Every year, at the beginning of August, football fans around the country await for the release of the annual Madden NFL football game. While new features in Madden NFL 20 include added RPO’s, Superstar abilities, a new Franchise mode, and better player motion, most players just want to know what the game feels like, as well as how to play to win in Madden NFL 20. Today, I will be detailing the main differences between Madden 20 and Madden 19, and what you need to know to gain the advantage.
Zone Coverage is Awful
The days of being able to sit back in Cover 2 and Cover 3 are over. This year, zone coverages do not pick up many route combinations. Cloud flats on the outside are extremely broken, so I would either man up the outside or use hard flats (which are still sub-par). Cover 4 is not as bad as Cover 2 and Cover 3 if you don’t have the personnel to play man coverage, but the best defensive strategy right now if you’re getting dotted up is to man up. If you still want to stick in zone coverage, I’d suggest putting your outside linebackers or slot corners on vertical hooks (obviously make sure that doesn’t leave huge holes on the field). Throwing up the seam this year is very popular, and the vertical hooks should cover that.
Too Many Fumbles
There are very few games of Madden 20 that I’ve seen this year where a fumble hasn’t occurred. CPU players can force you to fumble now, not just a user defensive player. Even CB’s with low hit power can lay the wood this year, which means you need to protect the football. If it doesn’t interfere with your playstyle, having a bigger, stronger running back is more ideal in this game because of how easy it is to fumble with players like Tarik Cohen. Regardless of who you use at the position, I would suggest putting your ball carrying setting on “conservative” (an option at the bottom of the playbook) and to hold the RB/R1 button when running with the ball. It’ll hurt your juking ability, but hanging onto the ball is more important.
Speed is Killer
This year, Madden has nerfed the speed stat in this game, which makes the fast players stand out even more. At WR, many who play Ultimate Team have prioritized lower-rated players like John Ross, DeSean Jackson, and Andy Isabella because of their high speed rating. Especially for WRs, speed seems more important than route running or catching because of how slow everyone is right now. I would also suggest spreading the field. Some playbooks have the formation “Spread”, which is a 1RB/4WR set. Spreading the field allows your fast players to play in space, including your RB’s.
User Lurks have been Nerfed
Ball trajectory has been vastly improved this year, so User-controlled linebackers will no longer be able to pick off a pass 10 yards in front of your receiver. It’s tough to break the habit, but you can get away with throwing short passes without having to worry about a User-controlled player picking the pass out of nowhere. You can still pick off a pass, but you’ll have to tightly guard the receiver in order to make a play on the ball.
Spins are No Longer Lethal
Spinning was overpowered in M19, as it could shake up to 3 defenders at the time. I feel as if 99% of ball carrier moves last year that players did were spins. This year, Madden has balanced out the move. In my opinion, regular jukes are a little better. In my opinion, the best ball carrier move in the stiff-arm. If you have a strong, powerful RB, this can get you an extra 3-4 yards before going down and, if you break the tackle, you can get even more. That’s another reason to use a strong RB.
Adjusting Defensively is Much Harder
This year, Madden changed the defensive adjustment buttons for linebackers and the D-line. Instead of clicking LB/L1 for D-line and RB/R1 for defense, it’s now left and right on the D-pad, respectively. This makes it very challenging for you to make individual defensive adjustments, as instead of spamming the LB/L1 or RB/R1 button twice and then selecting a player followed by their new action, the player has to click either left or right on the D-pad, followed by the LB/L1 or RB/R1, and then make the adjustment. It’s much more complicated, and it was stupid for Madden to change those controls. It also is hard to make adjustments, as QB’s get to the line and can snap the ball 3-4 seconds faster than last year and can snap it almost instantly after a no-huddle is called. I would suggest either practicing in practice mode or keeping your adjustments simple.