[KBLover]

Too often, you can't make the "right" read because you can't trust what you see.

You see a defender leaving the area, creating a window for the throw. You throw it, the defender, who's momentum should be going totally in the wrong direction, slides over/spins around to make a perfect pick.

It wasn't a bad read, in the real game, a defender can't do that. For one, he might not even see the ball thrown, and trying to make a play like that with his momentum going totally the other way isn't going to happen.

Another example - I have Mike Williams on a curl. The OLB is in a flats zone towards the sideline. The corner is in man coverage playing over-the-top shading. The MLB is middle zone and the SS is cover 2.

Williams makes a good cut, turns is about to show me his numbers. I release the ball with anticipation of his route definition, with pulling back on the L-stick to bring him further from the over-the-top CB, and the CB goes through (literally) Williams to pick the ball. Or the flats defender somehow shifts over to snatch the ball or drop the pick. Then sometimes, Williams, a 99 RTE WR with high AGI will just stop and turn up the field...on a curl. Why? Of course, that plays into the CB's coverage (despite me pulling back to bring Williams back to me) and CB undercuts the pass.

I want defense to play smartly without having the offense "create" plays for the defense to make by suddenly acting like 2 yrs who never seen a field before. I want that CB to anticipate curl (maybe he read a key on Williams) and shift to underneath coverage, making me hold the ball, have to scramble, or just throw it out of bounds near Williams.

Pass defense isn't all about picks and deflections but in Madden it is. Sometimes, it should be forcing overthrown/underthrown incompletes just to get rid of the ball or tighten the window and the QB can't hit it because his S/M/DAC and AWR is too low and the ball is just off target. Sometimes its forcing the QB to scramble and take a 2 yd sliding "run" instead of a risk on an INT. And often, the pass defense starts with the pass rush - and the problems in that area have been mentioned often.

And you should be able to make the read and trust your eyes. Offensive and Defensive players should be both executing, not shifting, sliding, going through (literally) each other without contact, penalties, etc.

If players played smarter, more fundamental football, I bet these "shortcuts" wouldn't be needed. That's what I want to see on defense.