Sometimes obsessions can be good things. I became obsessed with how to defend 4 verts in Madden 16. I could not stand that player after player on Draft Champions would get themselves in 3rd and 19 situations and then bail themselves out by running 4 verts from trips and getting a much too easy first down.
So I went into the lab and tried some different things. Cover 4? No, we all know that is easily beaten by the dreaded 4 verts. How about 2 man under (Cover 2 Man)? Nope, the LB and slot defenders do not cover the post well enough. I tried some variations of Cover 3, zone blitzes, man/zone combos...nothing good defeated the mighty 4 verts.
But then I found it!
Man Up 3 Deep from Quarters all but eliminates the king of the money plays.
The ideal way to run Man Up 3 Deep vs 4 verts from trips is to play pass commit (L2/LT and up on right stick) and play inside coverage (Triangle/Y and right on right stick). The pass commit will allow your DBs to immediately get into coverage at the snap. The inside shading will allow your defender of the inside post/cross to try and leverage themselves to the inside of that route which can take it away and lead to interceptions. .
In practice, Man Up 3 Deep gives you great over the top coverage in case your opponent wants to try and chuck it deep and aggressive catch. The third (middle) deep zone helps over the top as well as doubling that inside post/crossing route which no other defense in Madden 16 does well. Occasionally your opponent will hit hit the post/cross just right and complete the pass. Occasionally they will throw up a jump ball to one of the outside WRs and get lucky as well. However, the vast majority of the time you face 4 verts from trips with Man Up 3 Deep, you are going to cause an incomplete pass or pull down an interception.
Keep in mind, this defense is not a one-size fits all scheme. It is extremely vulnerable to the run (especially up the middle) and will clear out room for a drag or scrambling QB underneath. However, if my opponent has shown a tendency to scramble when he can't find an open receiver, I will either spy the LOLB /LE (not allowed in most sim leagues as you always need to rush three) or manually user the OLB/DE on the side he likes to scramble to and try to contain him. You will have to live with drags coming open underneath this coverage as well. But the important part is that it will give you a very good chance (probably 80% or better) of stopping your opponent on 3rd and long (or 4th and long for the most erratic players) when they try to go to 4 verts from trips.
If you guys have any questions or find other plays in Madden 16 that work often in defending 4 verts, feel free to reply and post them here in this thread. I plan on uploading a video tutorial of this soon as well. Hope this helps you guys. Happy gaming!
So I went into the lab and tried some different things. Cover 4? No, we all know that is easily beaten by the dreaded 4 verts. How about 2 man under (Cover 2 Man)? Nope, the LB and slot defenders do not cover the post well enough. I tried some variations of Cover 3, zone blitzes, man/zone combos...nothing good defeated the mighty 4 verts.
But then I found it!
Man Up 3 Deep from Quarters all but eliminates the king of the money plays.
The ideal way to run Man Up 3 Deep vs 4 verts from trips is to play pass commit (L2/LT and up on right stick) and play inside coverage (Triangle/Y and right on right stick). The pass commit will allow your DBs to immediately get into coverage at the snap. The inside shading will allow your defender of the inside post/cross to try and leverage themselves to the inside of that route which can take it away and lead to interceptions. .
In practice, Man Up 3 Deep gives you great over the top coverage in case your opponent wants to try and chuck it deep and aggressive catch. The third (middle) deep zone helps over the top as well as doubling that inside post/crossing route which no other defense in Madden 16 does well. Occasionally your opponent will hit hit the post/cross just right and complete the pass. Occasionally they will throw up a jump ball to one of the outside WRs and get lucky as well. However, the vast majority of the time you face 4 verts from trips with Man Up 3 Deep, you are going to cause an incomplete pass or pull down an interception.
Keep in mind, this defense is not a one-size fits all scheme. It is extremely vulnerable to the run (especially up the middle) and will clear out room for a drag or scrambling QB underneath. However, if my opponent has shown a tendency to scramble when he can't find an open receiver, I will either spy the LOLB /LE (not allowed in most sim leagues as you always need to rush three) or manually user the OLB/DE on the side he likes to scramble to and try to contain him. You will have to live with drags coming open underneath this coverage as well. But the important part is that it will give you a very good chance (probably 80% or better) of stopping your opponent on 3rd and long (or 4th and long for the most erratic players) when they try to go to 4 verts from trips.
If you guys have any questions or find other plays in Madden 16 that work often in defending 4 verts, feel free to reply and post them here in this thread. I plan on uploading a video tutorial of this soon as well. Hope this helps you guys. Happy gaming!
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