Madden 12 defensive issues?

[steelsnarf]

Okay well this may sound out of the ordinary, but I actually care about franchise stats, especially defensive stats. I (usually) enjoy playing defense because I find it more entertaining, but madden 12 has some serious bugs that need fixing on defense. Offense not so much, I'm content with the way offenses produce in this game. Anyway..

1. My main issue is the outrageous amounts of assisted tackles in this game. They just completely mess up seasonal stats because I never get as many solo tackles, but way too many assists. I seriously just played a franchise as the 49ers and Dashon Goldson had 46 solo tackles, and 62 assists. How do you get more assists than solo tackles, and by that much? And I find it's much worse with defensive lineman and secondary. Linebackers don't have this issue as bad. Often times I'll go in for a user tackle and I'll be in the tackling motion, and right before I take him down some other CPU controlled player will just come in and tackle him too. It's just so unnecessary and it honestly pisses me off. At the end of every game I get guys with more assists than solo tackles, and the only player that'll ever get more than 6-7 tackles is the middle linebacker or occasionally the strong safety.

2. My second issue is how defensive lineman rarely ever make a difference in games. In most of my franchises I like giving younger or not as experienced players that have potential the chance to be subbed in and play. But with defensive lineman it's impossible because these guys never get any tackles as it is. So when I put them on a rotation (the starter playing about 75% of the games, and the second-string playing about 25%) they'll only get a tackle or two each. But if i put the pass rush too high I'll have guys getting like 5 sacks in a game and that's so unrealistic. It's a lot easier to have depth in linebackers or secondary because those guys pay special teams too and can get some tackles.

3. My last and final issue is pass rushing. I've yet to master this with any sliders in any of my franchises. I always have guys who will maybe get one sack a year in real life get 10 in one season, primarily DT's. Defensive tackles get more sacks than the defensive ends for me! Riddle me that one. Now in 3-4 defenses (which I honestly don't really care for) the OLB's get all the sacks but they're supposed to in that system. But in a 4-3 the defensive ends are supposed to be all over the QB. Defensive tackles are supposed to be making stops in the run but they never do, the running back will go right through them and only linebackers get tackles in the run. A defensive tackle should not have 17 tackles and 10 sacks as his end-of-year stats, that's unreal.

So my question is there a slider set that can help me? Like one that makes assisted tackles occur rarely or not as often. My slider sets could use assistance, and I'm open to anything taht might help. I also play 13 minute quarters and have auto strafe and sprint turned off. Player min threshold on 25. Any help will be appreciated.

[macbranson]

I think a lot of people have the same issues, especially DTis getting too many sacks. I don't think there's a solution.

[seabs2]

Quote: Originally Posted by steelsnarf

Okay well this may sound out of the ordinary, but I actually care about franchise stats, especially defensive stats. I (usually) enjoy playing defense because I find it more entertaining, but madden 12 has some serious bugs that need fixing on defense. Offense not so much, I'm content with the way offenses produce in this game. Anyway.. 1. My main issue is the outrageous amounts of assisted tackles in this game. They just completely mess up seasonal stats because I never get as many solo tackles, but way too many assists. I seriously just played a franchise as the 49ers and Dashon Goldson had 46 solo tackles, and 62 assists. How do you get more assists than solo tackles, and by that much? And I find it's much worse with defensive lineman and secondary. Linebackers don't have this issue as bad. Often times I'll go in for a user tackle and I'll be in the tackling motion, and right before I take him down some other CPU controlled player will just come in and tackle him too. It's just so unnecessary and it honestly pisses me off. At the end of every game I get guys with more assists than solo tackles, and the only player that'll ever get more than 6-7 tackles is the middle linebacker or occasionally the strong safety. 2. My second issue is how defensive lineman rarely ever make a difference in games. In most of my franchises I like giving younger or not as experienced players that have potential the chance to be subbed in and play. But with defensive lineman it's impossible because these guys never get any tackles as it is. So when I put them on a rotation (the starter playing about 75% of the games, and the second-string playing about 25%) they'll only get a tackle or two each. But if i put the pass rush too high I'll have guys getting like 5 sacks in a game and that's so unrealistic. It's a lot easier to have depth in linebackers or secondary because those guys pay special teams too and can get some tackles. 3. My last and final issue is pass rushing. I've yet to master this with any sliders in any of my franchises. I always have guys who will maybe get one sack a year in real life get 10 in one season, primarily DT's. Defensive tackles get more sacks than the defensive ends for me! Riddle me that one. Now in 3-4 defenses (which I honestly don't really care for) the OLB's get all the sacks but they're supposed to in that system. But in a 4-3 the defensive ends are supposed to be all over the QB. Defensive tackles are supposed to be making stops in the run but they never do, the running back will go right through them and only linebackers get tackles in the run. A defensive tackle should not have 17 tackles and 10 sacks as his end-of-year stats, that's unreal. So my question is there a slider set that can help me? Like one that makes assisted tackles occur rarely or not as often. My slider sets could use assistance, and I'm open to anything taht might help. I also play 13 minute quarters and have auto strafe and sprint turned off. Player min threshold on 25. Any help will be appreciated.

You've pointed out some frustrating issues with the game that die hard Madden fans have been bitching about for years. There is a way to fix some of it, the bad news is it will take some time and sliders aren't really the answer. There are multiple threads out here with thousands of posts talking about these very issues, but I'll try to summarize what I've learned.

Unfortunately nobody (to my knowledge) has cracked the nut on assisted tackles. I've tried several things with mixed success. Turning the broken tackle slider to zero and bumping the tackle slider up seems to help a little but, but it doesn't fix it. I'm convinced this is an engine thing that can't be address with any slider set. Really frustrating.

As for DE's not geting tackles... I actually have the opposite problem. I find they usually get too many tackles. Same with the DT's. The reason LB tackles are never high enough is because the DE's and DT's steal them from them. And the reason they do is because their pursuit ratings are too high. Have you ever noticed how DT's can spin on a dime and suck the RB into a tackle? Their high pursuit ratings allow them to do this. If you lower that rating by about 20 it helps a lot.

The Madden sack issue is my biggest pet peeve and the one I've probably spent the most time trying to address. So the issue is that DT's and 3-4 DE's get way too much pressure and 4-3 DE's and 3-4 OLBs don't get enough right? This is happening for a few reasons. First, DT and 3-4 DE power moves are too high. It makes sense because these guys are big and strong, but unfortunately it's the #1 rating that determines whether the rusher wins the battle at the line of scrimmage. I've tested it multiple times. 4-3 DE's often times have low power moves so it's difficult for them to win that battle. Second, most guards don't have the pass rating skills to match up to the DT's and 3-4 DE's. Their pass block footwork is usually pretty bad and their pass block in general isn't great.

So how do we address these things? The best way to do it is with ratings changes. If you lower power moves on DTs and 3-4 DEs by 15-20 pts and raise guard pass block ratings by 5-10 pts it realy works. Same goes for 4-3 DE's. Raise their power moves and it makes them far more effective. However, I understand not everybody wants to mess with ratings. There is a thread out here called "edits to fix this game up" with some really great ideas that I've tried and really make the game play better. I find it's far too time consuming but it does work. Here's what i do instead.

Move you best pass blocking lineman to the guard positions (usually tackles.) You will need to control 32 teams in order to do it for your opponnent, so if you don't do this it might not be the best approach for you. Then move your guards to the tackle position. Some teams have guards with better pass block ratings than the tackles so leave them alone. This will stiffen up the pass blocking up the middle and soften it on the outside so you are getting pressure where you want it. Next, remove all pass rush traits from DT's and 3-4 DE's, particuarly bull rush move. Next, set all DT and 3-4 DE priority to run stop and set all guard priority to pass block and set tackle priority to runs block. Seems counterintuitive but it works. These things in tandem will help slow the pass rush up the middle and open it up from the outside, but it won't fix the issue entirely without editing ratings.

I don't have great advice for getting pressure from the OLB's in the 3-4 D. The things i've suggested will help, but my opinion is that gameplay for the 3-4 is somewhat broken. I know some others disagree with me and have found effective ways to bring the heat in the 3-4 but it usually involves a lot of of line shifting and exotic blitz packages..

If you want more information this is one of the best resources out there for sliders and priority settings.

http://www.operationsports.com/forum...g-schemes.html