Entertainment desk
< September 2	<< Aug \| September \| Oct >>	September 4 >

Welcome to the Wikipedia Entertainment Reference Desk Archives
The page you are currently viewing is an archive page. While you can leave answers for any questions shown below, please ask new questions on one of the current reference desk pages.

September 3

New to American Football/Madden NFL

I've recently gotten into American Football through the Madden games. I know most of the rules now and I can play quite well but I would like to improve. One thing I would like help with is Defence. In particular how do you decide what play to use? It seems like guesswork to me and until now I've just been picking them randomly. Any advice --Polyknot (talk) 17:54, 3 September 2018 (UTC)[reply]

If you think they're going to run you don't need lots of guys far away. 3rd and short is much more likely to be a run than 3rd and long but the offense could always try to trick you and pass anyway. 4th down and far from the goal is almost always a punt unless they're desperate for points or the coach is very brave. There is an anti-punt formation. 4th and close enough is usually a field goal attempt which has a defence which sucks. Very rarely it works and you can jump high enough to block the ball. And teams that are good at passing and bad at rushing or vice versa are more likely to use one than the other but only attempting their best one is worse than attempting their crappy skill sometimes which forces the defense to spread out a little. There's also fake field goals and fake punts but those aren't too common. When it's very windy runs are more likely than otherwise and long passes less likely. I believe it's also very hard to throw the ball accurately when it's say -15°F (-26C), I don't know how the Barrow, Alaska High School team copes. Sagittarian Milky Way (talk) 19:27, 3 September 2018 (UTC)[reply]

(e/c) You can start by spelling it the all-American way: "defense". 2606:A000:1126:4CA:0:98F2:CFF6:1782 (talk) 19:10, 3 September 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Maybe I've been typing about Britishy things enough recently to make the swipe keyboard "correct" the spelling. Sagittarian Milky Way (talk) 19:18, 3 September 2018 (UTC)[reply]

~~Three~~ Four main things to consider when picking a defense play:

Down number
Yardage to 1st down/goal
"Reading the offense"
How desperate are you/they for scoring points?

And, there is an article on Digital Trends: Madden NFL Defense Tips —2606:A000:1126:4CA:0:98F2:CFF6:1782 (talk) 20:18, 3 September 2018 (UTC)[reply]

When the play starts, you will likely be in control of a linebacker or safety (since nobody picks a lineman). You will have a man or zone to cover, but you need to know if it is a run or pass play as soon as possible. Watch the line. When a pass is thrown, only eligible receivers can be past the line of scrimmage. The offensive linemen are not eligible receivers. So, if you see one of the offensive linemen charge past the line of scrimmage, it is not a pass play. It is a run. Chase down the ball. Otherwise, hold your coverage (man or zone). You can usually do a quick count (1, 2, 3, jump) to try to undercut the route and get an interception. 216.59.42.36 (talk) 13:57, 4 September 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Wikipedia has an article on American football strategy which may be a good starting point for your research. --Jayron 32 14:09, 4 September 2018 (UTC)[reply]