Mixing Things Up

[jeronemitchell]

In playing around with my team, I've observed that teams seem to perform better if you mix up any given set of possibilities instead of simply sticking to one's strengths. For example, if your tackles are very good but your inside blocking is mediocre, you do better running a large, but minority percentage of running plays towards the middle rather than putting, say, 70% of your plays to the outside.

Has anyone else noticed this? How much of an effect do you find utilizing your weaknesses has when dealing with

(a) OLine running percentages
(b) linebacker/secondary blitzing percentages
(c) formation usage
(d) depth of passing percentages

How do you decide how to split things if you do mix it up? For example, for formations, I look at what my QB knows, and rate the formation as Total Run, Run +, Mixed, Pass +, or Total Pass. From there, I assign a weight value based on the situation (for example, in extreme pass, Total pass may be 3, Pass + may be 2, and Mixed is 1). From there, I assign the weight in the boxes, and let the game balance out the percentages.

Has anyone else done anything similar, or markedly different enough to toss out as an idea?

[Buzzbee]

Mixing things up is good. It has been demonstrated that if you run over the same hole repeatedly, the play becomes less and less effective. The message "the defense looked familiar with that play" is what is typically seen as the reason for this. Therefore, it is important to balance out your strengths with your weaknesses. Otherwise you become too predictable.

I've even known people to focus on their weaknesses so that when they do utilize their strengths they get more bang for their buck. In addition, in multiplayer this can be an effective way to neutralize someone who focuses on countering your strengths. For example, assume you have a stud LT and LG. You're opponent might try to offset this by putting his best DE and DT on the right side of the D line. Therefore, running more to the RT and RG might actually be more effective since you are running toward weaker defensive players. You always run the risk of outsmarting yourself, but this can be an effective approach.

Also, it has the benefit that if focusing on your weaknesses early in the game results in success, you can utilize your strengths in the fourth quarter to hold a lead. Likewise if you are behind, you won't have used your strengths to the point where the D is "familiar with that play".

[jeronemitchell]

I actually tried that playing around with things (flipping my run percentage sides in the fourth quarter) and it didn't work as well. Weird.