Today we’re going to be looking at how to defend against deep passes in Madden NFL 17. New this year is a swat mechanic that allows your cornerback to knock the ball out the receiver’s hands.
Swat is X on Xbox One and Square on PS4.
First off, it doesn’t seem to matter who you have at cornerback when you go for the swat as much as it does at receiver you’re going up against. Swatting the ball is a low percentage play regardless, but elite receivers will catch the ball more often than their less gifted counterparts will.
Going for the swat has the best chance of breaking up the pass out of the three, but it also has the highest chance of giving up a touchdown by the corner getting rag dolled if the receiver catches it.
It’s all about how comfortable you are leaving yourself open to the slight chance of giving up a long TD going for the swat. Swatting would serve best on passes towards the end zone where that’s no longer a worry.
Next up is the play the receiver button.
Play the receiver is An on Xbox One and X on PS4.
When playing the receiver, you substitute the higher chance of successfully breaking up the pass for the security of not getting beat after the receiver catches it. As a result, this allows the star receivers to catch deep passes at a much higher rate no matter who you have at cornerback, and even average receivers will get in on the action.
The gist of defending a receiver if you’re a cornerback is to let him catch the ball first, then either try to smack the ball out of his hands or knock his feet out from under him. So, it lends itself to the receiver catching more passes than normal, but this puts the cornerback in a better position to make a tackle if the receiver does catch the ball.
This isn’t an advisable strategy to use near the endzone, but against elite receivers, guaranteeing the catch to prevent a 70-yard touchdown might not be a bad idea.
Lastly is everybody’s favorite move, Go for the Interception.
Go for the Interception is Y on Xbox One and Triangle on PS4.
The thing I like most about going for the interception is the rate that you get an interception is dependent on who the receiver and cornerback are. Your best chance to get a pick is when the cornerback clearly has a matchup advantage over the receiver. On the flip side, you want to avoid going for the interception when the receiver is the one with the advantage. Although you will snag a few in the long run balls, you’re going to see every type of catch imaginable caught on you if the receiver has the matchup advantage.
However, two equally matched guys will bring out the best and worst in each other. If you were to match up Richard Sherman on Julio, they will each get their fair share of pass breakups, interceptions, and catches on each other. Two sub-par players will also cancel each other but instead cause a lot of batted down passes. Lower tier matchups will still favor the cornerback, though, due to the possibility of tip interceptions to teammates.
Going for the pick is best used when you have a cornerback who can pull it off.
We hope you guys find this helpful. Stay tuned to SGO for more Madden tips and tricks