Is it momentum?
 

I have a hard time finishing games when my opponent is either cheesing the crap out of me (im winning the game) or just plain out cheesing no matter the situation.

A few times its not always cheese, it just seems like my opponent gains this hidden "momentum" and starts completing and driving down field with the same crap I had been stopping all game. I wonder what gives when this happens?

The reason I mention this is I was just up 27-7 against a guy who ran the same 2 plays all gm. Well the end of the 3rd quarter rolls around and all of a sudden, im fumbling, throwing INT's, and my defense is not covering the same play and routes as before. On top of that, his WRs were out running the coverage (cover 4) as if no one was even back there at all.

This kinda crap is turning me off from online play, you try to be courteous and not be a bad sport by running up the score and whatnot and this is what happens, an overtime loss by 3 all the while he is running the same 2 plays over and over that was getting shutdown the 3 quarters before!

Rant, sorry, but if this has happened to anyone else feel free to chime in!

Re: Is it momentum?
 

Your opponent was never showing sportsmanship. Do what you need to do to get your win. Keep attacking until you feel there is no coming back.

Re: Is it momentum?
 

You're exactly right! From now on, anyone i face thats a cheeser, I will not show the slightest mercy at all. Being sportsman-like costed me the game when I could of just kept going and throwing up points!

Thanks man :woot:

Re: Is it momentum?
 

When some one is being a jerk online you should always one up him, yesterday i was playing madden ultimate team and the other guy started the game with a onside kick and going for a 4th and 20 and what did i do ? I used up the play clock every time until it was 1 secound left he just quited

Re: Is it momentum?
 

haha thats a good way to make him leave! lol never heard of someone doing that before. but yeah this is why i do not play online except against my friends who i know and play legit. every time i play a random guy i get someone who uses either vick or cam and then runs almost every play with them and the few plays they don't decide to tuck and run with them they throw foru verts and slants. and go for it on 4th and 10 and fake FG and punt. and then on D they just bull rush and nano plitz the hell out of me.

these guys are pretty easy to beat though, on D all you have to do is put a QB spy or 2 and on offense just throw quick passes when they blitz, but it doesnt change the fact that its borin and not fun to play like this and makes the game really unrelaistic.

anyway /rant

Re: Is it momentum?
 

try playing in the Operations Sports community for online, there are set rules to keep players from cheesing.

Re: Is it momentum?
 

Oh, im in the community, its just hard finding games when I have the time too so I go elsewhere for my fix. I also have 5 leagues im involved in and it happens there too but not all the time!

Re: Is it momentum?
 

Smoke6,

Here's my take on your situation. Take it for whatever it's worth:

Change your execution, not your intensity, focus, or philosophy.

I start every game with the intention of beating my opponent to a pulp. I want to win 255 - 0. The only thing preventing me from scoring 255 is the person on the other end. If they are a worthy opponent, they will stop me from scoring while putting up some points themselves.

Turnovers, time of possession, and 3rd down conversions (among others) are reasons we win or lose games. IMO, 'cheese' is never the reason for a loss as evident by my assertion that 'cheese' doesn't even belong in a football discussion.

IMO, cheese = excuse. It's easier to chalk a tactic up as cheese than to actually analyze our execution to find subtle ways to corral our opponents.

For instance, I layed a guy the other night that ran the Strong I Close Counter play about 20 times. On his first drive, he ran it three times for 80 yards and a score. On his second drive I dropped it for a loss twice before he he audibles to a PA Pass off the counter action. He continues to run his base play all game no matter how many yards he losses, but he adds other plays to keep me honest. Overall I stop his counter run for a loss on all but 6 plays, but in those 6 plays he gains 150 yards.

I could have easily taken his strategy as cheese - but I don't accept cheese as a valid football reason to fail - so I chose a better base play to use against him and the way he executed his counter.

My adjustment covered the three parts of football strategy:

Pre-snap

During the play, I realized that the three longest runs were given up because I attacked the wrong gap with my user controlled player. Instead of attacking the LOS at the C-Gap near the OT's outside shoulder - I should widen to attack the D-Gap outside the End's shoulder. Even though I ran the same defense I ran against him on the last play of his 1st drive (58 yard TD) changing 1 player's angle was what made the difference.

Had I simply stopped at "cheese" I might have easily overlooked how personnel, position, and tempo (which have actual football value) fit into why I was getting "cheesed."

So I won't say it's momentum per se... But frustration with your opponent's strategy causes frustration that can drive momentum in his direction. The idea of 'cheese' also makes you less adept at seeing when your opponent changes something small because we're automatically expecting the same thing we've seen all game.

Ultimately, your opponent stuck to his game plan and won the game. Simple as his game plan was, he ran those 2 plays over and over to TEST YOUR DISCIPLINE. When things started to fall apart for you, your opponent was in a better position BECAUSE of his simplistic plan. Simply put, you were thinking about too many things at once while your opponent kept it simple.

This is merely another rant in a long line of rants about the use of "cheese" as a blanket description of football strategies when the actual description of the strategy serves all of us better. When you start thinking you're being cheesed, you automatically stop thinking about the personnel, positioning, and tempo related factors that actually have a place in the football discussion.

Believing in the existence of 'cheese' is like believing in the Tooth Fairy. Just because there's a dollar under the pillow doesn't mean the Tooth Fairy exists. It just means someone put it there when you weren't looking. Chalking it up to 'cheese' merely means you aren't looking for the real reasons the dollar got there.

We shouldn't think about how we're getting cheesed. Tis better to think personnel, position, and tempo.

Needless to say, when you settle on 'cheese' as the reason for a loss - you help out your next opponent and your current one.

Later