Originally Posted by
rhombic21
I guess it's better than last year in that players definitely seem to at least react if a receiver crosses their face, but it still seems to me like their initial drop movement is off. Watch the MLB that's in a hook zone at 4:10 of Video (3 of 7). He runs all the way to the other hashmark, while a receiver crosses his face and sits down right in the area that he should have been covering. The AI stupidly throws at this receiver anyways, but the zone itself doesn't look right to me.
Look at the play at the 5:36 mark of Video (5 of 7). The Weakside ILB drops all the way across the center, so there is now a HUGE gap between him and the CB, while there are three players standing relatively close to one another on the strong side of the formation. Again, the computer doesn't take advantage of it here, but if the weakside receiver runs some kind of skinny post/slant, it's wide open, as is a cross coming back to the weakside, because the ILB has so strongly over-committed himself to dropping to the middle that he won't be able to change directions and run with a receiver crossing his face going the other way.
Watch the MLB at 1:01 of Video (7 of 7). A (the slot receiver) is running a skinny post right over the middle of the field. He appears to be in a hook zone, but look where he goes to cover. Look at the massive hole in the coverage, and the defense is only rushing 3 people! Look at how open that receiver is against max cover, on nothing more than a simple post over the middle!
The dreaded 5 WR Four Verticals play at 1:44 of Video (7 of 7). Look how wide the fuck open A is. If the ball is thrown on time, he makes the play easily. Further, the fact that the CB (who isn't even responsible for covering that route) makes the play inherently means that the receiver running the streak on that side was open deep. If he had been running a fade route instead of a streak down the numbers, the one of them would have been open by 10 + yards. Explain to me what sound coverage scheme leaves a player that wide open on 3rd and 15, at the sticks, right over the middle. The defense didn't even blitz.
LOL at the play at 3:35 of Video (7 of 7). Watch the FS, who is supposed to be in a hook zone right in the area where the ball is eventually thrown. Watch him the entire play, don't watch anybody else. The user player (the SS, who is responsible for the deep third) is covering way out of his zone to try and stop this play, and it's still wide the fuck open because the rest of the defense is absolutely clueless.
There are about 3 receivers who are open within 3 seconds of the ball being snapped on the play at 4:20 if Video (7 of 7). A is open once he crosses the LB. X is open virtually at the snap of the ball. B is open shortly after that right down the middle of the field (where an MLB of some sort ought to be covering).
Another thing that seems off to me is the first play of the second gameplay video (three of seven). If you look, the offense is essentially running some kind of 4 verticals play, with the two wingbacks going down the seams. Now, it seems to me that the two linebackers in hook zones ought to carry their man deeper, since they don't have anything threatening their areas.
And looking at the PA TD from that same video, it still seems like the DBs in man to man coverage do not get deep quickly enough. They essentially wait for the WR to get right on top of them before turning around and sprinting back, which means that they will constantly get beat deep unless they have elite speed. If there was a way to tell the outside CBs (and the each of the CBs individually) to play off (give a bigger cushion), and to maintain a bigger gap between them and the WR (i.e. to play more conservatively against shorter routes), then I wouldn't have a huge problem with this, but since there's not, it's a problem. Average CBs shouldn't be able to play aggressive man to man defense, but at the very least, there ought to be a way for me to tell my average CBs to employ an "I'm an average CB so don't try to be a superstar" logic, while my elite players play more aggressively. I don't want a global setting that applies to everybody, because then if I do happen to have a lockdown CB who can afford to gamble more because he has make-up speed, then I want him to take advantage of it.
The QB containment at 5:22 of Video (6 of 7) is a complete joke. The defensive end is initially in perfect position to defend it and then gets suctioned/sealed back to the inside. Other players stop it, sure, but the point is that the defense does not contain the passer correctly. If the defense had been in a different playcall, the QB very easily could have ended up waltzing into the endzone.
Also, where exactly is this improved pass rush? On plays where the defense did not get a player in untouched on a blitz, the QB seems to have a ridiculous amount of time. Even the AI QB of FCS SE against Penn State.
But they fixed the AI! Bullshit.
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