I am horrible on defense. I NEED HELP!

[knick9mm]

When I play online, I give up like 40 points. I don't know what it is. Can anyone help me or am I doomed?

[lolfalconsbeatu]

lol perhaps it just isnt your fault....All of the scores have been a lot higher than usual, and a patch (which is supposed to drop at some point this week) is suppose to address the defense issues.

[knick9mm]

Well that makes me feel a little better

[blklightning]

what defense?

[JaymeeAwesome]

I'd recommend playing offline until the online defense is tweaked

[z4ckdabeast]

Call better plays and user the MLB. I've had several shutouts or near shutouts online.

[PGaither84]

When it comes to playing the game, here are some tips I have for sim-stlye play calling against the computer -Do's and Dont's:


Don't

• Call plays with 3 or fewer pass rushers. With the 3-4 defense, you should really have pass rushing defensive ends as it is, so limiting your pressure to only 3 non-pass rushing ends is just silly.
• Call plays with 7 or rushers. These plays do a good job of attacking the run. However, the computer QB with eat you alive and if the back gets a block or sheds a tackle, he will be in the secondary fast. The risk isn't worth the rare reward in my opinion.
• Call plays that have your defensive ends dropping back into coverage. This is realistic strategy that just won't work in Madden and wastes your time. In real life, the goal is to confuse the offensive line by replacing a defensive end with a linebacker or blitzing corner. In Madden, the line will not be confused. It is also intended to confuse the QB into thinking that it's safe to throw where the blitzing LB came from to his hot read, where instead he will likely throw a tiped pass at a lineman who dropped back into coverage. Again, you are not going to trick the computer QB. All you end up doing is putting big slow defensive linemen into coverage. Does that sound smart? Not to me. [I am not saying this is a bad tactic, it is bad to do in Madden]
• Call the same play more than three times if you can help it. I try to call every defensive play only once before I ever repeat a play call. Different formations count as a differnt call, there are only so many defensive schemes in football, less so in Madden.
• Play defense defensively.

Do

• Send at least 4 pass rushers on every play, seending 4 is not a blitz. 5 or 6 is a blitz.
• Be aware of your roster. Do you have linebackers who are better in zone than man coverage, or are strictly better at rushing the passer? Try to use formation packages or substitutions before you call your play. For example, if I want to call a cover 1 man under that has the OLB blitzing with my 49ers, I want my FS in zone coverage and I want Manny Lawson Blitzing, so i have to flip the play. However, I want Willis in Man and Spikes in the yellow hook zone, so I use formation package MLB flip and then flip the play to set this up. Another example, using the Jets I will call a base 4-2 nickle and select LB pass rush, which effectively turn the formation into a 2-4-5 nickle with my OLBs [incluing Jason taylor] at DE pass rushing. I will also often call the double X or Double slot out of this formation and press the coverage. This leaves Revis on Revis Island and gives Kyle Wilson or Cromartie help with the FS doubling a receiver. Lastly I will call the pres to rry and give time for the pass rush to get there.
• In the 3-4 defense, try a lot of cover 1 man under and cover 3 zone blitzes. In real life and in Madden, these have proven to be what the 3-4 and 3-3-5 Nickles do best. In contrast, the tampa two is the "best" way to call the 4-3, while the 46 is it's own scheme. The cover two isn't bad, but far less useful than the cover 1 or cover 3 in a 3-4 scheme. That is also why you rarely see cover two plays in the 3-4 playbooks. I don't know the reasoning, but that is what Ihave been told, and some of my worst/least favorite plays come from the cover two. I only mix them in to mix it up online.

A lot of these truths apply online as well. However, against another human, you can't stop them from cheesing. User control messes everything up in this game. EA wrote back when talking about Madden 10 how they want to "reward" user control and how any "user plays" get a boost of some sort to all the dice rolls. [For those who do not know, this game is run by dice rolls, and the ratings are simply modifiers to those dice rolls.] This means that when you take Adrian Peterson who already has insane numbers, and add user control, he is a super beast compared to a computer controleld AP. Add in all the gimicky acrady like stuff that is allowed to go on in Madden, and I really don't understand the point in playing ranked games. You get to a point where you aren't really playing football, you are playing Madden.

[EmmittSmithx22x]

Quote: Originally Posted by PGaither84

A lot of these truths apply online as well. However, against another human, you can't stop them from cheesing. User control messes everything up in this game. EA wrote back when talking about Madden 10 how they want to "reward" user control and how any "user plays" get a boost of some sort to all the dice rolls. [For those who do not know, this game is run by dice rolls, and the ratings are simply modifiers to those dice rolls.] This means that when you take Adrian Peterson who already has insane numbers, and add user control, he is a super beast compared to a computer controleld AP. Add in all the gimicky acrady like stuff that is allowed to go on in Madden, and I really don't understand the point in playing ranked games. You get to a point where you aren't really playing football, you are playing Madden.

Thats all fine and well to encourage user controlling. But why should they allow Usering a player to be a like a steroid injection? If I am gonna make a play by myself. I don't need the extra stat boosts LET ME TRY TO MAKE THE PLAY!!!!

It's like they are trying to give us training wheels or something with the added stat boosts. If Ed Reed (the computer) is going to drop interceptions (with 82 catch) in my games that I have with him. Why all the sudden does his 82 catch kick in when i switch to him my self?

There should be no Advantage to usering a player then letting the computer do the work, because in the end. You can only control 1 player at a time on the field. and your not going to make every play or user tackle.

The fact that they are dice rolls to and that ratings are just modifiers is BS. I have thought this for a long time. Not only that, but there are still problems with Nano Blitzing, rocket catching and passes to the flats. (all stuff we suggested they fix that they ignored).

1 other thing i would like to add. I have no problem with people making user plays. I just feel if EA is going to make a truly "sim" football experience the only advantage a person can have is if they are using a person who is truly better than someone else on the field. If you are using Randy Moss and I am covering him with Elbert Mack. I expect moss to win that match up. Moss Doesn't need an "added boost" to win that match up. Especially against the Computer.