Safeties not aligning themselves?

In man coverage, when a safety is on my opponents TE, he starts so much higher and on the opposite side of the field, which leads to him getting torched cuz he’s so far out of position. So far I haven’t found an adjustment other than not running man. But is there a fix to this? it’s really annoying.

emcdavit said:

In man coverage, when a safety is on my opponents TE, he starts so much higher and on the opposite side of the field, which leads to him getting torched cuz he’s so far out of position. So far I haven’t found an adjustment other than not running man. But is there a fix to this? it’s really annoying.

This is an extremely common problem to which there's no real (automated) solution.  Basically we need to either manually walk one or both of our safeties down, OR an adjustment i've started using quite frequently (nearly every play against some opponents), i've been coming out in this play (Double Safety Go - from either Dime or Dollar) and then quickly audibling to the play I want.

As long as you don't press your coverage, the Safeties should remain in the desired position, essentially putting 7 defenders in the box.  Then i'll pinch my D-line and individually back up a Slot corner.  YMMV, but this appears faster than trying to manually walk them down.

I would recommend having outside corners in Deep Zone coverage, then cross-manning a Safety to tight end or slot receiver, depending on whatever formation you're up against.  I'm still learning the finer points of this style hybrid (man/zone) coverage schemes.  Starting with this DBL Safety Go and audibling to Spinner or something can be extremely fierce.  But i try to only blitz 4 or 5 (even from Spinner).  That A-gap comes in quickly, until our players run out of stamina, that is.  Sadly, i don't have Gronk, who remains THE best blitzing SUBLB in the entire game, due to his immense heft.  Carmichael and Fred Warner are constantly getting tired for me, so i've gotta keep manually swapping them out for Josh Allen or whatever.

peatrick said:

This is an extremely common problem to which there's no real (automated) solution.  Basically we need to either manually walk one or both of our safeties down, OR an adjustment i've started using quite frequently (nearly every play against some opponents), i've been coming out in this play (Double Safety Go - from either Dime or Dollar) and then quickly audibling to the play I want.

As long as you don't press your coverage, the Safeties should remain in the desired position, essentially putting 7 defenders in the box.  Then i'll pinch my D-line and individually back up a Slot corner.  YMMV, but this appears faster than trying to manually walk them down.

I would recommend having outside corners in Deep Zone coverage, then cross-manning a Safety to tight end or slot receiver, depending on whatever formation you're up against.  I'm still learning the finer points of this style hybrid (man/zone) coverage schemes.  Starting with this DBL Safety Go and audibling to Spinner or something can be extremely fierce.  But i try to only blitz 4 or 5 (even from Spinner).  That A-gap comes in quickly, until our players run out of stamina, that is.  Sadly, i don't have Gronk, who remains THE best blitzing SUBLB in the entire game, due to his immense heft.  Carmichael and Fred Warner are constantly getting tired for me, so i've gotta keep manually swapping them out for Josh Allen or whatever.

Thanks very much for this. I tried using the man align adjustment but that didn’t work very well so I’ll definitely try this out. Thanks again I really appreciate it

Are you coming out in default? Or base?

Rollhumps said:

Are you coming out in default? Or base?

I do some of both, although i suspect your question was for OP.  Base align for many formations, especially pass coverages when i want to ensure my Dime and Dollar schemes are getting outside CB alignment as far to the outside as possible, to ensure that leverage is there to defend against deep sideline breaking corner routes, etc.  However, i also often run Dime from "Default" so that i can blitz my Slot corners, as they'll often hover at or near the line when NOT in base alignment.

Either scenario, we'll still have to manually walk our Safeties up into the box to help with run fits, as well as to defend against those nasty ass quick streak passes to the Seam.

For example, having both Safeties in the box via Dbl Safety Blitz, then audibling over to, say Cover 4 Quarters will really help improve both run and pass game. Helps defend quick passes up the seam, as well and help filling run fits. Bang bang.

Rollhumps said:

Are you coming out in default? Or base?

I used to do default but now I try to always use man cuz it works for some formations

Some plays can fix alignment by doing a quick flip of the play...but that also give the other team a chance to catch ya if players actually switch sides of the field.  Especially if it's the CBs....good luck!

Arrowhead said:

Some plays can fix alignment by doing a quick flip of the play...but that also give the other team a chance to catch ya if players actually switch sides of the field.  Especially if it's the CBs....good luck!

Ok I’ll try that thanks lol

And for what it's worth, I always turn Auto-Flip OFF, for both Dime & Dollar, which helps improve consistency of the pass rush from both formations, for slightly different reasons.

• Dime: disabling auto-flip ensures your DE & both DTs will cover the entire left side of O-line (LT, LG & C), improving block shedding. Can alternatively opt to user the opposite DE, dropping 8 into coverage. Pinch D-line & crash inside. 
• Dollar: we always want the SUBLB2 blitz angle rushing (from left), turning auto flip off ensures this always comes in, but unless you have Gronk, this position will require frequent substitutions. In order for the blitz to be effective, SUBLB2 must remain in default position. Do not pinch your entire defense from Dollar, separately pinch D-line, crash down/in and then press coverage if you prefer. Works best from Cover 2 Press or Cover 2 Man with identical blitz angles.

These are the two biggest changes I've brought to my defense in recent weeks. Finally putting it all together, but this week's patch made Dime vastly preferable. I've had to use three big bodies (preferably 290+ pounds).

Put your favorite 4 plays into audibles, but definitely come out initially in Double Safety Blitz, so much better and more versatile, IMO. As always, YMMV.

peatrick said:

And for what it's worth, I always turn Auto-Flip OFF, for both Dime & Dollar, which helps improve consistency of the pass rush from both formations, for slightly different reasons.

• Dime: disabling auto-flip ensures your DE & both DTs will cover the entire left side of O-line (LT, LG & C), improving block shedding. Can alternatively opt to user the opposite DE, dropping 8 into coverage. Pinch D-line & crash inside. 
• Dollar: we always want the SUBLB2 blitz angle rushing (from left), turning auto flip off ensures this always comes in, but unless you have Gronk, this position will require frequent substitutions. In order for the blitz to be effective, SUBLB2 must remain in default position. Do not pinch your entire defense from Dollar, separately pinch D-line, crash down/in and then press coverage if you prefer. Works best from Cover 2 Press or Cover 2 Man with identical blitz angles.

These are the two biggest changes I've brought to my defense in recent weeks. Finally putting it all together, but this week's patch made Dime vastly preferable. I've had to use three big bodies (preferably 290+ pounds).

Put your favorite 4 plays into audibles, but definitely come out initially in Double Safety Blitz, so much better and more versatile, IMO. As always, YMMV.

Yeah I usually turn auto flip off too. It’s pretty annoying

emcdavit said:

Yeah I usually turn auto flip off too. It’s pretty annoying

Infuriating we can't save some default coaching adjustments. Having to set that shit every single time must have wasted hours of my life. I'm not exactly getting any younger. 😝