Defending the QB scramble

[TurboTitan]

Anyone else having a helluva time stopping the QB any time they decide to scramble.....especially to the right? I'm not just talking on read option plays, but any play when you get a little pressure on the QB and he takes off. Even if its not a "fast" QB I am continually getting burned. I have tried every combination of man, zone, zone blitz, etc. the only thing that seems to work descent is if I blitz both OLB, but that isn't feasible to do that often. It is almost like when the CPU QB scrambles, my defense takes FOREVER to respond. Anyone else experiencing this? Any D packages you have found that help,tone it down?

Thank you!

[LastExit]

Quote: Originally Posted by TurboTitan

Anyone else having a helluva time stopping the QB any time they decide to scramble.....especially to the right? I'm not just talking on read option plays, but any play when you get a little pressure on the QB and he takes off. Even if its not a "fast" QB I am continually getting burned. I have tried every combination of man, zone, zone blitz, etc. the only thing that seems to work descent is if I blitz both OLB, but that isn't feasible to do that often. It is almost like when the CPU QB scrambles, my defense takes FOREVER to respond. Anyone else experiencing this? Any D packages you have found that help,tone it down? Thank you!

I don't remember which package it is but there are formations that include a spy. So far the only thing I've found to help is to let the CPU control my defense until either the QB decides to throw the ball or makes a move to scramble.....in that case I play the spy and make sure I'm in front of the QB at all times.

[StoneCalf]

I usually control the LE, and I make sure that he has good (relative) acceleration and speed. If I'm playing against a QB who likes to take off, I usually sit in a spy position and make a bee-line for him when he decides to scramble. I can usually catch him before he makes the line of scrimmage almost half the time, unless he's an above average athlete.

[BrockOchoGOAT]

You have to Spy. If that isn't working, double spy. It is not as bad as it sounds. The spys will double as shallow hook zones in the middle of the field, and can turn into deeper zones if you put zone coverage on aggressive.

[OneDayJD]

Not to echo, but definitely use a spy. When the game is loading I always look at the star players and if they have a QB with significant rushing stats, I almost always put a spy on him unless I am blitzing a bunch of guys. A lot of times if I want to run a defense that doesn't have a spy built in I just manually do it. But I don't take someone off coverage to do it. For example, I'll run a 3-man front cover 2 man with the will-LB crashing inside (bringing 4 instead of 3 rushers) and I will just hot route that will-LB to a spy instead of having him rush inside. Yes, that gives you one less pass rusher, but that will lead to him sitting in the pocket longer (if your coverage is good) and inevitably taking off but that's what I want to happen since I have an athletic LB in a spy.

[StormJH1]

Usually, if I'm having trouble with a team on defense, there's a scrambling quarterback involved. I agree that they are very hard to stop. Even the slow ones seem to take angles that are hard to judge when you bring in a CB or safety.

Spying is the best answer, but if a FB or guard flies out and picks up that spy, you're still screwed.

Counterintuitively, I actually think that clogging up the line more with 4-man fronts is a better overall strategy than spying and zones. As we all know, the zone A.I. is largely terrible. Spying leaves defenders in the right place to track a scrambling QB, but if they get through the line, there's no guarantee those zone defenders will go after him.

[bflynn10450]

What I have found that works is to use the Nickel formation and go with the man blitz with the 2 LBS blitzing. I then make one of the LB's due a QB spy and then I put the other LB out in a Zone out to the flat on the right side. I still get good pressure with my 4 D-Lineman and the spy stops runs up the middle and the flat zone prevents big plays if he gets out of the pocket.

[Ampking101]

What I found works best is to use a Cover 1 with the QB Spy, then pinch your d-line and put both DEs in a QB contain (you can to this by pressing L1/LB and then pressing up on the RS).

This way if the QB runs to the outside my DE is most likely to grab him before he breaks off, if he does manage to get away though I have a QB Spy as a second line of defense rather than being my first. If he gets past both, that QB should be a running back.

If it's an option happy offense, I tend to just blitz both LBs as well, call the run up the middle (L2/LS and down on the right stick) and then show blitz.