Gameplan Help

[MikeVic]

I was wondering if someone could point me to the right path...

I am using Jacksonville in an online multiplayer league. My defense has good DTs, decent DEs, a superstar MLB and some decent OLBs, good safeties, and shitty CBs. It seems as if a lot of teams run on me, and do a decent job. When they pass, though, they have breakout games. :P Is there anyway to use my strengths to mask my weaknesses?

On offense, my O-line sucks, and so that hinders everything. When I do auto gameplan setup, it seems as though I am a passing team. Leftwich has had some horrible games, but my WRs are deep. Fred Taylor has a nice YPC average too, so I was wondering hou would setup the gameplan to use my offense?

Thanks.

[Warhammer]

Originally Posted by MikeVic

I was wondering if someone could point me to the right path...

I am using Jacksonville in an online multiplayer league. My defense has good DTs, decent DEs, a superstar MLB and some decent OLBs, good safeties, and shitty CBs. It seems as if a lot of teams run on me, and do a decent job. When they pass, though, they have breakout games. :P Is there anyway to use my strengths to mask my weaknesses?

On offense, my O-line sucks, and so that hinders everything. When I do auto gameplan setup, it seems as though I am a passing team. Leftwich has had some horrible games, but my WRs are deep. Fred Taylor has a nice YPC average too, so I was wondering hou would setup the gameplan to use my offense?

Thanks.

How many good WRs do you have? On offense, I would look at Leftwich's passing bands, and throw a lot of passes in that range. Try going to a single back set to maximize the use of your WRs.

On defense, screw the basic gameplan for your pass coverages. Figure out what coverage works best for your DBs and play a lot of that coverage. If there is a second coverage they play well, mix that in a bit. If you are running a 3-4 defense, make sure to boost your blitz % to 95%.

[gstelmack]

Originally Posted by Warhammer

On offense, I would look at Leftwich's passing bands, and throw a lot of passes in that range.

One of my FOF irks is that these don't match up. QB bands are on nice, even, 10-yard breaks, while gameplanning uses odd yardage for them.

[Warhammer]

They don't match up exactly, but you can get them close enough to work well.

[MikeVic]

Originally Posted by Warhammer

How many good WRs do you have? On offense, I would look at Leftwich's passing bands, and throw a lot of passes in that range. Try going to a single back set to maximize the use of your WRs.

On defense, screw the basic gameplan for your pass coverages. Figure out what coverage works best for your DBs and play a lot of that coverage. If there is a second coverage they play well, mix that in a bit. If you are running a 3-4 defense, make sure to boost your blitz % to 95%.

I believe Jimmy Smith and Reggie Williams can be considered good. Troy Edwards is a good #3 I believe. Plus I have Matt Jones, Ernest Wilford, and Jermaine Lewis (big play receiving)... Leftwich seems to be the best at deep passes, followed by medium and long passes. But none of my WR seem to be very good at getting downfield... heh. I'll still try those three though.

I run a 4-3 since I have two stud DTs... I'll look at the bars of my secondary to see what they play the best.

[MIJB#19]

Originally Posted by MikeVic

I believe Jimmy Smith and Reggie Williams can be considered good. Troy Edwards is a good #3 I believe. Plus I have Matt Jones, Ernest Wilford, and Jermaine Lewis (big play receiving)... Leftwich seems to be the best at deep passes, followed by medium and long passes. But none of my WR seem to be very good at getting downfield... heh. I'll still try those three though.

Getting downfield = yards after catch
Big-play = ability to catch deep and long passes

[yabanci]

Originally Posted by MikeVic

I believe Jimmy Smith and Reggie Williams can be considered good. Troy Edwards is a good #3 I believe. Plus I have Matt Jones, Ernest Wilford, and Jermaine Lewis (big play receiving)... Leftwich seems to be the best at deep passes, followed by medium and long passes. But none of my WR seem to be very good at getting downfield... heh. I'll still try those three though.

I run a 4-3 since I have two stud DTs... I'll look at the bars of my secondary to see what they play the best.

Just be careful about bumping up the long and deep passes too much. Even if your QB is great in those categories, you'll be in for a lot of hurries, sacks, incompletions, and interceptions if you slant it too heavily on the deep side.

The completion percentages for short, medium, and long passes in FOF are pretty constant. Scrolling through the scouting report will show that virtually all teams fall within these ranges:

Short: 65-75%
Med: 50-60%
long: 25-40%

The trick is finding the right balance, and to do that you have to look at your QB, receivers, OL, and cohesion ratings to determine how aggressive you can be with a longer passing game.