LBzrule
Friday, July 24, 2009
I will not get too much into offense in these blogs except for a couple of areas, namely pass blocking and route running. In this particular blog I will focus on double teams, chips and one pull protection scheme. So let’s look at the video.
The key point in the first frame is we see the FB Lorenzo Neal step up and assist in blocking Steelers NT Casey Hampton. So we get a double here. You can also see McClain help the OT chip the DE as he makes his way out of the backfield and into the passing game.
On the next play if we look at the top of the screen/right side we will see a Double by Grubbs and Gaither on the DE. The defense sent three rushers on this play.
On the next play Ngata gets doubled, but watch him spin out of it and hauls *** to make the play. The key here is the double team but also a dominant defensive lineman’s ability to break that double and get to the football.
Next we have the Right Guard Chris Chester chip help on Woodley. Grubbs also provides chip help on Harrison at the top of screen. The defense sent three rushers on this play.
In the next frame, the Bills Chip with the HB and double with the Tackle and the Guard on the Jets DE/OLB. The defense rushed three on this play.
Now I want to switch to a particular protection scheme. The Saints deploy a Pull protection scheme to off set Bears Defensive End Alex Brown as he is lined up in a wide seven technique. Brown already got a sack in this game from that alignment and was in Brees’ face on the next pass play so the Saints turned to a chip by the back and pull protection scheme to slow Brown down. On this play the Center, LG and LT all step to the right. The RG pulls to the left to pick up Brown. The RT steps to the left. The TE opens up with his hips and anticipates riding the DE on the arc. But also notice we have a strong slot formation and the slot WR chips the DE and passes him to the TE as he runs his route. The defense sent four rushers here.
The last frame of the video is a still frame from the Ravens vs Dolphins and notice we have two double team blocks here. The TE and HB lined up left will take care of the DE from that side. The HB will chip while the TE blocks. The RT is one on one with the DE. The RG and Center double the DT and the LG and LT double the other DT. The defense sends four rushers on this play.
What is important here is that when possible offensive linemen should help each other with chips and doubles. When the defense only sends three rushers against five blockers, someone should get double-teamed. If the defense sends four rushers against six blockers two defenders should get double-teamed. And if a back has a chip assignment he should chip the DE to his side. FB’s from the I-Formation that are staying in to block need to take initiative and step up and help on someone.
Implementation
Now, what are some possible ways of implementing these things? Let me do the perhaps easy one first. I think the pull protection with the HB chipping is the easiest of these to implement and can simply be attached to our existing protection schemes. This protection was deployed by the Saints because Brown lined up wide, so that means when I talk about fronts we will see this wide alignment as an option.
Double Teams and Chip helps by Olinemen
Idea 1: Automatic and Invisible
The first thing I am thinking with respect to double teams and chips is to simply rip out and replace the OL code, but that’s going to take a hell of a long time and something I don’t think is achievable in one cycle. As I have posted on the boards several times, it took 2k quite awhile to get 2k8’s protections down and they still were not done when the game shipped. So with that in mind I’m thinking we can turn to 2k8 and look at their game plan menu and think about their focus system for a moment.
The focus system in 2k8 pulled zone defenders towards the WR’s that were checked in the game plan. You could only check two receivers for your defense to focus on. Now, I’m thinking that perhaps EA can build something similar to the focus system in the backend of the game for offensive lines. But instead of it randomly shifting, the Oline focuses on the top defensive lineman in two situations, namely, a three man pass rush and a four man pass rush.
The system would work the following way:
5-man pass protection vs 3 man pass rush – double the two highest rated pass rushers
5-man pass protection vs 4 man pass rush – double the highest rated defensive lineman
5-man pass protection with HB Chip – back helps tackle to his side by chipping; on the opposite side the highest rated defensive lineman is doubled.
6-man pass protection vs 3 man pass rush – double the two highest rated pass rushers
6-man pass protection vs 4 man pass rush – double team the two highest rated defensive linemen.
Ect.,
Now of course this could get disrupted especially if the defense starts stunting their best-rated players on jet stunts, DE loops and what not.
The benefit of this way of implementation is that it is something that the pick up and play player does not need to worry about and they can still be protected. Let’s talk about the downfalls as a community.
Idea 2: User Controlled via On the Field Offensive Game Plan
NCAA has given us a blue print for a on the fly game plan that is not obstructive to the user. Madden can adopt such a plan but change the options. One of the options could be to select who you want doubled on the defense. You can double up to two defenders. You can also tell your back who you want chipped on any given play. This way chips do not have to be assigned to plays but you can game plan them. The back will keep his original route on a given play if he has one, but in the game plan you can tell him to chip and he will chip the nearest defender as he makes his way out of the backfield. If he swings out of the backfield or goes on the circle route for instance he will chip the DE to the side he releases. If he curls up the middle then he will chip the NT (3-4 defense) or one of the DT’s (4-3 defense).
Critical Note: Calling a pass protection scheme can alter assigned double teams. For instance, if you tell your line to slide protect right, but then also game plan them to double against a 4 man rush then it should not be possible to double say the back side defensive end since the line is sliding to the right. Or let’s say the new pull protection is in the game and you call that, you would not be able to double the DE on the strong side. The line would need to stay in base pass protection to double anyone in both cases.
The advantage of this implementation is that the user gets to determine who is double-teamed. The payoff here comes in handy against defensive lines that have three or four highly rated players. You can take chances of doubling whoever you want rather than the A.I simply choosing the two highest rated every time. Perhaps that third highest rated lineman is starting to cause a problem and you might need to switch over.
Idea 3: Me and You Call + Game Plan Doubles
This one comes from Adembroski and I think is an excellent idea given that Madden only has BOB (Big on Big or Man on Man) and Slide Protections. Now of course in this blog I have advocated for a Pull Protection although it is non-traditionary. But let’s talk a little bit about what the ME and YOU would consist of within the framework of BOB protection. The user has the ability to make the call ME or YOU.
Now generally in BOB protection the Center or weak side Guard will be a bubble player – that is uncovered by a defensive lineman. If there is a rush threat outside of the Tackle on the backside, the Center will make a ME or YOU call to determine who will block the backside rush threat. “ME” for the Center and “YOU” for the Guard.
Now the me and you call does not set up double teams. With this system we would need something external to the game, namely, a game plan to set who we want to double in certain situations. I think we should get a few situations in the game plan screen. Those situations should be as follows:
1) 5 Man Protection vs 3 man Rush
2) 5 Man Protection vs 4 man Rush
3) 6 Man Protection vs 4 man rush
4) 6 Man protection vs 5 man rush
5) Defensive Line stunts
6) HB Chip help and release on
Now with this in mind we should be able to save this in a profile and use it on and offline. Scenario five is for when the defensive line stunts. What should the options be here? One option can be to auto go to zone protection.
Discuss.
Posted on July 24, 2009 at 06:57 PM.
Game Planning CornersI think game planning and having an in depth game plan menu where we can save everything to a profile for online and offline play is very important. In this blog I want to talk a little bit about game planning the corners. I think we should be able to set our corners positioning based on coverage and situation. Let’s look at coverages and situations.
Ok in the Game Plan Hub we should have an option for Secondary Play. Once we select Secondary play it should take us to a menu for coverages. On that menu we should have the following:
Man Coverage
Cover 0
Cover 1
After I select a coverage, I should come to a menu that has:
Middle of the field Play
Boundary Play
Field Play
On the same screen I should have the options to check under the three options above:
Field Corner Play Inside Play Outside Press Loose Default
Boundary Corner Play Inside Play Outside Press Loose Default
Nickel Back Play Inside Play Outside Press Loose Default
Dime Back Play Inside Play outside Press Loose Default
This way we can game plan our corners with respect to coverages and not have to worry about cluttering up the coverage interface.
On the Field Game Plan
Now the on the field game plan should give us more options. One of those options should be to set our corners over for zone coverages. Corners Over is something I would love to have (bring back, it used to be man lock on/off) and it goes a very long way in disguising zone coverages. What a lot of teams do in real life with their zone coverages is call corners over. Let me see if I can draw it up here.
.................................................. H
.................................................. F
......................Z..........................Q
X......................................T...G...C.. .G...T...Y
.......................C.............L.......N.... ....T.......R
C........................................W......M. ......S
.................................................. .....................$
..........................................F
Now this zone coverage against Pro Twins. We have Corners Over here.
Let's say this is Cover 3. What happens in Corners Over is that the CB
aligned on X will drop to the deep 1/3, the Over CB will play the
flat. To simplify it for video games, $ will read TE. He takes deep
outside 1/3 but he reads TE first. F takes the middle 1/3. S is going
to drop to Buzz right, M to hook curl and W to hook curl.
If it is cover 2 Hard for instance, S has to get to the flats quickly,
M rotates over to the TE hook/curl and W is dropping deep in the hole.
F and $ are on the deep halves. Outside CB plays the flats, inside CB
drops to hook/curl.
What about motion?
If we get any motion by X or Z the Over CB will go with him. If we are in a Cover 3 call, the Over CB now plays the deep 1/3. Everyone else's assignment goes back to the default zone as if the Corner did not play over. If we are in a Cover 2 he plays either flats (2hard), or sinks to hook/curl (2 Sink). Now what you are going to need is faster player movement by defenders and better locomotion on the motion man. With Cover 3 the CB will need to deepen his motion over and on the snap drop to the deep 1/3.
Zone Brackets
Another option in the “on the field game plan” I would like to toggle on and off on a play-by-play basis is Zone Brackets. The Adaptive A.I may already take care of this. I’m not sure. If it does not it would be nice to have as an option. Our on the fly option should be.
Bracket #1’s
Bracket #2’s
Let’s describe the system first by working through an example and then talk about what these numbers mean. Let’s say the offense comes out in a Gun 4 WR set. On defense let’s say I have come out in Dollar Normal Cover 2 sink. Now I call up the on the field game plan and select Bracket #1’s. What this will do is work in the coverage. So if the #1’s run any short or medium routes they will be bracketed. Let’s take the right side of the field. The #1 is running a curl route. The CB will back pedal drop and play his outside hip. The Dime back to that side will quickly check #2 and release him. Rather than dropping straight back, he will drift over and attempt to rob the curl route from underneath. Now this does open up holes in the zone, IF the QB has time to read it. But it also does something else. Say goodbye to rocket curls.
Now suppose #1 runs a slant. The outside corner is going to ride him into the dime back and then turn his hips and get back to his area on the outside. The dime back will ride #1 into the MLB, who will focus his attention on #1 as well.
But what if #1 runs a post route? How would the bracketing in cover 2-sink work here? First the outside corner is going to ride #1 on the vertical portion of the route. The dime back is going to also drop with #1 on the vertical portion of the route. As #1 makes his cut to the post the outside CB will release and get back to his zone drop area. The Dime back will then ride #1 into the MLB who will be dropping deep into the hole because of his focus on #1. Now again, what this does is open up holes in the zone, but if the pass rush is there then reading and finding those holes will be a lot more difficult than this presentation makes it sound.
If #1 runs anything vertical, the outside CB will drop with him for 10 yards where he will then pass him on to the Safety. And since we have selected bracket #1’s the Safeties will focus on #1’s. This means if we have one of the #2’s running a deep post then it’s going to be wide open.
Now you can only choose to bracket one set of receivers on any given down. If I choose to bracket #1’s on this down, then I cannot also bracket #2’s on the same down.
How would this work if the defense is in cover 3? Let’s start back with the curl route. In cover 3 we have the outside CB dropping to the deep 1/3. The SS drops to hook curl on the right side and the dime back plays the flat. On the left side we have the left CB dropping to the deep 1/3. We have the OLB dropping to the hook curl and the nickel back playing the flats. These are the important positions. Let’s say #1 on the right runs a curl route. The dime back playing the flat is going to focus on #1 and cushion the flat and stay in front of #1 to prevent the curl route. The SS will charge on #1’s inside hip.
What if #1 runs a 10 yard out route? Again the CB is going to drop to his deep 1/3 responsibility. The SS is going to charge on the out and the Dime back is going to cushion the flats and make that throw to the out a bit harder.
Basically, if the focus WR is within 5 yards of a defender playing a short zone, that defender is going to focus on that WR while he is in the zone and ride him and pass him off to the next defender. It might open up holes in the zones, but again, if the pass rush is there, then this can work.
Recap
Off the Field Game Plan
• Set Corner Play for man coverages
On the field game Plan
• Corners Over Option
• Zone Brackets Option
Posted on July 24, 2009 at 06:26 PM.
Pass RushIn this blog I want to focus on the pass rush. I want to first look at the basic pass rush and running the arc by defensive ends. Second, I want to focus on defensive line stunts and talk about implementing on the fly line stunts. Before closing out however, I need to bring to light what underlines the previous point, namely, attacking gaps. This blog will feature two videos.
If you’ve read many of my post on the board in regard to the pass rush, I’ve always mentioned the DE or OLB running the arc. The Madden 10 videos did not showcase this. There are probably some things we will have to do to make this happen in Madden 10. In Madden 2011 if we are going to have the same play call system I think we can get what we want by either following Bezo’s suggestion of tying the pass rush to run/pass commit. Or just allowing the fan stunt to give us what we are looking for. The current fan stunt has the DE’s going out too far before turning up then field. This does not apply to line stunts where the DE loops or twists inside. However, it does apply to half line jet stunts to the defensive end that is not stunting.
Bezo’s suggestion was to have the pass commit alter the DE’s pass rush path. Instead of running into the tackle the Defensive End or OLB runs the arc up the field. If pass commit is not selected then the DE/OLB stays on the same path. But it appears pass commit has been taken out of Madden 10. So my suggestion is to simply allow the fan line stunt operate this way. Let’s look at this in action so we can get a good visual.
On the first play Calvin Pace tries to outrun the offensive tackle up the field. Notice he does not make contact with the Tackle at the line. He is well into the backfield before he even makes contact. This is what selecting pass commit should do. Get the DE/OLB to peel his ears back and run the arc.
On the second play we get a glimpse of Terrell Suggs run the arc and attempt to run past the Steelers offensive tackle. But notice how fast Suggs gets there. Ben has not even finished his drop and Suggs is on the same level on the field where the QB is standing. Ben has to stay up in the pocket.
On the next play, Demarcus Ware just uses his speed and explodes past the Giants left tackle and gets the sack. Notice how quick this pressure comes. Eli bounces off of his feet in his drop and then gets dropped.
Next, Gregg Ellis rushes Manning and he is up the field fast enough to be 1 yard away from Eli as Eli takes his last step in his drop. However, the Left Tackle keeps him at bay. But watch Chris Canty here just bully the guard and provide the pressure.
On the next play watch Giants DT set up Leonard Davis for the inside move without engaging. Also on the replay where Tom Coughlin is speaking, notice that the DE’s do not engage the Cowboy offensive tackles until they are 4 yards into the backfield. So there are three points of emphasis here: 1) Beating an offensive lineman without engaging him; and 2) the engage point of the defensive ends are not at the line of scrimmage but well behind it; and 3) the defensive ends in real life if they run the arc are a lot closer to the QB when they engage the offensive tackles than they are in Madden 10.
Next we have a beautiful display of everything from above with Bears DE Alex Brown using the Bull Rush to get to the QB. Brown never engages the Saints Left Tackle. He sets him up for the Bull Rush, gets rid of him and gets to Brees as he finishes his drop.
New Emphasis: D-Lineman given tendencies to use specific moves – Bull Rush, Push and Pull, Hand Slap Down, Spin, Rip, Swim. All of these barring the spin are power moves. So defensive linemen/OLB’s that have a high power moves rating need to be tagged with specific moves. They also need a combo move set. Let me provide an example.
Alex Brown - Power Move 85 – Bull Rush
……………... Combo Moves 60 – Hand Slap + Spin
What this means is that Brown is above average when he is speed rushing and deploys his power move – Bull Rush. This move should be offset by the offensive lineman’s pass block and Pass Block Footwork ratings. So if Brown goes up against a Tackle who’s pass block rating is 85 and up and who has the footwork to keep up with his speed, they can offset his Bull Rush move which then triggers his combo moves, which in this case the lineman’s ratings would be superior to his combo move. What this does is explain why Brown shows up in some games and in others he does not. Facing a stud tackle he gets nullified, UNLESS, we start stunting him inside on jet stunts and stunting him to the opposite B gap on loops where he might find an advantage with respect to the former and might find and empty gap with respect to the latter.
On the last play we see Terrell Suggs and Jarrett Johnson both get deep into the backfield and “slim” the pocket. They are three yards into the backfield before they try to duck under the Tackles, turn the corner and get by them.
Summary
1) Fan line stunt alters the DE’s and OLB’s pass rush lane – run the arc.
2) The Edge rusher should not engage the tackle until at least 3 yards deep depending on his speed. Sometimes the rusher may get 4 yards deep – Engage Point.
3) The Defenders should not always engage the lineman then make a move. He should be able to set up a lineman for a move and beat him - Break Points
4) Specific Moves and Combo Moves countered by Pass Blocking and Pass Block Footwork.
Defensive Line Stunts
In this unit of the blog I want to talk about Defensive Line Stunts on two levels. I want to focus on the execution of the line stunts and then talk about on the fly line stunts and their implementation into the game.
First, let me touch on defensive line stunts. Defensive line stunts are in Madden as a part of specific plays. We also have on the fly line changes. Notice my language changes here. I called them on the fly line movement changes. Why would I use that language instead of stunts? Let me try to clarify my use of terms here. First I said the game has stunts as a part of plays. Next I said the game has on the fly movement changes. Let me clarify these. In the first statement I talk about line stunts as only that which is “drawn up,” that is, play art. Execution wise however, the result of the drawn up stunts are the same as the on the fly movement changes. In other words, there are no real stunts; there are only movement paths. Now if we continue to another layer here there are only movement paths because there is no emphasis on gaps and penetration of gaps. I will touch on this in the last unit of the blog. As the game is right now it is based on movement and alteration of the lineman’s movement, but not on gaps and penetration of gaps.
Let’s look at some line stunts and their execution in real life. On the video I have the following:
NOT (DT Twist) – Nose First, tackle around
Tex jet stunt - tackle first, end around
Ex Jet stunt - End/Backer first, Tackle around
Mex Stunt – Odd Personnel with the Middle Backer going first and the DE looping around inside.
EB - End first, Backer around
Let’s look at the video then talk about what is noticeable with respect to defensive line stunts.
Play 1: NOT Stunt (Nose First, Tackle Around)
The Jets have a four-man line. The Nose here is lined up over the left guard (viewpoint = back of offense). Both ends are lined up in 7 techniques outside the tackles. On the snap the Nose will pull the Guard inside as he attempts to penetrate. Because this is a screen play the Guard has to follow because the Center is vacating. On drop back pass plays the Nose should still influence the Guard and pull him inside attacking his inside shoulder and the outside shoulder of the Center. The DT, played by Jets DE Ellis will loop around the penetration into the B gap area and make his way to the QB. Notice his first step is forward to allow the Nose to influence the Guard. This delay is just what the Defensive line needs to run the stunt effectively. Also notice how smooth they run this. Defenders are not bumping into each other. Secondly, the penetration by the Nose and the Loop by the Tackle are gap based. Notice the Nose has his aim point, namely the inside shoulder of the Guard and outside shoulder of the Center. He also has a purpose – penetrate. The Tackle also has his loop point, namely B gap.
Madden’s Problem: In Madden and NCAA the stunt is missing the penetration and loop point because there is no emphasis on gaps and gap penetration. Therefore you get the two stunting players running wide, running into each other and serving no purpose. This needs to be resolved. Now, on CD, Ian did address one of these in the Nickel defense through animation swaps via the ANT tool. But as I saw later videos I saw it was back to the old movement. ☹
Play 2: Tex Jet Stunt (Tackle First, End Around)
On this play, the Ravens have the personnel for the 1-5-5, but they line up in 3-3 (all I am using these numbers to refer to are personnel), with two OLB’s playing the Tackle and End Spots on the left side (JJ playing DT and Antwan Barnes playing DE). Suggs, Scott and Lewis are stand up guys and Pryce is the one down lineman (see Fronts and Game Plan blog in the next couple of weeks to see ideas of how this can be pulled off).
On the snap, Johnson will aim at the outside shoulder of the guard. Rather than delaying, Barnes will take a step forward as well. Once Johnson penetrates at his aim point, namely the outside shoulder of the Guard which is the B gap, Barnes is now in position to come off of his *** and penetrate the A gap. Notice the protection slides and doubles the pass rush strength here. Suggs and Pryce get doubled. Barnes hits the A gap untouched and forces Ben to move. He’s able to hit Ben as he makes the pass. Again, the stunt has a penetrator and a looper.
Madden Problem: Again with respect to the Tex Jet Stunt in Madden and NCAA the stunt is missing a penetrator and a looper. The defenders simply “move” in the right directions, but they do not have aim points. The DE’s run way too far inside in Madden. They need to have the A gap on their side as an aim point.
Play 3: Ex Stunt
On this play the Jets widen their defensive line. Notice the tackles are in 5 techniques and the DE’s are in 7 techniques. At the top of the screen we will get a half line Ex Stunt. That is End first, tackle around.
Play 4: Mex Stunt
Here we have a Mex Stunt with the Middle backer going first and the End Looping inside. Notice the Middle Backer influences the Guard to go with him wide and his aim point is the inside shoulder of the Right Tackle. The Right Tackle is influenced by the DE with the DE’s initial step. Then the end loops inside to the A gap. He is picked up by the Center but his angle allows him to have forward progress towards the QB and so he crawls to the QB and forcing him back into Calvin Pace who runs the arc and gets around the LT for the sack.
Play 5: Tex Stunt 2
On this play the Bills run the Tex stunt with the tackle going first and the end looping back inside to the A gap. Now while the end does get picked up here, notice how his angle and forward momentum keeps him towards the QB rather than getting caught and dancing in place. So anytime this stunt is run, the looping if he does get picked up, should have momentum to continue towards the QB and collapse the middle.
Play 6: EM Stunt
On this last play we get what I like to call the EM stunt. This stunt has the DE going first and the OLB looping inside of him into the B gap and the ILB firing to the A gap. The HB has to stay in and step up here or the QB is grass.
Implementation:
Now the question is how do we get these stunts in our on the fly line calls? Here we go. To call the normal calls we do as follows:
Crash Left – LB + Right Stick left
Crash Right – LB + Right Stick right
Fan – LB + Right Stick Up
All In – LB + Right Stick Down
NOT – LB + Right Stick Up x 2
Tex – LB + Right Stick Left x 2
Ex – LB + Right Stick Right x 2
Loop – LB + Right Stick Down x 2
The Mex and EM stunts are for Odd front teams only and includes linebackers in the line stunt call and can be swapped out with loop. I do not have a video of loop, but am searching for it. Essentially the loop stunt calls the weak DE to loop to the B gap on the opposite side, while the Tackles crash left. This means that the DT opposite the looping DE must influence the Guard to open up the B gap for the DE. He should penetrate the A gap to his side, while the loopside DT should penetrate the B gap on the loop side.
Closing Thoughts:
Now let me return to gap assignments because in order for line stunts to be really effective gap assignments must be programmed into the game, not simple movement assignments.
Recap:
1) Stunts in Madden are rough and needs to be smoothed out
2) Players running stunts should have purposes and aiming points
3) Defenders should be able to influence offensive linemen
4) Implement new line stunts on the fly
5) Add gap assignments so that Dlinemen loop to gaps or crash into gaps.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Posted on July 22, 2009 at 07:49 PM.
I. Movement PlanNo defense is complete without movement prior to the snap. EA added this last year. The movement added is basically what is termed prowling, where certain players will move back and forth, side to side in an attempt to throw off a clear read. The backers tend to do this already. So I will not deal with prowling much here. But I do want to look at a couple of additional movement ideas.
In addition to prowling there is also the cheat (reduced alignment). Now what defenses tend to do with cheating is basically move all stunting players up by about two or three yards.
Then there is “show it.” With show it an NFL defense will take the stunting players and line them up on the line of scrimmage exactly where they are supposed to blitz.
Finally, there is “walk it up.” With walk it up defenders creep and time the snap.
Summary of Movement Types:
Prowling: what the A.I does as players move back and forth, side to side.
Cheat: stunting player’s reduce their alignment about two or three yards closer to the line of scrimmage.
Show It: the stunting players line up in their gap on the line of scrimmage.
Walk it up: An attempt to time the stunt with the snap.
These movement types really set defensive alignments to hit the offense at different speed levels. From the base alignment a defense attacks the offense pretty slow, unless our edge players get home quickly. When defenses cheat the pressure will come faster from the second level players than if they remained in the base alignment. When defenses show it, the hope is to get an even faster result as players are lined up on the line of scrimmage. Finally, walking it up is the attempt by the defense to get another quick pressure attack on the QB with defensive players running full speed on the snap.
Examples
With these descriptions in mind now I want to turn to some examples from footage of real NFL games where the reduced, show it and walk it up or time it are on display. Let’s look at the footage.
Reduced -
this showcases the Bears and the Saints where the Bears linebackers Lance Briggs and Brian Urlacher reduce their alignment and line up two yards off the line of scrimmage. Briggs will drop out into coverage while Urlacher reads the back and then blitzes. The key point however is their alignment is reduced.
Show it –
this video showcases several examples by the Steelers, Giants, Bears, and Dolphins that highlight “showing it.” First up is the Steelers in their 2-4 defense. Some of them get their little late but this is show it movement with Timmons dropping out at the snap. On the second play we get more show it, this time Timmons rushes the passer at the bottom of the screen rather than dropping out into coverage. On the third play we get some more show it, but this time it is combined with walk it up by the FS. The Steelers are in the 2-4-5 in all three snaps. On this last snap, Woodley lined up over center and dropped out into man coverage, Timmons lined up at the top of the screen and rushed the passer.
Next we have the NY Giants with Pierce lined up between the DT’s.
Then we have the Bears. On the first play Urlacher and Roach show it on the right of the screen. On the second play Urlacher, Roach and Briggs all show it but drop out at the snap.
Finally, we have the Dolphins showing it out of their Nickel defense with the MLB. He bails on the snap and drops into coverage leaving them with a four-man rush.
Walk it Up/Time It
This video consists of several examples of walking it up or timing the blitz. I will not give full description here. The footage speaks for itself.
II. Implementation
Now how are these to be implemented in the game? I talked with Anthony briefly and there was an issue of implementation. I’ve thought about that and here are my suggestions. At first I was thinking have things user controlled, but now I think everything should be selected at the play call screen. I will discuss the interface below, but I think we should be able to select our movement plan at the play call screen and be able to mix and match movements.
So I may come out and it is third and long and have a show it plus walk it up/time it depending on the play call. I think by default you should have to match certain movements with certain schemes. If a Safety is blitzing you should have to call walk it up/time it. But if I call show it on the same play then the backers show it and the secondary player walks it up. Or, I could call reduced and then walk it up. Or I could prowl and walk it up. So we should be able to combine at least two movements with every call we make, but no more than two. Secondly, unless I call prowl my defense should be still. Prowling should no longer be default.
But how do we get the timing down. Prowling, Reduced and Show it simply requires that players be moved to specific spots (in the case of reduced and show it) or the players just move back and forth and side to side (in the case of prowling) as soon as the huddle is broken and the offensive player can see the screen if I have selected prowling, reduced or show it the defenders should already be in place.
Timing it will require the most meticulous implementation. I think timing it should be based on three things. As each frame of the video shows timing it should be based on: 1) play clock. The longer the offense takes and the closer that play clock gets to 0 the better the defense can time the blitz. 2) Motion. The defense is able to tip off on motion, so my recommendation is that timed blitzes are synced up with auto-motion plays. 3) Adaptive A.I picking up on the snap count. If a user uses 1 snap count the entire game, the defense should pick up on the snap count and be able time the blitz accordingly based on hike button press sensitivity Thus players on offense need to change up their snap counts to keep the pressure off and get the defense to show their hand.
III. Interface/Calling It
As I mentioned above the movement plan should be called in the play call screen. I see the interface as follows:
D-Pad Up – Walk it up/Time it for blitzers only.
D-Pad Right - Prowl
D-Pad Left – Reduce Alignment for blitzes only.
D-Pad Down – Show it for all second level defenders; blitzes and non-blitzers. Nickel and Dime backs should be treated as a part of the secondary and if they are blitzing the only way to activate a movement plan for them is to Walk it up/Time it. Otherwise they blitz from space.
Combo Example
D-Pad Up + D-Pad Down – the linebackers will show it. The secondary players will walk it up.
Now if I should happen to change assignments with the defenders the movement should remain. So if I call Engage Eight for instance and choose the above scheme but hot route all of my backers to drop into zone, the backers should still show it even though they are going to drop out into zone and the Safety should still walk it up and blitz. I could also hot zone the safety, he should still walk it up then bail on the snap.
This is my idea for more movement and more chaos from the defensive side of the football. This is part I in a series of features and improvements. Part II is well on the way as I break down a front system and an expanded Defensive Game Plan Menu that will give the game more looks on defense and get around the space issue in the defensive playbooks.
Scoring Defense Rating
One thing I just thought of before posting this blog is scoring defense. Each team needs a scoring defense rating that should offset pick 6’s. But it should also get the defense to get out front and block well for defenders who pick up the turnover. I’ll go back to the Ed Reed interception in the time it video. Notice how the defense hauls *** and gets out front to block for him. Each defense needs a scoring defense rating to determine how well this happens.
P.S. The A.I defense needs to use these options as well to make for a more challenging Offline game against the CPU.
Saturday, May 2, 2009
Madden 10 QB play from the build we played was the best in the series. Now I’ll go ahead and say this up front so I can get this out of the way. I didn’t have a problem with it, but you were locked in for drop back passes and could not control the QB until he finished his drop. This will most likely be changed. You will be able to control the QB after his third drop step. I really did not have a problem with this at all though. I know it will piss off a number of the tourney guys as well as other style players. However, it is really not as bad as it sounds.
The stretched ratings and signature throwing styles and new QB ratings make a huge difference in the game. With Flacco I overthrew quite a few deep passes, but he had tremendous zip on his out routes. Probably one of the best out routes throwers I played with. Pennington on the other hand has a very slow release and does not get the ball down the field with as much zip as Flacco. I played with Eli Manning and he felt a little different than both Flacco and Pennington. Big Ben and Flacco felt similar because of their sheer size. I did not get a chance to test every QB but I played against some others. Before talking about the ones I played against let me just give a complete list of those that I did play with:
Joe Flacco – had a strong arm and I loved how he zips the passes on the out routes. Overthrew three deep passes on receivers who were open. I even overthrew two screen passes.
Big Ben – has a big arm as well, but release is not really fast. It’s not slow either. Best route I threw with him was deep post routes. Flacco was a little off target. That might be due to throwing to much smaller/shorter WR’s.
Kurt Warner – not as big of an arm as Flacco and Ben, but the touch to Fitz on streaks was pretty. Btw, Fitz is a monster in this game.
Drew Brees – very accurate on every throw. Felt a bit funny moving to a much smaller guy after playing with Flacco and Ben so much.
Chad Pennington – very slow release. Some throws he will make well, but to me he is limited.
Eli Manning – good arm, had some accuracy issues especially when the rumble feature starting kicking in when the Dline got close. This actually was probably what made Flacco overthrow the passes that went to far.
Now let’s look at those I played against:
Matt Cassell – Did not go deep.
Tavares Jackson – he is very inaccurate. I picked him off 3 times in the first half and the backup was in out of the half lol. Deepest pass was an intermediate pass for 17 yards to Rice.
Big Ben – Went deep a couple of times but was defended. Looked a lot in the intermediate areas. Tended to scramble a lot when under pressure. Also did a good job of stepping up.
David Garrard – was used in head to head game with Kane. Was pretty accurate on everything short. Can’t remember him going for the long ball.
JaMarcus Russell – big arm, but inaccurate.
These are the only ones I can remember. The great thing is, EA has nailed some things really well from signature style release animations to accurate stances under center and from the gun, and they have nice drop back animations.
The stretched ratings give the players a different feel in terms of sheer control and strengths and weaknesses. The rumble feature probably needs a little more work but is a very solid addition to let you know when defenders are close by. QB evade has been added, however, I did not get a chance to use it. But from the demonstration it looks really good. You can also throw the ball while being hit, although I did not do that. There were a couple of bugs here in the alpha build that they said they would clean up quickly. Joe Flacco for instance was one of the only QB’s that would throw the direction opposite he was looking. We were promised that that would be addressed.
The slower pass speeds makes a difference, however I think I want them to make this even more prominent on guys with low THP, like Pennington. I also would like the rumble to be more pronounced especially for lower rated QB’s.
In the build I played I was able to scramble out a great deal (from the shotgun) and this was something I was specifically looking to do purposely. This is where we began to talk about the pocket with the developers and emphasized that the pocket needs to set up faster. Scrambling backwards was sorta hard to do (felt very slow and lethargic) and did not feel natural. This is a good thing.
Friday, November 14, 2008
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