Warrior General Games

I’m going to use this as a global thread to report mis-assignments in Man D. If you want to slow down Offense in GLB2, fixing basic assignment issues will go a long way and help the experienced as well as the new player. It takes away from the “fix your build” issues and makes the game more new player friendly.

The general problem is when there are more CBs than WRs on the field, things can get screwy. Too often I see extra CBs assigned to HB, FB or some WR across the field from their starting point. Too many players are firing off in the wrong direction at the snap. These aren’t awareness failures when they happen constantly and immediately at the start of the play.

From my vantage point, this is how assignments should be prioritized. Assignments should be set outside-in.

CB1: Blitz check, WR1, Zone at start spot
CB2: Blitz check, WR2, Zone at start spot
CB3: Blitz check, WR3, BTE, TE, WR1 double, Zone at start spot
CB4: Blitz check, WR4, TE, WR2 double, Zone at start spot
CB5: Blitz check, WR5, TE, HB, Zone at start spot
SS: Blitz check, Zone check, TE if no CB3/CB4 assigned, Zone at start spot
FS: Blitz check, Zone check, BTE if no CB3 assigned, Zone at start spot
LO: Blitz check, Zone check, GLTE, TE if SS in Zone, HB, Zone at start spot
MLB: Blitz check, Zone check, HB if uncovered by LO, FB, Zone at start spot
RO: Blitz check, Zone check, WFB, FB if uncovered by MLB, QB, Zone at start spot
LILB: Blitz check, Zone check, HB if uncovered by LO, FB, QB, Zone at start spot
RILB: Blitz check, Zone check, HB if uncovered by LO or LILB, WFB, FB, QB, Zone at start spot

Play: 2WR WR Screen Strong vs. 4-3 Shallow Sam Blitz http://glb2.warriorgeneral.com/game/replay/115663/2230295
CB2 – CB2 runs parallel with WR2 until tick 19 where WR2 pops Head Fake. CB2 doesn’t correct until tick 24. The Head Fake creates an argument that the WR2 should lose the CB2, but the CB2 should still be fading the outside shoulder of the WR2 when they are heading north, before HF fires.
SS – Tick 14. SS has clearly turned north while the TE has fired south. SS doesn’t correct until tick 25.
MLB – MLB starts off fine moving towards where HB is going, but at 18 turns north for some inexcusable reason.
RO - Tick 13, RO has turned towards WR1. RO doesn’t correct until tick 20.
Tick 37 – CB2 is being blocked by TE, MLB and SS aren’t remotely close to HB or WR2. At least 2 players are way out of position.

Play: 2WR WR Screen Strong vs. 4-3 Man Base
http://glb2.warriorgeneral.com/game/replay/115663/2230405
CB2 – CB2 runs parallel with WR2 until tick 19 where WR2 pops Head Fake. CB2 doesn’t correct until tick 24. The Head Fake creates an argument that the WR2 should lose the CB2, but the CB2 should still be fading the outside shoulder of the WR2 when they are heading north, before HF fires. TE blocks CB2.
LO – LO backs up maybe a little too far, 3+ yards, but keeps good positioning relative to the HB.
SS – Tick 15, the SS has clearly turned north when the TE is clearly running south. This continues until the ball is thrown at Tick 24. How many more ticks would the SS be running north if the ball wasn’t thrown? Where is he going?
RO – Tick 12 the RO starts turning towards WR1 when there is both a CB and FS in that area. RO continues in that direction until ball is thrown at Tick 24. Has the RO been missing awareness checks for 12 straight ticks? And even if yes, why is he keying off the WR1 when he should be keying off the FB or QB, both of whom are in the middle of the field. Missing awareness checks should mean you don’t react, not react in a completely different direction.

Play: 2WR WR Screen Strong vs. Dime Zero Double WR
http://glb2.warriorgeneral.com/game/replay/115663/2230520
You would think a play that states in its title that the intention is to double the WRs would do that, but you’d be wrong. This play should change the priority of CB4 to double the WR2 first before covering the TE.
CB2 – CB2 is running north with the WR2 by Tick 15, but once again is on the inside shoulder of the WR rather than outside shoulder.
CB4 – CB4 is running north by Tick 15 which isn’t a problem if the CB2 was positioned correctly.
SS – Tick 16 the SS turns towards the north part of the field when the TE has clearly turned south. SS continues on this NW direction until Tick 24 when the ball is thrown. Is the SS really missing awareness checks on the TE this whole time? Doubtful.
Tick 20 Head Fake fires. Do both CBs get effected? Even is yes, for a double team they are out of position before HF fires. Even if HF should free the WR from the CBs and then CBs get blocked by the TE and ROT, the SS is so far out of position it’s ridiculous.
Tick 37 the ball is caught. The CBs probably both shouldn’t have been blocked but even if the argument is they should because of HF firing, the real problem is that the SS isn’t even with the TE on the field. If the SS was even with the TE, he’d be south of the hash marks. Thus the play would still have worked but the gain would have been reduced from 24 yards to 12-15.

Play: 2WR WR Screen Strong vs. 4-4 Zero Edge Blitz
http://glb2.warriorgeneral.com/game/replay/115663/2230766
Tick 19 Head Fake fires freeing the WR2 from CB2. Again, I think the CB2 position is too far north relative to the WR2 before HF fires.

Play: 2WR WR Screen Strong vs. 4-4 Zero Edge Blitz (next play - a repeat)
http://glb2.warriorgeneral.com/game/replay/115663/2230776
No Head Fake ever fires on this play. The CB2 is trying to anticipate where the WR2 is going but behind the line of scrimmage, the CB should be trailing not leading.

Play: 2WR WR Screen Strong vs. Dime Zero Double WR (next play)
http://glb2.warriorgeneral.com/game/replay/115663/2230782
SS – By Tick 15, the SS is again heading NW while the TE is heading straight south. This continues until Tick 24 when the ball is thrown. So again, is the SS missing awareness checks for 9 ticks again? Doubtful. The SS should be even on the field with the TE at this point.
The SS, CB1 and CB2 all move improperly on against the Screen pass. Simply keeping the SS even with the TE, or at least closer, will allow the Offense to have successful plays, but less with less yards. If WR2 doesn’t fall on the catch, this is a TD against a Defense that was specifically called for a WR Double Team.

Originally posted by Xars
I’m going to use this as a global thread to report mis-assignments in Man D. If you want to slow down Offense in GLB2, fixing basic assignment issues will go a long way and help the experienced as well as the new player. It takes away from the “fix your build” issues and makes the game more new player friendly.

The general problem is when there are more CBs than WRs on the field, things can get screwy. Too often I see extra CBs assigned to HB, FB or some WR across the field from their starting point. Too many players are firing off in the wrong direction at the snap. These aren’t awareness failures when they happen constantly and immediately at the start of the play.

From my vantage point, this is how assignments should be prioritized. Assignments should be set outside-in.

CB1: Blitz check, WR1, Zone at start spot
CB2: Blitz check, WR2, Zone at start spot
CB3: Blitz check, WR3, BTE, TE, WR1 double, Zone at start spot
CB4: Blitz check, WR4, TE, WR2 double, Zone at start spot
CB5: Blitz check, WR5, TE, HB, Zone at start spot
SS: Blitz check, Zone check, TE if no CB3/CB4 assigned, Zone at start spot
FS: Blitz check, Zone check, BTE if no CB3 assigned, Zone at start spot
LO: Blitz check, Zone check, GLTE, TE if SS in Zone, HB, Zone at start spot
MLB: Blitz check, Zone check, HB if uncovered by LO, FB, Zone at start spot
RO: Blitz check, Zone check, WFB, FB if uncovered by MLB, QB, Zone at start spot
LILB: Blitz check, Zone check, HB if uncovered by LO, FB, QB, Zone at start spot
RILB: Blitz check, Zone check, HB if uncovered by LO or LILB, WFB, FB, QB, Zone at start spot

Well, for starters, this leaves a FB uncovered with a Dime defense. The WFB also ends up ignored in anything with less than 3 LBs. FS/SS also never check down to anything other than TEs, so they will also ignore both uncovered FBs.

It also leaves WRs uncovered with a mismatch. With a 4-3 against a 3WR set, WR3 will run free while LOLB stands around doing nothing. FS/SS also will never check down to WRs, so in the 4-3 against 3WR, they would also ignore WR3.

You can't fix mismatched WR/CB combinations by acting like they don't exist.

Then there's things like Sky coverage that will just completely break that AI, along with random other blitzes or one-off zones.

CB blitzes would ALWAYS leave their man uncovered.

MLB blitz out of a dime would leave the entire backfield uncovered.

Originally posted by Corndog
Well, for starters, this leaves a FB uncovered with a Dime defense. The WFB also ends up ignored in anything with less than 3 LBs. FS/SS also never check down to anything other than TEs, so they will also ignore both uncovered FBs.


1. Your major assumption is that I want them covered in a Man situation and lose my contain/lane/gap. That's why the CBs, etc. sit in a zone. To watch for the FB/WFB coming out of the backfield. The major problem with Defense is that players flow out of their lane/contain assignment and then get pinched.

Originally posted by Corndog
It also leaves WRs uncovered with a mismatch. With a 4-3 against a 3WR set, WR3 will run free while LOLB stands around doing nothing. FS/SS also will never check down to WRs, so in the 4-3 against 3WR, they would also ignore WR3.


2. In that instance the FS takes the WR3 in Man. I missed that in the above but referenced it with "BTE if no CB3 assigned". So the FS should be Blitz check, Zone check, WR3 if no CB3, BTE if no CB3 assigned, Zone at start spot.

Originally posted by Corndog
MLB blitz out of a dime would leave the entire backfield uncovered.

3. Why is this a problem? If I ZEB on D against almost any formation, I'm usually leaving multiple targets uncovered if they aren't held in to block. That's the point of blitzing the MLB in Dime. You force the HB to either pick-up the blitz or cut the route short due to pressure.

Originally posted by Corndog
CB blitzes would ALWAYS leave their man uncovered.

4. They pretty much do in real football. That's the risk of the CB blitz. The FS or SS has to roll to that side. If the D uses 4-3 Middle Overload against a 4WR set the WR3 is currently uncovered.

The thought process of outside-in is sound. It's used in football at every level. And covering WRs/TEs is much more important than covering every HB on a swing/dump route.

When I stack extra CBs (like Nickel against 2WR), I end up with my CB3 in the middle of the field shadowing a HB. If I have extra CBs on the field it's because I'm expecting a pass. I want the CB3 to cover the TE not the HB. Otherwise the LO/SS is covering the TE. Typically CB3 is a superior pass defender.

Finally, I always know when there's a mismatch. D plays key off the O formation so I know when I have too many or too few CBs on the field.

The logic of CB/FS/SS staying on WR/TE and LBs assigned to HB/FB/WFB is much more sound than having CB3 take the HB over the TE. Yes every rule set breaks if you never allow human judgement.

Your argument is that the current logic isn't broke when a CB covers a HB and lines up like a Middle LB.

I disagree.