Madden NFL 13 News Post

OS Poll: Do you prefer Man or Zone Defense?

03:13 PM - November 26, 2012 by MMChrisS

4-3 or 3-4? Aggressive or conservative? Man or zone?

Your defensive philosophy is more than just a choice on your preferred coverage, but it does form the basis for everything else. Great defenses have accompanied both philosophies, and neither choice is particularly wrong. In fact, the choice of preferred defensive style is likely more subjective than anything else in real football. But in Madden, there are real strength's and weaknesses to both styles, and choosing which you prefer is a big choice and impacts how you call plays. So which do you prefer? Do you prefer man or zone defense?

Sound off by voting in the poll on your right on the frontpage and above you in the forums!

Game: Madden NFL 13Reader Score: 6/10 - Vote Now
Platform: PS3 / Wii U / Xbox 360Votes for game: 70 - View All

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Member Comments

# 1 dccon2003 @ 11/26/12 03:43 PM

Depends on the down, yardage, and field position. I like man if I got great CBs. Zone if in red zone. Blitz on 3rd and long so the QB won't have time to make play but I make my ends do QB zone just in case the screen is an option

# 2 tril @ 11/26/12 03:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dccon2003


	Depends on the down, yardage, and field position. I like man if I got great CBs. Zone if in red zone. Blitz on 3rd and long so the QB won't have time to make play but I make my ends do QB zone just in case the screen is an option

agree with this, except I dont blitz on 3rd and long if the qb is in a shotgun formation with a rb/fb there for extra blocking purposes.

# 3 charter04 @ 11/26/12 04:08 PM

Depends if I want to win. The guys I play against can pick apart a zone any day. We have to play mostly man to stop anyone. If EA did a better job with zone it could work better. Cover-2 is like an invitation to give up a TD.

# 4 TreFacTor @ 11/26/12 04:23 PM

It depends on the year in question. Every year when they improve one area, another suffers or gets worse. They beefed up man coverage in 13, but zone is almost useless...In 12 it was a mixed bag, and in 11 man was useless... I'm usually the type of defensive player that plays down and distance first, formation and personnel second but that doesn't usually translate to Madden ball.

# 5 rdelizo35 @ 11/26/12 04:33 PM

I usually play a lot of zone with some man coverage mixed in. I also tend to blitz quite a bit on first down and sometimes second.

# 6 joegipper @ 11/26/12 05:14 PM

Zone has a better chance at intercepting the ball. Too many man beaters out there.

# 7 55 @ 11/26/12 05:27 PM

I always run with a 4-3 defense and play a lot of Cover 2, so I guess zone.

# 8 Raw Energy @ 11/26/12 05:41 PM

I mix it up a lot i prefer man but not alot of teams have guys u can leave alone on island i know my Lions don't so i have to mix it up with a lil bit of everything. When I blitz i send every body corners and both safeties so if u see me a zone blitz it can come from anywhere not just front seven. I like 3-4 because I'm blitz heavy but i run with ravens or patriots playbook b/c it has a mixture of both with patriots one having more formations out of 4-3 than ravens do. I also like to Jam at line so i like guys with high main coverage and 85+ press rating. so I can like the raiders did when Nmadhi was there press man coverage leaving both corners on an island while one safety handles the middle while which ever safety is the worst one I control them and help up in front seven stopping run or tight end or back end if CB might need a little help. If I could run press man coverage all day I would but I don't have corners that can do that or aggressive enough to go up and get ball. That is a must have ball hawks also.

# 9 StL_RamZ @ 11/26/12 05:46 PM

i always run zone in every madden but in madden 13 its seems like man only seems to work

# 10 CT Pittbull @ 11/26/12 06:54 PM

Im a Bears fan so when i use them its cover 2 baby, rally to the ball and strip/big hit.. but overall i like to mix it up and disguise coverages and blitzers to get pressure on the QB

# 11 DGMikeBarker @ 11/26/12 07:01 PM

2 Man Under mostly. I like to a lot a man blitzing on early downs though.

# 12 Calipup @ 11/26/12 07:32 PM

Man 75% of the time. I just feel like my zone coverage is picked apart too much and man is much more straight forward.

# 13 SnakeEyez @ 11/26/12 07:41 PM

I like playing zone more than man...

however, 90% of the ppl you end up playing online (cc or ranked) play cover-2 man and press their corners every play.. because man coverage is overpowered and there's not a lot of consequences for doing it over and over (no def holding, no def pass interference, no illegal contact, nothing, except for an occasional missed bump where the WR might be able to get behind the corner down the sideline)

# 14 32 @ 11/26/12 07:46 PM

4-3 conservative man defense. CPU is an idiot in zone IMO.

# 15 Raw Energy @ 11/26/12 07:58 PM

i run bump in run a lot but there is ways to beat it. u have to find it out. Throw Slants in. or drags. Bad thing about bump n run if u miss bump there is a opening depending on route u just have to know where to place ball so only receiver can get it. It also helps if u have a qb with accuracy.

# 16 BlastX21 @ 11/26/12 08:34 PM

Man with 2 safeties deep whenever possible. 90% of the time I only rush 4 guys because the pass rush is so horrible in Madden that there's no difference between rushing 4 and rushing 6 - they both fail at getting pressure. Might as well just rush 3 or 4 then and beef up the coverage.

# 17 SkillzKillz719 @ 11/26/12 08:35 PM

I run 4-3 cover 3 zone the first 10-15 plays of the game and read what the player I'm playing against is trying to do. Since there is no form of scouting reports or even records to see who you're playing against, you literally have no idea who it is or what they are trying to do. By the 15th play or so I have a pretty good sense. And then I adjust accordingly. I almost have no preference. It is totally dependent on the situation. I like to think I run zone/man/blitz 33% of the for each. But obviously if a guy is spamming the I-Formation power toss then I have no choice.

# 18 solofx7 @ 11/26/12 09:31 PM

No disrespect, but something seems broken in zone. Zone only seems to work on long distance yards and a "prevent" type of d. I either run many or run man and make slight adjustments at the line that does not truly make it a zone per se, but a couple guys in zone. Zone gets burned to regularly to be effective.

# 19 jamesdawon @ 11/26/12 09:46 PM

I'm playing as Cleveland in my CCM. I run an aggressive 4-3 and play big DTs or even Nose Tackles in the middle with Speed Rush Ends (Jabaal Sheard has become a beast for me). I drafted 2 very strong Man to Man Corners and have developed my Safeties Play Recognition. I play lots of 2 Deep Man. If the offense is in a 2 TE or 2 Back set, I blitz a lot or run a zone blitz.

# 20 mrs844224 @ 11/26/12 10:34 PM

It's a bit of a split between man and zone.

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OS Poll: Do you prefer Man or Zone Defense?