Defensive help

Does anyone know how to run nickel 2-4 or dime successfully. I tried the youtube meta bs and still got cooked lmao. If anyone could give any tips that would be great.

I mostly run nickel 3-3 Odd and mix up some dime 1-4 man coverages. Not running any stupid Youtube loob blitzes etc..  My first year at MUT and defence is hard.  I run Zone Kos  team so that all of my six DBs have KO on. That has helped me to get 4th down stops and more INTs. Of course some idiots that just run same couple plays know how to beat me but that's fine. Currently sitting 22-8 at ranked which is much better than I ever thought.

Orkku said:

I mostly run nickel 3-3 Odd and mix up some dime 1-4 man coverages. Not running any stupid Youtube loob blitzes etc..  My first year at MUT and defence is hard.  I run Zone Kos  team so that all of my six DBs have KO on. That has helped me to get 4th down stops and more INTs. Of course some idiots that just run same couple plays know how to beat me but that's fine. Currently sitting 22-8 at ranked which is much better than I ever thought.

Thanks for the help man. I just lost 8 straight ranked games lol

i run 2-3 dime without loop, although i do have it in my bag just in case i play an ultra sweat. 

i think the best strength of 2-3 is not giving up the big play and playing a bend but don't break playstyle, and forcing ppl to take their checkdowns and under routes every play which people aren't normally patient enough to do then playing aggressively in the red zone. if you're really getting gashed by the run, i do like to mix in 6-1 .

i did run nickel previously but it's mostly a man scheme and more high-risk, high-reward in you're trading giving up big plays for pressure.

switch stick is the most important mechanic on defense, once you can get it down and can start reading route combos ppl are using against you, you can start baiting picks.

joeyjake3015 said:

Does anyone know how to run nickel 2-4 or dime successfully. I tried the youtube meta bs and still got cooked lmao. If anyone could give any tips that would be great.

Defense is EXTREMELY difficult this year. Basically you should come out in Cover 4 and pray. Man to Man is far too inconsistent.

I love NE defense playbook, has ton of great formations; 3-4 Odd, Even 6-1, Dime 1-4 (Dollar) 

Beyond that, the goal needs to be getting Mid Zone KOs on the field, beginning with both Safeties and outside corners. Look for Legends cards.

peatrick said:

Defense is EXTREMELY difficult this year. Basically you should come out in Cover 4 and pray. Man to Man is far too inconsistent.

I love NE defense playbook, has ton of great formations; 3-4 Odd, Even 6-1, Dime 1-4 (Dollar) 

Beyond that, the goal needs to be getting Mid Zone KOs on the field, beginning with both Safeties and outside corners. Look for Legends cards.

Yeah I’m running vikes d playbook rn cuz they have both 1-4 and 3-4 odd if I need to stop run. I kinda knew defense was just hard but was wondering if anyone had any tips to make it possible to get stops. Thank you!

heheheheexd said:

i run 2-3 dime without loop, although i do have it in my bag just in case i play an ultra sweat. 

i think the best strength of 2-3 is not giving up the big play and playing a bend but don't break playstyle, and forcing ppl to take their checkdowns and under routes every play which people aren't normally patient enough to do then playing aggressively in the red zone. if you're really getting gashed by the run, i do like to mix in 6-1 .

i did run nickel previously but it's mostly a man scheme and more high-risk, high-reward in you're trading giving up big plays for pressure.

switch stick is the most important mechanic on defense, once you can get it down and can start reading route combos ppl are using against you, you can start baiting picks.

preciate it man. Working on becoming better at switch stick rn

joeyjake3015 said:

Yeah I’m running vikes d playbook rn cuz they have both 1-4 and 3-4 odd if I need to stop run. I kinda knew defense was just hard but was wondering if anyone had any tips to make it possible to get stops. Thank you!

Perfect, you seem to have a pretty clear idea what you are trying to achieve here.  I used Vikes before moving to NE, they're very similar, especially the formations you stated.

My broad / general advice would be to keep it simple, run lots of Cover 4 (shade down for Hard Flats) from various formations.  There's a really nasty loop blitz i'm using from 3-4 Odd, Cover 4 Quarters (FLIPPED).

Coaching Adjustments:

1. Auto Flip = OFF
2. Base align (Default is also fine here, can at times be better, to spread LBs to get them outside leverage to try and help defend flats)
3. RPO defense = Conservative

that's basically it.  I always come out with these formations flipped.  Shift your LBs to the right, then position your looping (blitzing) LB so they are roughly standing on/above the MLB1, which you should be USERing (hover over right side of D-line to bait offensive line towards your direction before dropping back in coverage).

I've got Manti Te'o as my looping blitzer, he's 95 SPD and 99 ACC on full 40/40 TT without having an overly large player model, which can get pass rushers hung up on D-line.  The Zero Chill Tyreek MLB would also be fantastic here as looping blitzer.  Hope this helps with some specific pressure.

I try to change things up a bit, by sending similar pressure, but from the edge (Sean Taylor) from the LOLB spot, but i have VERY clear tells that basically give up the game when i'm sending that looping pressure, because you need to position the blitzer or else he doesn't consistently get through without being touched.  Even if they block a RB, Te'o typically sheds almost instantly, or edge pressure gets home from a random shed.

Mid Zone KOs are the other missing component to making this work for you.  Need at least four, IMO, but the more the merrier.

joeyjake3015 said:

preciate it man. Working on becoming better at switch stick rn

And of course Switch Stick is a really big deal, allowing us to defend areas of the field that would otherwise be blown coverage assignments, especially deep corner routes and such.  I play so much Squads that i haven't been forced to truly figure the Switch Stick stuff out.  After a couple/few months i finally understand conceptually how i want to approach that, but i'm not great at predicting the future or anticipating the routes before (or as) they come open.