Putting together an efficient passing game in Madden can sometimes feel like solving algebra, where 11 defenders seem like 100. So with this video, im going to help you break it down into simple pieces where you can effecetively drive up the field understanding how to beat defenses in Madden 25. I’m Chris from Sports Gamers Online, and all right, let’s get into it.
Short Passes Are Your Friend
Taking advantage of short passes and focusing on gaining yards after the catch can be a highly effective strategy, especially considering how some players struggle with tackling. Consistently hitting those short gains can frustrate your opponent, leading them to over-adjust their defense. Short passes are particularly useful against players who like to control their middle linebacker. By repeatedly throwing short, you can bait them into dropping back too far, or you can use the threat of the short pass to hold them in place and then throw it right behind them for a bigger gain. However, you don’t want to become “Mr. Checkdown” because you’re afraid of throwing deep, as that makes you predictable. If your opponent catches on to your preference for short passes, they might start sitting on those routes, which could lead to a tough game for you. It’s crucial to show that you can take the short stuff while still being able to throw deep when the opportunity arises.
Middle of the field
To improve your efficiency in passing towards the middle of the field, it’s essential to understand the depth of the linebackers. As soon as you snap the ball, visualize an imaginary line across the linebackers. This will help you gauge their depth and assess the space available in front of and behind them. By observing whether they are dropping back quickly or moving slowly, you can better determine which areas are open for your pass. You might run into trouble if you don’t quickly notice how shallow or deep the linebackers are dropping, so it’s crucial to take a moment to evaluate their movement and how it impacts the available passing lanes. Doing this will help you find the open spots more efficiently and make better decisions under pressure.
Pass Leading
Pass leading lets you direct the pass you’re throwing to different spots within the receiver’s radius. Depending on where you aim, you can make the receiver slow down and protect themselves from a potential hit stick or place the ball in a spot only they can reach. This approach helps avoid situations where a regular pass might cause the receiver to fly right by the defender, making it easy for the safety to intercept the ball and instead help you adjust their path. When you press a receiver’s icon to pass them the ball, quickly aim the left stick in the direction you want the pass to go.
Free Form Passing
Now, in your game settings, start by navigating to Passing Mechanics and then select Pass Lead Increase. This option allows you to control how far your Free Form Passing can extend beyond the passing circle by holding the left trigger while leading your pass in the direction you choose. You have four settings to choose from: None, Small, Medium, and Large. Free Form Passing lets you throw the ball outside the standard passing circle, giving your receiver a chance to catch it in more varied locations if executed correctly. Additionally, you can adjust the speed at which the pass reaches the receiver, on a scale from 1 to 20. If you have the setting set to None, the speed adjustment won’t make a difference. With the setting on Small, you’re already limiting how far the target can move, regardless of how high you set the speed. To illustrate the impact, if you set the pass lead to Large and the speed to 20, it may not be practical in an actual game due to how fast and off-target your throws can become.
User Controlling Passes Down The Middle
When throwing across the middle, you can become a force by straightening your route and undercutting the pass. Click on your receiver with the circle or B button and then run a straight line across the yard marker. This will allow you to jump in front of any potential defenders and give yourself more room to work after you catch the pass.
Blocking
You want to give yourself the best chance on each passing play. If you select a play with a deeper route as the primary route, consider keeping a running back or tight end in to block for you. On the other hand, if you’re aiming for a quick passing play, you can have all five of your receivers’ run routes. It’s important for your strategy to make sense: sending out five deep routes puts stress on the defense, but it also leaves you more vulnerable to pass rushers or blitzes.
Find The User
When you snap the ball, one of the first things you should do is identify which defender your opponent is controlling by looking for the circle that lights up underneath their player. Although players can switch between defenders during the play, identifying who they start with can give you a crucial edge. Until the defensive switch stick becomes widespread, this tactic can still serve you well against most opponents. By knowing which defender they’re using, you can be more aware of whether you’re throwing into their coverage area and stay alert to their movements throughout the play. This awareness can help you make smarter decisions and avoid costly mistakes.
Create a Triangle
One way to quickly improve your passing game is by utilizing triangle reads. It’s called that because the three routes you’ve designed form a triangle if you pause the screen. Triangle reads are effective because they can create openings in different areas against zone defenses and are difficult for a user to defend, even in man coverage. By stretching the defender’s side to side and up and down, you almost guarantee that someone will break free. Use your reads to put the defense in a tough spot after the snap.
Focus On Grass
To improve your ability to quickly cycle through your passing options, you want to shift your focus from staring at individual defenders to instead focusing on the open areas of the field where your routes are designed to run into. Instead of getting caught up in where defenders are, concentrate on where they aren’t. As soon as you see a defender’s color in that given space, move on to your next read, and then the next, until you find an open target.
A common mistake to avoid is locking in on your receiver as they run their route. When you focus too much on the receiver, you lose sight of the defenders around them, which can lead to poor throws or even interceptions. By focusing in on the areas your route should come wide open into, you can speed up your decision-making and avoid hesitating in the pocket unsure of if their open or not.
Never Your First Read
On a regular passing play, never make your running back your first read unless you see him wide open out of the corner of your eye. Too many things can go wrong, and you can easily be baited into making a bad pass if defenders notice you staring down your 5-yard out route to the back too often.
Tendencies
Be aware of the tendencies you’re showing your opponent. On 3rd and 5, against off coverage, throwing that smart-route out route just once can prompt your opponent to adjust their defense accordingly, expecting you to use it again. Similarly, if you quickly pass to an uncovered slot receiver, they’ll take note and might bait you the next time, hoping you’ll throw it even quicker without looking. Treat every snap as unique and respect the fact that your opponent is making adjustments to you in real time.
High Pass
When throwing passes down the middle against zone coverage, you’ll probably need to use the high pass to avoid lurking linebackers trying to pick you off. To perform a high pass, hold L1 or LB on your controller while throwing. This technique allows you to sail the ball over any defender’s head, giving your receiver—and only your receiver—a shot at the ball. You can either tap the receiver’s button for a lob high pass or opt for a more likely bullet high pass to get the ball to them quickly. To secure the pass, hold Y or Triangle to perform an aggressive catch, ensuring your receiver grabs the ball. While the high pass can be useful, it’s best to avoid using it against tight man coverage, as defenders are already sticking close to their assigned receivers. In this situation, attempting a high pass can be risky, giving defenders time to recover and break up the pass. To maximize the effectiveness of the high pass, always keep an eye on the defenders before committing to the throw. Make sure your receiver has enough space behind them for you to drop the ball in.
Types Of Catches
There are four different types of catches you can make in Madden 25.
The first type is the Run After the Catch mechanic, which you perform by holding the Square button on PlayStation or X on Xbox. This lets you continue to run after catching the ball to increase your chance of not getting tackled by the closest defender to you, if there is space in front of you
The next type is the Possession Catch catch, which you want to heavily utilize to prevent your receiver from getting hit sticked or to keep them in bounds. You execute this by holding the X button on PlayStation or A on Xbox, on 3rd down, do not be shy about possession catching everything to keep the chains moving
Next is the Aggressive Catch, which you perform by pressing the Triangle button on PlayStation or Y on Xbox. This has your player jump in the air to snatch the ball. Taller receivers excel more at these then smaller ones when the defender is close to them.
And Lastly, is the Spectacular Catch, which you perform by holding L1 or LB on your controller and your receiver will go for a flashy often times one handed catch to secure the ball.
Do Not Challenge A User Defender
Now, if your opponent is usering against a route that you want to throw to. Often times time me if im wrong, you lock on and go ok im about to get him with this, and you end up throwing a pick. If you see your opponent locked on to a potential receiver you want to throw to, move on. These are different from the throws where you legit didn’t see the defender coming, their user ability often times will win out on you trying to show them up
Commit to Screen
When selecting a screen pass, its easy to get into the trap of ok I’m running this play to throw to my running back or my wide receiver. But just because you picked a screen doesn’t mean your forced to only throw to him. I only say that because your opponent can do stuff to, and if their quick they can see a screen developing right in front of them. So you will create a lot of please don’t pick this throws. So that’s why I want you to make sure your screen play has other routes in it, especially ones that attack the middle of the field to take advantage of if your opponent zooming in to pick you off from the middle of the field.
Short Yardage Situation
Some of the best times to attack deep are on 2nd or 3rd and short situations. Think from your opponent’s point of view, their focused now on trying to make sure you don’t get that 1-2 yards so they may do something crazy or be overly aggressive leaving a big play there for the taking down the field. You just have to be ok risking getting hit and not getting it, which is why 2nd and short I would say is the best time to do so because you have the extra down, if you don’t like going for it on 4th
Right Type of Pass
Something that can ruin your play even if you make the best read is throwing the wrong type of pass to your receiver. So, you must know when to throw with different speeds and having different arcs on the ball. Now this is assuming you have placement and accuracy passing type enabled. So when you begin a throw, there are 3 sections displayed inside a meter above your receiver
The first part if you land in it will trigger a lob pass. Which you achieve by simply tapping the receiver’s button. This helps you execute deep balls for the receiver to run under and outrun defenders in other areas of the field. Although on deep passes, this can work against you if the receiver your targeting is already so far down the field, all your doing at this point is letting the defender recover. Easy to remember tip is if you see the receiver deep late you’re better off not lobbing it to them.
The next section of the meter is for touch passes. These are harder to achieve because of the short window you have to stop the meter in it to throw these. So, I would suggest aim for a lob pass and hold it a smidge half second longer to throw this, their that close together. The purpose of this pass is to help you drop the ball over linebackers and in front of safeties.
And the last section is for bullet passes. You have to be careful here as you want to release the bullet pass right before the end of the meter, as there is a small section you must hit to get perfect accuracy. A bullet pass gets to the receiver faster but sacrifices arc, so never try to throw over a defender’s head with a bullet pass without passing leading it out of their range
HI