Defending the spread/3+ WR

[CreatineKasey]

I'm really struggling to consistently stop the spread offense. I've now had numerous games where I'm in control only to have an opponent spread me out and pick apart my defense to come back and win games. To me these are games I should win handedly.

My strategy at this point in time (basically the strategy to stop a pass play - don't respect run lanes or spacing):

1) Positioning. Make sure you have all the WR's accounted for in zone. Man defense will have that already done for you. I've seen my defense get GOUGED by kids just snapping then throwing the ball immediately to an "uncovered" WR in the slot. This needs to be prevented first and foremost.

2) Confusion. The spread offense forces the defense to declare their defense. Against man defense, one can just run crossing routes and it is a guaranteed completion. Against zone, there are numerous tips to figure out the defense early, and because of the "positioning" aspect of needing WR's to have a man over them, it is really hard to disguise one's defense. Mixing in nickle defense has helped me with confusing the offense, but it pretty much declares zone.

3) Pressure. I think this has to be the linchpin to stopping the spread offense. Opponents have successfully dropped back 15-20 yards and still shredded my defense deep. This is the area I have the most to improve in. I have a few blitzes that work, but you have to disguise them. If you declare the blitz early, a good player will sling it to the flats or run a WR screen.

I need help! What else can I do?

My solution thought thus far: Use the ol' DB strike play, or something similar to it blitzing with a cover 1 behind it. The opponent really shouldn't be able to get the ball deep against a well choreographed blitz. Remember, they usually only have the 5 OL back there to block for the QB. A DB blitz could very well get in there free.

Another possible play: Dime 3-2 defense cover 2 soft (with the Dime back blitzing). You could probably slide the DL and pinch them to occupy the 4 OL nearest to the DB and then ideally the DB runs in free. Everyone is covered for a seam route, but WR screens and flats routes could still be open, amongst the usual cover 2 breakers with more time to throw.

Maybe run man defense rushing 4 and manually taking a "free" defender to take away the most appealing routes? I've done this somewhat in the past, but a good spread QB will run dual crosses, so it is a "pick your poison" situation.

Regardless, teams should really pay if they completely declare their offense like that. Maybe I just have to cover short routes and zone blitz the guy to death. Also, getting hook zones to cover 2 wide receivers could be another solution.

As you can tell... I'm really desperate... and angry lol.

[CreatineKasey]

Okay just played another online ranked match with the Steelers against the Eagles. I lost in the last seconds, but for the subject of this thread = I gave up 330+ yards passing, most in the second half. On a positive note I got a sweet interception on the goal line that got returned 90 yards by James Harrison in a goal line zone defense that confused my opponent and kept him shut out at the half.

I ran a heavy mix of standard dime, nickle 1-5-5 and some dime 3-2-5 mixed in. I wasn't able to get enough pressure in the second half, and whenever I changed gears it appeared to backfire. Deshea Townsend is a liability in man defense with his 80 speed.

He also just got used to what I was calling and ran a lot of a play where he had 4 WR tight and he ran 2 seam streaks and 2 corners by the outermost WR's and just waited until the hook zones were cleared and shredded the zone defense. Come to think of it maybe cover 4 and cover 2 man was more of a solution (with MAN LOCK!!! Epiphany!!!)

Okay another idea = run freaking MAN LOCK against balanced formations when in dime.

Again if anyone has particular advice no this subject, I'm all ears. Stopping the WR screens is getting easier and easier when you look for them, and now it is just a matter of having enough firepower to confuse the guy for 4 quarters. Right now I have a half's worth of material. Another good point: stay on the field so you don't have to show all your defenses.

[Drukman]

Stunting your Dline is very important. It can help you get pressure without necessarily needing to blitz on top of it. If you know your opponent is gonna pass, make your Dline fan out.

Some of the plays i use to stop people on passing downs: 3-3-5 cover 1. it has 2 yellow zones in the middle so it can defend against those nasty cross routes. 3-3-5 cover 3 flat is my go-to play in these situations. dollar cover 2 sink is a good play when your opponent needs to get 7-12 yards. theres no flat coverage, its just yellow zones across the entire field which makes it hard to find an open target.

Also, bump and run is important as well as positioning like you said. Sometimes you have to manually move a player over a WR to make sure your opponent doesn't do something quick or if your opponent has been beating your defender to a spot.

[TombSong]

Another thing is you have to keep in mind that at some point on every play someone is gonna be open.

You can call whatever defense you want and whatever blitzes. If your opponent can make the reads quick enough or knows how to counter what he is seeing he is gonna light you up.

Once you play someone that can do that and make adjustments on the fly, the best you can hope for is trying to confuse him, and mix up the pressure.

It sounds like you are looking for a scheme or plays that are gonna stop everything. That aint never gonna happen. Against opponents that cant adjust, yeah certain plays will shut them completely down, but against a guy that knows how to adjust, you are gonna have to call a whole lot of different stuff to shut them down.

[CreatineKasey]

Quote: Originally Posted by TombSong

Another thing is you have to keep in mind that at some point on every play someone is gonna be open. You can call whatever defense you want and whatever blitzes. If your opponent can make the reads quick enough or knows how to counter what he is seeing he is gonna light you up. Once you play someone that can do that and make adjustments on the fly, the best you can hope for is trying to confuse him, and mix up the pressure. It sounds like you are looking for a scheme or plays that are gonna stop everything. That aint never gonna happen. Against opponents that cant adjust, yeah certain plays will shut them completely down, but against a guy that knows how to adjust, you are gonna have to call a whole lot of different stuff to shut them down.

I hear ya. I'm looking really for a formation that just matches up well, because I think being in dollar doesn't work that well. In fact, to agree with what you wrote: no formation alone works well. You need to just keep confusing your opponent the entire game and never follow a heavy trend.

I was just growing very frustrated because I personally think man defense is great against spread offenses if they call zone-breaker plays, but if my opponent can just audible into crossing routes I'm screwed most the time. Man lock is the next step.

I may need to use some more nickle 3-3-5. I use 1-5-5 with great success, and that formation would throw yet another wrinkle at my opponent to keep him from knowing what I'm doing.

Again, man lock is the next step here I think! If my opponent can't audble to man breakers... things change quick.

[northface28]

One caveat with the odd man fronts (1-5-5 or 3-3-5) is you leave yourself susceptible to draws and other running plays. In your quest to stop the run do not neglect the run defense. I feel your pain, I got torched by this guy using the Cardinals, his passing game was as you described. Guys were wide open all over the place, the only way to slow this is to keep the other guys offense off the the field. Zone only works for so long before skilled passers find the holes.

[CreatineKasey]

Quote: Originally Posted by northface28

One caveat with the odd man fronts (1-5-5 or 3-3-5) is you leave yourself susceptible to draws and other running plays. In your quest to stop the run do not neglect the run defense. I feel your pain, I got torched by this guy using the Cardinals, his passing game was as you described. Guys were wide open all over the place, the only way to slow this is to keep the other guys offense off the the field. Zone only works for so long before skilled passers find the holes.

Yeah, guys don't commit to the run enough for me to respect them and get out of unbalanced fronts. For the topic of this thread I'm moreso just searching for complete pass killing defensive plays. You'd think if someone tips their hand so heavy that they give away the fact they are passing and passing from spread, I should be able to call plays that really make things hard on him. Balance is difficult to stop, predictability shouldn't be in my opinion.

I need to put in some 3-3-5 defense and put together some 5 man blitzes that get a guy running free off the edge at the QB.

[kingkilla56]

That 3-3-5 play with the two linebackers playing the middle of the field and all man everywhere else. Press cover if you have a stellar secondary.