In Madden 23, defense is often considered more challenging by most players than the offensive side of the ball. After all, every player heard the saying, defense wins championships. So players need to learn the basic mechanics and controls of the game, allowing their proper command over their team and making sure that no one from the opponent team makes it to their goal post. But maintaining defense is not that easy. In this article, let’s see what we should be doing to start playing stout defense in Madden 23.
Choose Your Play
Most players have a conservative style of defense that allows them to give up some yardage but not the big play downfield. This is a great strategy at the start of the game to see what type of offense your opponent is running, especially if you don’t know their play style.
If your opponent is likely to run the ball, you want to have more linemen and linebackers on the field. If you think they will pass, you want more cornerbacks and safeties in the game. While most players don’t like to send blitzes because it leaves them vulnerable, there are situations when a well-timed blitz can really throw off the offense! When looking to defend the pass, you must choose a man or zone defense. Be sure to vary which you call, so the offense doesn’t get comfortable, but also cater to your team’s strength. Check your defenders’ ratings to see if they are better in man or zone coverage. By the way, using mut 23 coins to buy some higher OVR rating defense players in MUT mode is one important part of building the dream team.
Read the Offense
Now that you have called your defensive play, you get to see where the offensive players line up, which is known as a formation. Each offensive formation has strengths and weaknesses, and the defense must match up against them. The game should do a good job readjusting to any weird alignments by the offense, but you should always be ready to make your own adjustments.
Make Adjustments
You will have a minimum of 7 seconds from the Play Call screen to the snap of the ball to get in any adjustments you need to feel confident! This doesn’t seem like a long time, but with a little practice, you can get into many changes. You can adjust any individual player’s assignment by clicking on him, or you can control players by group, like linemen, linebackers, and secondary. To go from a beginner to an expert, you must start realizing your opponent’s tendencies and reactions.
Make Your Move
One of the hardest things to learn on defense is just getting a feel for the defender you are controlling. Many players don’t like to go for tackles because they fear they will miss them. Others dislike trying and defending in the passing game because they fear a mistake will cost them a TD. If you user-control a linebacker in a hook zone, you can’t hurt your team too badly, so that’s what beginners should do. This will also improve your confidence, and you will make plays in no time. Resist the urge to control a defensive lineman; it feels safe but won’t make you better in the long term.
Huddle Up
Once you make that tackle or sack the QB, your opponent can call another play. Think about the play you just ran and if it was successful for the situation. If you called a blitz, think about if it worked. Not every successful blitz ends up in a sack—sometimes, it just forces the QB to throw the ball faster. Often, a blitz early in the game can be used to set up a blitz later from the other side that looks similar! The key is learning what they like to do during the game, so when the fourth quarter rolls around, you are ready to get a stop and win the game!
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