My random thoughts on 2K7...

[JesterBlaze]

Inspired by Jeff's chart thread I figured I'd throw this out there as a conversation starter if nothing else. This is what I've gathered so far from 2K7...

* offense is (still?) overrated. I believe *tie* should go to the defense based solely on the fact that an offense can fail without the adversity provided by a defense but FOF seems to give the tie +15% for offense.

* "avoid drops" might actually mean something

* spin it how you want to but St. Louis' OLine should prevent McMurray from being top 5 in any ratings system that's remotely close, which FOF's should be if ratings are to be taken into consideration. Yes they have great receivers but the line collapses simultaneously for all receivers and comes before the throw.

* in a very positive direction for FOF you can't just chuck it downfield for high success anymore (the Phantoms 14-2 season in the last season of FOF2K4 considered of no strategy whatsoever. Just a "throw it long" mixed with receivers who couldn't catch but could run long. The gains outweighed the incompletions by an insanely ridiculous margin)

[hawkster]

Defense definitely seems to have suffered. Especially pass coverage. I have a crap secondary here so I know that's a lot of my issues, but in another league I have an 80 and a 60 at the safeties, and two 58s at my CBs with a high 40s nickel corner and I have the 3rd worst scoring defense in the league despite being a ball control clock killing offense. My secondary has made rookies look like hall of famers and I can't for the life of me figure it out.

I've noticed more drops in 2k7, and they tend to happen in bunches for some reason. I've had no drops all game, then when I'm trying to come back, have seen 2-3 in a row. Both to me and opponents.

O-Line simply seems like a crapshoot. I had an average line in my other league (and that's being generous) and my RB led the league in rushing and my QB wasn't sacked all that often. Here I have an above average line and two top tier tackles and it doesn't seem to make a difference at all like my last game where my 50s C gets 5/6 KRBs and my 80+ tackles go 0/6.

For offensive gameplanning, I think that's definitely improved. Even if I don't get the results I want, the team tends to do what I want it to. My only gripes there are the lack of control over what RB is in. 3rd and 2 in a must convert situation and instead of the 78 RB, the 2nd string guy who's a 35 gets the handoff, WTF? There should be some sort of option to decide what RB is in on what down beyond the simply 3rd down RB depth chart spot. If my backup has to get 10 carries to spell my starter, then give him those 10 carries on predominately 2nd downs and the occasional 1st. I want my stud in there on 1st down and 3rd down and if it's an endurance issue, then rest him before 3rds.

The inability to adjust at halftime seems to be a bummer too, but I realize that'd be a big change. It just sucks that if you gear your defense for something and the offense does something completely different than what you planned for, you're essentially stuck watching them kill you all game.

Those are my thoughts, any other insights from others would be cool to see too. I know Don has plenty.

[Suicane]

Will trade cyborg QB knowledge for pass defense dociers.

[dberner30]

good comments so far...

Maybe its in the game somewhere but any adjustment would be slick...I dont know if read defense has an audible function or not but something just isnt right about an offense trotting out in I-formation and the defense lining up in the dime and you not considering an audible to the run. and the same goes for the opposite. if they have you cold at the line by formation you change the play...plus what moron coach doesnt watch packages...you will never see one team run out goalline offense set and the other team run out a dime package to defend it...just not realistic...and it happens too often if FOF...i think it benefits the defense way too much...BTW how many times have you seen the defense roll out goal line aggressive run defense against a pass call and get your QB sacked...that is just silly...the offense should win that passing situation every time and it should win big to the tune of more TDs than not.

i think the passing defense is out of whack. (see above)

i dont know why but it seems like your playcalling can be on target and you get no results and when you are wrong you get good results...i would think being in a pass defense would get you killed in a draw play situation..etc...

the penalty engine is hosed...it appears to me that a statistically high number of offensive penalties occur in the red zone and they take points off the board etc. turnovers seem the same way...BTW we have too many roughing the kicker calls...it is just a way of making sure drives result in points when the offense is incapable of getting it done...

the gameplanning is better but what happened to the ability to impact 4th down playcalls...i know most of us would like a better ability to dictate that down...i hate with a passion those 35 yd punts for a touchback...its outside FG range and too short to punt...this is classic go for it field position...we have no ability to control that feature and to the extent we do have the ability its limited be a cap on 4th down go for it.

im sure more will come to mind.

[Hell Atlantic]

i'm going to be honest here when i say i thought i had a clue as to what i'm doing, but everytime jim comes out with a Q&A i wind up realizing how little i know about the game and how much this game doesn't mirror the real game of football. it's a great game in its own right, but most of our knowledge comes from the actual sport (college, nfl). to now say certain aspects don't work like we think they do, oof, back to the drawing board time. i was content to simply let the AI do my gameplanning for me, but i didn't have much success with that. i think to have any success you do need to fiddle around with the gameplan. thanks to SkyDog's gameplan templates i can have a respectable offense, but defensively we're all in the dark.

what the fuck does weak-side man/strong side zone mean anyway? how is that representative of an actual defense? what the hell does that mean? on a lighter note i do like the ability to play one-deep. that was a great addition.

i'm telling you, he doesn't come out and say everything there is to know about the game cuz i have a feeling there's a lot about the game that doesn't work correctly or doesn't work at all (thus, is not relevant, like "play for winner" or "loyalty"). people knocked OOTP but that was a straight forward game and you knew how everything was supposed to work, so when it didn't work you knew why and what the problem was. with FOF there is so much factored in on any one play that it's impossible to determine which actual factors were in effect and which was just some hokey irrelevant rating that didn't play a role in anything. how can you tell if play diagnosis isn't working when the developer can cite 10 other ratings that 4 other positions had that countered that?

[Jave]

good comments so far...

Maybe its in the game somewhere but any adjustment would be slick...I dont know if read defense has an audible function or not but something just isnt right about an offense trotting out in I-formation and the defense lining up in the dime and you not considering an audible to the run. and the same goes for the opposite. if they have you cold at the line by formation you change the play...plus what moron coach doesnt watch packages...you will never see one team run out goalline offense set and the other team run out a dime package to defend it...just not realistic...and it happens too often if FOF...i think it benefits the defense way too much...BTW how many times have you seen the defense roll out goal line aggressive run defense against a pass call and get your QB sacked...that is just silly...the offense should win that passing situation every time and it should win big to the tune of more TDs than not.

i think the passing defense is out of whack. (see above)

i dont know why but it seems like your playcalling can be on target and you get no results and when you are wrong you get good results...i would think being in a pass defense would get you killed in a draw play situation..etc...

the penalty engine is hosed...it appears to me that a statistically high number of offensive penalties occur in the red zone and they take points off the board etc. turnovers seem the same way...BTW we have too many roughing the kicker calls...it is just a way of making sure drives result in points when the offense is incapable of getting it done...

the gameplanning is better but what happened to the ability to impact 4th down playcalls...i know most of us would like a better ability to dictate that down...i hate with a passion those 35 yd punts for a touchback...its outside FG range and too short to punt...this is classic go for it field position...we have no ability to control that feature and to the extent we do have the ability its limited be a cap on 4th down go for it.

im sure more will come to mind.

What a great fucking post dude! Just right on the money. I couldn't agree more.

[dberner30]

i find it particularly disturbing Jave agrees with me...back to the drawing board.

[JesterBlaze]

what the fuck does weak-side man/strong side zone mean anyway? how is that representative of an actual defense?

QB: "OC, what's the next play?"
OC: "4 wide. crossing slants. throw to the weakside when it's empty"
...rinse and repeat...


I've thought this since 2K7 came out but figured there's a way for the defense to work that I'm not seeing.

[Hell Atlantic]

i'm trying something different on defense this upcoming week. hope it doesn't blow up in my face.