Help Breaking into Madden

[Shadow Wolf]

Hey folks. I've had a closet desire for years: to be able to play the Madden games. I love football, and I understand pretty well the ins and outs of how the game is played, I've been watching football religiously for about 16 years. But knowing how football is played doesn't necessarily translate to knowing how to play football. Neither does it equate to being able to play Madden well. It's a very complex game.

So with that in mind, I think I'm not alone among gamers when I say that I'd love to be able to play Madden, first because it seems very fun, and also because I'm sure playing it and understanding what I'm doing will give me a deeper understanding of the strategy of football as a game.

So what do I want? Well, I can find a walkthrough for Madden anywhere. I'd like someone to point myself and others towards resources that explain stuff like: why I might want to use a nickel defense, or a 4 deep formation, what the advantages of all those things are in a specific situation.

I myself just bought Madden 09 for PS3 to try and break into the series, because it's available very cheap now that 10 just came out. As far as Madden 09 goes, can I download current 2009 season roster updates for it? Can someone explain some of the controls a bit better than the game itself does? Like punting? Because dang, when I see that complex setup for punting, it gives me 4 words of voodoo to do with the controller, I have a playclock running, and I need to punt right the f*** NOW. But I mess it up cuz I don't know the controls themselves.

So I guess what I'm asking for is for our more sports savvy users and seasoned Madden players to drop myself and others some tips for getting controls, formations, and the other ins and outs of football and Madden under my belt. I know maybe it sounds like I'm working too hard to be able to play a game, but I feel like it could be tons of fun if I can get some basic things straight. Thanks for any help you all provide!

[OutSpoken]

I have Madden NFL 2005 for my Gamecube and I still play it quite often. I haven't played many of the newer versions of the game so I wouldn't know about changes to the control scheme, but I do try hard to run a successful team. Actually I recreated the entire NFL with 32 new teams with the computer generating the players while I pick the team specifications. I chose to run an Air it Out team (usually heavy passing lower defensive rating) and I'm currently in my 3rd year of the franchise. First of all I reccomend finding about 5 solid plays that seem to work well on offence, perferably to take advantage of your players strengths (i.e. speed, catching, acceleration, etc.). I'm not sure how the playbook for 2009 will work, but I like the playbooks available for 2005. I use pass balanced with a strong short passing game and the occasional longer pass. Shotgun formation is quite useful for passing and strong 1 is also good for playaction and FB and HB runs. Curl Flats is a pretty basic 3 wide shotgun formation that works well if you have a WR in the 3rd string position that is good at catching and acceleration. He breaks to the sideline while the 1 and 2 wideouts post about 10 yards from the line of scrimige. This usually works great if the defence is only using 2 corners, because your 3rd WR will be matched with a usually slower LB or Safty.

A big thing is establishing some audibles (use the 5 plays that you call a lot and try to use formations that are the same or interchangeable so you don't have your FB play WR and so on). I usually call audibles from Strong 1 or Shotgun, being able to audible is really helpful because you can take advantage of the defences weakness after seeing who they're matching up with. A useful play I call from shotgun 4 wide is called circle. I find it extremely effective if you assign your fastest reciever to the 4 position on this play because most defences will stay in Nickel if you've been running on them from shotgun or doing short passes all day. The 4th WR simply just goes on a streak, depending on what the defence has called he may get wide open. Just watch the safty, if he drops back to help cover the receiver, it's usually a good indication to look to your 2nd string WR next. He crosses the field if he's fast enough he can usually get a little lead on the corner and you can hit him if your QB and throw an accurate pass, just watch the MLB, in most dime formations the MLB will just hang in the middle of the field playing zone and trying to stop a successful cross when you lead your receiver.

Those are 2 of my most commonly used plays for passing the ball around. Offensive audibles are key in being able to hurry things up during the 2 minute drill. Also keep in mind how you move the QB is porportional to where the pass is going (i.e. step up to throw a bomb or a bullet, run to the right to lead your reciever to the right, etc.).

Defensively I just used balanced D playbook. It's pretty basic setup and you can acess most of the formations available. Again a pretty good concept is that you base your plays on your players strengths. If you have a good pass rush, you can afford to call more 3-4 defence so your linebackers are there to zone most of the short passes and your safty and corners can cover any potential long routes. 4-3 is pretty heavy run stop usually, but if you have good cover linebackers you can afford to call it in more situations to keep up a heavy pass rush and stop giving the QB the time he needs to find a target. 46 is pretty heavy up front with 8 guys in the box. 46 is useful for when the other team gets within around 20 yards of the endzone, you're able to zone most of the shorter routes while keeping up an intense blitz to kill the potential run. Bear 46 adds an extra man to the Defensive line, I usually interchange this with the goal line defence if I think there's a decent chance of a short pass getting by my goal line defence.

You should find a playbook that works for you and whatever team you usually play with, it really improves your game. Also consider making formation subs, such as having your best WR change positions depending on the formation so that he usually runs the route that takes advantage of all his abilities. I'm not an expert on the Madden, but I've been playing my version of 2005 ever since it came out and it's not getting old yet. Good Luck!

[prophetik music]

So what do I want? Well, I can find a walkthrough for Madden anywhere. I'd like someone to point myself and others towards resources that explain stuff like: why I might want to use a nickel defense, or a 4 deep formation, what the advantages of all those things are in a specific situation.

generally, teams use defensive formations to mirror what the offense is using. if a team is using two wide receivers, you'll see a 4-3 formation - meaning that there's four linemen on the line, three linebackers in the middle, and four DBs in the secondary. nickel refers to the fact that there's 5 DBs on the field - teams bring on one extra DB to cover the third WR, and leave one LB on the sideline (depending on the team, either the LOLB or the ROLB). in turn, dime has six DBs and one LB, and quarter has seven DBs (for 3rd and 20, or to defend a hail mary), one LB, and only 3 linemen (they drop the second DT).

4 deep would be to defend against the big pass - preventing a bomb but allowing them to get yards underneath. if it's 3rd and short, use a formation that stacks the line or blitzes the LBs.

I myself just bought Madden 09 for PS3 to try and break into the series, because it's available very cheap now that 10 just came out. As far as Madden 09 goes, can I download current 2009 season roster updates for it? Can someone explain some of the controls a bit better than the game itself does? Like punting? Because dang, when I see that complex setup for punting, it gives me 4 words of voodoo to do with the controller, I have a playclock running, and I need to punt right the f*** NOW. But I mess it up cuz I don't know the controls themselves.

roster updates depend - i don't know if they're supported now that the new season is upon us.

punting is easy. you hike the ball, pull the right stick back to charge it, and throw it forward to actually punt it. use the practice mode - it helps a LOT. if there's another type of mode that you need help with, ask me - i've played every madden since 2000. i love football games, and i have no problem paying the money for what equates to a roster update simply because i WANT those players on my team.

[RedTigrr]

As far as I know, you can't update the current NFL roster to Madden 09.