3 Tips To Defensive Dominance in Madden 15

The majority of people who buy Madden games don’t do so to play defense.  They do it to put up tons of points with their favorite players or teams.  This holds true for any Madden game on XBOX 360, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, or XBOX One.  Because of that, the average person you play online will have a decent offense but struggle when it comes to defense.

You are already reading this article so you obviously care about improving your defense in Madden 15 which puts you well ahead of the average person.

Much like Super Bowls in the NFL, Madden tournaments, leagues, and money games are won on defense.  And winning is more fun than losing with an awesome offense.  Below are a few ideas that will help you take your defense to the next level in Madden 15.

1. Ignore the urge to blitz every play – This is the most common mistake people with bad defenses make.  They have 1 or 2 blitzes that they saw on YouTube or a popular Madden 15 tips website and they decide to call it every play until they get a sack.  These nano blitzes are usually meant to be mixed into a scheme with other coverage plays.  The threat of a fast blitz coming is more effective than the blitz itself.  A good strategy is to call your favorite blitzes once or twice early resulting in a sack and then playing great coverage defense for a while until you feel the time is right to blitz again.  To your opponent, just the knowledge that you could sack him on any play is enough to throw his offense way off causing him to leave extra running backs and tight ends in to block.
2. Stick to 1 or 2 playbooks – If you are constantly switching defensive playbooks to try to find the one perfect defense, you’ve already lost.  The best madden players in the world spend a few weeks finding a playbook that they like (or creating a custom playbook) and then tweaking plays, coverages, and blitzes within them until they are perfect.  If you are switching playbooks every few days, you are constantly trying to find new plays instead of perfecting already great plays.
3. Get your most effective players on the field – This seems so obvious but it is something that is overlooked way too often.  A lot of people seem to think if they just choose a good defensive team like the 49ers or the Seahawks, they are set.  There are always adjustments you can make to your depth chart that will make your team better in Madden 15.  Just because someone is a starter doesn’t necessarily mean they are the most effective Madden player.  Sometimes putting in a backup player who has a lower overall rating but higher ratings that matter is the smart move.  Similarly it sometimes makes sense to move players out of position.  Moving a 3-4 defensive end to a 4-3 defensive tackle or moving a 3-4 outside linebacker to a 4-3 defensive end can make a huge difference.

Defense is not the most popular part of Madden and never will be but if you are serious about competing in Madden NFL 15, these 3 tips are a great starting point.