[bdubbs]

This is some really great info. In my specific case I have a 34 defense with a NT of 95 run D and starting DE's with 68 and 71 run D ratings and 2 starting lbs with run D ratings over 90 so I feel like I should have a decent run D.

A couple of questions since you seem to have a better understanding of how the defense works than I do.

When you talk about understanding gaps and how distance is calculated by position type are you talking about the defensive philosophy section of the help file where it breaks down the different defenses and tells you which DL are 1 and 2 gap defenders? From what I've gathered from that section if a player is a 2 gap defender then the PD bar is more important than a 1 gap defender, but that's about all the insight I've gotten from it. If there's something else I'm missing here if you could elaborate or point me to the right spot in the help section that'd be much appreciated.

I'm assuming your matching up your defenders on specific receivers just based on the knowledge that lets say... the opposing slot receiver runs a lot of screen routes and the X runs deeper routes so you might play your best bump and run corner as your nickel CB and your taller M2M CB in the RCB slot for that week?

Just curious how do you feel about formation weaknesses? For example I mentioned I have a pretty solid group of run defenders, my DL all have the appropriate size for their positions. My front is a 34 eagle to my NT is a 1tch and my LDE is in the 4i so both should be 1 gap defenders so lack of PD shouldn't hurt them quite as much as other fronts, my RDE has good PD and decent run D but they were still giving up 155yds / game and 5.5 ypc until this most recent week where I played a team in full rebuild mode and snuffed out their offense. Until then I had been running a lot of cover 1 against the run in 113 so I can't help but assume the formation weakness has to play a role there.

I think my best bet is to move into more cover 2. I have 1 CB who is excellent in man, and only 1 other who can really hang in man, and my nickel CB who has been giving up so many catches is pretty bad in man (40) but can hang in zone with a 74, nobody in that group really has great bump and run skills which is why I usually don't play too much press, and my reserves are all kind of okay at everything but not great at anything.

Also just curious what are your thoughts on blitzing? From a 34 I've always just assumed you want to be bringing at least 1 blitzer every down so you have at least a 4 man rush, but I'm usually hesitant to bring more. Even with the pass rush choice set to generally in the game details screen I feel like my team blitzes CBs more often than I'd like and my extra rusher rarely disrupts a play despite my LBs having at least 1 good pass rush bar all around.

Its especially annoying not being able to choose a blitzer because I have an 83 ovr WLB with 90+ pass rush bars but I can't get him to blitz nearly as much as I'd like so I've been thinking about bringing 5 more often to give him more chances rushing the passer