Man defense vs Zone defense

[macbranson]

Is everyone familiar with the CPU's ridiculous completion percentage in this game? Usually in games against the CPU, the CPU QB will have a completion percentage around 70 - 80%. That's really high. I'm not just talking about Drew Brees or Aaron Rodgers either. Even Sam Bradford or Carson Palmer will do it.
I'm mentioning this because I find it incredibly difficult to slow down (you can't stop) the CPU passing game. I've experimented with man defense and zone defense and man defense is like not playing defense at all. WRs are wide open with the guy "covering" them just lost in space. After noticing how poorly my team fared running man defense, I decided to just run zone defense 90% of the time. It's fairly effective in that I'm not giving up 300 passing yards and an 80% completion percentage. But I'm still giving up 250-300 passing yards with a 65-75% completion rate. I'm not saying this is the worse defense in the league, but how do I get a great defense? Would I literally need to acquire CBs with like 90+ man coverage? Has anyone been successful at actually having an effective pass defense at all on this game? Ranking in the top 10 or top 5 in pass defense at the end of the season would be considered successful by my standards.
Also, if anyone has had any success limiting the CPU passing attack, what method did you use? Mostly zone or man? I've noticed that if you run a lot of zone, Tampa 2, the CPU will very rarely attempt to throw the ball deep. This is one of the benefits of running a lot of zone defense. What have you guys experienced with the CPU passing attack and what do you to to control it?

[ajra21]

Re: Man defense vs Zone defense

first, i often find the CPU complain percentage is too low.

as for the approach, i use balanced or prototype CB only, who i develop by getting their MCV & PRS up first into the 90s, before raising the PRC & ZCV.

[camo]

Re: Man defense vs Zone defense

What sliders are you using? Madden is an arcade game with out a good slider set. After that I find that the style of defense ( 4-3 3-4 4-6) will have their inherent weaknesses but will also work well against the offenses that they work well against in real life. If you go up against Peyton and his spread attack with a 4-3 he will pick you apart. But if you have a good d line and run a 4-6 you should be able to stop him.

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[macbranson]

Re: Man defense vs Zone defense

Well, my CBs aren't very good. My highest rated one is Dominique Rodgers Cromatie, who I picked up in the off season and is the only one one my corners who has a reasonably high MCV rating. My other corners all have better ZCV than MCV that is why I use mostly zone defense. I do have reasonably good success running the Tampa Cover 2 and the opposing QB usually takes longer to complete a pass when I run that defense. And I do have a very good defensive line and fast linebackers, so maybe I should just run a Tampa 2 defense.

As far as sliders go, I have the CPU QB accuracy at 40 and WR catching at 50. My PDRT is at 60 and Pass Coverage is at 20. I usually give up a lot of passing yards and a high completion percentage. This is partially due to the CPU's inability to run the ball well against me, so they resort to the pass. And I play Matt Ryan and Drew Bree's twice a year. But this kind of reminds me of all the other Madden games where u can shut down the run, but can't stop the pass. I just wanted to know if anyone has been able to really hold the CPU passing game in check for the majority of the season and, if so, how?

[camo]

Re: Man defense vs Zone defense

Really not trying to pimp my sliders here but give them a try. Qb acc should be much lower. Also pass r t. Should be higher. Pass coverage gets screwy when you get too far from 50. Try 40-45. Also don't play all Madden as imo it makes up for crap d by hyping the offense. Allpro with sliders to increase difficulty is better for me.

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[ajra21]

Re: Man defense vs Zone defense

What sliders are you using? Madden is an arcade game with out a good slider set. After that I find that the style of defense ( 4-3 3-4 4-6) will have their inherent weaknesses but will also work well against the offenses that they work well against in real life. If you go up against Peyton and his spread attack with a 4-3 he will pick you apart. But if you have a good d line and run a 4-6 you should be able to stop him.

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honestly don't know. haven't adjusted my sliders in ages. i used some that were posted on here. think they were the ones endorsed by the game that headlined on this site.

[macbranson]

Re: Man defense vs Zone defense

Really not trying to pimp my sliders here but give them a try. Qb acc should be much lower. Also pass r t. Should be higher. Pass coverage gets screwy when you get too far from 50. Try 40-45. Also don't play all Madden as imo it makes up for crap d by hyping the offense. Allpro with sliders to increase difficulty is better for me.

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I'll give the slider adjustment a try.

[josefrees]

Re: Man defense vs Zone defense

Basically, what the only thing I can do when I know they are passing it, have your defense commit to the pass. I play on base sliders and except when I'm going up against the elite, can control the other team pretty good. It is extremely important IMO to have at least two linebackers who have are fast and have a good man coverage rating. Ideally, it isn't one thing or the other but rather you can mix it up enough. The computer will exploit you if you run the same plays over and over.

Depending on your DL, pressing on certain zone plays can be effective. I tend to never press in man to man. I get burnt because of the psychic blockers stopping all my blitzes. By the time I get a successful move on the OL the WR breaks out

[ajra21]

Re: Man defense vs Zone defense

Basically, what the only thing I can do when I know they are passing it, have your defense commit to the pass. I play on base sliders and except when I'm going up against the elite, can control the other team pretty good. It is extremely important IMO to have at least two linebackers who have are fast and have a good man coverage rating. Ideally, it isn't one thing or the other but rather you can mix it up enough. The computer will exploit you if you run the same plays over and over.

Depending on your DL, pressing on certain zone plays can be effective. I tend to never press in man to man. I get burnt because of the psychic blockers stopping all my blitzes. By the time I get a successful move on the OL the WR breaks out

i use press quite a bit when i actually play D. but i only do it once i have CBs with high PRS. otherwise, yes, you get burnt easily. have to say, on O, i run a lot of slants but often audible to a streak if they bring on the press because my big WRs beat it most times.

[SebsterDos]

Re: Man defense vs Zone defense

I run a 4-3 with two either proto or man coverage corners with high press ratings. Right now in my draft cfm, my two CBs are vontae davis and patrick peterson. Run a man press every time.

[mjavon]

Re: Man defense vs Zone defense

I'm running with a variation of Charter04's sliders (find them in the Madden sliders sub forum)and they seem to work fairly well. Last game I played against Indianapolis and Luck completed about 58 percent for 250 or so a TD and 2 INTs. Only thing with his sliders are the CPU can't run on you... I've made adjustments to correct that though.


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[HollaMV7]

Re: Man defense vs Zone defense

Speaking of sliders...I've never seen the CPU miss a field goal. But when I look at the sliders for it they don't specify it being for user or CPU. So does that mean if I adjust the kicking power/accuracy sliders it will not only affect the CPU but me as well?

[Clemsonpanther]

Re: Man defense vs Zone defense

This happens with my hro (who isnt good yet). He has matt elam, earl thomas, amerson, gilmore etc. this doenst w me and i forced tebow 37% comp. but my starters are

Cox
Dareus
Suh
Watt

Burfict
Kendricks
Hightower

Heyward
Jenkins (janoris)
Mathieu
Cyprien

These are w some upgrades in awareness though.

I run 43, blitz sometimes. Control dline and bull rush; occupy 2-3 oliners at a time

[RonNewman75]

Re: Man defense vs Zone defense

My base play is 3-4 Cover 3 Pinch the DL with Edge Rush spread the LB's toward the strong side, I feel like I completely shut them down. My friends have actually outlawed me from playing it in our franchise.

[allhailben7]

Re: Man defense vs Zone defense

I find that it's best to get some man press guys in there and pick up players for a pass rush. That's what I've always done.

As for my Defense at a pos by pos guide:
I get 3-4 LBs and switch them to DEs. Sam Acho and Dontay Moch are quick to upgrade and readily available (Moch has 90 speed and does well as a user LB or CPU pass rush when upgraded). After those, I get 3-4 DEs to put in at DT, since they are usually slightly more agile and get off blocks easier. Ahtyba Rubin, Desmond Bryant and Justin Houston are great examples and usually end up in the high 80s or low 90s at DT. For LBs, I usually go with guys who can cover well or are fast enough for me to user cover. These are hard to come by (once I had D'Qwell Jackson and Sean Lee at the same time, which was perfect). As for Safeties, I try to go after prototype and playmaker guys. For them, I usually want high pursuit and play recognition, but I upgrade man coverage the most.

First things upgrade in young CBs are press and man. After that, play recognition and tackling. If I have three good CBs or one bad LB, I can spend all day in Nickel and Dime sub packages, hopefully with press. What I hope to do is have shedding DTs to stop inside runs and rangy LBs/Safeties to hold outside runs. When this puts them in 3rd and 5+, I press and send 6 or more, sometimes seven. I had a perfect defense until I realized recently that I had accidentally overwritten the save. I had Patrick Peterson, Joe Haden and Trumaine Johnson. Rarely allowed 200+ yards through the air.