Something I realized after playing MUT for a few years is that Edge Rushers don't get the productivity to make their acquisition worthwhile. Regardless of whether you're playing a 4 man front, where your Edge Rushers are your Defensive Ends, or a 3 man front, where your Edge Rushers are your Outside Linebackers, you never seem to get anywhere near enough sacks, so I started looking for an alternative.
4-3 used to be the standard starting formation on Defense, then 3-4 became more popular, and in the recent years of the Pass-happy NFL, 3-3 Nickel came into fashion and has become extremely common. In my search for an alternative form of Pass Rush, I decided to try going a step further, into a Dime formation, and have found it to be extremely effective, this is how it works.
A 3 man Defensive Line, all of whom are of the Run Stopper Archetype, because that's the only thing they're in the Team for. There are only 2 Linebackers, and they're not actually Linebackers at all, they are Safeties placed into the Sub Linebacker positions on the Specialists screen, (which means you need 4 high quality Safeties on your roster). You then have 2 Perimeter Corners, 2 Slot Corners, and 2 more Safeties.
If you look in the New England Patriots Defensive Play Book, the primary starting Defense I use is chosen by Formation, (Dime 1-4), and the Play is called, "Cover 3 Sky". There is a, "Cover 2 Sink" variant, if you prefer to play Cover 2 rather than Cover 3. The beautiful thing about that Defense is the fact that OTs having the Edge Protector Ability has absolutely no impact on my Pass Rush, because my Pass Rush isn't coming from Edge Rushers, (Defensive Ends or Outside Linebackers), it's coming from Blitzing the Slot Corners.
Both the "Cover 3 Sky" and "Cover 2 Sink" Plays take account of one of the two Slot Corners Blitzing, this is the most important thing to understand about this Defense. At the beginning of the game, if you User Control the Slot Corner who is designated to be Blitzing, and bring him manually, he is faster than any Defensive End or Outside Linebacker, he has a starting position much closer to the QB than a Perimeter Corner, (if you put DBs into Press Coverage before the Snap he is right up at the Line of Scrimmage, or you can bring him up manually and let everyone else play Off or Give Cushion), and nobody on your opponent's Offensive Line has an Assignment to Block him.
For a while this means he is completely unblocked, but if you're up against an expert Passer, he will begin to do one or both of the following: "ID The Mike" as the Slot Corner you are Blitzing, and keep his Running Back in the backfield to pick up that Blitz; Roll Out with his QB towards the opposite side of the field, away from your Blitzing Slot Corner. This is where the Scheme really comes into its own.
As I said earlier, the Play accounts for one of the Slot Corners Blitzing, and that's the one you're Blitzing with, but as soon as your opponent begins to counteract it by picking up the Blitz with his Running Back or Rolling Out with his QB, or both, you simply switch to User Controlling the other Slot Corner and Blitz with him, which means you're bringing BOTH of them, (the first one will continue to Blitz when controlled by AI, because that is part of the Play Design).
Now you have an extremely fast Blitzer coming from either side, neither are being blocked by the Offensive Line, your opponent's Running Back can only pick up one of them, he can't pick up both, and Rolling Out with his QB isn't an option either, because whichever direction he Rolls Out, he's Rolling Out directly into pressure. If he Calls a Run up the middle, your 3 man Defensive Line and 2 Sub Linebacker Safeties are there to Defend that, if he calls a Perimeter Run, the Ball Carrier is running directly into a Blitzing Slot Corner. There's basically only one thing left for him to do: short, quick Passes, preferably into the Empty Zone, vacated by the second Slot Corner Blitzer, and as soon as you have him doing that, you know where he's going so can take him by surprise and look for an Interception rather than Blitz. Game Over.
