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OLB Flat Zone familiarity

By dangalanti
9/08/2022 5:38 pm
Can anybody explain why it's impossible for offenses to get any familiarity to OLB Flat Zone? Since it's the FL Hitch of defenses and most 4-3 teams use it extensively (I've played teams that ran it on 90+% of their defensive plays - with obvious results), shouldn't your team get an advantage from scouting a play that gets used that often? Why do I still have -14% familiarity on a play that I've scouted - what's the point of scouting?

Should I just not bother picking Flat Zone as a play to scout and pick something else on the off chance a team uses it? Just curious if anybody has found a way to get around this. Thanks.

Re: OLB Flat Zone familiarity

By ArmoredGiraffe
9/08/2022 5:53 pm
I'm not sure if it's a bug anymore since it hasn't been fixed but you essentially go "over" the cap and get negative numbers instead. I believe it's been around since 4.5 and honestly I would love to see what 100% familiarity would do against it

Edit: didn't answer your second question but I check the most common blitzes and if I have scouting plays left then I will scout the flat zone/spammable plays
Last edited at 9/08/2022 5:54 pm

Re: OLB Flat Zone familiarity

By dangalanti
9/08/2022 6:04 pm
ArmoredGiraffe wrote:
I'm not sure if it's a bug anymore since it hasn't been fixed but you essentially go "over" the cap and get negative numbers instead. I believe it's been around since 4.5 and honestly I would love to see what 100% familiarity would do against it

Edit: didn't answer your second question but I check the most common blitzes and if I have scouting plays left then I will scout the flat zone/spammable plays


Just so I'm clear what you're saying, I'm actually penalizing *myself* by scouting spammable plays like Flat Zone? That's crazy.

I've been kicking around some ideas in my head on rules to call plays that might still work against flat zone, but I don't know if it will do any good against a super play like that.

Re: OLB Flat Zone familiarity

By ArmoredGiraffe
9/08/2022 6:09 pm
dangalanti wrote:
ArmoredGiraffe wrote:
I'm not sure if it's a bug anymore since it hasn't been fixed but you essentially go "over" the cap and get negative numbers instead. I believe it's been around since 4.5 and honestly I would love to see what 100% familiarity would do against it

Edit: didn't answer your second question but I check the most common blitzes and if I have scouting plays left then I will scout the flat zone/spammable plays


Just so I'm clear what you're saying, I'm actually penalizing *myself* by scouting spammable plays like Flat Zone? That's crazy.

I've been kicking around some ideas in my head on rules to call plays that might still work against flat zone, but I don't know if it will do any good against a super play like that.


From some old, old quotes by JDB that I found it still gives you a boost against that specific play. I choose not to as scouting blitzes can give you the hot read option on passes against them, and you'll still end up with negative familiarity

Re: OLB Flat Zone familiarity

By ArmoredGiraffe
9/08/2022 6:13 pm
jdavidbakr wrote:
Their familiarity will slowly decrease if you don't scout it, but it is very slow compared to how quickly they learn it. So yes, if you are at 100% you don't gain familiarity and might consider not scouting it.

One caveat, though, is that you still get a boost beyond familiarity if you face a play you scouted that week. So if your opponent uses a play a lot you still gain by scouting it even if you are already at 100% familiarity. If you are at 100% on a play that you don't expect to face, though, you are safe letting it go for a little while to gain familiarity with other plays.


On mobile but search the community forums for "play familiarity" and you will find the original post

Re: OLB Flat Zone familiarity

By dangalanti
9/08/2022 6:17 pm
ArmoredGiraffe wrote:
jdavidbakr wrote:
Their familiarity will slowly decrease if you don't scout it, but it is very slow compared to how quickly they learn it. So yes, if you are at 100% you don't gain familiarity and might consider not scouting it.

One caveat, though, is that you still get a boost beyond familiarity if you face a play you scouted that week. So if your opponent uses a play a lot you still gain by scouting it even if you are already at 100% familiarity. If you are at 100% on a play that you don't expect to face, though, you are safe letting it go for a little while to gain familiarity with other plays.


On mobile but search the community forums for "play familiarity" and you will find the original post


Got it, will do. I do scout blitzes, but I don't like having to come up with a completely different offensive gameplan than normal for a single game just because I'm facing a spamming defense. I'm sure more savvy owners also build speed rosters and use overrides to make flat zone even stronger. Probably not much you can do to stop it, but I'm looking for any little advantage I can get. Thanks.

Re: OLB Flat Zone familiarity

By Action-Jackson
10/08/2022 1:24 am
I think this thread might have killed my interest in the game. This is really the case? Is there a manager that is really successful that doesn't spam Man Zone Flat da **** defense? I haven't seen one I don't believe.

Re: OLB Flat Zone familiarity

By ArmoredGiraffe
10/08/2022 8:22 am
Action-Jackson wrote:
I think this thread might have killed my interest in the game. This is really the case? Is there a manager that is really successful that doesn't spam Man Zone Flat da **** defense? I haven't seen one I don't believe.


You can have success without it but it generally takes more work. As far of proof of it my Quick and the Dead team doesn't call it nor my Death and Destruction team

Re: OLB Flat Zone familiarity

By Action-Jackson
10/08/2022 2:48 pm
What are some good plays that work against the Flat Zone? I understand running is generally more effective than passing but is that correct? Are there some passing plays that work better than others?

Re: OLB Flat Zone familiarity

By ArmoredGiraffe
10/08/2022 3:17 pm
Off the top of my head the 113 HB Counters are good and the 212 FB Counter that's an outside run smash it. Couple others but realistically you need to use running plays that block the WLB or run towards the SLB who is blocked. I think you can have success with 122 runs provided your TE1 is a monster blocker