Best defensive plays? Created or Playbook

[DassTheBoss]

I have been looking to find what the best playbook to use is. I really want to try the Rex Ryan defense but there is really no good Nickel plays in it. Considering I want to use the Patriots, I am trying to use their own playbook but does anyone know of good plays to create?

This is because I have created a complex offense and want my defense to mirror it.

[growlah]

I usually use a base out of the 4-3 rather than 3-4 so I may not help you much, but I blended Jim Johnson (base book) then added about 8 46 plays, 6 raiders Rover (which plays out like the 4-3 version of the mustang) and a couple of cover 2 plays at each set. I have not found an offense I haven't been able to stop using some combo of these plays. I actually rarely go into Nickel and Dime packages if I can instead blitz. If I need an interception or they have a good Oline then I use a cover 2/3 whatever disguised as a blitz 3rd and long.

Now if you are playing the Pats, look back to a great thread about the 334 Mustang defense. I played the Pats, kept their base offense with a few more run plays added and ran the Mustang, they were brutal. But you need to get 2 great SS and a high 80's third to give depth and fatigue coverage. I wont go into the spoiler players, but the third cover guy I found best/cheapest to get is at the Browns

[DassTheBoss]

Thank you, I ended up making my custom playbook. Until now, I didn't know how to make one. Now that I have, I combined the ravens and pats defenses. And the Pats/packers offenses basically. I have Maroney, Shawn Alexander, and Faulk so I can run decently.

[Cavicchi]

Quote: Originally Posted by DassTheBoss

Thank you, I ended up making my custom playbook. Until now, I didn't know how to make one. Now that I have, I combined the ravens and pats defenses. And the Pats/packers offenses basically. I have Maroney, Shawn Alexander, and Faulk so I can run decently.

I know how to add plays but how do you combine playbooks like Pats and Ravens and Pats and Packers?

I added nickel and dime packages to the Pats defense, and I added other formations to both offense and defense. I just don't know how you can be so specific at combining two teams as you did.

[DassTheBoss]

I just combined plays. I like that the Packers' running plays are very creative with formations and took some of those plays. The Ravens have 46 and 4 3 plays that I use as well.

[Cavicchi]

Quote: Originally Posted by DassTheBoss

I just combined plays. I like that the Packers' running plays are very creative with formations and took some of those plays. The Ravens have 46 and 4 3 plays that I use as well.

I also have 46 plays, but I don't know where they came from. I added plays before starting my career. How did you get specific plays from Packers and Ravens playbooks? I mean, I know how to add plays, but how do you get them from some other team knowing what that team is?

I first chose Patriots playbook, added plays and renamed it. What did you do?

[lowenstaat]

How about a nickel defense variation that can stop the one-back passing game and still close down the run?

A couple years ago I created an interesting playbook for the Cowboys' defense based on their default Phillips 3-4. Phillips' defense is very soundf eaturing a good mix of blitzes and zones with a sprinkling of man from mostly the 3-4 and nickel, and with a few dime sets, too.

I'd just finished reading Blood, Sweat, and Chalk (by Tim Layden,Sports Illustrated) near the end of a deployment to Afghanistan and was eager to get home to incorporate into the game some defensive plays that feature Double-A gap blitzes, about which Layden writes in one of the chapters in hisbook.

“The Double-A gap blitz, developed by Jim Johnson of the Eagles in [the last] decade, … puts two linebackers over the center. They may, or may not blitz, but the offense has to account for that possibility, and the linebacker(s) or defensive end can often attack the quarterback unblocked. Steve Spagnuolo was Mr. Johnson's assistant and brought the defense with him to the N.Y. Giants, who rode that defense (and four superior defensive linemen) to victory over the previously unbeaten New England Patriots in 2007.” (from Jason Friedman’s book review of Blood, Sweat, and Chalk)

(see the attached PDF for formation diagrams)

BASE NICKEL DOUBLE-A GAP

So I took the base nickel, moved the LBs over the A gaps and split the DTs and DEs right and left. That created some interesting reactions from C and Gs when it came to pass protection and even run blocking for inside runs. Sometimes I kept DeMarcus Ware at RLB to provide inside pressure, short pass coverage, and spying mobile QBs. But sometimes I subbed him to right DE to enhance the outside pass rush. It was often a question of whether the opposing Center or Left Tackle was stronger. Although this formation enhanced pressure on the QB, it was not the ideal personnel package for run defense. In running situations I needed more muscle than my third CB could provide.

DOUBLE-A GAP VARIATIONS

Rather than go back to Phillips 3-4, I kept developing more double-A gap plays by replacing the nickel CB with a nickel SS. The SS NICKEL DOUBLE-A GAP became the formation I used more than any other. It provided enough muscle on the line to keep rushing gains low and limited the opposition’s success in the short to medium passing game.

With SS Roy Williams, I already had a hard hitting safety on the field,so if I really wanted to stop the run with this set, I’d pull him closer to the line of scrimmage in an 8 IN THE BOX formation that was usually effective defending both inside and outside runs. I positioned the FS to “play center field” and pulled the CBs away from the line to keep them from getting beat deep. Even against 3 WR sets when I suspected a run, I could still call man or three deep zone plays from this formation to stop the run while providing decent defense against most long passing gains. It was weak , though, against quick outs and strong or weak floods.

From there, I developed a 4-4 DOUBLE-A GAP set to use in goal line situations. Pinching the linemen and inside LBs in this formation could usually stop opponents’ goal line dives while maintaining decent GL pass defense when the opposing coach called a play action or quick pass from their GL formation.Especially when the QB committed to play action, our inside A gap rush would often result in a sack or pressure-induced incompletion.

Finally, I experimented with a 4-3 DOUBLE-A GAP set with an OLB positioned left or right, but it never won me over because it seemed the opposing running back could cutback against the side of the line without the OLB for respectable gains. This formation also seemed more exposed to slant passes if the QB threw to a quick WR running that pattern before the WR reached the LB(s) covering the short middle.

As far as play variety from these formations, I just duplicated plays for each personnel set. For example, I had Cover 1, Cover 2, and Cover 3 plays for each formation. I also duplicated the blitz packages for each formation. One of my favorite defensive game plans was to call several A gap blitzes in a row from these formations, then call a play in which one or both LBs fell back into a zone. Of course, doing the opposite, calling several LB zone plays and then blitzing the A-gap, was a good strategy, too. It may have just been my imagination, but the AI’s interior linemen and QB appeared to get confused by this switch.

As you can see, I spent a considerable bit of my free time during the end of that deployment scratching out play diagrams and notes from the what I'd learned in Blood, Seat, and Chalk to develop this A gap scheme. It really surprised me when I got home how well I was able to implement it in the game. Another reason NFL HC 2009 is the game I still play the most on my PS3. Now, if it was only compatible with the VITA’s remote play feature, I’d rush out to buy a VITA today and be in perpetual electronic football heaven no matter where I am!

[Cavicchi]

^^^

My team was number one for defense last year and aside from a few created plays, the rest is from Patriots Playbook with a number of plays from other playbooks added in.