Intercepting the ball

[commishdooch]

I am horrible at getting interceptions. My defense is pretty good and I rarely give up a lot of points but I can't pick the ball off. I also know that L1 knocks the ball down but even when I hit the triangle button my defenders just deflect it and rarely ever pick it off. One of the guys I play against uses Oklahoma and he must have picked me off 6 or seven times in one game. They were always user interceptions too. He however would not let me in on his secret as our games are always close, he did not want to give me an edge I guess. Please help if anyone knows how to obtain greater success in picking the ball off . I'm tired of having to go the length of the field to score. I need some turnovers.

[getting awn]

I am horrible at getting interceptions. My defense is pretty good and I rarely give up a lot of points but I can't pick the ball off. I also know that L1 knocks the ball down but even when I hit the triangle button my defenders just deflect it and rarely ever pick it off. One of the guys I play against uses Oklahoma and he must have picked me off 6 or seven times in one game. They were always user interceptions too. He however would not let me in on his secret as our games are always close, he did not want to give me an edge I guess. Please help if anyone knows how to obtain greater success in picking the ball off . I'm tired of having to go the length of the field to score. I need some turnovers.
He is plying with Ok.. Great Defensive awareness. Do u ply on-line???
connection lag could b his helper. Try practicing ints in practice mode.... Do hail marys against 4-3 cover 4. Practice between tapping the Triangle and pressing and holding... ;)

[commishdooch]

Thanks I'll give that a try. I have not played online yet. Just with my friends and against the computer. It sounds like the online play is slow and that would irritate me. My friend played online pretty much exclusively last year. He has the high speed internet. I only have dial up. To be honest I'm not even sure if I can play since I only have dial up. I would really like to because playing against others instead of the CPU all the time I'm sure would make me a better player.

[getting awn]

Thanks I'll give that a try. I have not played online yet. Just with my friends and against the computer. It sounds like the online play is slow and that would irritate me. My friend played online pretty much exclusively last year. He has the high speed internet. I only have dial up. To be honest I'm not even sure if I can play since I only have dial up. I would really like to because playing against others instead of the CPU all the time I'm sure would make me a better player.
With connection lag, and cheesers on-line. U may not like the experience. But I take the bad with the good, so I can normally hang with anyone...

[btspm]

Not sure if this will help, but I find I can manufacture picks with the 3-4 cover 2 max and cover 3 max sets. Normally, if you rush 4 and get pressure, the QB has no where to go and gets sacked. But if you can get pressure with 3, I find people are more prone to dancing around a bit in the pocket before trying to complete a pass. About half of the time, they throw off their back foot because of all the moving around, which plays right into the fact that you just dropped 8 into coverage. Should be someone within reach of the throw.

Of course, in your case, this is predicated on getting pressure with 3 against OU's offensive line. :D

[djwill13]

here's a trend i've noticed. interceptions seem to go hand in hand with how rattled your qb is and what kinda game he's having. say you come out to throw the ball and you incomplete your first 2 passes. already he's off to a bad game. keep it up, say he's now 3-10. your chances of throwing an interception when throwing in coverage is greatly raised. how do you stop this? complete passes and try to get your qb to have a better game. bottom line, the better game he's having the less likely he is to throw an interception

the same holds true the other way. the worser game he's having the more likely he is to throw a pick.

if you ever do throw a pick early, you should really try to work the high percentage routes and you've gotta get your qb a TD pass. this seems to set the scale back at zero pending what his completion % is

just some things i've noticed

[BoomerMatt]

I have been working on getting more INT's lately. I play dynasty and I havent played online this year because I have dial up now. First, in recruiting I look for A or A+ field awareness and hands. Second, in the games I play a lot of cover 2 and blitz LB's and from the secondary. DB's get the picks on downfield throws and LB's get them on short routes. If they like to dump it short try some max cover plays and get a DE in there. When the ball is thrown I switch to that player, go to the spot then I jam the reciever at the same time that I hit the triangle. Its just timing. Like the guy said earlier, you just have to practice. You still bat down more than you catch. I usually get at least 2 INT's a game, more if I play a human opponent who throws more. The CPU seems to throw more short routes that are too quick to pick off manually most of the time

[Funkapotamus]

I played a game the other night as Mizzou vs. Fl. State. I had 4 user picks (3 with one player). I rely mainly on putting pressure on the QB and forcing the bad throw. If I hit the QB as he throws, I immediately switch players and see if the new player I selected is in position for the pick. If I have time, I square him up to the spot where the ball is headed and wait for the right time to hit the intercept button (same timing as user catch on offense). Exception: If your defender is in stride with the ball, let him run (maybe with a little route correction) and catch the ball as though you were a receiver. I have the most success with this when the defender is not in any traffic (a result of the bad throw.) Be careful when playing the pressure game. You should only switch to your secondary defender after the ball is thrown and you have an idea where it's going. Switching too early often gives me a defender I wasn't expecting, which means I am already titling the analog stick in the direction of the defender I wanted which will always (Murphy's Law) be the exact opposite direction for the defender you were unexpectedly given. In these situations the offensive player will always catch the ball (Murphy's Law again) and probably take it to the house.
Important: If the ball is thrown downfield to a receiver in single coverage, I never go for the pick. You're just asking to get burned if you do. In single coverage, you can still take control of the defender and lay a hit on the receiver that will hopefully force him to drop the pass. Going for it with double coverage depends on the situation and which defender the computer gives you. Triple coverage is almost always safe.
Speaking of triple coverage, I get most of my user picks when I try to intercept with the first guy the comp gives me and he only manages to tip it up into the air. I immediately switch to the next defender (in rare cases I stick with who I got) and go for the tipped ball. However, in this situation, the offensive player has a good chance at getting that tipped ball too, if he's user controlled, don't leave him a free path to the TD.
Finally, I have not noticed that any team, regardless of their attributes, has any better or worse chance at racking up the interceptions. I play OU all the time (because I'm a Sooner fan, not because the are ranked) and I have seen the same player make a miraculous INT and 5 minutes later drop one that hits him square in the chest / hands. Also, Tuesday night, TCU picked me 5 times with no help from the user. They were picking anything that was anywhere near them, it was amazing. I gave up the passing game and stuck to the ground at that point.
I do agree that a QB that has been picked is more likely to get picked again, but, as far as I can tell, it's almost more of a team morale thing than individual player morale. (Sub in a good backup and he'll be infected with the same INT bug.) About one in four games that I play seem to exhibit some type of prejudiced AI where the computer has decide who gets all the lucky breaks and who gets screwed. This is not an excuse, I benefit as much as I suffer from it; it's just unfortunate that it happens at all.
If any of this helps your coverage game, let me know. If you've got some INT tips that I don't, let me know.
- The Funk

[XxRENO6xX]

I've played over 500 online games this year and I've finally come to a conclusion on stopping deap balls and getting picks(after suffering through almost 200 losses b/c of the deep ball).
HIT "X" AND CHILL!!!! :cool:
We all know that hitting "X" causes our defender to switch to the man closest to the ball. But what I've never stopped to figure out was that I don't have to control the man I'm switching to.
Finally some people helped me out and my defense is on a roll.
HIT "X" AND CHILL!!! Is exactly what you should do. Hit "X," let that defender move himself towards the receiver then hit triangle. Make sure you're in the right spot though; many times trying for the pick will cause you to miss. If I'm feeling good about the game, I'll go for the pick but if it's close or im not to confident, I'll use "L2"
and hit the WR, insuring NO CATCH.
THANKS TO ALL THE PEOPLE WHO SHARED THEIR ADVICE!!
:rolleyes:
RENO6...........XxWho's Next xX?

[blueweeds]

reno 6 play me i want to see if i can get a win over a quality opponnent like yourself i played you last year i was swishasports and i know i won one out of the three we player.. how bout it i play straight strategic football name is rti34 right now im 25-5 no glitches or cheesing i do play ,play now alot and some of the competion is terrible hence 25-5

[XxRENO6xX]

ya, no problem.
If I see you online & your stats are str8, will play.
L8er,
RENO

[blueweeds]

cool i will look for ya

[XxRENO6xX]

Saturdays Are The Best Days To Find Me Online.
My Girl Friend Has To Work So I Can Play As Long As I Want. ;)
L8,

[D-Wiz]

I usually don't have problems picking passes off. The CTH rating on your safeties has a lot to do with this (duh). My FS has 5 ints on my current season all user picks. Same with my CB's unless it's a pass that is going to the side of the screen where i can't see the defense I pick them myself.

But, I find that 80% of myuser picks come from when I hit the QB ( I use my linemen) then I switch to my FS and user pick it. With the triangle. My FS has 70 CTH. My SS does drop a lot of int's, but he is a hard hitting S not much of a cover guy.