Getting Better at Madden

[nation]

Ok, so I don't know as much about football as I should. I pretty much randomly call passing or running plays, and there is no rhyme or reason for my defensive play calling, aside from nickel or dime in 3rd down passing situations, goal lines at the goal line, etc.

Anyone have tips for which plays to call when? Obviously there is tons of little stuff, so if everyone can add little tips this thread can help a lot for beginning Madden players.

[blackize]

Best downs to run are on 1st and 2nd. You can run on 3rd if your opponent expects pass. If playing against another person and they keep calling the same defense do what you can to exploit it. If they call defenses with only 2CBs a lot bring out 4WRs to clear out the middle to run and create mismatches on the outside. If they call nickel/dime/quarter all the time just run it at them.

Take a little time in practice mode to determine when certain routes break open so you get your passing timing right. If someone is bumping your receivers constantly know which receivers on your team come off bumps easily and which routes work best against it.

If playing friends or the computer, when you're on defense it will show how many of each position they have on the field and leave you 10 seconds to choose a play. If they have 2wrs or less you should call 4-3 3-4 or bear. 3wrs you should call nickel(you can go with dime if you don't expect run often ie 3rd and long). 4wrs you should call dime or quarter.

This is all I can think of for now.

[tarheeljks]

[ QUOTE ]
Best downs to run are on 1st and 2nd. You can run on 3rd if your opponent expects pass. If playing against another person and they keep calling the same defense do what you can to exploit it. If they call defenses with only 2CBs a lot bring out 4WRs to clear out the middle to run and create mismatches on the outside. If they call nickel/dime/quarter all the time just run it at them.

[/ QUOTE ]

this won't work against half way decent players b/c as you mentioned you can see the offense's formation b/f you have to pick a play

[blackize]

You don't have to run out of i-form or whatever. You can and should call runs from 3wr/4wr formations just like you should call passes from 2wr formations. Having audibles you know like the back of your hand helps a lot as well.

Speaking of audibles, against a human I typically have a couple audibles out of my favorite formations at least 1 run and 1 pass for each. This way if they come out with too many linebackers I make sure I'm throwing or if I read blitz I can throw into the vacated area.

I especially like running singleback formations like 3wide where it clears out the middle a little bit.

[nation]

Awesome. This is exactly the type of stuff I'm looking for.

Which packages to call and when have been cleared up a little bit. What about which plays to call? I get really confused by the big bubbles in areas pointing to the line of scrimmage. When should I call those plays as opposed to plays with no big bubbles?

Also, as far as audibles go, don't they change from team to team? Do you usually just check them out on the first play to see what does what? By that I mean look at the names and then check out the playbook in between plays.

[blackize]

Not sure what you're talking about with big bubbles unless you're speaking of zones. There are colored circles that represent the zone that player is assigned to.

Audibles change from playbook to playbook, but you can save specific audibles to your profile and you can always change them from the pause menu > coaching strategy screens

[tarheeljks]

it's good to mix up packages, but i think using the 3+wr sets as the default to run is a bad idea unless you are a very good passer (obv you can get away w/it w/certain teams). running out of multiple wr sets is just smoke and mirrors that really only works against weak comp; you are better off going into practice mode and learning to run out of the standard running sets (single back, i-form, etc)

edit: running out of 3wr sets isn't that big of a deal, but you still need a strong passing game to get away w/using it as a base set. regularly using 4+ is not feasible against decent players.

[MDoranD]

im certain hes talking about zones. Your defense will either be in man defense or zone defense. The bubbles show you the areas your players are assigned to cover in a zone defense. In man coverage they will just follow the WR they are assigned to so no zone is needed.

I use man coverage against people who like to throw deep...seems to work better, as your CBs stick to their respective WRs. Against people who like to dump the ball into the flats or people who use bunch formations a lot, i prefer zone.

After reading what i just wrote i realize i better tell you what bunch and flat mean. Errr...ill assume you know it and leave it to someone else.

[Butcho22]

You may already know but this madden forum has a ton of good stuff.

You have to wade through some crap, but you should learn a lot.

Oh yeah...master your slant patterns.

[nation]

i'm pretty sure "flats" refers to like when the rb goes to the right and the fb goes to the left or some combination of that stuff and you just dump off a short pass to them.

bunch is like when you have more receivers on one side than the other?