But playing defense isn't easy. There's certainly ways to cop out of it, we're not going to pretend like there's not, but understanding just what's happening on defense will make your life a lot easier when the going gets tough. Many people dread playing defense in Madden because, unlike when playing offense, few things are really explained to you. It's a more hands-off variety of the game, where all you can see in-game are your various coverage areas. Knowing your team's defensive playbook i... Read More

We've covered amply the running and passing game featured in Madden... but what about other situations, situations so nebulous that you may not be sure what to do? Well, we'll cover a few of those issues briefly below as well. Then, we'll move onto the lackluster but extremely important defensive side of the ball.

There are teams in the NFL that choose to run the ball almost exclusively, giving their quarterback something like 10-15 attempts per game. That's fine and dandy (though we don't really recommend it, especially in a game like this one which can be manipulated by constant play variety), but the running game is still an integral and highly vital part of the game, and there are better ways to do it than others.

The offensive side of football is almost always the most enjoyable aspect of playing football to many Madden players (even if you've got, for instance, that corner back mentality - interception!), and takes the most skill to execute properly. While it's easy to run blitzes out of a 3-4 defense all day and all night, it takes more know-how to execute plays out of your team's versatile (and completely unique) play book on offense, because you have to keep the defense on its toes, exploit its we... Read More

Welcome to the "Football 101" part of the guide. This section of the guide covers the basic aspects of the game of football itself, in case you may find yourself lost or confused on certain aspects of playing the game. Most Madden NFL 09 players can skip this part; this is simply a refresher course for those unfamiliar with the game of football, or who have been away from it for a while. Hey, we can't all know everything!

One of the most confusing parts of the game of football is learn... Read More