Disclaimer one: If you're reading this, then you likely know the drill already. These are my notes, so take them as you will. Feel free to comment on anything that you particularly disagree with.

Disclaimer two: This is probably the last of these that I'm going write for a long time. There is too much going on at work for me to play this game at a high level, so I'll be paring back my time and leagues in the coming weeks.

This thread builds on some concepts developed in these two threads:

*Basic defensive game planning: https://mfn1.myfootballnow.com/community/3/3581
*Advanced defensive game planning: https://mfn1.myfootballnow.com/community/3/3791

I've been mulling this a while, but it's time to put it out there. If you have read through the other threads, you know that my defenses focus on running a Cover 5 M2M (it also blends Cover 3/4 techniques but that's a different thread). You also know that I spend a lot of time in base, normal backfield defense against the 113 and 203 because of how the running plays in those sets exploit the nickle. What I haven't really talked about is how I build that Cover 5. So here goes...

The Method
If you get nothing more from this thread, memorize this - if you are not using the Assignment tab to dictate your defensive plays, you probably don't know who is actually covering who.

Each defensive play has an Assignments tab that tells you what position your defenders are covering on a given play. In the basic thread, I talked about how you can use this tab to make sure that you have the WR1-5 covered. Now, let's dig into this more.

First a quick reminder. Here's what WR1-5 mean:

*Against the 221: WR1, TE1 (WR2), TE2 (WR3), HB (WR4), FB (WR5)
*Against the 212: WR1, WR2, TE (WR3), HB (WR4), FB (WR5)
*Against the 203: WR1, WR2, WR3, HB (WR4), FB (WR5)
*Against the 113: WR1, WR2, WR3, TE (WR4), HB (WR5)
*Agaisnt the 122: WR1, WR2, TE1 (WR3), TE2 (WR4), HB (WR5)

The WR3 as WR
If you are going to run normal backfield against the 113 and 203, the first cover position you need to focus on is the WR3. You want to make sure that you have the same position or, if you don't have enough plays, two positions always covering the WR3.

Why? It allows you to put your third best cover guy in that position without resorting to the nickle.

What I do in this case is select plays where my FS covers the WR3. That way I always know that my FS needs to have good SP, M2M, and B&R. Note that the reason I'm using the FS and not the SS is because there are not enough plays that put the SS on the WR3. In this way, the defensive playbooks are reversed.

OK, so what, can't anyone cover the WR3? No. When the WR3 is a WR, he will have a speed advantage over your LBs. Your LBs will likely not have B&R Cover either, which means they will get burned on bad B&R interactions. [There are other threads where I have talked about this ad nauseum. Punisher can probably find them.]

The WR3 as TE
The beauty of leaving the same position on the WR3 is that when the WR3 is the TE, your defender has an advantage in covering. Here is where B&R becomes really important. I routinely produce 1000 yard TEs because my TEs destroy cover players in B&R.

With this in mind, it's not a bad idea to switch to the normal defense against a team that runs the 221 long passing plays. Because your normal WR3 cover player will now be covering the TE2 who can brutalize teams out of that play.

The WR4 as TE
If you glance at the WR breakdown above, you'll also see why the 122 TE medium passes become so deadly because the TE2 runs the post or streak in those routes, and he's the WR4 in the position assignment. So rotate your TE1 there to take advantage on offense, and keep reading to figure out what to do to stop this.

Against the 122, you're going to want your fourth best cover guy on the WR4. Like playing against the WR3 as TE, you want someone with good B&R Cover. Otherwise, you are going to get burned far too often off the line.

The problem with the normal defensive back field in this case is that it's hard to have the same position cover the WR4 all the time, but it can be done. Your better bet is to actually run a Cover 2 Nickle against the 122 if you have a LB that has good B&R Cover.

The WR4/5 as HB/FB
The nice thing about the HB or the FB being the WR4 or WR5 is that you do not need to worry about B&R. The HB/FB never come up to the LOS, so you can have your fast LBs with decent cover, but no B&R cover these players. It also helps out in the running game.

What about the nickle?
The above method works with the nickle as well as the normal defensive backfield. With the nickle, you want to concentrate more on who is covering the WR4 since that will be the TE in the 113. Other than that, the same general principles apply. You want your best cover player with best B&R in that cover position.

I have looked through gameplanning and do not see an Assignments Tab anywhere.

I think Assignments is referred to the page Defensive Plays. Where you choose the plays your team has available to play in the game

Aha! I found it by clicking on the green diagram part it brings up details with the assignments Tab there. But you can't change anything so I suppose it is a matter of selecting a play that fits instead of modifying the play.

Yes. I understand it is so

Yes, you cannot modify plays at this time. You can only select the ones that fit the coverage scheme that you want.

But with 30 defensive plays, how do you set 1 particular play to say go against a 113 setup?
or how do you know that play will be used.

I don't know, seems like everytime I use a rule to call a defensive play I get warned for over using a single play and others don't get called at all.
Even though the uncalled plays are still included in the rule