Is online play cheap?

[thorne666]

I'll be the first to say that this game is spectacular in almost every way, but when I play on line(which is all I play)I get soooo frustrated with the way offenses seem so difficult to stop.
Most of the time when I'm scored on, it's a play that I feel should only go for 10 or 15 yards, but it ends up being a TD. After a while, the game feels more like a shoot-out than a strategic struggle.
If I'm off base here, forgive me, but I would like to hear from the people who only play this game on line only.
what you guys' take on this?

[washamur]

I've played online quite a few times, and the majority of the time gotten my arse handed to me ... not because it became a "offensive shootout", but because I'm still quite the newb at this.

I'm so used to having my way with the CPU on any setting that I forget that playing another human being takes a whole different type of strategy ... I try my "money-plays" and they fail ... I try to pound it down the middle, eating up the clock ... and eventually I'm stopped.

.. but I don't get frustrated, I take it as a learning tool and keep trying to get better ... I've NEVER dropped a game, nor will I ... I'll take my losses 1 at a time, knowing fair well when I do win a game ... it will just be that much sweeter!

[thorne666]

I guess your right, man, I'll just have to keep rollin' with the whoopins! I just get so damned vexxed with the way the backs seem to run through my D. I need help.

[TCrouch]

It's definitely possible to hold offenses in check, but the biggest key is to get out of "video game football" mode. You have to call safe defenses or you're going to give up the big play. Man to man leaves you vulnerable to a single-broken-tackle-breakaway-run. Pick your spots to blitz, and try to change your alignments in the secondary.

Big thing: change your DL play. If you twist, stunt, shift, and pick different lineplay options other than "base", the O-Line will have a harder time protecting. As much as it seems like the offense is unstoppable, you'll eventually hit a game where you find a zone, and it keeps rolling from there.

[RawRebel]

I might just have to order that.