10 tips improving your defense

1. Practice And Learn Your Playbook
If you are serious about playing madden then this is the most important tip I can give you. I will spend hours practicing a new playbook just as much as playing franchise or any other game mode. If you want to stay ahead of your friends or rivals then practice, practice, practice!
2. Identify Soft/Strong Spots In Your Roster
For example, some of your corner backs may be good man to man or coverage. Some can press and some cannot. This will help you gameplan so you can use your strengths to counteract your team’s weaknesses.
3. Plan Your Attack

Very simple. You can’t just jump in the ring with no gameplan!
4. Adjust To The Offensive Line
By shifting your defense or using audibles, after a few weeks of playing you will start to recognize certain plays and will be able to read what the offense is doing. Learn how to adjust your players, changing them to zone cover, man cover or blitz.
5. Stick With One Or Two Players
Don’t go button mashing trying to choose a player in desperation. The CPU has a habit of changing you to a player you don’t want to be at times and this will lead to you blowing the play. I will normally play middle linebacker or strong safety and stick with them to the end of the play.
6. Do Not Use Turbo Unless You Are In Pursuit Or Cutting Off The Run
If you are the last man you will get side stepped and you will over run the play. Nobody wants to be on the bad side of a highlight reel.
7. Use LT To Strafe
This will line your player up for the tackle, you can sprint and strafe at the same time, but I would not recommend sprinting [tip 6] and just cut off the angle of the runner, and then BANG hitstick!
8. Don’t Just Rely On The Hit Stick
You can use X/SQUARE to tackle. When you’re going for a sack use X as this always seems to be more reliable than the hit stick and will result in a sack. If you’re close to the quarter back then use the hit stick.
9. Learn How To Create Pressure
If you like to blitz then keep blitzing until the offense starts to pick up the blitz, then start creating pressure in other areas. There are many different ways to create pressure so don’t always rely on the same players. Use your linebackers, corner backs and safetys.
10. Use The Replay Tool
Look and study where you are struggling and where you are getting beat. Also look at ratios of passing and rushing, and who their go to guy is.

It always seems like my blitz get picked up i use safeties, corners, linebackers, how can i be more efficient pass rusher?????????????? and if i do get through it is not in time

jut get good at usering a certain player on D and it will come around

try reblitzing your players, subbing olbs for de's, like i said you gotta test it out and be prepared.

Also don't try do to to much I like keeping it as basic as possible for example you don't have to playmaker a bunch of people before the play. If you know what your doing then yeah go for it but until you do I wouldn't recomend it im tellin ya best thing you could do is get your stick skills at a GREAT level your D will improve soooooooooooooooooooooo much

thx for the advice. definately some useful info there to incorporate.

Good advice it has helped me as well!

Thanks man, i was always thinking of what makes a person great on defense thanks for putting it in words.lol

what type of coverage do you guys usually use when you blitz safetys and such? cause i never really had the guts to do it, i guess if its man that makes sense but im always afraid to do that in a zone if it means giving up a blue zone.

i feel i do really good with my cornerback and LB blitzs but i honestly do not use a single safety blitz and i desperately want to change that.

I'm on the same page with you elmo, i mean the only safety blitz i do is the SS blitz in the 46. But usually im just runnin' linebacker or corner blitzes from nickel and dime.

i sorta disagree with some of ur points

you shouldnt stick with one or two ppl just dont mash ur buttons because the cpu is very easy to juke and fake with spins

turbo is a must when ur rushing the passer and i do that all the time it helps you get inside or outside a blocker faster and to the QB very quickly.

one thing i would wanna add is to remember formations read formations carefully they give u clues to wat a person might do... alot of people dont notice that they run certain things out of certain formations all the time for example some books only have screens in certain formations 3wr 1 TE 1 RB for example u get screened out that formation 1 or 2 times and now u know every time u see thats its a possible screen

TMC is also correct alot of the basic plays are actually very effective if u do simple shifts just look at where the line and the linebackers are going during a blitz and shift them around and it can make a normal play feel like a nano the only thing i would recommend doing is sometimes reblitzing olbs in a 3-4 D because they get sucked inside on the run sometimes if u leave them how they are the angles on the olb blitzes are bad

Btw.....when your going for the sack use , not . It will stop the qb's motion and he wont get the pass off. is way slower.

HOW DO U EXPOSE A COVER2

compressed sets,post routes,strks.

wat if he blitz linebackers and DE, i have no time to throw bro

I'm a huge 3-4 user, I use my FS on defense, I will send my SS in on 2nd and long, even 3rd & 4 situations, I'll play center field with my FS put my LB's in short Zones and pinch the D-Line, so nothing up the middle is easy! I have a lot to learn on defense, but it's been fun so far! This is my first week playing the game, I'm having a terrible season, but I joined this site yesterday, and I've read a lot of things that have helped me so far, take it easy people.

I'd say use almost no man coverage, for every time it works you get burned another. I use it maybe 3 times a game.

Mcnair2Wycheck wrote:

I'd say use almost no man coverage, for every time it works you get burned another. I use it maybe 3 times a game.

Yep. I only show man coverage every once in a while as well as a change of pass.

I'll blitz from man coverage once or twice a game, and I'll also use some sort of Man-2 Under defense once or twice a game.