What Has Happened to Zone Coverage Post-Patch?

[Vanilla_Gorilla]

It feels now like I am almost playing two different games on defense prior to the recent patches.

I no longer see my players routinely following their assignments through zones and have often seen them anchor in their zones, not reacting until the ball is thrown.

This was not evident prior to the previous patches.

Multiple times I have seen the following:

1. Player begins to follow receiver through zone, reverts to zone upon receiver exiting zone, leaving them wide open.

2. Player correctly follows receiver in zone on a curl route and once receiver reaches the peak of the curl and sits, player turns and runs away from receiver, leaving them wide open.

3. Player begins to follow receiver into the endzone. Receiver reaches the back of the endzone and player immediately reverts to original zone, leaving receiver wide open.

This is getting quite annoying because it’s returning Heisman from the “You need good players and a good team to be good because the AI is tough” type difficulty, to the “Your players are just dumb” type difficulty.

[SolidSquid]

Quote: Originally Posted by Vanilla_Gorilla

It feels now like I am almost playing two different games on defense prior to the recent patches. I no longer see my players routinely following their assignments through zones and have often seen them anchor in their zones, not reacting until the ball is thrown. This was not evident prior to the previous patches. Multiple times I have seen the following: 1. Player begins to follow receiver through zone, reverts to zone upon receiver exiting zone, leaving them wide open. 2. Player correctly follows receiver in zone on a curl route and once receiver reaches the peak of the curl and sits, player turns and runs away from receiver, leaving them wide open. 3. Player begins to follow receiver into the endzone. Receiver reaches the back of the endzone and player immediately reverts to original zone, leaving receiver wide open. This is getting quite annoying because it’s returning Heisman from the “You need good players and a good team to be good because the AI is tough” type difficulty, to the “Your players are just dumb” type difficulty.

Just curious, are you calling man match zones or spot drop zones?

Just based off what you said it sounds like spot drop zones are getting beat bc they do not convert to man. They will cover a receiver while he’s in their zone but once’s he’s gone it’s no longer their responsibility.

[Swagger Jack]

Just wanted to pop in and say I simply disagree with this thread 100% and zone coverage is quite elite (man coverage on the other hand yes is bad) but if you really want to see bad zone coverage turn on Madden 25...it's night and day. I am happy with the performance post patch.

[bkrich83]

I have noticed no change in coverage or gameplay at all since the patch dropped.