Posted by zharkins on 2/8/2013 10:43:00 AM (view original):
It is all about talent, just like in real life. If Alabama had told Notre Dame what plays they were running in the national championship game, it would not have mattered. You need 5 DB's with speed to match the WR's you are defending and high GI and Technique. If you don't have that, your only chance is to have luck on your side and pick off some passes. People get ticked off when they get beaten by an all pass team, but if I am in D3 and my 4 starting receivers are all top 20 overall in the GUESS ratings and my opponent only has 3 upperclassmen DB's and they are 15 points slower than my WR's...there is no way to stop that other than luck...in this game, and in real life.
A lot of what you say seems to be true in my limited div 3 experience, but people also get upset when their defensive backs are as good or better than the opposing recievers running trips, yet the individual matchups lead to big plays. Instead of my top 3 corners covering the recievers, with help over the top from safeties, it is outside linebackers or defensive ends. We have no way of understanding if our guys are playing zone or man. I assume it is zone, and sometimes I think perhaps my defensive ends are dropping in coverage because my linebackers are blitzing, yet other times, with the exact same settings, my linebackers are in coverage, so then I wonder where my defensive backs are if I am only keeping 2 guys in the front 7 to rush the QB, and I am still occasionally giving up the big play.
Defense against the pass is hard to work with the way it is right now because all the inherent strategy is mysterious. We can't plan to double team, or set individual matchups, or move our cbs close to the line while keeping out safeties deep, or vice vera, or control who is blitzing, when and why, or choose zone vs man. It all is done without our input, and it is hard to interpret what went on during the play after it is completed. Was the pass rush too slow? Was there a blown coverage? Did my cb miss the tackle so someone else made it making it appear that player was in coverage? The only control we have is moving the entire defense up to the line or moving it back, and playing safe or aggressive. Perhaps all the answers are in those settings, but they are not always intuitive or very clear. It seems playing the run is easier because you bring everyone up to the line, and generally, the group with the higher attributes wins the "scrum" (at least untill they get tired). That same can't be said for defending the pass with regularity, at least with the nickel package anyway. I have not used the dime enough to make any comment on that package.