How do I protect the seams?

Tried this in the gameplay section but looks like it doesn’t get much traffic. Hope cross posting is cool. 
 

I'm getting murdered by streaks in the seams. I think C3 and C4 are supposed to be vulnerable, but I thought vert hooks in C2 would protect them, but not what I've been seeing. I've also tried C3 seam and some other stuff with limited success. Is Man the only option? I've watched some vids but nothing seems to work. TIA!

Man up the TE and user streaks to the slot WR on the other side as one of your first reads on defense.

Or you can turn on match and run Cover 3 Seams.

Ducati0307 said:

Man up the TE and user streaks to the slot WR on the other side as one of your first reads on defense.

Or you can turn on match and run Cover 3 Seams.

I'll give it a shot, thanks. Seems like the TE beats man a lot, depending on the route.

There's no zone that protects the seams? Is this a Madden thing or a Football thing? I find it surprising from a football perspectice.

You can use zone drops and put your hook zones at 20 yards. That will leave you vulnerable under neath but it’s a chess match. 
 

in cover 4 match the quarter flats stay with seam before they pass it off to the safety. I don’t know if you run match though.

YoungOG said:

You can use zone drops and put your hook zones at 20 yards. That will leave you vulnerable under neath but it’s a chess match. 
 

in cover 4 match the quarter flats stay with seam before they pass it off to the safety. I don’t know if you run match though.

I haven’t messed with hook drops. I’ll try that, it makes a lot of sense. 
 

C4 quarters are getting torched too. They used to cover the seams ok though. I do run match.

If u run nickle use cover 3 nd assign your curls to man. Put one of your hooks to a curl n pray your d line gets to him before he throws

I play a lot of nickel on passing downs and there's some good advice here. Man up someone on the TE is the easiest option.
Running zones, you'll probably need to either change a middle hook zone or just user that player and hope your opponent doesn't throw a drag/texas/curl route in the space you leave. You can always spy a DE or put one in a zone to deter the underneat throw.

Thanks everyone!

I'm guessing you understand why the depth and lateral distance of the seams are different between the different cover schemes, so this is the other half of the equation: The gap at the seams is a function of the effectiveness of your pass rush, coupled with your pass coverage players' reaction times, their speed and acceleration, and their ability to outjump their assignment. You can speed up reaction times with KO abilities. Faster players cover more ground. You'll likely have to swat balls that target taller receivers or receivers with exceptional jumping ability. Blitzing at the right time can help.

You didn't mention Cover 6. I find that that is the coverage that can mess up players that know how to read defenses. I generally prefer to user the safety with the broadest assignment when using that coverage.

That said, getting the most out of your defense really is a bend-don't-break affair. Most of my stops come on short fields, and then only because I made the right adjustments and the opponent targeted the wrong receiver or got sacked.

phatalerror said:

I'm guessing you understand why the depth and lateral distance of the seams are different between the different cover schemes, so this is the other half of the equation: The gap at the seams is a function of the effectiveness of your pass rush, coupled with your pass coverage players' reaction times, their speed and acceleration, and their ability to outjump their assignment. You can speed up reaction times with KO abilities. Faster players cover more ground. You'll likely have to swat balls that target taller receivers or receivers with exceptional jumping ability. Blitzing at the right time can help.

You didn't mention Cover 6. I find that that is the coverage that can mess up players that know how to read defenses. I generally prefer to user the safety with the broadest assignment when using that coverage.

That said, getting the most out of your defense really is a bend-don't-break affair. Most of my stops come on short fields, and then only because I made the right adjustments and the opponent targeted the wrong receiver or got sacked.

Great info, thanks. I do mix in Cover 6/9 but I can't say I do it well. Most of my stops are in the redzone, and, surprisingly, running Cover 2. The vert hooks really throw people off. Pick city.

colbyzg said:

Great info, thanks. I do mix in Cover 6/9 but I can't say I do it well. Most of my stops are in the redzone, and, surprisingly, running Cover 2. The vert hooks really throw people off. Pick city.

Always stick with what works! Always nice to get a red zone pick, and if you're doing something a little different, you can often sustain success for some time.

I usually run Cover 3 or 4 and switch between Sky and Hard Flat depending on my opponent‘s tendencies. To protect the seams I user over middle and one of the seams and if he recognizes the other seam I’ll do an individual adjustment, usually man up a guy on the seam.

colbyzg said:

I'll give it a shot, thanks. Seems like the TE beats man a lot, depending on the route.

There's no zone that protects the seams? Is this a Madden thing or a Football thing? I find it surprising from a football perspectice.

No there isn't, yeah I'd man up the TE or Slot WR, whoever's in the seam or slot position. If you're in a short field situation, maybe try putting your edge rusher on a vertical hook to take the seam away. But that does take away pressure, so that's a big risk.

colbyzg said:

Great info, thanks. I do mix in Cover 6/9 but I can't say I do it well. Most of my stops are in the redzone, and, surprisingly, running Cover 2. The vert hooks really throw people off. Pick city.

cover 2 is goated redzone D especially inside the 10, shade it underneath have gotten sooo many pics with it from 3-4