Why does my defense suck

[J.Light12]

Playing connected Franchise mode and I keep getting scored on constantly with the other team having wide open receivers. What the hell am I doing wrong. I am trying to use plays that cover the secondary. I am playing on all pro. Also on offense it seems as though none of my receivers ever get open and are covered really well by the defense. I am playing offline franchise. Please help with this headache of a game

[Cinderblocks]

You can try turning down the AI sliders but I'm not actually convinced that does anything

[Mahjik]

Which team are you using? If you have a team with no superstar receivers you have scheme them open. i.e. if the CPU is playing man, use drags. If the CPU is play zone, flood one of the sides with levels.

On defense, if you have decent corners use man coverage and/or seam matching coverages.

[Mahjik]

https://youtu.be/TbNvJKI_RUs?si=ohN3YFpY9oaGvbQH

[Riflas]

I just turn on aggressive tackling in coach settings

[J.Light12]

Originally posted by Cinderblocks:

You can try turning down the AI sliders but I'm not actually convinced that does anything

It does, I've done this in previous madden games and even turned them down like 5-10 points on 24 and it made it a little better but ultimately my defense still sucks and their defense still harasses my offense. I like challenging situations but I mean every play getting sacked and making incomplete passes or interceptions that is not fun at all

[J.Light12]

Originally posted by Mahjik:

Which team are you using? If you have a team with no superstar receivers you have scheme them open. i.e. if the CPU is playing man, use drags. If the CPU is play zone, flood one of the sides with levels.

On defense, if you have decent corners use man coverage and/or seam matching coverages.

I play as Dallas most of the time. I play my best as Dallas, any other team I play as I am not good at all.

[aarddave]

I would suggest looking up guides to help you be able to read defences. It's not 100% guaranteed as some defences are designed to mask the actual coverage until the last second and then you often need to read the movement of the safeties to figure out what the defence is doing.

Once you're getting it right more often than not, adjust your audibles to include plays designed to take advantage of different coverages so you can exploit man or zone, or cover 1, 2 or 3. You can also adjust a receivers route on the pre-snap if you are able to spot something you can take advantage of. Practice being able to make adjustments quicky pre-snap until they become second nature.

On defence you didn't give a lot of information as to what you are doing. Are opposition receivers getting open deep or underneath? Does the QB have a long time to pick a pass? etc. Generally you should match up what the offence does. If they come out in a run package (HB/FB, multiple TE etc) then your base stating point would usually be a 4-3 or 3-4 defence. If they come out with 3 or more receivers you want to be in a nickel defence at least.

Then you need to consider what depth to defend at, cover 1 has 1 deep safety and puts more players closer to the line, cover 2 has 2 deep safeties and generally plays a little further back, cover 3 has 3 deep etc and protects even further back etc. The deeper you're defending the more space will be underneath for quick throws however.

The next step is to look at how your defenders are getting beat, are receivers running past your players and into space or from a sudden change in direction? Again experiment with pre-snap adjustments. Feel free to move defenders into slightly different positions. The base lineup isn't always the best against certain formations and you can sometimes have a defender assigned to cover a receiver across the other side of the pitch, especially common when the offence has multiple tight-ends or receivers one one side.

If a player is starting in the wrong position, or the opposition is making a lot of easy catches in a certain area, move a defender closer to that area as a starting point. Double cover receivers who are always getting open, experiment with different types of zone coverage, or between zone and man.

There isn't a perfect defensive play (other than maybe the cheesy ones which some people use non-stop), you will get burned occasionally. All QB's usually complete between 60-70% of all passes they attempt. The trick is to keep gains as small as possible on 1st and 2nd down to give you a better chance of stopping them on 3rd down.

[J.Light12]

Originally posted by aarddave:

I would suggest looking up guides to help you be able to read defences. It's not 100% guaranteed as some defences are designed to mask the actual coverage until the last second and then you often need to read the movement of the safeties to figure out what the defence is doing.

Once you're getting it right more often than not, adjust your audibles to include plays designed to take advantage of different coverages so you can exploit man or zone, or cover 1, 2 or 3. You can also adjust a receivers route on the pre-snap if you are able to spot something you can take advantage of. Practice being able to make adjustments quicky pre-snap until they become second nature.

On defence you didn't give a lot of information as to what you are doing. Are opposition receivers getting open deep or underneath? Does the QB have a long time to pick a pass? etc. Generally you should match up what the offence does. If they come out in a run package (HB/FB, multiple TE etc) then your base stating point would usually be a 4-3 or 3-4 defence. If they come out with 3 or more receivers you want to be in a nickel defence at least.

Then you need to consider what depth to defend at, cover 1 has 1 deep safety and puts more players closer to the line, cover 2 has 2 deep safeties and generally plays a little further back, cover 3 has 3 deep etc and protects even further back etc. The deeper you're defending the more space will be underneath for quick throws however.

The next step is to look at how your defenders are getting beat, are receivers running past your players and into space or from a sudden change in direction? Again experiment with pre-snap adjustments. Feel free to move defenders into slightly different positions. The base lineup isn't always the best against certain formations and you can sometimes have a defender assigned to cover a receiver across the other side of the pitch, especially common when the offence has multiple tight-ends or receivers one one side.

If a player is starting in the wrong position, or the opposition is making a lot of easy catches in a certain area, move a defender closer to that area as a starting point. Double cover receivers who are always getting open, experiment with different types of zone coverage, or between zone and man.

There isn't a perfect defensive play (other than maybe the cheesy ones which some people use non-stop), you will get burned occasionally. All QB's usually complete between 60-70% of all passes they attempt. The trick is to keep gains as small as possible on 1st and 2nd down to give you a better chance of stopping them on 3rd down.

Thank you for that,
The problem I have mainly is I can play offense with very little problem as it's really not that hard. I know how to use offense audibles to an extent and that being I mainly only know how to switch a hot route receiver or tell the O line to max protect, etc.

When I'm on defense I know how to tell the defender I'm highlighted on to blitz, QB Spy, Bluff Blitz, etc. anything else I'm shot in the dark.
the offense gets a receiver open sometimes deep and wide enough open where they go to the house. The QB situation depends if its a mobile one, it is they like to run themselves. if not they may have longer than they should have before one of my D linemen get free so by the time they do get to the QB the play has already been made unless we can still somehow get pressure on him to make his pass inaccurate.

I watch football on TV a lot and as I know a Madden game will never simulate something like that, it'd be nice if I can still feel the challenges while also knowing how to use defense properly so I'm not getting scored on every single drive.

So far I am 9 weeks in to franchise
the teams I have not been able to stop for a 3 and out for an entire game include
Giants
Jets
Cardinals
Patriots
and the Rams

When I first got the game it was so bad I have had to play offense only
for a few games

[ACS36]

find a way to constantly pressure the AI qb, or player control a blitzing LB or DB, set them to spy and then sit in the middle of the field and cover open wr's underneath.

it's really the only two reliable ways to play defense against the ai, and it always been that way for previous years as well.

your own defensive plays aren't going to do enough on their own

[Dee-Jay]

Originally posted by J.Light12:

Playing connected Franchise mode and I keep getting scored on constantly with the other team having wide open receivers. What the hell am I doing wrong. I am trying to use plays that cover the secondary. I am playing on all pro. Also on offense it seems as though none of my receivers ever get open and are covered really well by the defense. I am playing offline franchise. Please help with this headache of a game

It’s all about getting a set of difficulty slider settings that work for you. Obviously the global difficulty settings affect things too. Google it.

[aarddave]

Originally posted by J.Light12:

Thank you for that,
The problem I have mainly is I can play offense with very little problem as it's really not that hard. I know how to use offense audibles to an extent and that being I mainly only know how to switch a hot route receiver or tell the O line to max protect, etc.

When I'm on defense I know how to tell the defender I'm highlighted on to blitz, QB Spy, Bluff Blitz, etc. anything else I'm shot in the dark.
the offense gets a receiver open sometimes deep and wide enough open where they go to the house. The QB situation depends if its a mobile one, it is they like to run themselves. if not they may have longer than they should have before one of my D linemen get free so by the time they do get to the QB the play has already been made unless we can still somehow get pressure on him to make his pass inaccurate.

I watch football on TV a lot and as I know a Madden game will never simulate something like that, it'd be nice if I can still feel the challenges while also knowing how to use defense properly so I'm not getting scored on every single drive.

So far I am 9 weeks in to franchise
the teams I have not been able to stop for a 3 and out for an entire game include
Giants
Jets
Cardinals
Patriots
and the Rams

When I first got the game it was so bad I have had to play offense only
for a few games

Getting beat deep, especially on the sidelines can be a sign of running too much cover-2 defence as those areas are a weakness of that coverage. If the receiver is getting open in the middle of the field it could be a case of having bad matchups which you can change in the coaching adjustment and can switch it to have your fastest db's cover the fastest receivers etc. It's also why you need to make sure you come out in a nickel or dime or better package when trying to defend the pass. The last thing you want is a slow LB trying to cover a fast WR, you'll get burned every single time past the first few yards.

I much prefer cover-3 to cover-2 when I'm expecting a pass

It could also mean you're blitzing too much which is risky if you don't get to at least pressure the QB as it will leave less defenders trying to cover the receivers. It is very easy to allow a big catch on a blitz if you don't get to the QB in time. You could also try pushing your defenders up to the line on the pre-snap. This usually is for trying to disrupt the receivers initial first steps to knock them off their route and can give you a little extra time to get to the qb - but - will allow receivers to get slightly more open further down the field.

If you're playing against a mobile QB, as others have said, you will need to run a QB spy a lot more than you normally would, along with blitzing less. If receivers are all covered downfield and there is a nice open gap underneath, the mobile QB will just run into it all day long. Blitzing, unless you can break through on both sides of the line, will only push the QB out the other side.


Playing defence is much harder than offence. Most people start out controlling a defensive lineman, usually a defensive end and trying to rush the QB and against the run. Once the ball is in the air you can switch defenders if you wish and try and make a play that way.
Once you're confident with that you can maybe try a LB or Safety. I don't know many people who play CB's against the CPU.

The most important thing tho is to learn what the plays and formations actually do with their strengths and weaknesses. Once that is down then you can think about adjustments in coverage. The different coloured zones on the play art all play slightly differently and each do better in different situations. There are tons of videos on youtube with tutorials on how to change the default zone coverages to make them work much better.

[J.Light12]

Originally posted by aarddave:

Originally posted by J.Light12:

Thank you for that,
The problem I have mainly is I can play offense with very little problem as it's really not that hard. I know how to use offense audibles to an extent and that being I mainly only know how to switch a hot route receiver or tell the O line to max protect, etc.

When I'm on defense I know how to tell the defender I'm highlighted on to blitz, QB Spy, Bluff Blitz, etc. anything else I'm shot in the dark.
the offense gets a receiver open sometimes deep and wide enough open where they go to the house. The QB situation depends if its a mobile one, it is they like to run themselves. if not they may have longer than they should have before one of my D linemen get free so by the time they do get to the QB the play has already been made unless we can still somehow get pressure on him to make his pass inaccurate.

I watch football on TV a lot and as I know a Madden game will never simulate something like that, it'd be nice if I can still feel the challenges while also knowing how to use defense properly so I'm not getting scored on every single drive.

So far I am 9 weeks in to franchise
the teams I have not been able to stop for a 3 and out for an entire game include
Giants
Jets
Cardinals
Patriots
and the Rams

When I first got the game it was so bad I have had to play offense only
for a few games

Getting beat deep, especially on the sidelines can be a sign of running too much cover-2 defence as those areas are a weakness of that coverage. If the receiver is getting open in the middle of the field it could be a case of having bad matchups which you can change in the coaching adjustment and can switch it to have your fastest db's cover the fastest receivers etc. It's also why you need to make sure you come out in a nickel or dime or better package when trying to defend the pass. The last thing you want is a slow LB trying to cover a fast WR, you'll get burned every single time past the first few yards.

I much prefer cover-3 to cover-2 when I'm expecting a pass

It could also mean you're blitzing too much which is risky if you don't get to at least pressure the QB as it will leave less defenders trying to cover the receivers. It is very easy to allow a big catch on a blitz if you don't get to the QB in time. You could also try pushing your defenders up to the line on the pre-snap. This usually is for trying to disrupt the receivers initial first steps to knock them off their route and can give you a little extra time to get to the qb - but - will allow receivers to get slightly more open further down the field.

If you're playing against a mobile QB, as others have said, you will need to run a QB spy a lot more than you normally would, along with blitzing less. If receivers are all covered downfield and there is a nice open gap underneath, the mobile QB will just run into it all day long. Blitzing, unless you can break through on both sides of the line, will only push the QB out the other side.


Playing defence is much harder than offence. Most people start out controlling a defensive lineman, usually a defensive end and trying to rush the QB and against the run. Once the ball is in the air you can switch defenders if you wish and try and make a play that way.
Once you're confident with that you can maybe try a LB or Safety. I don't know many people who play CB's against the CPU.

The most important thing tho is to learn what the plays and formations actually do with their strengths and weaknesses. Once that is down then you can think about adjustments in coverage. The different coloured zones on the play art all play slightly differently and each do better in different situations. There are tons of videos on youtube with tutorials on how to change the default zone coverages to make them work much better.

ok I'll try some of this in game my problem with youtube videos on defense is most of them focus on online play, I am playing offline franchise.