34 Defence percentage

[TomBrady]

Even the teams that run the 34 defence the most is only in it about 20, 30 percent of the time. In Madden 10 when facing lets say the Steelers they normally line up in the 34 70-80 percent of the time. Hopefully this is fixed in Madden 12s gameflow and AI logic.

[shnuskis]

You mean because they are in a nickel or dime to match up with the personnel the offense puts on the field?

[Palo20]

The only problem with the logic on madden is that the defense (due to Gameflow) always lines up in their base on 1st down regardless of offensive personnel. Gameflow needs to be expanded.

Also, the percentage is probably closer to 50% that teams use their base D.

[rylynner]

Actually Green Bay was in a nickle or dime or 1-5-5 set over 70% of their snaps last season.

[shnuskis]

Yes, and I do believe they were by a fair margin ahead of any other team in how much they used a formation other than their base defense.

[jvaccaro]

on NFL live the other day, Herm Edwards was saying all teams in the NFL average running the nickle defense 48% of the time.

the CPU AI in Madden 11 tends to stick to the base personnel at a higher rate than they do in the NFL.

[Senator Palmer]

The Nickel is almost becoming the base defense in the NFL. It should definitely be tuned so that the CPU better matches your personnel set.

I think part of the problem is that there really aren't any run fits in the Nickel Normal. Nickel strong is a bit better, but not every playbook has it. As Herm pointed out on Live, that Nickel back is probably the most versatile player on the field, but right now, in Madden, the NB is pretty spotty against the run, especially the inside stuff. I think that's why the CPU won't go to it on early or short yardage downs, because it knows it's not good a limiting the run and those two linebackers are on their own if the d-line doesn't shed.

Quote:

League Wide Percentage of Nickel Defensive Snaps 2008: 43.4 percent 2009: 44.9 percent 2010: 48.5 percent

Quote:

These numbers highlight how more offenses are spreading the field, leading defenses to insert an extra defensive back into games. Closer to home, the Patriots had one or more extra defensive backs on the field for 57 percent of their snaps in 2010.

[jvaccaro]

Quote: Originally Posted by Senator Palmer

As Herm pointed out on Live, that Nickel back is probably the most versatile player on the field, but right now, in Madden, the NB is pretty spotty against the run, especially the inside stuff.

oh yeah, the other thing about that show that reminded me of madden is this...

we definitely need better depth charts.

NFL live showed examples of a team's top CB lined up in the slot when the offense went 3 wide.