Madden NFL 25 – How to Stop Slot Wide Receivers

Slot WRs like Wes Welker and Randall Cobb are the movable chess pieces that are key to the success of most offenses. We show you what to expect and how to slow them down in Madden NFL 25!

5 DOUBLE-TEAM

PLACE YOUR TWO BEST COVER CBS ON THE SLOT WR AND HE WON’T BE A FACTOR.

To slow down a slot WR we like to simply call any man-to-man play in the game and then hot route one of our safeties or DEs to double-cover the intended WR. This prevents any gain after the catch and will force your opponent to look elsewhere for big plays. If you have the skill, try user-controlling the extra defender instead of placing him in man-to-man coverage.

4 PRESS COVERAGE

EVERY 2 MAN UNDER PLAY IN THE GAME WILL HAVE AUTOMATIC PRESS COVERAGE.

Pick any man-to-man play in the game and use your coverage audible to call press coverage. This will press the slot WR at the line of scrimmage and slow down his route. The timing will be off between him and the QB, which can result in mistakes and big plays for your defense. Make sure to check your slot CB’s Press (PRS) rating against the slot WR’s Release (RLS) rating to see who has the advantage.

3 DOUBLE QB SPIES

THIS IS VERY UNCONVENTIONAL BUT VERY EFFECTIVE.

Slot WRs are usually most effective over the middle of the field. We have found that hot routing two defenders into QB spies will do an amazing job of stopping routes over the short middle of the field. When two QB spies are on the field they split the middle of the field and follow the eyes of the QB. The result is two players defending the exact spot on the field that is most effective for slot WRs.

2 BRACKET COVERAGE (VERTICAL)

EXPECTING DOWNFIELD ROUTES? USE THIS TYPE OF COVERAGE.

Vertical bracket coverage is when your defense has two defenders splitting the slot WR, with one trailing him and one leading him. An example of this would be to have one defender play man-to-man press coverage and then to hot route another defender to play a deep zone over the top of the slot WR. This is a great way to prevent any big play downfield.

1 BRACKET COVERAGE (HORIZONTAL)

EXPECTING SIDELINE-TO-SIDELINE ROUTES? USE THIS COVERAGE.

Horizontal bracket coverage is when your defense has two defenders splitting the slot WR, with one trailing him and one between him and the sideline. An example of this would be to have one defender play man-to-man press coverage and then to hot route another defender to play any combination of a hook zone, buzz zone, or flat zone. If you anticipate a corner pattern you would want to hot route the extra defender to a buzz zone. If you are looking for a route over the middle of the field then hot route him to a hook zone.

Check out the Top 5 Defensive Formations and get even more free Madden NFL 25 strategies!