How To Play And Get Better At Man Coverage In Madden 23

How To Play Man Coverage Starts With Your Shades

Man coverage may seem simple to get better at but to play man you need to learn how to shade.

As you see above, there are 4 different shades you can utilize in coverage: overtop, inside, outside, and underneath.

For zone, I rarely ever shade unless it’s “underneath”. Say if you want your cloud flat to play an underneath flat, you would shade underneath so it turns into a hard flat.

Man coverage is where learning your shades is very important.

Why You Get Burned Over The Top In Man Coverage

If you do not shade over the top in Cover 2 man or Cover 1, your defenders will automatically press.

If the receiver is of equal speed to the defender or higher, there is a very high chance the receiver will burn the defender on a fly route (streak).

To prevent your cornerback from getting burned 1 on 1 versus a streak, shade that individual cornerback overtop.

If you anticipate your pressure to get home before they can throw deep or you do not expect your opponent to use a streak, shade underneath and outside to get a better press animation on the line.

If your cornerback has 90 press or more, he will get an even better jam on the line preventing the receiver from getting off the line for longer than usual. 

How To Lock Up Slants and Crossers In Man Coverage

Never rely on the stock press animations that you get when you pick man coverage and do not shade.

The stock press animations get whipped especially on slants and crossers. You MUST learn your shades to get better and longer press animations.

If you anticipate a crosser or slant coming, shade underneath and inside to get the best possible press animation.

This is your best chance to get your cornerback to stick to the route. However, many factors come into play such as ratings and chance.

Shading underneath and inside does NOT guarantee the receiver will be blanketed especially if it is an elite receiver or they have speed. 

Bag Up On Corner Routes/Shade Up or Shade Underneath? 

For any routes that break towards the sideline, you will want to shade outside.

The debate of shade overtop and shade underneath has its risk vs. reward.

If you do not have safety help, it would be risky to shade underneath as you will trigger a press animation that can get burned over the top.

However, if you have an elite cornerback that you trust you can get away with it. Especially if you are sending pressure and expect it to get home before they can get the deep pass off.

Shading over the top will prevent you from getting burned but is almost guaranteed to give up any underneath to intermediate passes.

If you plan to run a man coverage shell with 2 deep blues then go ahead and shade underneath as you get help over the top. 

I am not a huge fan of man coverage across the board because the results can be very random.

There are no guarantees as to how well or how poorly the man coverage will play.

However, hybrid coverage (a mix of man and zone) gives you the greatest benefits of both man and zone.

Discover now the secret powers of hybrid coverage and “How To Get Better At Defense Overnight”: https://themaddenacademy.com/2022/02/madden-22-defensive-tip-best-coverage-strategy