@Memnon
I'm still learning the game. I'm really into it...its nerdy football ****.
You're out there pre-snap on defense, every snap adjusting your DBs, yes? Otherwise, base defense, you're getting vanilla in game. So you need to manually, pre-snap, see whats up, shade inside/outside, play underneath/overtop, press, bail whatever. This is what I assume is done at the highest levels of this game competitively? (someone here has to know...this stuff wasnt in the previous version and I'm guessing was already in Madden which is why I'm a dummy and people are already galaxy brained on this). Is there a way to speed this up, or you just gotta go. Or, only when you're feeling you got an idea. On the reverse, a player is seeing everything play out like chess in his mind and making adjustments when playing offense...it seems defense now reflects that as well as a user? Was very passive in previous editions. More user control and stick skill based, IMO.
Absolutely.
It all just depends on your opponent, your personnel & what situation you're in.
In year 1, I mostly played Cover 3 & Cover 4 Quarters coverage because the Secondary was slow. But after year 1, I completely revamped the Secondary via Portal & brought in 4 new Corners & 3 Safeties, so I play mostly Man coverage looks now.
This frees up your ability to adjust on the fly & call more Blitzes because you don't need your LB's to drop in coverage.
In the 4-2-5 Defense, I play the majority of snaps in Nickel. Over & 3-3 Mint. I really only use Double Mug if I know it's gonna be run play. But you can customize & change your Defensive audibles in the Coaching setting, so if you call a play & it looks pre-snap like you're out of position or going to get caught in the wrong look, you can have a set of audibles you can go check into right away.
I pretty much shift the DLine & move the LB's on every snap. When I call a Blitz, I'm shifting the DL to the side that the Blitz is coming from & moving the LB in so he'll essentially get a free reign rush. The key is just to have fast LB's on the field so when they do Blitz they get there fast.
Assuming you play on PS5, to audible your DB's it's Triangle & then left or right trigger to either Press, give cushion or show different looks. In the Red Zone, I usually will Show 3, but send a Blitz from the weak side. So if it's a run play I'll have a LB in the backfield by the time the RB gets to the LOS, or if it's a PA it'll likely be a Sack. If it's a straight up pass, I'll call a Cover 4 palms look so I do get beat on a Corner route. If they have 3 WR's on the field, I'll audible the Rover Safety to a Deep Shell & adjust the Strong side Backer to an underneath Flat zone, this basically eliminates the Slant.
On Defense, I strictly play at CB, usually Field side, but sometimes I'll switch to Nickel or Boundary. But pre-snap, I'm always adjusting the DLine & the LB's to create pressure upfront. I call the Defense already knowing what I want the DB's to do based on the down & the situation. So for instance, if it's 2nd down & 7, I already know they're not going to run the ball again (unless you're playing a run heavy team), so Im going Nickel & I'm calling Cover 2 Man coverage, that way my Safeties will drop back to protect the Deep ball & because I trust the other 2 Corners & know they can cover in Man. I'll lock down the WR1.
I call the Defense from the Outside-In, not the Inside-Out. The key really, is just getting that initial stop on 1st down. If you can get it to 2nd & 3rd down & longs, it becomes much easier to win on Defense because the CPU only has so many options they're going to choose from. Knowing this, you call the Defense that protects you from getting beat Deep & make adjustments at the DLine to create pressure. Even if you don’t get a Sack, as long as you have the correct personnel in your Secondary to cover you can get stops easy.
Just don't ever call Tampa 2 unless you're in the Red Zone or goaline lol.
