Any hope for Man Defense?

[allhailben7]

Is there any way to get good coverage out of man-to-man defense?

I have based my whole defense on using man coverage CBs to stop the pass and DE/DT hybrids up the middle to stop the run in a 4-3 scheme... but there seems to be no way to get good, consistent play out of my CBs.

I have the 3rd and 9th best CBs in the entire NFL and my top 3 are all rated 90-95 in MCV, with a 4th CB coming in with 86 MCV.

I tried Charter04's sliders... held Philip Rivers to 17-31 with 4 INTs, but he had 325 yards. Next game, Gabbert went 20-33, 393 YDS, 3TD 2INT.

Tried the Penalty research ones on here... Roethlisberger torched me for 285 YDS and 3 TDs on 22-24 before I quit.

Tried the "0/player ratings dictate" sliders...
Flacco went 22-32 for 373 2TD 1INT.
Russell Wilson went 26-32 for 196 2TD 1INT.

Is there any slider set that actually makes man defense playable? Joe Haden, Tim Jennings, Trumaine Johnson and 82 OVR Rookie Bradley Roby are getting burned almost every single play.

[maademperor]

I've noticed the same but thought it was me (my CBs arent that good) but I found that they lock up if I manually shadow a guy with a safety....like the AI knows I'm watching and plays better or follows my lead.

I also found that getting the pass rush going helps a great deal with getting the QB to throw earlier than they should and that helps out my CBs as they are still with the WR

[filtertmp]

If you play man every play the CPU will adapt and start throwing man-beating routes.. at that point it doesn't matter how good your corners are, comebacks, double moves and scramble drills will get your cbs for big yardage.

The better your corners, the better your chance of getting picks but you'll still hemorrhage yards because the cpu playcalling will attack man.

You have to mix zone into your playcalling, even if you don't do it often.

Either go with a tic-tac-toe style of playcalling to keep the CPU from attacking your man def all the time, or tweak your sliders to make it easier if you don't want to change your style.

[GoinCakeless]

So you threw 4 INTs and still saw a problem with that? Check the real NFL stats....

[Sturzinator]

Getting pressure on the QB is the big one in making your man coverage more effective. Mixing in some other coverages, as previously stated will also help.

It can be frustrating, but it is an improvement over the days when you could throw in a couple of FA retreads at CB and shut everybody down by simply calling a straight up 2 man under every play. EA may have just swung the pendulum a tad too far in the other direction this go around.

I am sure they will have it nailed down by Madden 50....maybe...

[allhailben7]

Quote: Originally Posted by GoinCakeless

So you threw 4 INTs and still saw a problem with that? Check the real NFL stats....

No. I actually have thrown 11 TDs and 6INTs through 4 games, and I have no problem with offensive turnovers... It's the fact that my defense is 32nd in the league with an 86 or 87 rating. It's probably the most physically gifted and talented "Bend but don't break" defense the league has ever seen at this point. I have 5 starters on defense rated over 90 and only 3 rated below an 86 and no one below 81. My DEs are 94 and 91 and I get 3-4 sacks per game with them and sending some safety and CB blitzes.

The problem is that my CBs can cause turnovers from time to time, but it seems to be either INT or a completion, no actual good coverage while the CPU can get some good honest coverage against me.

[allhailben7]

Tried again, with CPU QB Acc at 11.

Used my custom playbook this time. Switched up defenses, running man-to-man, man blitzes, overload blitzes, zone blitzes and almost every type of zone out of 4-3, 2-3-6, Dime, Nickel (PSYCHO, NASCAR, 3DE, 4-1-6)...

Roethlisberger this time: 28-39, 405 yards, 2TD 2INT and got sacked 4 times. One TD was on a Hail Mary in garbage time... other than that, he was 27-38, 348 yards 1TD 2INT.

Haden was constantly getting beat by Heath Miller in heavier formations, yet got an INT in press coverage... Actually press coverage did wonders at the end of the game, as long as I user'd Tim Jennings, who is a 68 Press. This was the only defense that really worked as the other INT came as I switched to an out of position safety as Big Ben was about to hit a 30 yard bomb against cover 6, zones to sidelines. Dude had only the safety near him, who barely made it there from 15-20 yards away for a great clutch INT.

[Robrain]

Against the CPU on All Pro I run the Nickel / Wide 9 , down once, middle play. From the Seahawks playbook.

Not sure what it is off the top of my head (some kind of Press coverage play), but it's one safety (SS I think) deep and another covering the short middle area about 10-15 yards deep. I alternate ushering the different safeties, including mixing in blitzes usering them. It takes some getting used to, and the biggest thing you have to fear from the CPU is the 10 yard Go Route when they magically toast your 90+ overall Press / Man CB.

Usually figure out who their #1 WR is and post your safety over the top off him to help greatly reduce that BS.

It's pretty great at stopping most running plays if you react with the safety fast enough and have good DTs/DEs. You don't need pass rushers to stop the run from this formation.