Help with setting up team

[jdros13]

As you play more, you will figure out where you want those golds....

For me personally, I use both golds on D, and usually 2 of my silvers as well. I have always used at least a Bronze QB, but I finally gave a generic guy a go last night and really liked it (gave me an extra spot to use on D, and didn't really impact my offense). The gold QBs are definitely better, but if you wind up running an offense centered around short throws and ball control it doesn't make a whole lot of difference. I've typically gone with 2 gold CBs most of the time, but I liked this set up last night....

Gold:
D. Lane (CB)
D. Butkus (LB)

Silver:
J. Youngblood (DE)
J. Brown (DT)
K. Jackson (TE)

Bronze:
D. Saleamua (DT)
T. McDaniel (CB)
C. Okoye (RB)
A. Carter (WR)
C. Branch (WR)
R. Moore (WR)

I will probably try a slightly different combo with R. White or D. Jones (gold) and G. Lloyd or Tuggle (Silver) replacing Butkus and Youngblood, but it's the same idea. Youngblood was really good BTW, and Butkus discourages the run just by being on the field.

A good DLine, coupled with zone defense can make the gold QBs irrelevant, since they get pressure on the QB before they can wait for the WRs to find the open spots (especially once you figure out where your opponent wants to go)....if you are very good at playing defense manually though, you might prefer to go with a gold offense and bronze defense....that's what is great about this game.

[RogueHominid]

Lloyd would scare me more than Butkus, odd as that may sound. Butkus can get caught in the wash sometimes, but I've never played a game against Lloyd where he didn't dominate. I'd be scared into mistakes by your defense, man, especially with my one-legend o-line.

[jdros13]

Quote: Originally Posted by Trojan Man

Lloyd would scare me more than Butkus, odd as that may sound. Butkus can get caught in the wash sometimes, but I've never played a game against Lloyd where he didn't dominate. I'd be scared into mistakes by your defense, man, especially with my one-legend o-line.

I definitely fear Lloyd more myself....he is the one LB I hate to see lining up against me.

I do have some great defensive games as well...I have pitched a few shutouts and had lots of really competitive games with scores in the teens. You are right about being 'scared into mistakes'....guys seem to make dumb throws against a good defense (since they wind up getting pressured, and I play centerfield with a generic LB to protect the soft spots). One thing I liked about this set up last night (with D. Lane and T. McDaniel) was that my opponent started picking on McDaniel when he was on the wide side of the field. I simply swapped CBs at the playcalling screen the next time I thought he would do it, so D. Lane was over there, and sure enough, next play was a pick (I'm sure he didn't notice I had done that till it was too late, since Lane had been lined up on the left side, opposite J. Rice the whole game).

For me, I like my high quality guys on Defense, and I try to use 'quantity' at the offensive skill positions to get good matchups I can exploit. Works most of the time for me.

I've tried lots of different combos too (including using my golds on offense), and I can't find anything better for me.

[RogueHominid]

Nice stragegy on the corner switch, jdros. I did the same thing to a guy the other night when he started going after McDaniel (I've got him and Willie Brown), and had the same result. I had a sixth sense the entire game about where he'd go, and I think I had Brown on the side he'd decided to go to pre-snap around 70 percent of the time. I'm sure the guy thought I had duplicated Brown It's a really nice strategic move when you know guys aren't paying attention to who's where on the field and when they're not spreading the ball around. Honestly, though, I could hardly fault my opponent, as I'm scared to death to throw at Willie Brown myself!

[DJ]

Here's the team I just came up with:

Gold:
DT Art Donovan
FS Cliff Harris

Silver
MLB Jessie Tuggle
CB Mel Renfro
QB Randall Cunningham

Bronze
T Joe Jacoby
G Steve Wisniewski
RB Christian Okoye
TE Eric Green
CB Terry McDaniel
DE Clyde Simmons

Only played 1 game with this team so far. Lost 21-14 after Andre Reed caught a 50-yard Hail Mary from Bart Starr off a tip by Renfro. I was pissed, but it was a cool-looking play. My offense was actually pretty balanced, but the big plays were mostly from the running game. My run D was off the charts, allowing just 9 yards on 25 carries. Also had 3 sacks but did give up 3-4 big passes.

[RogueHominid]

Some nice picks there. I just checked Renfro out, and I like him. Everyone goes with Barney at Silver, but Renfro is good, and he plays really fast. I'm also a big Cliff Harris fan. How has Tuggle worked out? I still prefer Lloyd or Bednarik because of the MLB getting stuck in trash issue, but I've always like Tuggle's attribute set.

[DJ]

Quote: Originally Posted by Trojan Man

Some nice picks there. I just checked Renfro out, and I like him. Everyone goes with Barney at Silver, but Renfro is good, and he plays really fast. I'm also a big Cliff Harris fan. How has Tuggle worked out? I still prefer Lloyd or Bednarik because of the MLB getting stuck in trash issue, but I've always like Tuggle's attribute set.

Yeah, I really like Renfro so far, even if he did cost me a game last night. He just seems to gravitate towards the ball, which is great.

Tuggle has been real good. He's awesome against the run, especially when I control Donovan or another DT and open up a lane for him to get a free shot at the RB. He's also good in pass coverage. He had an INT in my last game, dropping back into a zone and making a nice catch in front of a TE.

[RogueHominid]

Quote: Originally Posted by Djwlfpack

Yeah, I really like Renfro so far, even if he did cost me a game last night. He just seems to gravitate towards the ball, which is great. Tuggle has been real good. He's awesome against the run, especially when I control Donovan or another DT and open up a lane for him to get a free shot at the RB. He's also good in pass coverage. He had an INT in my last game, dropping back into a zone and making a nice catch in front of a TE.

I've noticed that legend MLBs, though much maligned because of some programming issues noted elsewhere, can be key in zone pass defense. I can't tell you how many balls I've had batted down by legend MLBs who weren't in great position, but got just enough position and extension to make a play. I had a game where Speilman tipped like 4 balls--I was pissed, but it just goes to show that those guys can pay off.