I know that there is some interest here in the changes Tony and Ricky have been discussing. These are the changes from the current Opening Post set.
Offsides: 35
DPI: 99
IG: 60
FM: 42
Human RBK: 4
Human INT: 20
A quick breakdown of the changes and why they were made follows:
Offsides: Made purely to slow the pass rush and reduce their 'burst' and block-shedding at the LOS.
DPI: This has a) tightened up the human pass coverage and b) has made WR/DB interactions more fluid and dynamic....I have completed long bombs and had short routes jumped by DBs
IG: CPU gets rid of the ball more quickly...but still seeing the deep passes. Concerned about going any higher as I noticed CPUs getting tentative if short routes were covered
Facemask: A tiny bit less wrap-up with the tackling.
Human RBK: Dropped it as the drop to the offsides slider made the human run game a tad too easy. It's pretty tough here....if too difficult after playing a few games, you can bump it back up to 5.
Human INT: Before you go WTF, here is why... I have noted much better reaction by human defenders at a lower INT setting (i.e. more deflections). I had 4 INTs in less than one half in one game against Tannehill, so picks still happen if you have good DBs - I'm actually becoming convinced that even CPU-controlled defenders on the human side use the CPU INT slider.
Do these tweaks 'fix' the sack issue?
The million dollar question everyone wants to know the answer to. Well, yes and no. The sacks are controlled more and the CPU responds better. However, a lot of other adjustments were tried and throw other things completely out of whack or make other aspects of the game unrealistic IMO.
Suggested 'House Rules' to minimize extreme sack totals
- Do NOT use the defensive camera angle....it makes pass rushing WAY too easy
- Do NOT pass commit all the time
- Use the hit stick to tackle QBs and not the other tackle buttons (square and X on the PS4). The hit stick animation seems to give the CPU QB an extra millisecond to throw (often giving the 'hit while throwing' animation instead of a sack)
I'm going to refer to this set as version 6.1 and will update the OP shortly.