Scouting defensive plays?

[tseliottt]

Is there a way to scout the oppenents defensive plays? Whenever the scout opponent task comes up, I can only look at their offensive plays. It would be really be helpful to know if they play alot of zone, blitz heavy, etc.

[BrnwsBucksFanNC]

I have not found one. I would like to also know what their base defense is. I have gotten pretty good at figuring it out from the number of players they have on their roster at each position, but it still doesnt tell if they use a cover-2 or what.

[scorp]

If you can run ther ball halfway decent up the middle early in the game on a 4 man front it's cover 2 most of the time.

[ebongreen]

AFAIK there's no way to scout defenses otherwise. You learn pretty quickly what defense your division rivals play, and if you don't learn how to exploit it you'll end up losing, too.

The more you play, the more you'll figure out what a defense's tendencies are within your first offensive series; the best way to do that quickly is with a max-protect short pass on your first play. Particularly if you can use twin formations (split end & flanker on the same side of the formation) or motion, you'll know instantly if it's man or zone.

If you see CBs running with your receivers, they play at least some man (e.g. Broncos, Cowboys, Packers) or man-zone (Giants). If not, it's zone - lots of teams don't ever play man (Colts, Bears, Lions, Vikings, Bucs, etc.), or do so very rarely.

If it's man, check the safeties. Are both deep, or are they playing robber (one short, one deep?) Then you know if the base is Cover-one or Cover-two man.

Are they blitzing - sending more than four or sending odd sets of four or more? Steelers, Seahawks & Patriots AI are constant zone-blitz teams to begin franchises: they send or drop anyone. Texans default tends to play zone-coverage: Cover-3 or Cover-4. Jaguars do some of that too, but also mix in man. Titans man-blitz.

Giants' favorite play is 4-3 Storm Blitz: four DL + ROLB + SS blitz, MLB & LOLB drop into hook zones outside, FS plays single highk, CBs man up. Bengals love this play too. That's combo coverage, man-zone hybrid.

Each defense is vulnerable differently; learn how to attack them. Those are my best recollections on what some teams play to begin with; hope it helps.