3-4 Over/Under/Odd

[Unforeseenx]

Normally I don't call these "base" defenses very often, but I'm building a brand new playbook for offline franchise. Even though it's madden and the various sets don't necessarily work in a way identical to RL I'm curious about these.

I know how they align in game, but I'm curious if there is a specific situation teams would choose one over the other or if they just specialize in one like some of what I've read online seems to suggest.

[timhere1970]

In Madden, I would say decide based on what you want your outside linebackers to do. If they are both pass rushers I would go with a formation where they line up outside on the line of scrimmage. Then look at the playbooks for those that have a lot of plays with your guys doing what they do best. It gets frustrating because auto flipping defensive plays takes them out of their roles anyway.

[RogueHominid]

I think in Madden these distinctions are more nominal than real compared to real life, simply because Madden does not allow you to have a dedicated 3/5 technique or a dedicated strong/weak section of your LB corps or a dedicated field/boundary section of your DB corps.

When you're thinking about what you want in your playbook, practically speaking, I like having Odd in there for when I want my OLB to be able to set hard edges and contain outside running games to both sides. I like having Cub or Bear in there for when I want to really gum up the G-C-G area for inside-running teams. And I like having an Even or an Under in there for when I want at least one of my MLB to be "covered" by a space eater up front so they don't have to take on as many C-G blocks 1-1.

Hope that helps! I'm no coach or expert, so take that with a grain of salt!

[IlluminatusUIUC]

I know the 3-4 Predator formation used to be the only one in the game that flipped your backers to put the ROLB on the weak side of the formation automatically. I don't play 3-4 but is that still in the game?

[Ghost Of The Year]

3-4 Bear defense, is it much differen from Over and the other 3-4 defenses?

[RogueHominid]

Quote: Originally Posted by IlluminatusUIUC

I know the 3-4 Predator formation used to be the only one in the game that flipped your backers to put the ROLB on the weak side of the formation automatically. I don't play 3-4 but is that still in the game?

Yes, the 34 Predator is one exception to this rule. It applies to the ROLB, who will always have his hand in the dirt in a 34 under look with his alignment to the weak side of the formation. The DL and other backers are locked into their Madden positions.

The 335 Odd also, I believe, locks the LOLB into a rush position from the strong side of the formation, though I'd have to double check that, and again, the other players can't really be designated for special assignment.

To the question about Bear, it's a pretty aggressive front, in that everyone is right on the LOS. That can be good or bad, depending on personnel and matchups.

The Cub gives you the guard-to-guard coverage of the Bear front without committing you to everyone being at the LOS. You can play a heavy or light box out of that, 1 or 2 high, and that can have its virtues as well.

Personally, I love the 34 because you can gin up pressure so many different ways, though I wish Madden approached positional assignments differently.

[Ghost Of The Year]

Quote: Originally Posted by RogueHominid

Yes, the 34 Predator is one exception to this rule. It applies to the ROLB, who will always have his hand in the dirt in a 34 under look with his alignment to the weak side of the formation. The DL and other backers are locked into their Madden positions. The 335 Odd also, I believe, locks the LOLB into a rush position from the strong side of the formation, though I'd have to double check that, and again, the other players can't really be designated for special assignment. To the question about Bear, it's a pretty aggressive front, in that everyone is right on the LOS. That can be good or bad, depending on personnel and matchups. The Cub gives you the guard-to-guard coverage of the Bear front without committing you to everyone being at the LOS. You can play a heavy or light box out of that, 1 or 2 high, and that can have its virtues as well. Personally, I love the 34 because you can gin up pressure so many different ways, though I wish Madden approached positional assignments differently.

Thank you. I dont rememeber noticing the Cub 34 before. I will look ou for it next time.

[CM Hooe]

I think the varying fronts in Madden have two useful purposes:

1 - Different fronts allow you to dictate what sort of run plays will beat you and what sort of runs won't. For example, if you know your opponent runs a lot of Inside Zone, putting a 350-lb boulder of a man at 0-technique nose tackle directly over the center (such as in 3-4 Odd or 3-4 Cub) is going to make the center's life hell trying to set up the double team block which makes Inside Zone work and clog that blocking scheme up quite a bit.

2 - Different fronts allow you to dictate the offense's pass protection and pass blocking assignments. Absent any protection adjustments, the default blocking schemes against four-man rushes from Over / Under / Odd / etc. very consistently double teams a specific rusher. Knowing where the double is going to be by default allows you to matchup hunt with your best interior pass rushers.

The different fronts would obviously be much better if we could consistently slot defenders in strong side / weak side roles, but even without that functionality they still have some obvious utility IMO.