Need help, Jokers, 5 star rated O-lineman and of course Earl Campbell.

[killamanjaro]

Guys I need some serious advice. I just got embarrassed by the above team configuration. Every down was Jokers and a hand off to Earl. I tried 4-4, Bear, 5-2 and Goaline and nothing worked. It's a shame because there was no guessing on who was getting the ball and I was useless. I only have one team profile that's pretty balanced, I don't feel I should create another profile just to stop one player. I need some tips on how to combat this in the future. This was only my second ranked game and it they both left a bad taste in my mouth.

[TexasFight1991]

You're basically screwed.

I wouldn't know what to do, and I usually have an answer for everything LOL.

[killamanjaro]

Man I tell you it was money every play. I only have one star rated d-lineman and one star rated linebacker.

[General308]

if you only had one star D-line man and one star line backer you were in a mismatch and in real trouble all game.

[KCChiefsMan]

ya it almost seems if you're up against Earl Cambell, you should have a totally offensive team just to try and keep up the score

[KingJames77]

agreed..hes gonna get his yards u just need to hold the ball for as long as u can and score to keep him off the feild

[NTq]

You should have run stuffing D-Line and balance LB's. If your going to have a bronze lineman, IMO go with Perry.

[bigraw.com]

agreed..hes gonna get his yards u just need to hold the ball for as long as u can and score to keep him off the feild

THis is Exactly how you combat EarlCampbell or any other Offensive THreat. It is Football 101.

Wake up people.

[tpaterniti]

Well it is not OBVIOUSLY not cheese and there is no way Earl could be too powered up because there is no such thing as cheese, only crybabies, so I have to agree that you were just screwed. The better man won.

[Ihategeeks]

Well it is not OBVIOUSLY not cheese and there is no way Earl could be too powered up because there is no such thing as cheese, only crybabies, so I have to agree that you were just screwed. The better man won.

I sense sarcasm.

I don't see anything cheese about this, or anything about Earl Campbell superior.
I find Barry , OJ, Sayers, Smith, Payton , ect just as intimidating and hard to contain.
I probably have the least trouble with Earl out of the bunch..... and I'm not the only one that feels this way.


First of all, if you expect to stop a team with a monster offensive line and power running back, you for damn sure better be strong up the middle. If not, I hope your offense can keep pace. (Football 101) Contrary to what people say around here, having good lineman on both sides of the ball makes a big difference.
Numerous ideas

Don't call a blitz, call short zones and man.
Don't run bear/46 , go with the 4-4.

Stunts-
All In on counters
Pinch on Iso's

Leave the MLB on the FB and Assign the OLB's to the RB. (and the DE)
Cover 1 Shell - SS on the RB
Blitzing Cb's, Pinched, and stacked LB's

5-2 (Cover 1 Shell) works if you have a couple decent defenders up the gut.

Plug the Middle, and manually contain the outside bounce out with your Free CB

Basically, the whole point of picking a Monster offensive line and power running back is to pound it out.
What you want to do is contain the big plays and wait for your defensive line to make a play in the backfield, or for the user to make a mistake.
Forcing a FG should be considered a defensive win for your unit against a dominant unit.
"ALL" of the gold RB's in this game are extremely dangerous. Given an offensive line it's like giving a Gold QB 5 WR's.

you think Earl is bad? Wait until you run into some one that knows how to read the LB's in a zone blocking scheme. You never know which direction they are going to run. At least with Earl you know they aren't going to run Toss/Sweeps/

[killamanjaro]

agreed..hes gonna get his yards u just need to hold the ball for as long as u can and score to keep him off the feild
I lost by one point after he had two successful 2-point conversions. He is D was horrible and it was a scoring shoot-out. I mixed it up but in the last 5 seconds because he had the ball for the final drive. It basically came down to who had the ball last, and I guess I did a poor job of ball control and timing it right.

[NPYYZ]

I don't see what the big deal is with stopping Earl Campbell. I have no Star D-line men on my team, it's a waste. I just use Derrick Thomas on one side and Greg Loyd on the other and I take control of the generic MLB and I stop Earl all the time out of the 4-3 defense. I also set my non star D-linemen to play the run instead of rushing the passer. Simple.

[killamanjaro]

Thanks for the advice.

[ToyDingo]

I played some dude awhile ago using Earl up the middle the entire game. He took so much time off of the clock that I ran about 6 offensive plays the entire game. I was able to keep up however on offense because his D was terrible.

But, he scored the final TD on a six minute drive leaving me with about 10 seconds to do a Hail Mary or something. It was frustrating but...it's a game I guess...

[Enigmatic52]

With him having that much power devoted to his line, his defense has to be suspect.

The only thing to do is hope to win in a shootout.

It isn't cheese, it's realistic to have a super offense. But with that, you weaken your defense, so play smart on offense and take advantage of his weakness.

[GreyHoundSteve]

Ok, heres what you do:

You quit the game, rate your opponent negatively (abuses exploits or horrible experience) then you TRY and the key word here is TRY to find someone online who doesnt abuse the defenses ai poor programming.

Good luck! If you find ANYONE who plays 2k8 like a REAL FOOTBALL COACH would then PLEASE post their game tag here because there arent many of us online.

[ScottyP]

Apparently, you need to be on the 360 ;)

The majority of my games have been pretty good without much in the way of AI abuse.

[GreyHoundSteve]

With him having that much power devoted to his line, his defense has to be suspect.

The only thing to do is hope to win in a shootout.

It isn't cheese, it's realistic to have a super offense. But with that, you weaken your defense, so play smart on offense and take advantage of his weakness.

Using goal line offensive formations in the middle of the field IS CHEESE. It has been determined so since the 2k3 days because when the offense comes out with everyone in a tight formation then the defense has to come in tight too, which means all you have to do is break one tackle (if any) to get to the outside and your gone.

I know some people around here feel that Marino to RIce fleaflickers all game is a legit way to play and they will justify about ANYTHING but the few "sim" players left online KNOW that goaline formations anywhere but the goal line, is cheese.

Also, the original poster didnt say this guy had 11 offensive legends and spread the ball around. THATS A HIGH POWERED OFFENSE! He said that this guy used one player EVERY PLAY and built a team around doing that ...... thats a garbage way to play online.

[Street King85]

Make a better team dude...or atleast make a team that suits your strengths....that's what your opponent did, he likes to run up the middle, he made a team for it, if you wanna make a team that can stop people on offense/defense, make a team that's good at doing that.

Also, don't pick players based on names, pick based on abilities...match your abilities, if your run stopping is weak..pick Rod Woodson and Harry Carson...put maybe even Ken Norton in there...that's the best advice I can give you

[Enigmatic52]

Using goal line offensive formations in the middle of the field IS CHEESE. It has been determined so since the 2k3 days because when the offense comes out with everyone in a tight formation then the defense has to come in tight too, which means all you have to do is break one tackle (if any) to get to the outside and your gone.

I know some people around here feel that Marino to RIce fleaflickers all game is a legit way to play and they will justify about ANYTHING but the few "sim" players left online KNOW that goaline formations anywhere but the goal line, is cheese.

Also, the original poster didnt say this guy had 11 offensive legends and spread the ball around. THATS A HIGH POWERED OFFENSE! He said that this guy used one player EVERY PLAY and built a team around doing that ...... thats a garbage way to play online.


I'm sorry But I have to respectful disagree. There are teams that have superior offensive lines in real football. I may have misunderstood the context of the post, but i'm talking more about someone using the players on one-side of the ball.

I don't agree with the playcalling of one player all game, but that too is something that happens in real life. Meaning that one player is the focal point of the offense. If the Colts didn't have Peyton Manning, they wouldn't be half as good as they are. He is their offense. But that doesn't mean they are throwing every play.

But I will agree that some playcalling like goal-line repeated in the middle of the field is frustrating. THAT is a bad game and something to be avoided.


But to the point of having a team that is built a certain way, that isn't cheese. He may have players that the game have made a little stronger than others(EARL CAMPBELL), but if he is playing a legit game, with real playcalling. I don't see that as cheese.

[tpaterniti]

Using goal line offensive formations in the middle of the field IS CHEESE. It has been determined so since the 2k3 days because when the offense comes out with everyone in a tight formation then the defense has to come in tight too, which means all you have to do is break one tackle (if any) to get to the outside and your gone.

I know some people around here feel that Marino to RIce fleaflickers all game is a legit way to play and they will justify about ANYTHING but the few "sim" players left online KNOW that goaline formations anywhere but the goal line, is cheese.

Also, the original poster didnt say this guy had 11 offensive legends and spread the ball around. THATS A HIGH POWERED OFFENSE! He said that this guy used one player EVERY PLAY and built a team around doing that ...... thats a garbage way to play online.

You are wasting your breath. The people who agree with you are already on board and you won't convince the people who disagree with you anyway. Video games have become a whatever works sort of affair for many people and if that means just one or two plays that is fine, or if that means finding a glitch and using it then fine or finding a play the computer doesn't defend well, then so be it. Those of us who have a loftier vision of what this game could be and is when played by intelligent, mature individuals with good sportsmanship are constantly fighting a losing battle with the people who grew up playing Madden with it's nano blitzes and deep balls every play. In Madden 08, people are basically saying that online the only way to play is to come out in shotgun every time because the nano blitzes are so bad because they restored the directional blitzes without also restoring the shift protection option. Kids grow up with this "If you aren't cheating, you aren't trying attitude" which pervades our society, especially in sports, so why should we expect sporting video games to be any different?

[Ihategeeks]

Ok, heres what you do:

You quit the game, rate your opponent negatively (abuses exploits or horrible experience) then you TRY and the key word here is TRY to find someone online who doesnt abuse the defenses ai poor programming.

Good luck! If you find ANYONE who plays 2k8 like a REAL FOOTBALL COACH would then PLEASE post their game tag here because there arent many of us online.

Someone who runs every play is like a real coach. That happens in the real world at all levels. And typically the teams that run all the time are the most successful.
If you can't stop the run when you know it's coming every single play, then you are a failure as a defensive coach, or you have mismatched personal and shouldn't have any expectation to stop it.

High school teams will run all day
College teams will run all day.
NFL teams will run all day.

Case and point?
A game that still haunts me to this day........



http://www.nfl.com/gamecenter?game_id=29087&displayPage=tab_gamecenter&season=2006&week=REG16

Carolina Panthers at 10:32
M.Koenen kicks 66 yards from ATL 30 to CAR 4. D.Williams to CAR 27 for 23 yards (I.Reese).
1-10-CAR 27 (10:25) D.Foster right tackle to CAR 36 for 9 yards (K.Brooking).
2-1-CAR 36 (9:49) D.Foster up the middle to CAR 37 for 1 yard (G.Jackson).
Timeout #1 by CAR at 09:07.
1-10-CAR 37 (9:07) PENALTY on CAR-J.Gross, False Start, 5 yards, enforced at CAR 37 - No Play.
1-15-CAR 32 (9:07) D.Williams left end to CAR 38 for 6 yards (L.Milloy).
2-9-CAR 38 (8:27) D.Williams right end to CAR 48 for 10 yards (J.Williams).
1-10-CAR 48 (7:45) D.Foster up the middle to ATL 46 for 6 yards (E.Hartwell, R.Coleman).
2-4-ATL 46 (7:04) D.Foster right end to ATL 42 for 4 yards (I.Reese).
1-10-ATL 42 (6:20) D.Williams right tackle to ATL 33 for 9 yards (K.Brooking, L.Milloy).
2-1-ATL 33 (5:39) D.Williams up the middle to ATL 28 for 5 yards (I.Reese).
1-10-ATL 28 (4:59) D.Foster left end to ATL 23 for 5 yards (E.Hartwell, K.Brooking).
2-5-ATL 23 (4:17) D.Foster left tackle to ATL 19 for 4 yards (P.Carrington).
3-1-ATL 19 (3:41) D.Williams right end to ATL 13 for 6 yards (C.Davis). Direct snap to Williams.
1-10-ATL 13 (2:58) D.Williams up the middle to ATL 9 for 4 yards (E.Hartwell).
2-6-ATL 9 (2:17) C.Weinke pass short right to D.Foster to ATL 4 for 5 yards (E.Hartwell, I.Reese).
3-1-ATL 4 (1:29) D.Williams up the middle to ATL 1 for 3 yards (D.Shropshire). Direct snap to Williams.
1-1-ATL 1 (:44) D.Foster left tackle to ATL 1 for no gain (K.Brooking, D.Williams).
2nd Quarter expand [+] collapse [-]
Carolina Panthers continues ...
2-1-ATL 1 (15:00) C.Weinke pass short right to J.King for 1 yard, TOUCHDOWN.
0-0-ATL 2 J.Kasay extra point is GOOD, Center-J.Kyle, Holder-J.Baker.


Football is a very simple game if you can run the ball consistently.
Running the ball eats clock and prevents yardages losses and sacks. If your opponent is so terrible on defense they can't stop you when they know it's coming, you SHOULD pound it down their throat. This is football, it's throwback football. It's the roots of football.
There is no reason to pass when they can't stop the run. (unless you are down a bunch)

The Panthers ran the ball almost 80% of the game.
And when they passed they really didn't even have to.

Did they use an exploit ? Did they cheese the Falcons ? :rotfl:
No , it was just as in this game. They had a great offensive line, they had good runners.
The Falcons defense was battered , tired, and pathetic ALL year. (they played like a team of generics :( )

If you can't stop someone when you know they are going to run every down, you are just not good. I've looked, and looked, AND looked for that 1 running play that is unstopable. It does not exist. Earl Campbell is not Cheese, Barry is not Cheese, OJ is not Cheese. If you had a defense with some Golds at the right spots you wouldn't have problems.

What you people want is have "balanced" teams that can play both sides of the ball well.
That is not football for the majority of the world. Most teams have a weakness, and a strength. An identity and a weakness. If your identity is running. You RUN, you live and die by it. If I had a stacked passing team, and I passed all game? Is that cheese, I am sure around here it is. But that happens in the real world too. Teams will pass all game long. I've seen the Colts go an entire half without handing the ball off.

Anything in this game that works is cheese :rolleyes:
Even if it SHOULD.

You want to stop the run? Call better plays, and make a Defense that can do it.
And you will.

Otherwise the best you can do is try and contain the other guy and hope he makes a mistake.
This isn't madden, you can't just call any blitz play and fly through idiotic offensive lines.
If that's what you want, you don't want realism.

http://www.funny-pictures.biz/images/youcanthandlethetruth.gif

[SD21]

Not saying this would work for you because it also depends on the plays you pick. I am usually decent at containing Campbell, even shut him down a time or two. If someone that is good uses Earl, they are going to get their yards, so you just have to capitalize on every opportunity you get. But to give you a basic idea of what I do to give my D a chance at stopping him, here is my configuration.

3-4 Defense. This provides a more mobile but less powerful defense. With the way Earl plows through defenders, the advantage of this is that there's a better chance you'll get multiple defenders on him as opposed to just having one he'll plow through and keep on going. The idea is to have one hit him to at least slow him down before another comes in and finishes the job. The success of this defense also relies on your DT and LB's. Try to get a couple guys with leadership. This should help out overall, especially to give your generic DE's a boost.

1 bronze or silver DT. Jerome Brown or Dan Saleamua are the guys I like.

3 or 4 star players at linebacker. 1 Gold, 1 Silver, and 1 or 2 Bronze (I've also used 1 gold with 3 bronze, and 4 bronze, but the first one I stated is my preferred configuration). Assign your Gold defender to man up on Earl Campbell on every play.

I'm not opening this up for discussion or criticism, nor am I saying this is the end all, be all defense for Earl Campbell. I'm just saying this is what has worked for me, and the play selection also plays a big role.

[Dallas4lr]

Hmmm,


I've found that in this game you need two star players at each level of your defense you choose. On my top squad

I have 2 bronze DE's
1 slv OLB, gold MLB
Bronze FS, Silver SS
Silver CB, and Bronze CB

So no matter what side you run to you have to get past at least two legends, and maybe 3 or 4 if I call the right play. Its rare that a RB breaks a BIG ONE. If he does its an outside run with me caught in a zone.


Dallas

[Superbuffundo]

play a dime package and blitz your safties OR corners play man too.:thumbsup: you cant get beat though takle hard man.

[Superbuffundo]

thats freakin bull to quit and post negitive responses you freakin cheeser PLAY THE FU[KIN GAME.

[killamanjaro]

I appreciate all the advice but somehow I don't feel that it makes since for one team member to pound it every down without getting slightly exhausted. I agree I should have several teams configured for certain packages, but I was trying to have a balanced team. I love to run so I used up a gold for a HB and a decent QB.