QB Motivation

[jdub2k4]

Oh the frustration.....

Is anyone having success motivating their QB? I am playing with the Dallas Cowboys, and 90% of the time, no mater what is going on, if I motivate Bledsoe, it always results being negative. Also, no matter what strategies I try to give my QB, he always makes errant passes, gets picked off, or misses wide open WRs. The QB play is the absolute worst that I have seen in any football game. I have never in about 10 games completed over 7 passes, or passed over 100 yards. I need serious help with getting at least average play from my QB, because at this point my frustration level is so high that I am going to punch a hole through my wall or break my fist trying.

[jdub2k4]

For anyone that cares to read...

I FINALLY found success with my passing game, at least for the last three games. Here is what I found:

I stopped motivating the QB at all. I was doing way more damage than good. As matter of fact, the only squad that responds positively from motivation is the defense for me. I also noticed that the QB rating will change several times in one game, sometimes for no apparent reason. One play, his potential is at the bottom, the next play he is at the max. I guess this is EA's attempt at play-by-play emotions that real QBs experience. From what I have found, motivating severely disrupts this process.

Next, I found that my QB was making poor decisions because he was being hurried under pressure. So now, for every pass play, I slide my protection to the inside (Pinch) and my O-Line does a great job keeping blitzers away. I have had plenty time to pass and my QB has not been sacked in three games. Note: Bledsoe is a pocket passer, so Pinching the protection might not work ifyou are using someone like Vick or McNabb. In such event, you might want to slide your protection to the left or right, depending on the situation.

Finally, I Hot Route more often. I found that the "5/10 yard Slant" and "5/10 yard In" are unstoppable for most DBs unless in a zone coverage (Like in real life), so Hot Routing one or two recievers has geneted good results for me, and I finally got over 100 yards pasing in a game. Also, take advantage of the defensive mismatches. When you see their safeties up near the line with no mid-field coverage, run a 5 or 10 yard slant hot route with added protection (chances are, those safeties are blitzing so your O-line needs to be prepared) and you should see the Endzone soon.

[bcruise]

Quote: Originally Posted by jdub2k4

For anyone that cares to read... I FINALLY found success with my passing game, at least for the last three games. Here is what I found: I stopped motivating the QB at all. I was doing way more damage than good. As matter of fact, the only squad that responds positively from motivation is the defense for me. I also noticed that the QB rating will change several times in one game, sometimes for no apparent reason. One play, his potential is at the bottom, the next play he is at the max. I guess this is EA's attempt at play-by-play emotions that real QBs experience. From what I have found, motivating severely disrupts this process. Next, I found that my QB was making poor decisions because he was being hurried under pressure. So now, for every pass play, I slide my protection to the inside (Pinch) and my O-Line does a great job keeping blitzers away. I have had plenty time to pass and my QB has not been sacked in three games. Note: Bledsoe is a pocket passer, so Pinching the protection might not work ifyou are using someone like Vick or McNabb. In such event, you might want to slide your protection to the left or right, depending on the situation. Finally, I Hot Route more often. I found that the "5/10 yard Slant" and "5/10 yard In" are unstoppable for most DBs unless in a zone coverage (Like in real life), so Hot Routing one or two recievers has geneted good results for me, and I finally got over 100 yards pasing in a game. Also, take advantage of the defensive mismatches. When you see their safeties up near the line with no mid-field coverage, run a 5 or 10 yard slant hot route with added protection (chances are, those safeties are blitzing so your O-line needs to be prepared) and you should see the Endzone soon.

Since you're using Bledsoe, let me add something that's helped me out immensely. At first, I was setting Bledsoe's scrambling strategy to "Stay in pocket" to coincide with his abilities (for those who may not know, he's about as mobile as a tree stump IRL). But during the course of a number of coach now games (and online), he was standing in the pocket like a statue and getting sacked far too much. It didn't take me long to realize I was overcoaching, and set it back to the default "go back to what you know". Now he will move around to avoid the rush at least, allowing him to fire off more passes before getting hit. He also hasn't thrown as many picks, probably due to not being constantly rushed and throwing a bad pass.

I really like this aspect of the game - you can coach them to a certain extent, but sometimes you've just gotta let them play.

[Kanobi]

Quote: Originally Posted by jdub2k4

I stopped motivating the QB at all. I was doing way more damage than good.

Same here. Unfortunately, I didn't realize this until after a full training camp, pre-season and 4 reg-season games of OVERcoaching the QB position. I totally killed Trent Green's OVR range. It's to the point now where the OC has suggested benching Trent in favor of Brodie Croyle.

What helped me was the in-game glossary's definition of how Motivation works in conjunction with position knowledge. It basically said that is if you have poor knowledge of a position, it won't matter what your MOT rating is, it'll usually backfire because you basically don't know WTF you're talking about. So all I do now is implement 2 and maybe 3 core strategies for the QB each game and that's it. I leave the guy alone. Though Trent is on the road to recovery, Brodie Croyle has responded best to this approach and I'm thinking it's because he's a rookie and just soaking it all up.

[jdub2k4]

Quote: Originally Posted by Kanobi

Same here. Unfortunately, I didn't realize this until after a full training camp, pre-season and 4 reg-season games of OVERcoaching the QB position. I totally killed Trent Green's OVR range. It's to the point now where the OC has suggested benching Trent in favor of Brodie Croyle. What helped me was the in-game glossary's definition of how Motivation works in conjunction with position knowledge. It basically said that is if you have poor knowledge of a position, it won't matter what your MOT rating is, it'll usually backfire because you basically don't know WTF you're talking about. So all I do now is implement 2 and maybe 3 core strategies for the QB each game and that's it. I leave the guy alone. Though Trent is on the road to recovery, Brodie Croyle has responded best to this approach and I'm thinking it's because he's a rookie and just soaking it all up.

That makes sense. My coach is defensive minded, so I can easily motivate my defense to overachieve their ratings while my offensive motivation fails.

My offensive coordinator hated me, too. He was disrespecting me at the coaches meeting and kept harrassing me with emails about how I didn't know what I was doing, so I fired him...that was pretty fun because I atually got mad at my OC for attitude.

[Kanobi]

Quote: Originally Posted by jdub2k4

My offensive coordinator hated me, too. He was disrespecting me at the coaches meeting and kept harrassing me with emails about how I didn't know what I was doing, so I fired him...

Yeah, those OC's do talk alot of sh*t when their trust level runs low, don't they? My former OC was sayin stuff like "If you'd call my plays we'd get along better" or "I can't wait til you retire so I can have your job". LOL! The latter comment is what sent me straight to the calendar to setup a "Manage Staff" task so I could fire that bastard.

To fill the position, I promoted my WR's coach who had already progressed well beyond his qualifications at that spot. He has a 91 with WR's and low 70's at the other offensive positions. Playcalling and QB play has improved quite a bit since I made that move.

[NoleFan]

Quote: Originally Posted by Kanobi

I promoted my WR's coach who had already progressed well beyond his qualifications at that spot. He has a 91 with WR's and low 70's at the other offensive positions. Playcalling and QB play has improved quite a bit since I made that move.

Does the trust level play a part in playcalling?

[SPTO]

I'm 2-2 in preseason. The first two games I think I overcoached Jay Cutler but now i've learned to motivate him at KEY moments in the game or give him encouregment when he's doing well. Most of the time I just let him do his thing even if it means he tries taking off when it was best to throw the ball away.

He has gone 2 straight games of over 200 yards passing which is an encouraging sign IMO.