After playing through multiple seasons in 0.4.3 and 0.4.4, I realized that a lot of game planners out there are doing themselves a disservice by stubbornly sticking with blitz 1 and blitz 2 defenses all game. This really becomes noticeable in games where the score is close until the fourth quarter, and then one team has an offensive explosion.

In this short guide, I'm going to talk about the necessity of setting up a base defensive scheme. This guide will specifically talk about the Cover 1 and Cover 2 schemes.

I may come back and add more to this, but I wanted to put this out quickly.

Important Note about 0.4.3 – 0.x.x

If you all take nothing else away from this post, memorize this: In 0.4.3, defensive plays that do NOT blitz will NOT be called for overuse.

How does overuse work again?

Every time a team uses a play more than three times, the opposing team starts to accumulate a bonus against that play. If the opposing team gets a big play as a result of the bonus, then the overuse penalty appears in the play-by-play text.

Now, and this is really important, teams get a bonus for overuse even if the overuse penalty does NOT appear in the play-by-play text.

OK, why is that so important? Starting with 0.4.4, and 0.4.5 appears to be the same way, the pace of the game slowed down. That means players can put together longer drives that eat more clock. Longer drives mean more plays, and more plays mean more overuse bonuses against defenses. And in a close game, all it takes is one overuse penalty to swing momentum in the other direction.

Base Defenses

This is where your base defense becomes very important.

Cover 1 vs Cover 2

In my mind, there are only two base defensive calls worth considering: a M2M with a single high safety (Cover 1) or a M2M with two deep safeties (Cover 2) with one exception that I will detail below. Right now, zone is suspect because of how DBs react to the ball in the air.

I prefer the Cover 2 to the Cover 1 against the pass. The reason for this is that having two deep safeties helps you keep a play in front of you. (This was actually true in the pass long all day games of 0.4.3 just not as effective.) Since you are going to be playing M2M across the receivers, having two safeties back means that you have the entire field covered if a play breaks down.

The Exception: OLB Flat Zones

There is one major exception that I have for my base defense, and that is the OLB Flat Zone when I am running a 4-3 defense. The OLB Flat Zone is M2M in the secondary, which means that the safeties end up taking the WR4 and WR5. This brings both safeties into the box.

Having the safeties in the box means no one is deep if a play breaks down. This is a risk worth taking – sometimes – if your opponent primarily runs out of a set. In this case, the OLB Flat Zones can act as a non-blitz run stopping play with the right personnel.

The Right Personnel

To effectively play a base defense for most of the game requires you to have personnel with a few key attributes.

Defensive Backs – Must have Speed and B&R Cover. This are becoming musts for any defense, but are particularly important when running a base defense.

Linebackers – Must have Speed and B&R Cover if on a TE or WR. Must have M2M if covering a RB out of the backfield. Don't overlook the M2M here. A good Route Running RB will get past a LB.

Watch your overrides!

The last thing about personnel when running a base defense is to always check your overrides based on the play formation.

For instance, one key override people forget is swapping the MLB and WLB in the nickle formations. Why? The MLB covers the TE, and usually your best cover LB will be your WLB … unless you are specifically putting your best cover LB at the MLB, but that is ill-advised.

[will probably revise and update later with better examples]

super useful especially for those adapting to 4.4

... More generally Thanks for all the work you are sharing !