[CreatineKasey]

I'm really struggling to consistently stop the spread offense. I've now had numerous games where I'm in control only to have an opponent spread me out and pick apart my defense to come back and win games. To me these are games I should win handedly.

My strategy at this point in time (basically the strategy to stop a pass play - don't respect run lanes or spacing):

1) Positioning. Make sure you have all the WR's accounted for in zone. Man defense will have that already done for you. I've seen my defense get GOUGED by kids just snapping then throwing the ball immediately to an "uncovered" WR in the slot. This needs to be prevented first and foremost.

2) Confusion. The spread offense forces the defense to declare their defense. Against man defense, one can just run crossing routes and it is a guaranteed completion. Against zone, there are numerous tips to figure out the defense early, and because of the "positioning" aspect of needing WR's to have a man over them, it is really hard to disguise one's defense. Mixing in nickle defense has helped me with confusing the offense, but it pretty much declares zone.

3) Pressure. I think this has to be the linchpin to stopping the spread offense. Opponents have successfully dropped back 15-20 yards and still shredded my defense deep. This is the area I have the most to improve in. I have a few blitzes that work, but you have to disguise them. If you declare the blitz early, a good player will sling it to the flats or run a WR screen.

I need help! What else can I do?

My solution thought thus far: Use the ol' DB strike play, or something similar to it blitzing with a cover 1 behind it. The opponent really shouldn't be able to get the ball deep against a well choreographed blitz. Remember, they usually only have the 5 OL back there to block for the QB. A DB blitz could very well get in there free.

Another possible play: Dime 3-2 defense cover 2 soft (with the Dime back blitzing). You could probably slide the DL and pinch them to occupy the 4 OL nearest to the DB and then ideally the DB runs in free. Everyone is covered for a seam route, but WR screens and flats routes could still be open, amongst the usual cover 2 breakers with more time to throw.

Maybe run man defense rushing 4 and manually taking a "free" defender to take away the most appealing routes? I've done this somewhat in the past, but a good spread QB will run dual crosses, so it is a "pick your poison" situation.

Regardless, teams should really pay if they completely declare their offense like that. Maybe I just have to cover short routes and zone blitz the guy to death. Also, getting hook zones to cover 2 wide receivers could be another solution.

As you can tell... I'm really desperate... and angry lol.