Need help with Defensive Play Calls

[UserFOF9]

I am calling the plays for my Defense, and am having a lot of difficulty stopping the run. My team runs a True 34 Defense.

I have read through the manual trying to figure out what the hell I am doing, but obviously have not had much success.

As I understand it, all of the plays that I can call (Cov-1 Press, Cov-2 Zone, Cov-4 Match Press, etc...) are Pass coverages. We don't have the ability to call Run coverages. I have read about these coverages in the manual but still don't really understand the following:

1. Which of the available plays for the True 34 would be most effective against the run? I try calling like a Cov-0 Press or a Cov-1 Press when I think the Offense will call a run. I understand that I need a good nose tackle with the True 34, which may be part of my problem.

2. It seems that with the True 34 I have someone blitzing on every play. How do I add additional blitzers? If the play has Rush 4 for example, I just change it to Rush 5 I guess?

3. Sometimes during a game, after I select a Defensive play call, if I hold the mouse over the play there is a pop-up that shows my play call and apparently the Offensive formation. Is this correct? I have noticed that other times this pop-up does not show the Offensive formation, why?

I sure would appreciate some help on this. Thanks!

[UserFOF9]

Well I think that I answered my own question No. 3 -

"When a play begins, the offense chooses a personnel package consisting of running backs, tight ends and wide receivers. Since the defense does not know the play call, with the exception of certain third- and fourth-down or late-game situations, the personnel package on offense determines the personnel on defense."

[Gallifrey]

In the world of real football I have used a spy (LB) to keep a good back or running QB under control.

My LBs were the strength of my running defense. A strong NT would eat up blockers allowing my LBs to close the gaps.

Saying that, I didn't like the 34 because it seems more difficult to find good LBs than DLs that can keep the blockers occupied. I liked a strong DT combo, quick DEs to wrap the ends, and a MLB that can tackle and get off blocks. To reinforce when the offense was strong with the run my safeties would come up to support. Classic stuff.

So in FOF I would think of that concept. If your NT is weak, and is easier to discard by the OL, your LBs will get the blockers. Makes me want to test all this, I have been into OC with FOF9.

[UserFOF9]

@Gallifrey

Thanks for your feedback, makes sense. I played other sports but never organized football; just "sandlot" in the neighborhood. So, I really don't know much about football play calling.

It would be great if you can get into playing as Defensive Coordinator and let us know your impressions.

Kind of based on my understanding of the manual, my primary problem may be the quality of my players and their suitability for each position. I need to go through and look at each of my starter's profiles and see how they match up to the suggested player qualities that are listed in the manual.

[Haiku]

You can hover over the 'i' icon on the strategy-defense screen for each defensive play to get an indication of how it fares against different offensive plays. Generally Cov-0 and Cov-1 are best for defending the run. Obviously you will need defenders with high run defense ratings to prevent the run, so keep that in mind when selecting your defensive lineups. During the game, you can hover over the plays and see the same chart with bars showing what they are effective against. Before the game I typically take a screenshot of the opposition's tendencies and film offense. You can see whether they prefer the run or the pass with certain personnel groups and on certain downs, which can help you predict what is coming. Of course, you can never be 100% sure, but that's the beauty of the game. Good luck.