[CactusJunk]

I was getting killed by the pass rush until I started doing pre-snap blocking assignments to keep more guys in to block. For example, I was using the Eagles and the Cowboys were just killing McNabb. Most of this was through blitzes, it seemed. Anyway, I started keeping in Westbrook and (at times) Celek, too. That really opened things up. I usually had enough time to throw and, often when they blitzed, I smoked 'em with a couple huge plays. Unfortunately, the defense AI didn't really seem to adapt to this and kept bringing blitzes very often, which meant that I just kept torching the isolated DBs. It would make more sense if the defense AI scaled back the blitz after getting burned like that a few times. Maybe I have too small a sample, though, to judge the defensive playcalling AI.

On a related note, I'm finding it much easier (not easy, just easier) to run if I set my o-line to block aggressively. Pinching and sliding left or right just make things worse (especially if the D's backside guys are fast -- they'll run you down as you're getting to the line), but the Aggressive setting seems to really help the o-line guys stay focused on the guy in front of them, instead of floating out to the second level while the DLs and MLB just crack my RB right after he gets the ball. Again, this could be too small a sample size to base much on, though.