12 Tips to Improving Your Game

Playing Defense 101

ROCKnROLLA returns to give the casual readers a reminder of the 12 most important things to become a better Madden player.

I love playing defense just as much as I love running the ball. I used to play strong safety and always got a big rush giving out a hit on the poor guy who just caught the ball and a runner who’s just beaten my Linebackers and Corner back. My passion for defense goes into my Madden defense, so I may have a few tips for you guys that are just starting out on madden or need a refresher if you’re an experienced veteran.

My Top 12 Tips

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. Look at your personal, look at where your team is strong or weak and in
what area?s. 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 plan and strategize so
you can use your strengths to counteract your team?s weaknesses.

3. Strategize. I’ve already given a strategy for gameday.

4. Adjust to the Offensive line, by shifting your D or using audible?s,
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 cover, go man or blitz.

5. Stick with 1 or 2 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, then it?s TOUCH DOWN!

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 hit
stick?.fumble.

8. Don?t just rely on the hit stick you can use X/SQUARE to tackle. When
I?m going for a sack I will use X as this always seems to be more reliable
than the hit stick and will result in a sack, if I am close to the quarter
back then I will 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 safety’s, to create pressure, and put your defensive tackles or
defensive ends into coverage, trust me defensive ends can make some crazy
interceptions.

10. Do not Blitz all the time. If you are playing against a good offensive
line they will block and contain the rush, giving the quarter back time to
pass into holes and gaps in the field. This will lead you to getting
stressed and you will blitz even more, calm yourself down and start
playing more conservatively.

11. Use the Replay tool to 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.

12. Look for mismatches, go into the assignments screen and you can see
who their best players are, and you can create mismatches or put your best
against their best.

Don’t forget to look back and practice the basics to keep your game sharp.
See you guys next week!

- ROCKnROLLA