That is almost certainly because of his poor zone coverage rating.

Ah, good. I kind of wondered when the DB stopped and just watched the guy run free.

https://private75.myfootballnow.com/gamecenter/view/1057#198489

Three blockers out front of the runner and not one of them actually blocks any of the LBers. This play is functionally useless because it happens every time where the pull blockers focus only on the deep secondary players and ignore the LBers moving laterally.

Edit: Pull blockers in general seem to be pretty functionally useless in the new code. I rarely see them pick up anyone on a play. Odd since they used to be extremely effective.

https://private75.myfootballnow.com/gamecenter/view/1041#195594

FB runs through a bunch of unblocked guys to go do... nothing? at the second level. Blockers seem to be getting too focused on an early decision and don't adapt to what's happening in the play.

Edit edit: FBs generally fail to pick up blitzes on run plays. I reckon this is one of the biggest reasons blitzing is so OP against the run. The FB just runs straight through the blitzers to the second level, completely ignoring them **** near every time. If this was fixed I bet blitzing to stop the run would suffer significantly more as a strategy.

https://private75.myfootballnow.com/gamecenter/view/1057#198361

Hot read thrown to a blocker.

I'm not sure about this one. It actually looks like a clean play. The LBs come "underneath" the pulling OL so that they have a clean angle to make the tackle when the RB slows to make the turn. If anything, the problem is with how deep the pulling OL get.

If that's a clean play it needs to be removed, because it will never work. If the pulling OL aren't expecting to pick up the LBs, what are they even doing? They need to be slowing down and protecting the run lane from the LBs cutting in. That should be their entire purpose on the play. It also doesn't explain why the FB just runs through two LBers.

That's why I think the problem is with how the OL pull. They all pull to the same spot, and don't play levels very well. First guy around you take the LB, second guy around should edge upfield, and so on.

I've got a fix in testing (see the roadmap) but will be a bit slower pushing this through because it has a greater potential to break stuff. It'll be in tonight's preseason game in Beta-87.

The logic didn't change, but some issues were exposed by the LBs playing the run better.

More coverage observations. (I have two leagues going now so double the chance of film review.) In general, I think that I can win with a prevent style defense, especially if I have the right personnel, but it's going to require a lot of maintenance.

1) https://beta87.myfootballnow.com/gamecenter/view/15#2647
a. The defender that gets beaten deep has 78/86 zone coverage. Is 75 not enough to realize that you need to stay with your man deep if no one is behind you? Speed in this case should be negligible (81 DB and 88 WR). The DB has 32 INT so if he gets beat because of that then that is OK. I mean he's not joining MENSA any time soon.

2) https://beta87.myfootballnow.com/gamecenter/view/15#2734
a. Watch LB 93 right in the middle of the field. He's supposed to be in M2M coverage with the RB on this play. Instead he keeps looking around like he's lost. Granted, he has 12/19 M2M coverage. But could he at least make an attempt to look competent?

I haven't watched the 4th quarter of this game yet.

General observations from film review. (The tackling pursuit edition.)

Zone/Prevent Style: There are a lot of interesting things about playing a bend-but-don't break style defense. The improvements to zone coverage allow you to keep the game in front of you a lot better than before. That said, it tends to give up a lot more completions than M2M. Some of that is because receivers find holes in the zone, but it also seems like zone defenders don't play their man as tightly when covering their zone. But I'm also working on dialing in the defense more.

Extra Points: Kicking accuracy on extra points needs to be boosted by say 100%. It's not 1970.

1) https://private75.myfootballnow.com/gamecenter/view/1069#200504
a. Watch the CB at the top of the screen. There is no reason why his run pursuit is that bad on this play. Seriously, it's a straight line to the RB and this guy is like let's get krunk and try to make tackle.

2) https://private75.myfootballnow.com/gamecenter/view/1069#200517
a. Watch the SS #32. He's playing deepest man, and he rotates over to double the WR like he should. The problem is that it's a running play, so he takes forever to recognize the run and come up to make the tackle. Is this because he's in pass key? If so, then pass key needs to be turned down especially since I haven't seen any benefits still from being in pass key, you know, against the pass. Is this because pursuit needs to be worked on still? Is this because the SS has an INT of 100 so he overthinks everything?

3) https://private75.myfootballnow.com/gamecenter/view/1069#200524
a. Here's a good example of how badly broken speed currently is. Watch LB #58 on this play. He has a SP of 72 and AC of 87. He tracks the RB perfectly and moves laterally. The problem is that with a SP of only 72(!) and a physical weight of 239, he'll never get there in time. He also reacts too slow. He has a clear pursuit angle and never goes upfield.

4) https://private75.myfootballnow.com/gamecenter/view/1069#200542
a. Watch the terrible pursuit angle that LB 53 takes after the receiver catches the ball. Now, there is a chance that the LB doesn't get to the receiver before the receiver makes the turn. But he really should. There is only a two yard gap between the two players, which should be two steps and wrap up. The receiver is also moving backward when he catches the ball and has to make a turn. Instead of angling toward where the receiver will be after coming out of the turn, though, the LB charges up field and completely whiffs the tackle.

5) https://private75.myfootballnow.com/gamecenter/view/1069#200551
a. So bad M2M (I mean really bad - 14/17) just means that you stop on a play now? Shouldn't it mean that the WR has an advantage? [Note to self, take Gunn out of M2M downs.]

6) https://private75.myfootballnow.com/gamecenter/view/1069#200587
a. Watch the terrible tackling angle by #44 as he comes up from the mid zone to try and tackle the RB. That said, my defense totally gets caught napping on this play as the RB runs under the zone coverage and the WR basically picks the CB running the short zone.

7) https://private75.myfootballnow.com/gamecenter/view/1069#200589
a. #44 makes the tackle this time, but my god that angle and reaction time.

8) https://private75.myfootballnow.com/gamecenter/view/1069#200600
a. Can you tell me what #23 is doing? Is that really his tackling angle? This whole play breaks down. The LB playing the middle zone, which drops probably too deep on this play, also takes a bad pursuit angle.

That would actually explain a lot about why 100 INT players never seem very intelligent.

Sort of like the issue we saw with 100 ACC QBs throwing more INTs than those with poor ACC.