Madden NFL 16 has changed more throughout the year than any other year of Madden I can remember (and I have 23 years of playing experience!). We went from never being able to stop the aggressive catch to understanding that ppl just lobbing it up every play for the aggressive animation isn’t going to work. We then saw the emergence of the 43 under (very similar to the under odd we released the first week of the game), then we got the biggest patch anyone has ever seen. Right now the SS Scrape defense is by far the most popular play on defense, but it has major flaws, specifically the fact that even though alot of ppl swear it can’t be picked up, it can, and there are many holes in the coverage, unless adjustments are made, which makes the person rely on user to a degree that most ppl just can’t do!!! Before we get deep into this guide let’s go over a few things that will make you successful running this defense!!!!
- DO NOT BLITZ EVERY PLAY OF THE GAME!
- MIX IN SOME MAN COVERAGE (2 Man Under) WHILE MAKING IT LOOK LIKE YOUR BLITZES, IF YOU ARE A ZONE HEAVY PLAYER LIKE MYSELF!!
- LEARN THE NEW DEFENSIVE HOT ROUTING SYSTEM!!! (CAN’T STRESS THIS ONE ENOUGH GUYS)
- DO NOT GO FOR THE INTERCEPTION DOWNFIELD UNLESS YOU HAVE HELP!!!! (THE PLAY RECEIVER BUTTON IS YOUR FRIEND)
- START THE GAME PASSIVELY, DETERMINE WHAT YOUR OPPONENT WANTS TO DO!!!!!
The Madden NFL 16 46 Defense will give you everything you need to be successful from a blitz standpoint, including heat that can’t be slide protected, and counters to blocking schemes that will help pick up some of the pressures, with that being said, It is in your best interest to approach your opponent a bit differently than you would have in past Madden’s, especially at the start of the game. Start the game in something basic, preferably coverage defenses from 335 bear, mixing in different coverage combinations and mixing in a basic blitz here and there, focusing on what formations your opponent likes to run and where his first reads are. For example, on the first drive, say your opponent comes out in Gun Bunch and is only targeting bunch receivers, focusing on corner routes and drags. You should be able to recognize what his favorite target is, and where he is probably not going to throw the ball.
PRO TIP: Most Players only throw to ONE side of the Field most of the game. There are very few players who are able to read the entire field. Picking up on that tendency will greatly help you in adjusting to your opponent!!!
The next thing you need to keep in mind, is the fact that we now have an all new defensive hot routing system that allows us to adjust any single player’s assignment, without manually clicking on to them to hot route. Learning this system and knowing the icon of the player that you are going to be hot routing, will help you adjust faster, resulting in you having a MUCH LOWER chance of being snapped while controlling a defensive lineman or any other player you were not intending on usering!!!
PRO TIP #2: DON’T WATCH YOUR BLITZ!! Ok so you got your blitz set-up, do not get caught up watching to see if your blitz comes in, keep your head up so that you can effectively cover your user assignment!!!
As I’m sure you all know defending the run can be frustrating this year, especially when it comes to tosses. One of the biggest things about this is people are pretty much programmed at this point to shoot the gap and try to blow up the run in the backfield, that is no longer your number one priority!!! As soon as you see the quarterback start the motion used for the toss, head toward the sideline that the toss is going to. Get outside of the blockers and force the offensive player to go inside where you have help.
PRO TIP #3: BLUFF BLITZING DEEP ZONES! Placing Safeties in bluff blitzes cause them to go forward before dropping into their respective zone or man assignments, this helps vs the run as they will start forward and continue that way when they see the run develop. This results in more contained runs and more help from your safeties in the run game.