Which defensive attribute counters pass catching?

m2m & zone coverage.

Punish receiver.

I always thought the coverage just determined how far a defender is from a receiver depending on the play and the players rating in that coverage. Wouldn't that impact whether the defender can get to the receiver quick to tackle him rather than whether or not he can catch the pass?

For punish receiver I thought that was countered by pass reception courage?

I think that pass catching courage relates to willingness to take a hit from the defender (and run routes where that is likely, e.g., over the middle). I also think that punish a receiver relates to ability to deliver a big hit and thereby separate the ball from the receiver. But I could be very wrong since the play by play doesn't attribute any actual results to these characteristics.

Punish receiver is countered by courage, route running is countered by man-to-man coverage, Bump and run is countered by avoid bump and run. There is no direct opposition to the pass catching attribute, but punish receiver and courage are included in the calculation about whether the ball is caught, as well as the placement of the ball relative to the receiver. The DB also has the pass catching attribute which is used in the same way if he attempts to intercept the pass.

Got it. Thank you.

This is a great thread. It also shows why I've gone completely away from zone coverage.

JDB, is the pass catch attribute of the defender the primary factor in interception skill? In other words, what combination of attributes gives you a ball hawk corner a la Marcus Peters?

Yes, it is currently the primary factor.

One thing I'm considering is adding traits to players like 'ball hawk' for DB's (or 'head hunter', or other similar traits for other positions, i.e. 'pocket passer' and 'scrambler' for QBs, ar 'acrobatic catcher' for WRs, etc) that periodically would be assigned to players that change the way they make some basic decisions that currently everyone does the same. In the case of a ball hawk, for example, he would have a greater probability of going for the interception than other DBs. Most players wouldn't have this extra trait, but it would occasionally be added.