Espn vs. Madden against running QB's

[buket]

(I apologize for the cut and paste, but I want to get as much input from as many sources as I can)

I have purchased ESPN and I have played a few games online with my brother and they have been excellent. Both of us try to follow the basic procedures for NFL football but I have been very disappointed with the tactics other players use online. For one thing, the QB spy does NOT work. The most frustrating games come against Atlanta and Philly and Minnesota players. In those games I am able to defend against their runs and pass plays rather effectively and then they pull out the "send 'em deep and run the QB play". I kinda expected it, and then knew it was coming because those guys were consistent in this "abuse". I would play a zone and have ALL THREE LB's (In 4-3, I knew what they were doing) set to spy the QB (I think only one of them will do it, I'm not sure if you can assign more than one to the QB but I damn sure tried). However, these running QB's consistently and effectively outran and abused first the O-Line, then the LB's, and in McNabb and Cullpepper's case- they ran over the DB's.

I know I'm whining about this and it sounds silly, but my last game against a Philly player was exceedingly frustrating as I would stop his deep bombs to Owens, stop his running game, and on 3rd down McNabb would routinely run for 12 yards. I was completely unable to stop it (If I switched to a 5lb defense he would just pass it to Owens who was set to run deep and MUST be double teamed). I switch between the Dolphins and Panthers (prefer Dolphins but with all the recent news I can't bear to run the ball with Ricky). I don't think it is a defensive thing, I tried taking control of the DE's, LB's, Safety's... to no avail- the LB's are too slow, and the DB's are too far away (remember, they send their WR's deep) and the D-Line mostly get swallowed up by the O-Line.

Is the above scenario going to be prevalent in Madden? I don't really care if someone wants to try it, but I want the game to provide a reasonably effective counter to, what is in my idea, this exploit of the running QB's.

(If anyone has some tips for countering this effectively in ESPN I'd be glad to try it out...)

Thanks.

[SportsK1NG]

yeah i have the same problem with scramblers.. you can shut down all the other parts of their offense and hten they can just scramble. i usually use a LB to spy manually but he just gets out run most of the time. and i dont want to take a saftey cus then he will pass it deep to that side. i would love to know a solution for it too.

oh and some people are going to come in here and say "qb spy works only in complete zone coverage and only if the QB scrambles right away, whatever whatever" i have tried it in zone plenty of times and the LB is always going off to do his on thing even if the QB does run he isnt there to stop him.

well in Madden they have the same QB spy but i think you can use it whenever you want on any formation, play, even with the Defensive Ends (as well as the LB, and maybe DBs, dont know). And they have this QB contain play/dline move where the 2 defensive ends pretend to pass rush the qb as if they where doing a spread d-line assignment and then they stop and wait for the QB to make the move. I havent seen it myself, but thats what it says in the review.

[buket]

Thanks for the quick response. Yeah, I've tried using the QB spy, and as I've seen complained about elsewhere- it doesn't work. I then tried controlling the LB (Z.Thomas or D.Morgan - Miami/Carolina) and they are really too slow compared to the QB to get to the outside in time to stop him. These guys pick the same "money" plays every time and it's like their checkdown is: Owens deep- RB outside (especially if I blitz outside LB to contain QB)- Scramble QB. I've read that playing a prevent D with one (or two?) of the extra DB's spying the QB would work but I swear QB spy doesn't work. Maybe setting the extra DB's to blitz the outside? I seriously want to work this out because it is squashing my enjoyment of this game- it seems that every online game is against one of those three teams and I don't fault people for playing with their favorite team, but for an obvious exploit with no answer.

[dbacks01]

Quote: Originally Posted by buket

Thanks for the quick response. Yeah, I've tried using the QB spy, and as I've seen complained about elsewhere- it doesn't work. I then tried controlling the LB (Z.Thomas or D.Morgan - Miami/Carolina) and they are really too slow compared to the QB to get to the outside in time to stop him. These guys pick the same "money" plays every time and it's like their checkdown is: Owens deep- RB outside (especially if I blitz outside LB to contain QB)- Scramble QB. I've read that playing a prevent D with one (or two?) of the extra DB's spying the QB would work but I swear QB spy doesn't work. Maybe setting the extra DB's to blitz the outside? I seriously want to work this out because it is squashing my enjoyment of this game- it seems that every online game is against one of those three teams and I don't fault people for playing with their favorite team, but for an obvious exploit with no answer.

What I do against scrambling qbs online is I usually call a blitz with the lb or a db from the other side of the field I will defend the other side with the safety or a lb I will kind of spy or play a zone with my guy just to let the qb know I am waiting for him if he trys to run not bragging but I have beat all of the cheesey qb scramblers I have faced so far my online record is 15-1 my gametag ps2 is ravend52 Iplay str8 ball if you guys want to play hit me up for a game.

[SportsK1NG]

the thing with the blitz to one side is they usually run into a blocker when they blitz so it doesnt really cover that side of the field too well.

i figure the best way to stop a qb is to use a LB/DB not in coverage (like in blitz) and just hold the strafe button and back up say 5-10 yards from the LOS and strafe with the QB and let him come close before you go to get him because if you run at him he will be able to run it right past you if you dont have the perfect angle.

[dbacks01]

Quote: Originally Posted by SportsK1NG

the thing with the blitz to one side is they usually run into a blocker when they blitz so it doesnt really cover that side of the field too well. i figure the best way to stop a qb is to use a LB/DB not in coverage (like in blitz) and just hold the strafe button and back up say 5-10 yards from the LOS and strafe with the QB and let him come close before you go to get him because if you run at him he will be able to run it right past you if you dont have the perfect angle.

The blocker thing I have found if you are blitzing a lb move him slightly wider or have you defensive lineman rush in fanout to occupy the blocker, another thing is when you pick up your opponets tendencies to see what side he likes to run on then you can adjust your blitz or coverage to match also to buy you some time if he comes out five wide back up your dbs in coverage if you can you will give up a little underneath coverage but negate the big play.

[SportsK1NG]

when you play online (against a cheeser that is) and they play 5 wide thats exactly what they hope you do.. back up all your DBs so they have that space to scramble even earlier.

i just control a LB at all times.. and wander the field trying to stop the slants and qb scrambling and play the run if i need too.

[TombSong]

I use the Saints when I play online and I scramble when there is no one open. Thats not cheese. However, This game definately needs QB spy plays and or that QB spy feature fixed. People do abuse it alot online.