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.