defense against many spread teams(Patriots) I have found that using the Jags Physical D is downright nasty. Grab Astne Samuel and Rashean Mathis(I think) and play man press the entire game. If you have an elite DE(say Peppers) and a fast/blitzing OLB line them up on the strong side and use the blitz plays to overpower the line.

I have averaged most QBs under 50% completion ratings and have held several teams to under 50 yards rushing. The LE if he is as talented as Peppers can average up to 1-2 sacks a game while also grabbing up to 6+ tackles. The only downside is there is very little talent(90+ press) at CB that are young and can man cover and you will not get many INTs but because the defense stops them normally 3 and out it does not matter.

The big issue may come when you play teams that use 4+ WR sets because you will be forced to play dime coverage most of the game and if you do not have strong press CBs all the way to your 4th CB a QB like Brady will just play pitch and catch with the one WR that breaks open.

[cutter73]

Quote: Originally Posted by Pass_The_Cows

Does anyone know how to go about building a dominant defense (what scheme?)? I have used the Bears and Bucs recently, which are both great defenses, but I want to get to the level of say the 2000 Ravens. I play in game with adambroski's sliders and have good to great games regularly until the last ~5 minutes when the cpu starts tearing apart the Cover 2 for 400+ passing yards while they usually have less than 150 going into the 4th quarter. This makes my defense look like a cupcake even though we are very good most of the time. Also with my Bears I use a 4-2-5 and consistently hold the cpu to <50 yards rushing and get 10+ sacks about every other game but I CANNOT stop the pass unless I get a int, this is with ELITE dbs. So the real question may just be how do you stop the cpu passing game?

Are you calling the defensive plays yourself? And if you are, are you relying a lot on the formations the game is telling you the other teams is likely to run? I ask this because it seems you have the most problems during the last minutes of the game or half. A lot of times, the problem is that the offense will go into spread formations with 4 WR's constantly if they are down.

That's fine, and realistic, but the game doesn't take that into account on your side. If you are letting the coordinator call the plays, he's doing it based on normal game situations. In other words, it's basing the play call on what formation the offense would likely use on 1st and 10 at the beginning/middle of the game. The same way with the suggestions when you call your own plays. The game will tell you that they offense is likely to line up in an I-formation with 2 WR's even though the computer in the last few minutes is probably going to go into spread formations with multiple recievers if they are down. The game simply doesn't compensate for the end of the game changing the playstyle of the offense. You wind up covering recievers with LB's because you're in your base defense, and that's just asking to be eaten alive.

If you're holding the offense pretty well until the end of games, this is generally the problem. If you don't call your own defensive plays, take over at the end of the game. Also, ignore whatever the game tells you the offensive formation is going to be. Just play the situation. If the computer is down, call dime packages or similar regardless of what the game tells you.

You won't see great results immediatley though. If you haven't been calling the plays this way, your nickle and dime pakages are going to be way behind everything else in terms of players playbook knowledge. They just don;t get called as often as base defenses. It may take a few games to get that knowledge up, and you'll have to deal with blown assignments until them. But pretty quick, you'll be up to par as far as that is concerned.

Like I said, this is all based on assuming you aren;t calling you own plays or are relying on the game telling you what formation the offense is lining up in. But if that is the case, this should get you going defensively in the last minutes of games within a few weeks.

[Pass_The_Cows]

Hey thanks man that sounds like it may be the problem, Ill start calling my own defensive plays in the last 5 minutes or so.

[BillNyeTheScienceGuy]

if you can get two dominant DTs who are good at both pass rushing and run stopping(like kevin williams), two good blitzing and mancover OLBs, a ballhawk safety and a run stuffing safety(ed reed/brian dawkins types) and at least 2 above average man cover corners, you should be able to dominate with the jags defensive playbook

one time, starting in the preseason, i managed to get a D that had nmamdi and asante at CB, huff(who is hugely overrated) and eugene wilson(equally overrated) at safety, and thomas howard and keith rivers at OLB. after year one, i got Doki Somanu(guy is a beast when you switch him to DT) and dre moore at DT. it wasnt ravens 2000 good but it was a pretty good D

[bmcauley]

Blitz, blitz, blitz

Blitz from diffrent sides and different players. Rex Ryan's defensive scheme kept offenses guesssing. It wasnt a question if they were gonna blitz or not, but rather from where.

The best defense I ever had didnt stop offenses from driving down the field everytime but barely let the team score a TD. It was definitely a "bend, don't break" defense. Offenses would have long sustaining drives but then end up turning the ball over.

[phenomenal_waffles]

I've had #1 defenses using the Jags D playbook, and blitzing every down. I've also had some fun with the Jim Johnson Blitz playbook.