How do you stop the post / drag / slant combo?

[Franchise408]

So I play in an online league, we're in our 3rd season of this year's game, and now I am struggling mightily this season. And a huge reason why is because of my defense, or lack thereof. I am completely vulnerable to the 3 WR on one side set, running combos of slants / drags / posts / crossing patterns / etc. It seems like nothing I try can stop this. I've tried all different sorts of zone combinations, I've tried user controlling various different defenders, but it's the same thing everytime. And on the occasion that I am able to close it up, I just get beat with the TE on a corner or flat route.

Anyone have any tips for beating this?

[Trick13]

Quote: Originally Posted by Franchise408

So I play in an online league, we're in our 3rd season of this year's game, and now I am struggling mightily this season. And a huge reason why is because of my defense, or lack thereof. I am completely vulnerable to the 3 WR on one side set, running combos of slants / drags / posts / crossing patterns / etc. It seems like nothing I try can stop this. I've tried all different sorts of zone combinations, I've tried user controlling various different defenders, but it's the same thing everytime. And on the occasion that I am able to close it up, I just get beat with the TE on a corner or flat route. Anyone have any tips for beating this?

Dime/Dollar cover 3, hot route the blue zones to purple zones, take the DE on the side of the three WRs and back him off and hold him in the quick slant area by using "strafe", once the slant has gone by you can switch players, or if you are in no switch league try bring the deep middle safety down and clog the slant then try to sprint with the drag route...


Then switch it up with zone blitzes and man blitzes where you use strafe to clog the slant read then go after the QB.


My guess is that you are making it too easy on your opponent by using the same defense repeatedly - mixing up your calls, blitzing from unusual positions and dropping DL randomly can really frustrate idiots who run these "system" offenses.


It will take practice but if you focus on taking that away and mixing up your defensive calls you will get it.


The other thing you can do is know your audibles - call a man defense and wait til the last second to audible to a zone or vice versa - your opponents most likely have the "tells" all figured out and are making pre-snap reads - timely audibles can bait these guys into mistakes and sometimes easy pick 6 opportunities!

[Franchise408]

Thorough response. I will look into all of that. Thank you for the tips!

[Franchise408]

Just as an update - I played my most recent league game this morning, and while it wasn't an opponent than runs those route combos that I hate, it is an opponent that I have struggled with greatly, in large part because he knows how to work underneath routes on me and get big gains.

I used some of these tips and tricks, and it did help net me a victory, which have been hard to come by for me this season for some reason, and a victory against a hated division rival, one whom I haven't scored a win against since season 1. The drawback was, after the first possession he swapped QB's, and that QB didn't have an incompletion until the final drive. But despite the high completion percentage, I also was able to get some major sacks on him due to coverage, and many of his completions were kept short for minimal yardage. It also came up huge with forcing 3 straight incompletions from the 1 yard line, which would have tied the game with no time left, forcing overtime.

So how much of my success today was these new defensive tips, and how much of it was just coincidental timing with a good overall showing, I don't know. But at the very least, I added some new defensive tools to my toolbox, and quite frankly, that's NEVER a bad thing. Defense has historically been my weakness for as long as I've been playing football video games. So anything that helps me in that department is more than welcome.

[ggsimmonds]

Personnel is extremely important. One of my most important things is to have corners that can press.

Press the WRs and user a middle zone defender.

However your pass rush needs to be good enough to get to the QB before too long. If it is a drag route you can be certain that by the time the WR reaches the opposite end of the field he will be open.

To add to what Trick said, also try running a few combo plays. A basic example that I think most people run is versus a 3x1 set, come out in cover 3 and man up versus the backside WR. But experiment and make changes based on your personnel and your opponents personnel/tendencies.

It does not need to be too fancy, I once had success in my Ravens CFM (switched to a 4-3 w/ Suggs as a DE). I would come out in a basic zone, audible Suggs to a hook zone and man up Mosley versus the TE. Not as a base defense type of thing, maybe only did that 3 times, but if you constantly change things up guys will get confused. But it cannot be random! Make changes that work for your team.

Crossing routes are very difficult to defend. The best defense is probably the pass rush and jumping the route with a robber. Corner routes are a tad too effective in Madden because the QBs are still too accurate. This is something Madden needs to improve -- in real life some passes are much harder to complete than others. Currently if a QB has 80 medium accuracy it affects all passes the same.

Also something I found to be underutilized in Madden is the disguised coverages. Use them. I use something of a system offense and when my presnap read does not match what the defense does it creates problems.

[slimdagreat]

another option is if you are playing man coverage, try shading his coverage to the inside to mix it up.

Still use some the tips some of the others have used, but mix in some man coverage as well.

[Godgers12]

I wish I had your problem, I can shut those down. I ten to struggle against streaks to super human 6'4"-6'6" WR's. If the DB is in front of the WR they're do a bullet streak, behind and it's a lob sreak. I have a 6'6" 98 spd 96 jump 95 spc 99 cth 97 cit WR, so I'm guilty of throwing 5-8 streaks a game my self, but my God they're hard to stop, what's frustrating is that you'll have perfect coverage and a S over the top, and he will make a 1 handed catch or just out jump everyone.

[Trick13]

Quote: Originally Posted by Godgers12

I wish I had your problem, I can shut those down. I ten to struggle against streaks to super human 6'4"-6'6" WR's. If the DB is in front of the WR they're do a bullet streak, behind and it's a lob sreak. I have a 6'6" 98 spd 96 jump 95 spc 99 cth 97 cit WR, so I'm guilty of throwing 5-8 streaks a game my self, but my God they're hard to stop, what's frustrating is that you'll have perfect coverage and a S over the top, and he will make a 1 handed catch or just out jump everyone.

If you feel, instinctual gut feeling that is coming, call a play with man coverage and hot route someone in zone to double, hot route coverage "over the top" and do not press - press coverage is the most overused aspect within Madden, in particular avoid press in cov 1/zero situations, better to "show blitz" which puts DBs at the LOS but with no press attempt.

Press coverage requires a good pass rush, which tends to be difficult in M15 without sacrificing coverage in terms of numbers - so I say experiment with different things outside of that and find better success...

...unless you have Sherman/Peterson types - I can't say, but I would think they would be a PITA to get off press against.