Madden NFL Football 2005

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This section offers tips and tricks for managing a stubborn defense.

Know what the different colors, lines, and symbols mean on each defensive play. A defender with no symbols around him is in man-to-man coverage; a defender with a yellow colored circle near him is in zone coverage covering that area of the field; a defender with a circle around him is spying the quarterback; and defenders with lines toward the line of scrimmage are blitzing.
Choose which defender you want to control carefully. Use the coach's cam to see your coverage. If you select a defender that's in man-to-man coverage against a specific offensive player then you'll need to cover him! If you choose to just blitz, the offensive player will be uncovered and a rather easy target. Likewise be careful if you move a defender out of their zone assignment. A receiver moving into that zone will certainly find an opening.

Defending against the run doesn't necessarily mean stacking as many defenders on the line of scrimmage as possible. It might be a wise course of action in very short yardage situations but remember that with that many defenders on the line, you have that much fewer defenders off the line. If the running back gets a good block or makes a nice juke, he could break it all the way.
Zone defense is better at covering the run than man-to-man. In man-to-man, your defenders are following specific offensive players--they're likely moving away from the line of scrimmage with their back turned. In zone, defenders are stationed at specific areas and can adjust more quickly to the run play's direction.

It's wise to wait until the offensive personnel report before calling your defensive play. It might be 1st and 10, you expect a run, and call a 46 defense. Meanwhile the offense has decided to air it out with a four wide receiver set. You've now put your defense in a bad match up and have to audible (which is still poor personnel for four wide receivers even if the coverage is better) or worse, waste a timeout.
Containment is an important tackling concept. Instead of just selecting a defender and charging, which could lead to missed tackles, keep the offensive player running east and west instead of north and south. Missing tackle after tackle could keep the opposing offense in short yardage situations--a big plus for the offense. An offense has plenty of options in 2nd and 4 or 3rd and 3 but not as many options in 2nd and 10 or 3rd and 8.

The following chart reveals the top rated defenses based on overall rating in Madden 2005.

The following chart reveals the top rated defensive linemen in Madden 2005.

The following chart reveals the top rated linebackers in Madden 2005.

The following chart reveals the top rated defensive backs in Madden 2005.