This season has been ridiculous in statistics for two different types of players: Defensive linemen and all offensive players.
Many people will tell you that defensive linemen deserve to be nerfed because of their sack numbers, but I've been noticint lately that for every DE with 80 sacks there are 5 QBs with 6,000 yards and 10 WRs with 2,500 yards. It's absolutely ridiculous. I understand that a lot of those yards AND sacks game against gutted teams, but when a QB passes for 500+ yards and 12 touchdowns against an evenly matched team or a DE gets 11 sacks against an evenly matched team, something is wrong.
I have a solution. It isn't a simple one on Bort's part, but it would greatly improve the reality of GLB.
On every level of football, from the day a player learns what a "snap" is to the day a player retires from the NFL, timing is an absolute key to all offenses. One thing that I've noticed about GLB is that there is absolutely positively no timing involved whatsoever. The QB doesn't take a 3/5/7 step drop and then throw the ball. They just back up and wait until their vision tells them that a WR has gotten open or they get sacked. This isn't anywhere close to realistic.
In the NFL, wide receivers run routes designed to give them separation from defenders. When that receiver is finished running his route, if he and no other WR on the field has caught a pass yet, he will either run horizontally if the coverage is Zone or vertically if the coverage is Man to get open. Honestly, watching some replays on GLB is like watching the video of Ryan Kalil blocking Will Ferrell from a twinkie. It's ridiculous.
I'd like to propose a complete and total revamp of GLB's offenses. Rather than a QB waiting until a WR is open, have them take a # step drop dependent on the distance of the play - 3 step drop for Short passing plays, 5 steps for Medium, and 7 steps for Long. Then, have them survey the field depending on a new "Tactic" setting - Read Progression. Have the options be "Deep to Short", "Short to Deep", "Left to Right", and "Right to Left". Another possibility would be to put this as an extra part of the output of the Offensive AI to allow for offensive coordinators to get a little bit more customization. After the QB makes his drop, have him survey the field in the order dictated by his Read Progression, and as soon as he finds a receiver who is either open, about to make a cut that will get him open, or who is faster than the coverage and running in a straight line, have the QB throw to that WR. Higher vision means you can see where the defense is going to be, so if your WR is going to make a cut that will get him open and your vision is high, you'll throw it to that WR before he makes the cut, in the spot that the WR will be when the ball arrives. This is realistic, and this is what real football quarterbacks do.
This will do two things: first of all, it will reduce the number of "Kalil blocking Ferrell" plays because the QB will rid of the ball faster, so QBs and WRs will have less yards because less 70 yard bombs will be possible. Second of all, it will reduce sack numbers but increase hurry numbers, which is also very realistic for defensive linemen.
Also, make tackling more effective. Many people will have a hissy fit about this, but defensive players simply need to be able to tackle. Even cornerbacks in the NFL are good tacklers. A good idea is to add another Tackling Style to the Power/Balanced/Wrap-Up options, "Go Low". Just about all defensive backs in the NFL can tackle Brandon Jacobs, but they don't even try to take him on one-on-one, they dive at his feet and trip him up. That isn't possible in GLB. If you can't wrap up a power back, you better damn well hope that somebody else on your defense can, because otherwise he'll either take it to the house or get tripped up by a diving tackle. This will decrease YAC and make both strength and tackling more relevant to all defensive players, something that doesn't exist today.
Finally, get QBs to move around more. If a QB has his tactics set to "Never Scramble", get him to move around more within the pocket if his WRs aren't open. If his tactics are set to "Always Scramble", then get him outside of the pocket more. If a WR isn't open, he should have the option to throw it out of bounds and avoid a sack.
So, to wrap things up for the shorter attention spans out there:
-Implement timing into passing
-Add a "Read Progression" tactic for QBs that gives options to progress through reads "Deep to Short", "Short to Deep", "Left to Right", or "Right to Left".
-Get WRs to actually attempt to get open once their designed route is done.
-Make Tackling and Strength more relevant to all defensive positions, not just defensive linemen.
-Get QBs to actually attempt to avoid sacks rather than just taking them by moving them around or throwing it away.
Season 8 Update
Okay, so Power Backs are out of control. I won't disagree with the fact that LBs need to have more Tackling and Strength, but when an entire team has 70+ Tackling and still can't stop a Power Back from essentially winning the game for his team, a nerf is in order.
Let's just say I SERIOUSLY can't wait for the Defensive Play Creator to come out.
Many people will tell you that defensive linemen deserve to be nerfed because of their sack numbers, but I've been noticint lately that for every DE with 80 sacks there are 5 QBs with 6,000 yards and 10 WRs with 2,500 yards. It's absolutely ridiculous. I understand that a lot of those yards AND sacks game against gutted teams, but when a QB passes for 500+ yards and 12 touchdowns against an evenly matched team or a DE gets 11 sacks against an evenly matched team, something is wrong.
I have a solution. It isn't a simple one on Bort's part, but it would greatly improve the reality of GLB.
On every level of football, from the day a player learns what a "snap" is to the day a player retires from the NFL, timing is an absolute key to all offenses. One thing that I've noticed about GLB is that there is absolutely positively no timing involved whatsoever. The QB doesn't take a 3/5/7 step drop and then throw the ball. They just back up and wait until their vision tells them that a WR has gotten open or they get sacked. This isn't anywhere close to realistic.
In the NFL, wide receivers run routes designed to give them separation from defenders. When that receiver is finished running his route, if he and no other WR on the field has caught a pass yet, he will either run horizontally if the coverage is Zone or vertically if the coverage is Man to get open. Honestly, watching some replays on GLB is like watching the video of Ryan Kalil blocking Will Ferrell from a twinkie. It's ridiculous.
I'd like to propose a complete and total revamp of GLB's offenses. Rather than a QB waiting until a WR is open, have them take a # step drop dependent on the distance of the play - 3 step drop for Short passing plays, 5 steps for Medium, and 7 steps for Long. Then, have them survey the field depending on a new "Tactic" setting - Read Progression. Have the options be "Deep to Short", "Short to Deep", "Left to Right", and "Right to Left". Another possibility would be to put this as an extra part of the output of the Offensive AI to allow for offensive coordinators to get a little bit more customization. After the QB makes his drop, have him survey the field in the order dictated by his Read Progression, and as soon as he finds a receiver who is either open, about to make a cut that will get him open, or who is faster than the coverage and running in a straight line, have the QB throw to that WR. Higher vision means you can see where the defense is going to be, so if your WR is going to make a cut that will get him open and your vision is high, you'll throw it to that WR before he makes the cut, in the spot that the WR will be when the ball arrives. This is realistic, and this is what real football quarterbacks do.
This will do two things: first of all, it will reduce the number of "Kalil blocking Ferrell" plays because the QB will rid of the ball faster, so QBs and WRs will have less yards because less 70 yard bombs will be possible. Second of all, it will reduce sack numbers but increase hurry numbers, which is also very realistic for defensive linemen.
Also, make tackling more effective. Many people will have a hissy fit about this, but defensive players simply need to be able to tackle. Even cornerbacks in the NFL are good tacklers. A good idea is to add another Tackling Style to the Power/Balanced/Wrap-Up options, "Go Low". Just about all defensive backs in the NFL can tackle Brandon Jacobs, but they don't even try to take him on one-on-one, they dive at his feet and trip him up. That isn't possible in GLB. If you can't wrap up a power back, you better damn well hope that somebody else on your defense can, because otherwise he'll either take it to the house or get tripped up by a diving tackle. This will decrease YAC and make both strength and tackling more relevant to all defensive players, something that doesn't exist today.
Finally, get QBs to move around more. If a QB has his tactics set to "Never Scramble", get him to move around more within the pocket if his WRs aren't open. If his tactics are set to "Always Scramble", then get him outside of the pocket more. If a WR isn't open, he should have the option to throw it out of bounds and avoid a sack.
So, to wrap things up for the shorter attention spans out there:
-Implement timing into passing
-Add a "Read Progression" tactic for QBs that gives options to progress through reads "Deep to Short", "Short to Deep", "Left to Right", or "Right to Left".
-Get WRs to actually attempt to get open once their designed route is done.
-Make Tackling and Strength more relevant to all defensive positions, not just defensive linemen.
-Get QBs to actually attempt to avoid sacks rather than just taking them by moving them around or throwing it away.
Season 8 Update
Okay, so Power Backs are out of control. I won't disagree with the fact that LBs need to have more Tackling and Strength, but when an entire team has 70+ Tackling and still can't stop a Power Back from essentially winning the game for his team, a nerf is in order.
Let's just say I SERIOUSLY can't wait for the Defensive Play Creator to come out.
Last edited Mar 7, 2009 13:43:29
