1. Find a team with a lot of speed and choose them. Historically, teams with a lot of speed have always been the teams that the majority of players choose. With the really relevant and meaningful new acceleration rating this year, you may want to find players who have good speed and good acceleration. Players like Tennessee Titan running back Chris Johnson are ideal. Speed is important in all positions, but the most important thing is running back, wide receiver and cornerback. If you’re lucky enough to have a mobile quarterback on your team, that’s an added bonus.
2. Defense, Defense, Defense. The key to winning at high levels in Madden 11 will be defense. If you can control the ball and play good defense, you will win 90% of your online games. Learn some maximum coverage defenses, as well as some great bombing raids. Have some man defenses and zone defenses that you mix up to keep your opponent on their toes. The key to a good defense is deception. Whether you’re bombing 8 guys or just three, you want it to look the same. You want to hide whether you are in a male defense or defensive zone because revealing that information will give your opponent a clear advantage. That brings us to the next point of emphasis …
3. Read your opponent’s defense. The key to a good Madden 11 offense is knowing which defense the opposition has called. Peyton Manning is so good in the NFL because he usually knows what defense the other team is on just by looking at them. One trick to knowing if your opponent is on the man or in the zone is to move a wide receiver from one side to the other. If the defender follows you to the other side, you will know that the defense is on man-to-man defense. If the defender follows you a bit and then stops, you know that our opponent is in the defense zone. You should practice plays in Madden 11 that work against the zone 100% of the time and do the same for man-to-man defense.
4. Control the game. If the opening coin toss wins, you must choose to start first. Madden 11 will have shorter games than previous years. This year it is more than ever to put yourself in a situation where you can score just before halftime and exactly at the end of games. This limits the chances of your opponent getting the ball and will generally give you two more touchdowns than the other team. Sometimes it is better to wait a bit before deciding to score so that you can run longer off the clock and bring the game closer to halftime or the end of the game.
5. Pick a good team. This may seem like a no-brainer, but it’s very difficult to compete against dominant teams at Madden 2011 with a team that doesn’t have good players. Choose a team with high ratings and good players and you will start the game with an advantage. Make sure they have a good defense and a good offense. It is difficult to play with one-dimensional teams. Teams like the Titans, Colts, Jets, Chargers, Saints, and Vikings are some good Madden 11 teams.