Madden Tips

There are many Madden Tips to get better at Madden Football. Here are Madden Tips on how to get you going in the right direction at beating other Madden gamers out there.

The first and most important Madden tip on achieving your goals in Madden is to put in the time in the off-season when everyone else is putting down the sticks to enjoy summer. Don’t just sit around during the hot months of the year waiting before the new Madden to come out as the game only changes so much each year. Most of the stuff that worked the year before will still work in this year’s game. Working in the off-season to improve your stick skills is a great way to improve your game. Improved stick skills will always lead to more points and better defense.

Below we take a look at several other Madden Tips that we have used over the years for passing the ball, running the ball, and playing defense. After reading these Madden Tips, we are sure they will help you improve your over all Madden game.

Madden Tips For Passing the Ball

Learning to read pass coverages is the most important part of playing quarterback. Rather it be in real football or playing Madden. Below are Madden Tips we use for attacking pass coverage’s in Madden football.

Attacking the Cover 1 Defense

You will see one safety dropping deep with man-to-man coverage all around. Your opponent often will have sent one or more blitzers after you.
Attack Plan:

• Stretch the defense vertically with multiple deep receivers
• Crossing routes are effective
• The post corner route is solid
• Look for RB’s isolated against linebackers
• Send a receiver on a post to draw the the safety and create one-on-ones to either side

Attacking the Cover 2 Defense

You will see both safeties dropping deep and to the outside. This coverage scheme is strong against the short passing game as it allows for up to 5 underneath zones if desired. The CB can move up and jam the receivers at the line disrupting the timing of the play. The short flats areas can be pretty well locked down as well.

This scheme can be vulnerable to fades and deep middle routes. A post corner route can also cause trouble for this scheme. Strong side run support is weaker than the cover 1 as the SS must play the pass first.
Attack Plan:

• Stretch the defense vertically with multiple deep receivers
• Crossing routes are effective
• Fade and corner routes
• Deep middle routes

Attacking the Cover 3 Defense

You will see three defenders dropping deep into coverage. This can be two safeties and a corner, or both corners and one safety. Three men in deep zones help cover the entire width of the field. You can get good strong side run support if the SS is not involved in the 3 deep coverage. You have the ability to rush either a safety or CB at times and still get good deep coverage.

Flood routes to either side can be difficult to defend with this scheme. If the defense attacks with 4 players vertically, you can get outmanned at the point of attack. Flats attacks to the side with the CB in deep coverage and in routes over the middle are effective against this scheme.
Attack Plan:

• Multiple deep receivers in one zone
• Floods with deep, medium & short routes to one side.
• Out routes away from safety’s rotation
• Deep curl routes

Attacking the Cover 4 Defense

You will see four defenders dropping deep into coverage. Both corners and both safeties will each cover 1/4 of the field deep. This defense provides excellent deep coverage. Against 2 WR sets, the safeties can provide double coverage on the deep routes. The corners can jam at the line knowing they have help from the safeties over the top.

The flats areas to either side are vulnerable in this scheme. Safeties can be fooled by play action causing a break down deep. Sending multiple receivers to one side can nullify the benefits of over the top double coverage.
Attack Plan:

• Send multiple deep receivers to the deep sidelines
• Attack the flats areas
• Use short routes to the outsides
• Use play action and attack deep middle
• Be patient against this defense, it is geared to stop the long ball

Madden Tips For Rushing the Ball

Although the NFL is now a passing league, team’s that are able to run the ball are always going to be contenders. Same holds true in Madden. If you can run the ball, you will find a lot of of success. The following are Madden Tips that will help improve your rushing attack.

• By pounding the rock, it allows the offense to control the clock and wears down the opposition’s defense.
• Against a high-octane offense, controlling the clock is the best defense.
• Find an open hole, then explode through it. Often players will try to be Barry Sanders looking for other holes to open up, when they really should have hit the first that opened up.
• Use the stiff arm, speed burst, or cover the football when it about to be tackled.
• Covering the football is a new animation that has been added to this year’s game. This also cause him to lower his shoulders and break more tackles. Use it when going through the line; you will be surprised at how many would-be tacklers you run over.
• Lay off the speed burst button until you get near the line of scrimmage. Too often players immediately want pound down on the speed burst button as the soon as the QB hands off to the running back. This limits the control of the running back and makes it hard to move while looking for holes to open up.
• Keep your blockers in front of you and be patient while they set up blocks for you. If you run past them, you have just wasted your escorts to the first down marker.
• If needing to pick up an extra yard for a first down or get into the end zone, do not forget to use the dive button. We know this may sound simple, but just diving can be the difference between punting or picking up a first down.
• · For short yardage situations that require blasts through the middle of the line, it is better to keep things straightforward. Simple plays such as QB sneaks or FB dive plays are perfect one yard or less situations.
• Scouting your team’s offensive line and your opponents front seven can be fruitful in moving the chains. Knowing who paves the way really makes a difference between a successful ground game and a meager one.
• Probably the most important Madden Tip is practice. Learn how offensive line blocks based on where defenders line up. Either by them being shifted or manually move. Leave nothing untested when learning how offensive line blocks. Use instant replay just a head coach does when looking lover game field. Once you master how the offensive line blocks, you will be well on your way of mastering the running game.
• One of the biggest mistake players tend to make when running outside, is to forget to use the FB to block. Often players will hit the speed burst button as soon as the HB gets the ball and outrun the FB, when they should be waiting on the FB to spring them outside. If you wait for the FB to make a key block you can break it out to the outside. Be patient when running the ball. At times you may need to come to a complete stop to allow your team to set up their blocks down field. Be like Emmitt, put a hand on the back of your tackle and ride him down the field.
• We’ve touched on motion just a bit with getting your TE in better position to block for you. You can also use your receivers to block for your runs. Try motioning a WR and snapping when he gets near the tackle. You can try to fool the defense by motioning to one side and running to the other. Try to get the defense to shift away from your planned attack line.
• Having a receiver who is willing to run block really makes huge impact on well a team can run to the outside. Look for receivers with high run blocking attributes to helps improve your outside run game. Try putting a strong receiver in the slot for off tackle runs.
• This tip is pretty obvious and simple, but we ‘ve got to show it just in case some readers have been left in the dark over the years. If the defense is playing man lock coverage, send the FL in motion to the other side. This will clear out that side of the field and allow the HB plenty of room to make his way down the field.
• Use the fullback by giving him the ball. Too many players completely ignore their fullback in the run game. We recommend throwing a fullback dive in every so often to keep the defense honest. If they start spreading out to stop the sweep, pop it inside with the fullback. Don’t forget to use the Dual HB package. This replaces the fullback with another halfback.
• Try this on 3rd and 2 when running the fullback. The defense should be expecting run and might put 8 or 9 guys in the box. Call a FB dive play and send your HB in motion to the outside. Now the defense has to respect the pass, especially if you put the HB in motion and throw to him often. They may drop the safeties back into coverage or take a linebacker out to pick up the FB. Now you can bust it inside for the first down. Next time around, hot route the HB on a streak. If the defense thinks you are running the FB and stays all in the box, you can hit the HB for a big gainer.

Madden Tips For Playing Defense

In this year’s addition of Madden, there have been plenty of defensive improvements to make playing defense fun again.  Below is a list of Madden Tips we have used over the years on defense while playing Madden Football.

• Do mix up your coverages, play man, play some zone and mix up your zones using cover 1, cover 2, cover 3 & cover 4 schemes. Set up the play to look like one of your enhanced blitzes, but instead call a zone. We’ve scored tons of pics this way.
• Do throw in frequent blitzes to force errors by the opposing quarterbacks.
• Do use your Playmaker to drop linemen and cover the flats.
• Do use linebacker and d-line shifts and pinches to provide different angles of attack and protect against the offense overloading one side of the field.
• Do use your pass coverage audibles according to the situation. Giving some cushion at times is not a bad idea if you are consistently getting beat deep, and using bump-n-run is effective if you are getting killed by short slants. Don’t neglect your safety shift Playmaker controls.
• Do fake the blitz with your controlled player to confuse your opponent. Bring a linebacker up to the line like he is going to blitz, then back off into coverage.
• Do stay clean with your controlled player, not getting hung up on your opponent’s blocks. This will enable you to make more plays and shut down the running game.
• Don’t constantly leave your corners on an island by themselves, help over the top with your safeties.
• Don’t blitz on every play. A smart opponent will hot route backs in to block and beat you deep consistently, i.e. Nickel 1-5-5 – Prowl – Under Smoke should not be the only defense in your arsenal.
• Don’t deviate too far from the play. If you are the SS and should be in man coverage on the TE according to the play, don’t blitz the QB. If you are supposed to cover the back, it might be worth the risk to bring some extra heat, especially with a fast safety. On the other hand, don’t be afraid to change non critical assignments, ie. on a blitz, drop a lineman back into the zone, or control the player who is scheduled to blitz and pull him off into coverage instead. A great way to force confusion and get coverage sacks or interceptions.
• Do force the offense to be one dimensional. If you’ re able to take away the offenses strength and force them to do something they don’t like to, then you have won half the battle of playing defense. For instance say the team is a strong run team, but does not have the player personnel to pass the ball effectively on a consistent level. Put 8 or 9 defenders in the box to take the run away and force the offense to air out.
• Do double cover your opponent’s top receiver can prove to be an effective way to force your opponent to use other receivers to move the ball down the field. There are instances where a receiver still may come down with a catch between multiple defenses, but they are few and far between.
• Do disguise pass coverages as it’s a critical part in playing defense in football video games. This means calling defenses and not showing your hand before the ball is snapped. Although this year’s game is somewhat limited when it comes to manually moving defenders, you still want to make it hard for your opponent to figure out what you are doing on defense.

Final Thoughts

These Madden tips are just to get you started with. Although they will help improve your game, it doesn’t mean they will make you an elite baller. You will need to spend many hours playing games on and offline. That’s the real key to being an elite Madden player. All the Madden Tips that you can find on the internet, rather it be here, Madden Tips web sites such as GoMadden and MyMaddenPad, or YouTube can help you, but they won’t get you to the elite status you are wanting.  Always remember every time you hit the cyber gridiron field in practice or a game, you want to approach it as a learning experience and wanting to get better. Don’t just play the game by running the same plays over and over, instead work on other plays to, and work on getting better with ever snap.