Play clock OFF??

[tarek]

So there is an option in my career game options to have the play clock either on/off. If I select if off, then it seems like I have and endless amount of time to pick a play. For example, I could run once on my first play and then sit in the play select screen for 14 odd minutes until the quarter ends!!

However, on the flip side, a slow person like me has so much trouble picking a play within the given 20-30 seconds. Is this normal? I've gotten a heap of delay of games mainly because it takes me too long to pick a play.

The reason I take so long is because I'm trying to follow ebons advice and pick the right combination of plays.

So should I play (to learn) with play clock on or off?

In addition to this, is there a good way (like ebon) recommends of how to recognise defensive schemes that are played against you? Or should I search the net on football guides for real life and learn about the formation there?

So much to figure out! Thanks for all the help guys.

[Mike3207]

The time factor can be very difficult in choosing plays. I used to always use Ask Coach, but the problem with that is that you'll always get the same 12 plays from the Coordinator, usually Mastered plays that if you follow his advice will lead to overusing those plays. I've been using Byron's house rules more often on going by play knowledge, but it's still hard to get away from using Ask Coach.

Get to using the HC profiles, it should give you a good idea of which defensive schemes each HC will be using, along with the philosophies each coach uses. I really wish there was a way to look at the coaching staffs for each team, but you can only do that for your team.

[tarek]

First off, mrs I must say your insights and previous posts are brilliant and went a long way to building my excitement and obsession with this game. And that's from someone who knows very little about football!

So checking your upcoming opponents head coach's philosophies will determine what their schemes are? So it will list 'blitz heavy/moderate/light' and the main formation?

That is some good tips.

I haven't been using the ask coach or by knowledge because I added a whole bunch of plays (based on the suggestions ebon made in his thread) which are still unlearned. So I want to boost them up in the preseason.

However, I fear that I have too many plays because sometimes when I want to pick a specific play it takes bloody ages to scroll to it from the formation selection! It doesn't even seem like they are listed alphabetically!

But thinking about it I might smooth out my playbook by removing duplicate or similar plays. Any suggestion on what a good playbook size is? Ebon said he adds a whole lot of plays and then removes accordingly, so he can flip them or amend them. I've found that's just made my playbook massive! With over 120 offensive plays and over 90 defensive plays!

[Mike3207]

I think 120 plays in the playbook is about standard-I'm really bad about removing plays-I think last time in my 10 year career I just about filled up the playbooks. It'll list both offensive and defensive scheme-defensive is more specific, offense is more general. For ex, 4-3, 3-4, 46 on defense, Power run, Spread on offense. It'll also list blitz frequency and pass coverage philosophy.

[Byron Yatch]

As mrs said, going by ask coach or even by success, you will always get the same 12 plays, same with if you defer by dismissing the play call and letting the coordinator/hc call the play.

You pretty much have to use all unlearned plays in the preseason if you want a diverse attack once the reg season comes. But 120 is not too many, each playbook can hold 200 I think. So its just gonna take longer to learn everything. But you can find things pretty fast if you know what KIND of play you want.

Lets say you dont know what play you want but you know pitches have been working because thier defense cant handle them. So you go by play type, pitches and just pick one with a decent enough success score(sometimes the best one is only 50%, that means its prolly not the kind of play you want to choose).

If you go by play type or knowledge instead of formation, you will get more specific types of plays then just iform toss, you'll have every toss in pitch plays. That applies to all kinds of plays.

I use play type and play knowledge now. And when I go by play type, I try to adhere to my house rulese where I pick only learned and unlearned plays when Im up. I only pick mastered plays when Im down. Mastered plays give players that have mastered the play a boost to their attributes. Thats why I dont use them as much anymore, only on a need to use basis.

Also, just because a play is under unlearned, doesnt mean everyone on the field for that play is unlearned, just most of the people are. Your play knowledge for any play is based on the average level of knowledge for that play by players that will be on the field. For instance, if your starting hb mastered a run play but he gets injured, it may stay under mastered, but the backup HB is only learned or unlearned at that play. He's more likely to fumble or make a mistake than the starter would have been because he doesnt know the play well enough.

This applies for any level of knowledge. that means an unlearned play with a key player thats mastered the play will work better than a mastered play with a key player at unlearned.

[tarek]

Awesome stuff!

Judging by what you guys have said I think I'll go with play type and play knowledge.

Now I just need to learn how to read trends and adjust. Like I would assume of they rarely blitz then I should run more. Of they blitz all the time I should pass alot more. On defense if they run alot I'll blitz more and if they pass more I should cover more with less blitzing.

I know there are further intricacies than that. And ebons thread is brilliant in explaining those. But would you guys say those two assumptions are a good rule of thumb for play calling?

I'd love to get further into what each formation means and what to look for in depth, but they are stretch objectives which I'm sure I'll pick up more and more as I play.

[Byron Yatch]

To break your idea down a lil further, not only would you want to blitz more if they run, you want more lineman and linebackers than dbs. So 7(aka a 4-3 or 3-4) lineman/backers and 4 defensive backs(cbs and safeties)

Now if they spread out the field though in 5 wide, you will want to call plays from dime quarter and nickle packages(aka less lineman and linebackers, more dbs). As for if they blitz a lot, you'll wanna call shotgun pass and play action run. You'll also want to pitch or run outside.

But if they're great at blitzing quick or standard passes(qb under center), stay away from play action thats not in the shotgun formation. You wont have enough time and get sacked too much. Instead, use shotgun on first and 2nd down, maybe shotgun draws on 2nd down but not often.

Aggressive d's stay in their base defense AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE. A 4-3 team like the giants stay in 4-3 as often as possible and blitz as often as possible, 3-4 steelers will do the same thing. Your job is to spread those formations out with shotgun 3-5 wide, maybe a te and a rb or 2 tes and 3 wrs like the pats do sometimes.

Now cover 2 teams will do the exact opposite. They MIGHT stay in 4-3 as oftenm as possible. Or they might go nickle or dime. But they almost NEVER send more than 4 rushers, maybe 5 or 6 sometimes, not 7 or 8 like the giants eagles or cowboys. Cover 2 teams you attack with posts deep across the middle, and run up the middle. YOU DO NOT PITCH OR RUN OUTSIDE. THEY ARE SET UP TO STOP THOSE EVERY TIME!!!! You can also do curl flats from any formation with good success usually(not against colts or tampa bay though).

When you verse a man team, slants work best. That, pitches and outside runs, counters and playaction which makes the coverage commit to the run for a second too long.

Cover 3 is weak against screens and pitches, outside runs sometimes(if there's good enough blocking), and deep INS by OUTSIDE WRS. That means your #1 and #2 reciever will need a deep in and your slot recievers or rbs/tes should run flats, short hitches, quick outs or medium outs. The inside receivers(tes hbs) can also run clear out routes(aka streaks) to force the safeties to really cover their 3 deep zones.

Anything else, just ask away!