I played three games tonight, the end result being that I am now ranked #87 (IN THE WORLD). Exciting.
Don't have detailed game notes, but a few observations.
Game 4
Opponent: FASTEDDIEKG8894
Record: 89-58
Team: FSU
Better User Name: FASTEDWINDJ8894
Dece record, poor gameplanning. He blitzed a ton on defense, but they were of the nano/youtube variety, so he was constantly arranging his defense in a very precise way. This, of course, tips the offense that a blitz is coming, and a particular kind of blitz, too. It allows me to anticipate specific pressure from a specific spot on the field, and also make any adjustments I want to my passing routes. By the late second half he had begun to disguise his defenses a bit better, but by then most of my offense was "hot" and so I was able to do quite a bit of damage on the ground.
So don't nano, kids. It's beneath you.
Game 5
Who knows. I just know I won and got a quit at halftime.
Game 6
Opponent: HH CHRIS HH
Record: 49-16 ish
Team: LSU
Better User Name: ChrisHanson
Buddy ran five plays on offense. First, he operated out of Ace: F Pair Twins, with a FB lined up outside the TE on the strong side and twins to the weakside. He'd run a HB Stretch to the strongside and a play-action bootleg when it was setup. Then he moved on to a Wildcat: Spread Flex with some jet sweep, jet sweep option, and PA jet sweep. And that was it.
He scored on two of his first three possessions, but not after that. Gotta diversify that playbook.
Monday, September 17, 2012
Sunday, September 16, 2012
An Awful, Horrible, No-Good Game
Man oh man...
Game 2
Opponent: THE FLORIDA 04
Record: 158-89
Team: Georgia
Better User Name: TheOrangeAndBlueVictorious 04
I threw FOUR interceptions in this game. He threw FIVE. And I still lost. It was a miserable outing for both of us; halfway threw the 3rd quarter I sent him a message: "We are so bad". He replied "yeah".
Nine interceptions between the two of us, just miserable. Two of my picks went for touchdowns; a third gave him the ball on my 15; I also went for it on fourth and handed it over to him inside my twenty. Not even trying to knock him, but I feel like I gave this game away. Final score was 37-35 (I also gave up a safety - DAMN DAMN DAMN).
His defense relied on a single blitz package (like 75% of his plays); it took me most of the game to find the appropriate reads. When playing against a blitz-heavy defense, you've gotta find the uncovered receiver (or the receiver who is technically marked, but whose man is starting out of position). I had the ball for like 4 minutes out of the 20; when I did score, it was super fast, because I beat the blitz downfield.
His offense was almost entirely run out of an ace-slot or shotgun-slot formation. Lots of TE and slot receiver crosses, then some wheel routes later in the game. Obviously not too complex/polished, because he threw a million interceptions, too.
Ugh. I can't say anymore about it.
Game 3
Opponent: TAE33000
Record: 11-6 (I think)
Team: Alabama
Better User Name: Billy Blanks
Don't mean to be making reference to the 24-0 final score here; Billy Blanks just does Tae Bo. Anyway...
As frustrating as the game against The Florida was, this game was as straightforward. His defense opened in a soft cover-2 zone, so I threw a series of short crossing patterns. He switched to a safety blitz, open TE seam for 20 yards. Then some man-blitzes, and I score in the first 90 seconds. I force a punt, then throw a pick (gross), force another punt, then score in largely the same fashion: underneath patterns, followed by a deep seam pattern.
By the start of the second half I was up 24-0, and so I just ran out the clock. Conservative tempo, run run run run run run etc run run run. Etc. His offense lacked progression or complexity; some failed runs early on, then many contested passes. I think I had five or six picks this game; he just didn't seem to have a clear plan on offense.
Biggest leap for me in terms of offense: finding some passing concepts that worked. My old four verticals/corner sets from NCAA 11 and 12 aren't working in 13; the defensive upgrades are too good. So I went back to the practice field, felt out the mesh/drag patterns, levels, seams and verticals, etc, until I found some ideas that worked consistently. Then I took those templates to the playbook editor and found multiple iterations of them out of different formations. Before I snap the ball, I have a good idea where the pass is going; when I snap the ball, I have a clear progression of reads that confirm or change that notion. You can't just call a play and hope someone is open, particularly not against decent competition.
As an update, I'm now ranked 117th. Record is 50 and 18.
And the Gators whooped Tennessee again today. Rightly so.
Game 2
Opponent: THE FLORIDA 04
Record: 158-89
Team: Georgia
Better User Name: TheOrangeAndBlueVictorious 04
I threw FOUR interceptions in this game. He threw FIVE. And I still lost. It was a miserable outing for both of us; halfway threw the 3rd quarter I sent him a message: "We are so bad". He replied "yeah".
Nine interceptions between the two of us, just miserable. Two of my picks went for touchdowns; a third gave him the ball on my 15; I also went for it on fourth and handed it over to him inside my twenty. Not even trying to knock him, but I feel like I gave this game away. Final score was 37-35 (I also gave up a safety - DAMN DAMN DAMN).
His defense relied on a single blitz package (like 75% of his plays); it took me most of the game to find the appropriate reads. When playing against a blitz-heavy defense, you've gotta find the uncovered receiver (or the receiver who is technically marked, but whose man is starting out of position). I had the ball for like 4 minutes out of the 20; when I did score, it was super fast, because I beat the blitz downfield.
His offense was almost entirely run out of an ace-slot or shotgun-slot formation. Lots of TE and slot receiver crosses, then some wheel routes later in the game. Obviously not too complex/polished, because he threw a million interceptions, too.
Ugh. I can't say anymore about it.
Game 3
Opponent: TAE33000
Record: 11-6 (I think)
Team: Alabama
Better User Name: Billy Blanks
Don't mean to be making reference to the 24-0 final score here; Billy Blanks just does Tae Bo. Anyway...
As frustrating as the game against The Florida was, this game was as straightforward. His defense opened in a soft cover-2 zone, so I threw a series of short crossing patterns. He switched to a safety blitz, open TE seam for 20 yards. Then some man-blitzes, and I score in the first 90 seconds. I force a punt, then throw a pick (gross), force another punt, then score in largely the same fashion: underneath patterns, followed by a deep seam pattern.
By the start of the second half I was up 24-0, and so I just ran out the clock. Conservative tempo, run run run run run run etc run run run. Etc. His offense lacked progression or complexity; some failed runs early on, then many contested passes. I think I had five or six picks this game; he just didn't seem to have a clear plan on offense.
Biggest leap for me in terms of offense: finding some passing concepts that worked. My old four verticals/corner sets from NCAA 11 and 12 aren't working in 13; the defensive upgrades are too good. So I went back to the practice field, felt out the mesh/drag patterns, levels, seams and verticals, etc, until I found some ideas that worked consistently. Then I took those templates to the playbook editor and found multiple iterations of them out of different formations. Before I snap the ball, I have a good idea where the pass is going; when I snap the ball, I have a clear progression of reads that confirm or change that notion. You can't just call a play and hope someone is open, particularly not against decent competition.
As an update, I'm now ranked 117th. Record is 50 and 18.
And the Gators whooped Tennessee again today. Rightly so.
Friday, September 14, 2012
A game! Finaly, a game!
Game 1
Opponent: baylorRB28
Record: 69-33
Team: Texas (selling out his Bears...)
Better User Name: BRB28
A fine record for BRB coming into this game, let's see what he's got.
He gets the ball to start, converts a long 3rd down on a deep WR comeback, but then punts on the next 4th down. Straightforward running game, haven't seen any gimmicks in the passing game yet.
My first possession set the tone for the game: I hit a wide open TE in the back, then a pass is tipped at the line, and then my FB drops a 1st down completion. I punt.
Our boy goes three and out, mixing in some option. Ensuing position, I hit a drag for a first down, then a completion to my TE's outside shoulder on a seam route, beats the safety to the endzone, 7-0. Opponent was in a lot of Cover 1, so if the LB's are covering the TE then I'm going to have the outside shoulder open most of the game.
He scores next possession, then I drive to the ten with a couple TE seam throws (to the outside shoulder), but then I fumble at the five. His possession is extended by a roughing the passer penalty, but he gets sacked on 4th down around midfield. With 55 seconds in the first half, I scramble twice for a small gain, then hit two more TE seams. Halftime, 14-7.
Most notable thing in the second half was an "Illegal Touching" penalty; what is this? It was thrown when I hit a receiver downfield after a prolonged stay in a rush-less pocket. It happens when the defense runs the all-spy scheme. Glitch?
Rest of the half goes about the same. His offense is fine, but he had difficulty finding open receivers and staying in the pocket. He more or less abandoned the run game once he was down in the second half, so it was a lot of soft Cover-2 Under and that's hard to beat. To his credit, he did fake a punt, but it was stopped about 3 yards short of the 1st down. Ran out the clock for most of second half, conservative tempo and ground game: counter, counter, power-O, counter, jet sweep, td. 31-14 at the final whistle.
Good times.
Status Update
Okay, so I am currently ranked 115 on Xbox Live; I'm 48-17. I play with Florida (the Orange and Blue Victorious).
Let's talk defense. I run a 4-3, conservative scheme. Every formation starts with a Cover-2 Under (man coverage with both safeties in a deep zone); I call this play about 80% of the time on defense. I match up defensive backs to WR as a default: 2 WR, 4-3; 3 WR, nickel; 4 or 5 WR, dime. This may change once I see what sort of plays my opponent likes to run, especially if he's consistently gashing me on the ground or in the air.
In the nickel and dime formations, I generally use a LB-rush package, which swaps out the DE's for LB's. This gives me a little more speed on the pass rush, and also gives me more options for pre-snap adjustments. Nearly every online player uses a team with a mobile quarterback (or maybe just more and more of the really good teams in real CFB have mobile quarterbacks), so it's often necessary to spy the QB. Using the LB-rush package gives me extra LB's to spy with.
I'll typically spy one of the rushing LB's and crash the D-Line to the defensive left (QB's right). This forces the QB to move to his left, and since most QB's are right-handed this decreases their accuracy/mobility. I can get pretty consistent pressure around the edge, or at least get the QB moving away from his throwing hand.
Depending on the down and distance, I'll change the coverage to press. If my opponent is relying on a lot of timing routes, I'll press to throw the WR's off. If he likes to test the coverage downfield, I'll keep the CB's in their regular slots (I rarely back off the coverage, as this gives WR's way too much time to get into a slant or drag route).
Let's see...I also default to a hot-read pass to mitigate the effect of play-action. I'll most frequently control a safety over the top, or, if my opponent is running a lot or hitting a lot of underneath routes, I'll grab a LB. In long distance downs, I'll control a pass-rusher. I'm not very good at getting through blocks, but I find that the user icon on a pass-rusher tends to draw the QB's eyes.
All of this adds up to a defense that's really hard to move the ball quickly against, and if the offense over-relies on one play or type of play, I can get in and disrupt things with a LB.
Okay, honest, more to come. Maybe offense and playbook breakdown next...
Let's talk defense. I run a 4-3, conservative scheme. Every formation starts with a Cover-2 Under (man coverage with both safeties in a deep zone); I call this play about 80% of the time on defense. I match up defensive backs to WR as a default: 2 WR, 4-3; 3 WR, nickel; 4 or 5 WR, dime. This may change once I see what sort of plays my opponent likes to run, especially if he's consistently gashing me on the ground or in the air.
In the nickel and dime formations, I generally use a LB-rush package, which swaps out the DE's for LB's. This gives me a little more speed on the pass rush, and also gives me more options for pre-snap adjustments. Nearly every online player uses a team with a mobile quarterback (or maybe just more and more of the really good teams in real CFB have mobile quarterbacks), so it's often necessary to spy the QB. Using the LB-rush package gives me extra LB's to spy with.
I'll typically spy one of the rushing LB's and crash the D-Line to the defensive left (QB's right). This forces the QB to move to his left, and since most QB's are right-handed this decreases their accuracy/mobility. I can get pretty consistent pressure around the edge, or at least get the QB moving away from his throwing hand.
Depending on the down and distance, I'll change the coverage to press. If my opponent is relying on a lot of timing routes, I'll press to throw the WR's off. If he likes to test the coverage downfield, I'll keep the CB's in their regular slots (I rarely back off the coverage, as this gives WR's way too much time to get into a slant or drag route).
Let's see...I also default to a hot-read pass to mitigate the effect of play-action. I'll most frequently control a safety over the top, or, if my opponent is running a lot or hitting a lot of underneath routes, I'll grab a LB. In long distance downs, I'll control a pass-rusher. I'm not very good at getting through blocks, but I find that the user icon on a pass-rusher tends to draw the QB's eyes.
All of this adds up to a defense that's really hard to move the ball quickly against, and if the offense over-relies on one play or type of play, I can get in and disrupt things with a LB.
Okay, honest, more to come. Maybe offense and playbook breakdown next...
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