Can anyone give me advice on defending veer and shoot?

[GruffyMcGuiness]

Guy in my league uses it and I’m 1-1 against him. First time, it was the first season and everyone was settling in. I beat him pretty badly due to a couple of picks on screens. Second time, he ran an empty formation the entire game. He would throw a we screen, run QB draw, or throw deep shots. I stopped him the first drive of the game and then never stopped him again. If I had 5 in the box, the draw came and he’d run it outside but my MLB would always pause before I could get him to move so it was 5+ a carry. Blitzes didn’t help much since my guys were spread out so far.

The first game he also ran wide stack and did the same plays except 4 verts always had guys open until I adjusted my secondary to over the top.

Playoffs are coming up and chances are I face him again. Any advice? I’m running 3-3-5 tight.

[canes21]

It's a very tough scheme to defend against if a team has the players to run it. The best way to shut down this particular offense is to have a stout DL that can slow a run game down on their own so that you aren't shredded when you have a light box.

You can try to play 1-high against this offense, but that tells the offense to stress the defense vertically, so if they have the WR and QB play to make you pay, that's not really something you want to invite them to do.

The screen game is also a major part of this offense and is an extension of the run game basically. If you're scared of getting beaten over the top and are playing back, they will screen you to death.

The offense is purely reactionary and is going to line up wide and let you tell them what play to run, that's what makes it so strong and nearly impossible to defend if ran properly. If the offense is making the right decisions like switching to a run vs 2-high, going screen when coverage is off, going vertical vs 1-high, then it simply comes down to player execution after the snap at that point.

It sounds like the guy in this league understands how to run the offense well and make those correct decisions. It doesn't help you for the playoffs, but playing the long-game and going all in on recruiting a monster DL that can slow his run game down and can get pressure from a base 4-man rush is your best chance of slowing him down in future seasons. For the upcoming playoff game, however, I'd recommend really focusing on his tendencies, seeing what plays he looks like he is most and least comfortable executing, and choosing what you want to give up and calling defenses around that.

You can try to get some negative plays on 1st and 2nd down to get him behind the chains, but it's hard to generate pressure without tipping your hand vs this offense given their splits. When I've had success stopping this offense, it's when I've had the secondary to play 1-high to dissuade them from running as frequently, but you have to have an elite CB room to do that, or, they need poor WR and/or QB play to not make you pay.

It really is a pick your poison type of offense to go against. Do you go 2-man under so you have safety help over top and the CBs up on the WRs to throw off timings and take the screen game away but at the risk of getting run all over with your light box? Do you go with a 1-high look to help slow the run game down with the risk of getting burned in 1 on 1 coverage vertically? There's not really a series of things you can do to slow this offense down if it's executed properly.

It really comes down more to a jimmies and joes type of deal. If he has the WRs and QB to run the system, then your offense becomes your best defense because unless you have the stud DL to slow him down, you're likely not going to contain his offense all game, so you'll need to score every time you have the ball, eat the clock, and make him press in the hopes he makes mistakes.

Probably not what you wanted to read, but that's just how it goes with this offense. If they have a bad QB, force them to throw, if their OL is weak vs your DL, invite them to run. If they have the players to run the system well, then there's not a lot you can do outside of hoping they mess up. That's what makes this scheme work so well. It needs to the right roster to run properly, but when it is ran right, it's near impossible to stop.

[GruffyMcGuiness]

Thanks for the well thought out post.

I’ve got a monster DL with a gold and a platinum quick jump DE’s and a DT with good disruptor. My rush LB is the former #1 recruit run stopper but I can’t remember his abilities off the top of my head. As far as running goes, he really only ran QB draws and took it outside. I think his QB had mid to high 80’s speed and just took it outside the tackles every run. His QB is very agile so getting to him and making the tackle is tough.

I’m thinking I may just run man press the whole game and hope my safeties make plays. Both of my safeties have ball hawk and house call so maybe I let him try to beat me over the top.

[PDuncanOSU]

Quote: Originally Posted by GruffyMcGuiness

Thanks for the well thought out post. I’ve got a monster DL with a gold and a platinum quick jump DE’s and a DT with good disruptor. My rush LB is the former #1 recruit run stopper but I can’t remember his abilities off the top of my head. As far as running goes, he really only ran QB draws and took it outside. I think his QB had mid to high 80’s speed and just took it outside the tackles every run. His QB is very agile so getting to him and making the tackle is tough. I’m thinking I may just run man press the whole game and hope my safeties make plays. Both of my safeties have ball hawk and house call so maybe I let him try to beat me over the top.

My suggestion would be to invite the QB run. I believe you can set your DL to "contain" which would hopefully keep him from getting outside your tackles. Cover-2 Man or Cover-4 Palms should theoretically keep you protected deep while also in position for the screens. If your opponent wants to run for 5-yards a carry all the way down the field and get his QB hit 20 times a game, I'd let him. Odds are either wear-and-tear will start to affect his QB, or he'll eventually take a shot downfield. When he does take a shot hopefully your deep safeties can make a play, get an interception or at least break up the pass and get him behind the chains.

[bigcgt27]

I second the strategy to steer the opponent towards QB runs. They will likely gash you early on but will eventually get to a high wear and tear situation which will affect their ability to make the passes needed for that offense.

I speak from experience in that I would run the offense, and the QB would eventually get to the point where THP was -18 or something ridiculous, leading to INTs on a wide open deep route where the WR easily beat his man initially.

The strategy is based on staying patient and not panicking or getting antsy. At some point your opponent will likely chase stats or force something leading to a turnover.

[GruffyMcGuiness]

One issue is we don’t have wear and tear on so punishing the QB doesn’t really help

[PDuncanOSU]

Quote: Originally Posted by GruffyMcGuiness

One issue is we don’t have wear and tear on so punishing the QB doesn’t really help

First off, I would suggest turning Wear-and-tear on. In that National Title game Notre Dame had a great first drive running their QB. They couldn't do that all game though because he was taking a beating. The system in-game isn't perfect but I do think it keeps things a bit more realistic.

Even without the wear-and-tear though I think my strategy is sound. Play a lot of cover-2 man. The defenders being pressed on the receivers should slow down his screen game. The 2 safeties deep should help on the deep throws. It seems unlikely he will be content to just keep running the QB all game.

[GruffyMcGuiness]

Quote: Originally Posted by PDuncanOSU

First off, I would suggest turning Wear-and-tear on. In that National Title game Notre Dame had a great first drive running their QB. They couldn't do that all game though because he was taking a beating. The system in-game isn't perfect but I do think it keeps things a bit more realistic. Even without the wear-and-tear though I think my strategy is sound. Play a lot of cover-2 man. The defenders being pressed on the receivers should slow down his screen game. The 2 safeties deep should help on the deep throws. It seems unlikely he will be content to just keep running the QB all game.

Definitely going to give it a shot. I’m fine with 5 yards QB draws and that’s the strategy he goes with, I’ll turn on aggressive tackling and stripping. Both of my safeties are ball hawks and have great speed so I’ll just rely on them and hope for the best.

Thanks for the advice!