The Defensive Playbooks within Madden NFL 25 are taken from the strategies of every professional team, but the best ones can shut down even the most dominant offenses. The right coverages and blitz strategies in a defense's playbook can help prevent your opponent from ever gaining points during a game. As a result, you must pick a defensive playbook that works best with your team's strengths.

Similar to the offensive playbooks in Madden 25, the defensive playbooks in the game are organized by teams, meaning that one playbook consists of one organization's gameplan. This naturally creates some limitations, as some playbooks are balanced while others have specific strengths. No playbook is perfect for everyone, especially as you uniquely customize your team to suit your exclusive needs.

What Are The Strongest Defensive Playbooks In Madden 25?

Pick Gameplans With Strong Formations

As your defense goes up against some of the best Wide Receivers and Quarterbacks in Madden 25, you'll want to focus on finding gameplans with good coverage options to protect yourself against ing plays. Giving up two to three yards every play is fine, but giving up 10 or more every time won't keep your opponent from scoring. Defensive plays are harder to plan than offensive ones, so the playbook is perhaps more important.

Some of the best defensive playbooks you can choose from are:

Some of these defensive playbooks share similarities to College Football 25 schemes you may have used to reach National Championships. Familiar options are always strong since you need less practice to master them.

Some other defenses may be more appealing to you, such as the Tennesee Titans or Las Vegas Raiders for their specializations. Do not be tricked into thinking every defensive gameplan in Madden 25 looks the same, despite how most will use the same type of coverage. Depending on whether you prefer zone coverage or man-to-man, each strategy could be applied to your team in very different ways.

How To Make Custom Defensive Playbooks

Change Out Plays To Match Your Team's Strengths

Custom playbooks are made when you go to the "Creation Center" from the game's main menu and pick the "Playbooks" section to get started. As you see all the available defensive playbooks in Madden 25, you should also see an option named "Create Defense" among four main prompts. You can adjust a pre-existing playbook by adding or subtracting plays from it to make a gameplan that suits your team best.

Once you've picked a playbook out of the best ones mentioned, you can make adjustments based on your specific needs. For example, if you have one of the best Safties in Madden 25 in your organization, try to add plays that focus on zone coverage. This will allow that Safety to have a better plan to use their speed and awareness to shut down enemy receivers trying to catch a in the backfield.

Molding a playbook into something perfect for your team can help you greatly, but make sure to practice with unfamiliar formations so you can use them in a game without making a mistake. The best defensive playbooks in Madden NFL 25 are only as good as how you execute them against strong offenses trying to score on you constantly.