I was playing against the AI in my offline franchise, and it felt like everything was going their way, no matter what I called on offense or defense. I figured, alright, it’s going to be one of those games. I tried to fight back, doing everything I could to mount a comeback, but I ended up throwing a boneheaded INT at the goal line. The final score was 14-21. I decided to take the L and move on. Does it suck to lose that way? Yeah, it does and I can't do anything about it.

What do you do when Madden makes you lose?

I am an exceptional Madden player. I've played online for years and while I'm probably not a top player consistently, I have beaten many on the top 100 lost over the years. I tend to play with default playbooks and I have never tried to find all the exploits or best strategies for winning head to head, many would consider this playing straight up. I don't really like that style of play of top players where you're running many of the same plays from a custom playbook and frantically hot routing your entire defense, plus I'm not extremely quick with my fingers, I don't really excel at any games except for Madden and I like to think that I sometimes have an advantage over top players because I adapt well, I don't rely on online strategies etc. With all that said I would not be able to actually win a tournament with top players, in consecutive games I wouldn't be able to consistently best them.

I stopped playing for a long while after I saw that the records reset and this gets to my question. I began playing online again a few days ago, and I feel like even though I'm just starting out in a new season, everyone I'm playing against seems to be employing strategies I'd expect to only see against top players. No one is playing "straight up". Is this because all that is left online is people like this, I'm probably just going to go back to grinding in NCAA and trying to get more national championships if this is the case. I enjoy running into players like this in Madden from time to time, but every game playing what seems like carbon copies of each other is exhausting and it frankly isn't even actual football strategy. The only other thing I can think of is the season just reset and many skilled players are starting over again perhaps?

I hate the resetting of records but I at least thought, well if I start over again I'll at least be able to rack up some wins to start. I've been in absolute dog fights since the placement games and my first season i was something like 50-5.

Are pulling guards more of an obstacle than a help on run plays to anyone else? It always seems like they’re either getting in your way in the backfield or they don’t get over fast enough to actually make a block.

Also is there any way to change the call for the ball button when you’re a receiver anything other than the possession catch button? The amount of times I’ve called for a ball when I’m open only to fall down right when I catch it because the game thought I wanted a possession catch 😑

Madden 24 btw

I just played the most bizarre game online. I’ve played a lot of madden games and I know what to do and what not to do and generally win more times than I lose. That being said, there is no way the game I just played was legit… I had the ball for THREE total plays, and fumbled a turnover on each play (3 kickoffs). My opponent went on to drive and score slowly on each recovery.

I didn’t get a single offensive drive…WTF

I've noticed that in online franchise, you're basically guaranteed a dev upgrade during the pre-season training camp, but in offline, it never happens. Not sure why or if it's a bug, but just an observation for those who do a solo franchise.

Hello all - I am new to Madden, just got my 1st one ever.

What modality would you recommend playing at first to familiarize with the game? (I don't see myself playing online, so any offline suggestion is preferable).

Thanks

everytime I try man to man I let up a massive gain

it feels like my entire secondary has just never touched the field and always get their ankles snapped on the first cut

What players have you guys found that play better than what their rating suggests?

The Renewal League

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this is a No Devs Given league with that being said there will be plenty of rewards to be earned by You from GOTW, Trivia and Giving us a news update about the Your team are all Great ways to earn rewards.

Ik that the Titans have an option to switch back to the Houston Oilers. Are there any other teams capable of doin so?? Also while I’m at it, I know theres atleast one dev for EA, maybe add one for the Rams to have the old logo movin them back ro St. Louis??

Since there’s been a few roster updates + updates to franchise mode, I decided to make another easiest players to trade for in Madden 25 franchise guide, if you’re interested feel free to check it out!

EASIEST PLAYERS TO TRADE FOR IN MADDEN 25 FRANCHISE MODE https://youtu.be/OqbRWDWTHj8

Slightly ranting

the amount of PBU’s the CPU gets is insurmountable. I threw a go-ball and i watch my WR go for the catch; the safety runs in after the ball is caught and just shoves him while 86 catching loses the ball. incomplete pass. fast forward to me on Defense, the ball is arriving barely touched by the CPU’s hands, i hit stick because its 90+ hit power. Ideal timing and it’s a missed tackle?? run after catch for 30+ yards. where does it end? am i doing something wrong throwing to my open receivers leading them upfield and throwing them open? i thought that was the point of QB play, throw them open and then making run after catch. instead i get DB after DB getting a pass breakup because apparently getting shoved after catching the ball is overpowered. where are those animations for me? sorry if that’s a selfish to put it but it feels selective that the CPU can get PBU’s while my guys hit like a wet newspaper and can’t get a simple PBU. Then i resort to the hit stick to hope the ball is at least knocked out and once again, paper maché football hit from 93 hit power and 87 tackling. so I have to watch the CPU nickel and dime me with ZERO knockouts from my DB’s? is that it? parker washington must be prime derrick henry or something in this game avoiding hit stick tackles when the feedback is Ideal or Perfect timing. i have had abilities turned off for a while too, so nothing can possibly make that occur other madden cheese in my honest opinion.

Trying to play Madden competitive franchise against the cpu is so frusterating. I have blown out good players but for some reason I’m going touchdown for touchdown with this fucking cpu. All defenders are prime ray Lewis and can’t aggressive catch anything. Recievers need to be wide open to catch anything which they hardly ever get open. Not to mention the offense torching my defense. Can’t run for shit either because the running backs get stuck on the offensive line. Sorry for the rant but holy fuck!

Anyone else have the issue when doing the Red-Zone Attack training camp drill where your QB just tosses a lollipop into the tunnel and you have no chance to make a play? Drives me nuts.

I was told this was a great game on pc. If I tell you my favorite team is Philly, you SHOULDN'T BE ALLOWED TO DRAFT ME TO FREAKING DALLAS 😡

I like making wishlists. So sue me. I try to make it realistic based on what they can actually accomplish in a year. This isn't an overly negative I hate Madden list so if that's what you are looking for then there are plenty of other reddit posts to satisfy your cravings. I enjoy Madden even though it's sad to think how much further along they could be if they actually prioritized franchise mode.

Madden 25 Franchise Updates Review

I want to start with reviewing the changes they made to the current Madden. I think Franchise mode overall is fun enough to create an addicting loop, but it is still lacking some features to be a true NFL simulation. I think the pace of improvement has been decent overall since #FixMaddenFranchise, however Madden 25 was clearly the worst leap forward since Madden 21. Simply put they did not make any real substantial progress from Madden 24 to 25 outside of improving CPU playcalling.

Some of the new stories are cool based on player personalities. Having to bench your rookie QB for development is a cool addition, but this shouldn't be the big improvement to Madden. The updates to the scouting tables were needed, but once against this can't be the other big feature. Also I have a big gripe that we now cannot rearrange our draft board and when I do click on a player to go into their scouting report, when I back out it often leaves the page blank and I have to change the filters to get the players to reappear, which is a really annoying bug. Overall I like scouting even less now, although I was always one of those sickos that liked to click and cycle through each player. Scouting is better if you just want to menu scout. Cool draft presentation bro, but how does that make the game better at all? Especially when my QB looks like a 40 year old couch potato.

To me the best update for franchise came in a title update, and they fixed the thing that was keeping me from playing the mode. The update to CPU playcalling and making them call a more balanced run vs. pass ratio drastically improved the game. Last year I was bound to have the 32nd ranked passing offense because the CPU passed 85% of the time in real games and only like 65% of the time in sim stats. I'm willing to give them the win here. The CPU plays and playcalling are the biggest thing that improves the game for me.

Madden 26 Wishlist

Overall I think if you add the big features and the easy wins then you finally have a franchise mode that has all the necessary features. to be a true NFL sim There is a big lack of depth in the existing features and lot's of things need to be improved, but I am of the opinion that you need to get all the features in before really focusing on the depth.

Big Features

• Fog of War: The big feature I want and is on my "Must have" list would be ratings and development fog of war. Give me something similar to Madden 12 and Head Coach 08. Have 100 snaps unlock physical attributes like speed, 200 unlock primary attributes, 300 snaps unlock secondary attributes, 400 unlocks all ratings, and 500 the development traits. Or something like that. You often don't know how good players will be until 2 or 3 years into their careers. Give me that in Madden and it would make the roster management aspect of the game so much more fun. This is the one feature that I feel should be absolutely required.
• Front Office Tools: The next big feature I would like to have is Comp Picks, frontloading/backloading contracts, and contract extensions even when players have multiple years left on their contract. Give me and the CPU the tools we need to navigate the cap. This would allow the CPU to acquire more cheap talent as well with comp picks, which would make it easier for them to navigate the salary cap.
• UDFA Period: The last big feature thing I would like is a period to sign Undrafted Free Agents. Similar to free agency in Madden 12 or how the UDFA period worked in Head Coach 09, have a timer element involved here.

If there's room in the development cycle (Don't do these unless the top ones are done)

• More Interactive Scouting: I think we eventually need a version 2.0 of the current scouting system but I am already asking for a lot here, so here is how I would improve scouting without asking for a lot. I think most people's complaints with the current system is it isn't interactive enough. The easy fix to that would be to change the role of the national scout. Have the national scout choose 3 focus players each week instead of choosing a national scouting focus. Balance it out to where you don't get as much info from a focus player so you don't have everybody scouted 100%, but it would make scouting much more interactive than it is.
• Better opponent scouting report: Keep weekly practice and don't reinvent the wheel here. Just re add this feature.
• Just Remake the Chris Berman show from 2k5. Hopefully they have a presentation team on this but I have my doubts. Still it should be on every Madden wish list.

Easy Wins

• Salary Cap Bar Graphs: Since the data is already there, I am assuming it would be really easy to build a graph showing your cap hits over the next 5 years. See example.
• Contract Negotiations: Have a slider where you can limit the amount of contract negotiations you can perform each week during the regular season. I'd limit it to one offer per week. But it should a slider people can turn on and off. This feels more realistic and would have big resignings to happen more spread out throughout the year.
• Dev Trait Regressions Age Minimum and Overall Minimum: I don't use dev trait regression because if I draft a 65 overall superstar player, he might regress after the first year when I don't play him. If there were a minimum age for the regression then I would have the regression on. Same thing for overall ratings.
• Brighter Colors and keep adding a variety of music: The brighter colors of the glory years of Madden beckon us. Madden 06 had much more enjoyable colors and now we are always on dark mode. I will give Madden 25 props for the music variety. It has made the game a lot more enjoyable.

I guess chuck knoll will always be a steeler, even in madden

Hi and I'm sure this has been brought up before, but how does this compare to NCAA? I've played every single madden game since Sega Genesis (yeah sega genesis that's what I'm talking about right there) and this year I have waited, as having so much fun with NCAA.

Any benefit to buying the game this year? How does game play compare?

I drafted a player and when it progressed to week 1 preseason it put that player in a different team. Has anyone else had this happen?