There are many things that go into playing good defense in Madden 25. How well you do on defense can be influenced by the ratings of your players versus the offense's players, what scheme you're running versus what scheme they're running, which player you choose to user and how well you user a wide receiver route, and some others.
Almost every playbook in the game is based off a specific team's playbook. They have their playstyle and goals in mind. There is no universally best playbook in Madden 25. Which playbook is best for you will depend on your playstyle and what you're trying to accomplish. Nonetheless, let's take a look at what are generally the best options for defensive playbooks in Madden 25.
The number one determining factor that will decide whether or not your defense is going to play well is the quality of pre-snap adjustments you make before the offense snaps the football. No defensive play will translate to perfect coverage or pass rushing straight from the play sheet. Making proper pre-snap adjustments is crucial to playing good defense.
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Just like in real life, the main thing you're going to want to protect yourself against on defense, are big plays through the air. This means the best playbooks are generally going to be the ones that have the best zone and man coverage options to limit the effectiveness of your opponent's passing game as much as possible.
Best playbooks:
- Kansas City Chiefs
- Multiple D
- Arizona Cardinals
- Cleveland Browns
1. Kansas City Chiefs
The Kansas City Chiefs defensive playbook is a good one. It boasts a nice variety of formation with great pass coverage options. It isn't the best in the game against the run, but it does offer solid run protection at the line of scrimmage. If the RB makes it passed the line of scrimmage, however, you may be in trouble.
As stated though, in Madden your primary goal on defense should always be to stop the pass. This is especially true in multiplayer modes where the vast majority of players will barely run the ball and will just want to pass, but also applies to regular single player as well.
Multiple D specializes in nothing. It doesn't do anything spectacular but it also doesn't do anything horribly either. It's very well balanced and not difficult to understand. That does come with the caveat that if it's easy and simple for you, it's also easy and simple for the other team.
It can be difficult to mix things up properly and challenge the offense with a variety of looks. This is the playbook you'll want to pick if you want a straight forward defense that can be effective with relatively minimal pre-snap adjustments.
3. Arizona Cardinals
This playbook is also used by the Eagles. It offers the best zone coverage in the game. Zone coverage is generally better than man coverage in most situations and is what you're going to want to run 95% of the time.
It's a very straightforward and basic playbook that won't take long to learn how to use and an emphasis on good zone coverage is never a bad thing. This is the playbook that takes the concept of "stop the pass" and turns the dial up to 100. It's not flashy, it's not interesting, and it lacks variety but the one thing it truly tries to do it does really well.
This playbook has a heavy emphasis on covering over the top to prevent deep balls while trying to get good pressure on the quarterback. It's the type of playbook where, if played incorrectly or countered well by the offense, you could find yourself consistently getting beat for 10 to 15 yard gains.
On the flipside, you should find yourself able to get good QB pressure and utilize its strong blitz packages to get some sacks while playing safely with your safeties to prevent the broken coverage 20+ chunk plays/TDs.
This is a great choice for someone trying to force turnovers. If your defense is capable of getting good pressure you can force a decent amount of inaccurate throws into tight man coverage or a safety shading over the top.
