Primarily a Nickel & Dime defense, built out of a 3-4 foundation, and opting for 3-3-5 Over Flex as it's home base. It's a Zone-Match, 2-High, 4-Under scheme built around versatility. Think Tampa 2, Cover 3, Cover 3 Match, Cover 4 Drop* & Split-Coverages like 6/9. There is also a healthy dose of Cover 1, and exotic pressures from Cover 0 and Fire Zones alike. Took a lot of inspiration from Mike MacDonald and Seattle on this one, moreso from the later portion of the year & playoff run, than earlier on in the season. This defense really unlocks itself with a elite Front 4 and athletic/rangey Linebackers (test runs with Texas Tech & Ohio State). Have even built in a few wrinkles for a Nick Emmanwori type of player, via formation subs, to really highlight the versatility. By rotating SS1 down to play SUBLB in the two Nickel 3-3 formations (Over & Odd), while remaining at SS1 for the Nickel 2-4 Formations, and playing down in the slot for Over Flex & Dime Formations. * * Update : Use for Slow-Sim is now much more applicable, as I did a lot of tweaking to incorporate as many of the "manual/adjustments as best I could, and as often as I could, with the small selection of plays with stunts/twists/coverage rotations built into them. * * Coach Suggestions : Can now be used for the USER experience, but for the full experience, and maximum level of disguise & trickery; I still suggest calling the plays yourself and manually applying shells, stunts, etc. KEYS : To play the defense as it was designed to be played.

2-High Shells : Cover 2, Cover 4, & Cover 6 Disguised Coverages : Mismatch Shell/Coverage D-Line Adjustments : Slanting, Crashing, & Utilizing Stunts (Using at least 1 of the 3 on every down) Late Rotations : Periodically Roll Coverage down to Single-High (practice against Indiana/Mendoza) PLAYCALLNG / SHELL SELECTION : Essential tips to speeding up your play-calling process. - Find a handful of (3 to 4) formations you're comfortable with, use most often, or like certain plays out of, and designate them a Coverage Shell. Set these at the very beginning of the game, every game, so you don't have to worry about setting them as the timer ticks down for you to pick a play. I highly suggest having at least one specifically assigned to Cover 6, and the rest is up to you as to which 2-High shells you prefer, I personally like having at least one of each to begin with, then adapt from there. (Unfortunately, these don't carry over and apply to calling out of the Coach Suggestions screen. But that can be beneficial in a way, because you can essentially call those formations out of both the Shell'd Coverage and the Default Coverage without having to change a single thing.) - Keep in mind, some formations don't have a Cover 3 shell, and because of that there is no "Show 3" adjustment, therefore eliminating the ability to roll coverages out of that formation, unless opting for "Show Blitz" as a coverage alternative. With the latter, being very situationally dependent. These are MY PREFERENCES, you may already have or will find your own. 3-3-5 : 3-HIGH : No shell set for this. (No SHOW 3) 3-3-5 : OVER FLEX : Cover 6 Shell NICKEL : 3-3 ODD : Cover 2 Shell (No SHOW 3) NICKEL : 3-3 OVER : Cover 4 Shell NICKEL : DOUBLE MUG : Cover 0 Shell (Gaslighting purposes) NICKEL : 2-4 SINGLE/LOAD MUG : No Shells Available (No SHOW 3) DOLLAR : SUGAR 3-2 : No shell set for this. DIME : LOAD WEAK : Cover 4 Shell DIME : RUSH : Cover 2 Shell DIME : 2-3-6 WILL : Cover 6 Shell 3-4 : UNDER : Cover 3 Shell (Expecting Run Situations) 3-4 : ODD : Cover 4 Shell 3-4 : OVER : No shell set for this. Note : These aren't all set at the beginning of the game, most are adjustments made throughout the game, and many are situational & may or may not occur at all during a game. I have my staples (Over Flex, 3-3 Odd, 3-3 Over, Rush) that I set every first drive. Then work some of the others in as wrinkles, as the gameplan develops in real-time.

ON-FIELD / PLAY SPECIFIC ADJUSTMENTS : These are just my preferences, you may have/find your own. LB Adjustments : I like to mix in the "LB Show Blitz" adjustment as an added layer against 2x2 sets. Rotating Late vs 2x2 (Show 3) : Cover 1, Tampa 2, & Cover 3/Match Rotating Late vs 3x1 (Secondary Show Blitz) : Cover 1, Cover 3 Cloud, Cover 4 Drop/Field Cover 4 Drop Field Shell : Cover 2 Shell vs 2x2, and Cover 6 Shell vs 3x1/Empty Cover 4 Drop Field Coverage : Shade underneath to create Hard Flats, or double shade underneath/overtop to create Cloud Flats ["Cover 4 Drop Hard Flats" & "Cover 4 Drop Cloud"] Trips Sets : Cover 6 vs. Trips is a staple, so I like to piggyback off of that by using Cover 6 Shells in these situations, essentially gaslighting the offense. Empty Sets : Blitzing vs. Empty is also a common tactic, so it doesn't hurt to mix in some drop zone coverages from a Cover 0 shell every now & again to get the QB to speed up their clock. Late Rotations are't an every down adjustment, just another wrinkle to weave in & out of your defensive gameplan. Try practicing against Fernando Mendoza, as he is the only QB with Platinum Field General, which gives you the feedback as to whether your shell has fooled the QB or not. Coincidentally this also gives you the timetable for when a rotation will work. Let him diagnose the coverage and ID blitzers, afterwards there is about a 1 second window where he'll decide to Slide Protection/Hot Route, or snap it. Thats your window to roll coverage. Also, long developing auto-motion, if involved in a play, is another good time if you missed the original window.