Flexbone Redemption

But first, a date with the helpless.

Game 12

Opponent: Cronrok

Team: USC

Record: 0-8

Better User Name: GhettoRok

Cronrok's first 2 possessions read like this: Sack, Inc, Inc, Fake Punt, Sack, TFL, INT; Completion for no gain, Sack, INT (thrown in triple coverage). Incidentally, I was playing with Illinois, a team that has a fast QB, an excellent receiving corps, and a fast secondary. A very good, sneaky choice to play with. Dude quit at 21-0. Also, he probably can't kick it like this.

Game 13

Opponent: Suspect667

Team: Maryland (props!)

Record: 354-169 (more props!)

Better User Name: Convict667 (sounds harder, more institutional)

Buddy ran the flexbone (with Maryland!), and I was ready for it. I spread out the LB's and let them shoot their gaps to shut down the QB (from Maryland!). Once I got a lead, he had to pass the ball, and the F-Bone just doesn't have any passing flexibility.

His defense (from Maryland!) was pretty good; after a few scrambles, he started to spy my QB. He also called a good variety of defenses, and he was especially effective in coverage with whatever player he was controlling. Unfortunately, when you're constantly spying the QB, you're either not rushing the passer very effectively (because a D-lineman is spying) or you're short in coverage (because a linebacker is spying), and this let me work the ball downfield pretty effectively. Did I mention he was playing with Maryland?

Anyway, I won by three TD's or so, and he conceded defeat in the 4th after I picked off a pass.

Flexbone: handled.

That last link is super interesting.

Two Offenses

I'm on spring break, so I suspect I will get some more posts up in rapid order. Over the weekend, I played two games against interesting offenses, and went 1-1 in the process. My record, incidentally, is 61-22.

Game 10

Opponent: D4WVanillaMillz

Team: Georgia Tech

Record: 61-50

Better User Name: D4WVanillaTrillz

I lost this game 35-28 in overtime. The notable thing is that he ran the flexbone offense, which I used to run but abandoned because it's no good when you need to score quick or against someone who knows how to stop it. Unfortunately, I didn't know how to stop it.

The main thing against the flexbone is to stop the run up the middle; if the QB can continually gash you for 4-5 yards, he'll never need to pitch or pass. Unfortunately, this is easier said than done. You'd think that running something like a 5-2 with a pinched D-line is the answer, but it's not; the blocking on flexbone responds well to this sort of defense. You've got to spread out your linebackers and let them pick their spots against the O-line. You also need to hot read the rush every once and a while. If you can get lucky once, you put him in 2nd and 11 or 3rd and 9 and then you can generally get the ball back. This is super frustrating, though, because you often don't get lucky.

Anyway, shut down the QB, and you shut down the flexbone.

Game 11

Opponent: Reginald 843

Team: Miami

Record: 195-67

Better User Name: None. Reginald 843 is about as good as it gets.

Reginald did more or less one thing on offense, and it was super clever. He would go 4 or 5 wide, then motion his outside receiver and immediately snap it. So as soon as the receiver starts moving, he snaps the ball, and then immediately throws to that receiver, who is generally running a go route. The motion would throw off the defensive back just enough to either break the press or just allow the WR to run right past him. He did this for like a quarter and a half before I started running Quarters 3-Deep and controlling the safety over the top of whatever WR he was motioning. That stopped it, and then he quit.

What a weird and weirdly clever sort of glitch to exploit, and how bizarre is it that he just quit as soon as I figured out how to stop it? Is it possible that he really does nothing but that, and has no idea how to run any other sort of offensive play? I hope so. Stay strong, Reggie.

Stupid, Stupid Game

So I am 2-2 in the last three days or so. I didn't write down most of the information from these games, but I will do my best. Also, I am posting from work, where a lot of sites are blocked, so I can't really link much.

Game 6

Opponent: JsouLa

Team: LSU

Better User Name: FugeeLa

Record: 120-70? Something like that.

I krumbled the opening kickoff, and he scored. The rest of the game I was playing panicky, anxious football.

His defense was all Quarters 3-Deep, and he would hot read against the run every time. You'd think this would leave him vulnerable to passing, but his LSU defenders always leaped back into coverage and were able to knock down or pick just about every pass I tried through three quarters. I finally figured out that to take advantage of the run-jumping defense, I needed to throw corner routes off of Smash plays, deep outs, or flats. This scored three TD's in the fourth quarter. I could've also run right at him, because he was playing the run with a bunch of skinny gentlemen. I lost 42-28. Daggumit.

Game 7

Didn't get the information I needed. I got him to quit at 35-9 in the 3rd. In the 1st quarter, I was up 14-3, and he picked off a batted pass and ran it back for a TD; more importantly, he high stepped into the endzone. Don't taunt when you're losing, chief.

Also notable, dude ran a no-huddle offense. Straight up no huddle. It was stupid, and his QB got injured after fumbling.

Game 8

Opponent: xxbodhixx

Team: Texas

Better User Name: xxxbodhixxx (I mean, finish what you start).

Record: 47-51 (!!!)

I lost in 3 overtimes, 55-48. He just ran the ball right at me all game, which is how you beat a 3-3-5 that's been modified for speed and QB containment. He was patient and effective, and I don't know how his record is so bad.

Game 9

Opponent: CubicGorilla91

Team: Florida

Better User Name: CubanGorilla91

Record: 1-0

It was Florida vs Florida, and not just in team: he used the Florida playbook as well. Nothing really special about this game: I won by two TD's. Bleh. I gotta get the taste of those losses out of my mouth.

Two Solid Games

I played a pair of great games today, one against a newcomer and one against the most experienced player I've yet been paired with on Live. Both games were neck and neck through two quarters, but halftime adjustments made the difference.

Game 4

Opponent: DWALLACE41

Team: Georgia

Better User Name: DavidWallace41

Record: 0-0 (Outstanding!)

I played with Illinois this game after several players backed out of game sessions with me as Florida. I think the biggest difference a good team makes is line play; all game, Georgia's D-line was manhandling my line. David wasn't even blitzing much, and I was having a lot of problems staying in the pocket. A lot of players choose teams because of the skill players, but I figure those are the players you control, and so can improve; it's the players you can't control (O-line) that you need to be good on their own.

I started with the ball, and David held me to a field goal. Huh.

He comes right back down the field, working over my man coverage. He stayed in the pocket, picked the right receivers, very efficient. I'm down 3-7.

I come back the other way, and I read his defense a little better; he was blitzing his OLB's early on, getting pressure around the edge. If you blitz consistently, though, you're leaving holes in the field. Slants into the middle of the field moved the ball well, and I scored to go back up 10-7.

Now I'm back on defense, and I switch things up, throw some zone at him. Again, David is super patient: he stays in the pocket, waits for receivers to clear through zones, and then makes savvy throws. He's making between 7 and 15 yards per completion, and he's completing most of his passes. I am impressed and giddy, and I am losing 14-10.

He's not blitzing as much next possession, but still playing sort of vanilla defense: lots of cover 2 or cover 3 with some man mixed in. I move the ball well, posts and flats, and score again. I go for two (to make it 18-14 and flip the FG difference), but my FG fake gets busted up in the backfield. 16-14.

Let me say, again, how impressed I was with David's QB play. I started to blitz a bit the next possession, trying to scare him out of the pocket; even when that worked, he would just scramble, then wait for a receiver to break off his route or get some separation. He was very hard to rattle and made really good decisions. He scored again, and I am losing again, 21-16.

I got the ball back, still confident that I could move the ball on him; I was right, and scored in four plays (I think he may have been getting frustrated with me, too, because he sent his biggest blitzes on this possession; to his credit, he recognized that this only sped up my offense, and backed off the rest of the game). I go for two again, but am stuffed behind the line. I am up 22-21 going into halftime.

Halftime!

Like I was saying last post, you've gotta be able to make adjustments. David hasn't shown me any quick passes, no timing routes, only good patience and decision making. I suspect he's skilled, but lacks tactical depth. He wants to just wait until someone gets open, so I've gotta make it impossible for him to wait. I sub in a SS for my DT, faster ends, and I commit to the blitz. Instead of calling blitzes, I hot route blitzes from called zone coverages; this is more confusing for a player to read. I control the SS as a spy, and I chase the QB all over the field. I don't necessarily need the sack, I only need his eyes on the pressure and not downfield.

His first possession goes short completion, incompletion, sack/fumble, which I like to call a succumble, not only because of phonetics, but because the QB has succumbed to the pressure. I score quickly, 29-21.

His next possession ends in a punt, and I score again, 36-21.

His next possession after that, though, ended the same way, and I go up 43-21. TCTYOHBL, 30 seconds left in the 3rd quarter.

My possessions: FG, TD, TD, TD, TD, TD, TD. David's possessions: TD, TD, TD, fumble, punt, punt. It's all about the adjustments.

GG, rookie.

Game 5

Opponent: Da 501 Boy

Team: Texas A+M

Better User Name: IRockLevis

Record: 310-196

I was stoked to play Dad Jeans because I recognized him; he's ranked fairly high, and has played about a trillion games. I chose Illinois, and he scrolled through to T A+M, and it was on.

I scored on my first possession, using mostly swing passes, short passes to the TE, and a few runs out of the wildcat. I think he was working out of the Run Heavy offense, because he showed a lot of wishbone and full house, but the odd thing was that he was passing the ball a LOT. After my initial score, we traded turnovers: I intercepted him, then fumbled it back, then intercepted him again, then was intercepted, and that led to his first score. His offense was weird, a lot of vertical passing out of run heavy formations, and he would frequently motion his HB's out of the backfield. Don't let odd formations fool you: vertical passing is vertical passing, no matter where it originates.

I scored again before half; I was running the ball well and using a lot of PA crossing patterns. His defense used a lot of contain/spy concepts, so there was very little pass rush. At halftime I was up 14-7.

Levi scored to start the second half by connecting on some bombs in coverage. What can you do?

14-14, we trade two more turnovers, then I get to work. He was spying with DT's and MLB's, which allowed me to escape the pocket and still scramble for some good yardage. If you spy, make your spy fast enough to contain the QB. 21-14.

He's alternating between shotgun spread and wishbone, but the receivers are doing the same thing: running deep. I'm using Cover 2 Under and Cover 3, and I've got him swamped. He's just got no answers for this, and I score twice more before the game is out, still working the crossing patterns underneath the defense. Final score: 31-14.

I put up 139 yds rushing and 164 yds passing; I also converted 5-11 on 3rd down and 3-3 on 4th down. His conversions: 2-7 on 3rd, 0-3 on 4th. Long passes falling incomplete make for long yardage situations and poor conversion rates.

Nevertheless, I am guessing that Levi was just experimenting (passing so much out of Run Heavy has got to be experimental), bless his heart.

Yep.

Legal Theory

I should slow down, there's no way I can keep up this pace.

Game 3

Opponent: LAWS13

Team: Oklahoma St.

Better User Name: 13LAWS

Record: 60-50 (or so-I have to get quicker about writing that down)

Seriously, isn't 13LAWS way cooler? Laws13 looks like Johnny Laws was the 13th kid to try his last name; 13LAWS is mysterious, apocalyptic, religious, etc...Plus, it helps me organize this post.

Law 1: Patience.

I started the game with the ball; went tackled for loss, incomplete, then had to hit a long corner route to convert on 3rd and 12. Johnny had played the run well, covered the crossing pattern with his FS well, oh no my offense is ruined! But, because I have patience, I went right back to the run and short passes, ate some clock, 7-0.

Law 2: Patience.

Johhny's offense begins with the QB taking the snap, then immediately sprinting away from his offensive line. Let your linemen get into their blocks and slow down the rush before you take off. This offensive "strategy" resulted in two pressured throws then a TAINT when his QB was hit releasing the ball. Stay in the pocket, dude. 14-0.

Law 3: Patience.

Jonny adapted to the SS blitzes on his next possession, letting his blockers set before sprinting away from them, and drove to my 30. He sees that I am consistently in man coverage, and he's beating it; he uses the hurry-up, hoping to exploit this defense a bit more. I audible to zone, he doesn't notice, and he snaps then immediately throws to his tight end, who is covered by three defenders, and the pass is intercepted. Try to avoid throwing without reading the coverage first; be sure of the defense, then make your decision.

Law 4: Patience.

I'm looking for a three score lead; Joohnny is alternating between Cover 2 and Cover 2 Under. Either way, I'm killing him with the post. The key is to let your split ends get far enough upfield to draw the safeties away from the middle of the field; they head towards the sideline, and there's no one left to watch the baby. Hit the slot as he makes his break. Five plays and I'm up 21-0.

Law 5: Patience.

I guess Jawnhy knows what he's doing, because he scored a touchdown. He has done nothing, absolutely nothing, but scramble around and throw deep to Dez Bryant (WR#1). But I know that, in the long run, this is stupid, and I will win. I will be patient and understanding of his bad tactical decisions.

Law 6: Patience.

Jhonny is now running Cover 2 Buc; I applaud him for plugging the middle of the field with the MLB. But now he's only rushing 3, maybe 4, and his defenders are all spread out in a deep zone. I just let my O-line get into their blocks, let the field spread, and then take off straight ahead for 3 or 4 yards. Sometimes I break a tackle and it turns into 7 or 8. I'll take that all day. 28-7.

Laws 7, 8, 9, and 10: Don't get frustrated when Gianni Laws runs around and throws a 50 yard pass into triple coverage and you get called for pass interference and the WR still catches the ball and your defenders fall down because they were so viciously interfering with the pass and the WR scores a TD. 28-14.

Law 11: Refer to law 7, 8, 9, or 10 when you sack a QB three times in a row to bring up 4th and 36 and then Jahny Laws goes for it from his own 12 and throws a 50 yard pass into quadruple coverage and his WR outjumps your safety, two cornerbacks, and an outside linebacker to make the catch.

Law 12: Patience.

Eventually, you will figure it out. Okay, so Joony wants to scramble around and throw to Bryant. Fine. I will double cover Bryant, plus a safety in zone coverage, and I will control my QB spy and run this QB down. One-dimensional offenses won't beat you if you are patient and piece together an appropriate defensive response. Figure out what they want to do, and don't let them do it.

Law 13: Patience.

John's circuits are fried because his offense isn't working (HOW COULD THIS HAPPEN!?!?). He is stuck in Cover 2 Buc, even though I worked it over last possession. Just like on defense, when your opponent is one-dimensional, you just need to think your way through it. He's got a super soft zone going on, so I'm going to throw underneath, work the flats, and maybe mix in some screens (which work best against zone coverage). I don't really need to at this point, but it's good to get reps with different concepts. Pretty straightforward drive, 35-14, and "The connection to your opponent has been lost" (TCTYOHBL, or, he quit).

His stats at quitting time: 7 for 17, 1 TD, 4 INT's. Sacked 6 times for -28 yards. My stats: 24 rushes for 126 yards, 19 for 23 and 4 TD's through the air. 19 first downs (grindin).

My friend Dante made up (to my knowledge) "molly-wopped". Deal with that.

Starting Out

So this will be fun.

I'm going to play NCAA Football on the Xbox 360, and write about it. That's what blogging is.

My user name on XboxLive is Kircher25. I play with Florida or, if someone doesn't want to tangle with the big boys, Illinois. I'll try to play a couple games every other day or so. I played two games tonight.

Game 1

Opponent: TSHEATS

Team: Oregon

Better User Name: TS EliOT

Record: 71-77

Started with the ball; I've been working on balance on offense. First possession was all runs and short passes (crosses to the TE, RB swings); TS roaming around with his DE in pass coverage: not effective. 7-0.

TS first possession starts with a jet sweep action to the WR, dropped for a five yard loss. Auto-motion plays are tough to make work, because they give away the snap timing, and are either a run or a PA pass. Either way, it slows down the offense and leaves the QB or RB vulnerable to a quick rush. 3 and out.

Still running the ball well; one long 2nd down required a deep post route, but otherwise able to stay to short stuff. 14-0.

Second chance for TS; QB scramble on 3rd and 22 sets up 4th and 3. Fake punt, snaps to up-back, converts. Frustrating. I sub in a SS for a DT to spy the QB, force a turnover on downs.

It's 14-0, TS hasn't gotten anything going. Time to go for the knockout punch. 5 deep passes, TD. 4 minutes left in the 1st half.

To TS's credit, he sticks around to give it one more go. Sack, incompletion, sack, interception, TS calls it quits. So it goes.

Game 2

Opponent: maze499

Team: Cal

Better User Name: Labyrinth499

Record: 0-0 (Awesome!)

Alright, Hoggle, welcome to NCAA 10. You get the ball to start. Off-tackle right, no gain; PA pass, incomplete; TAINT. I don't know where he thought he was going.

Okay, let's try again. Don't be too rough on yourself. Lab works himself into a 4th and 1, goes for it; PA pass, sacked. I compassionately score a TD on my first pass.

DB's C goes 3 and out; I move the ball well on my next possession, but throw an interception in the red zone against an Engage-8 blitz. Engage 8 and other sell out blitzes are awful, but can work well when unexpected or if you catch the offense in a slow developing play. Anyway, now I have to play defense.

For three plays. I field the punt and score quickly. I'd tell you more about how crazy my offense was, but I want to get to what Hogwart did on his next possession. He ends up in like a 4th and 11 on his own 27, and calls a hurry up fake spike, then throws it in the flat to his fullback. This choice was surprising.

It's 21-0, I'm on the door of the red zone, and I can't move the ball. This is a huge stop for DB's C; his first game, he's getting molley-wopped, and he finally gets a stop. He can feel the tide turning. This is the perfect place to fake a FG. Not only does he not expect this because he hasn't played online yet, but he's riding high on emotion from his huge red zone stop, so he's not thinking clearly. Fake FG pass, TD, 28-0.

Now that I've seen this offense a few times, I realize it's all play-action passes from under center. It's so slow to develop. I bring SS blitzes from the edges, and I'm in the backfield before the QB finished the auto-fake action every time. A few more plays, I get the ball, score, he quits at 35-0.

Notable stats at quittin' time: dude had 1 first down, 9 yards of offense, 2 picks, and was sacked 5 times. I was 11 for 13 with 3 TD's.

Welcome to the league, rookie.