This Madden NFL 21 Playbook guide will go over the best Offense, Defense and Overall books in the game. You can then find one that suits your style best.
Madden NFL 21 has brought little changes from the previous entries in terms of the best playbooks. However, there have been some changes that brought attention to previously unnoticed books.
Madden NFL 21 Best Playbooks
After selecting your team, you will get your first playbook. You can think of playbooks as guidebooks that come with their unique formations, strategies, personnel, defensive, and offensive options.
- Defense Playbooks
- Offense Playbooks
- Overall Playbooks
Best Defense Playbooks
Miami Dolphins
This is an absolute must-have playbook if you want to build the ultimate defense. It’s an all-rounder kind of playbook when it comes to defense.
It has 3-3-5, 3-4 Odd, 3-4 Club, 4-3 even, Big Nickel Over G, Nickel 2-4-5, and many more.
This playbook is widely regarded as the best defensive playbook in the Madden series and for good reason.
It has pretty much everything you could need to get your team some great coverage over the field.
However, there are other playbooks that are more suited to players who are just starting the game and getting a feel for their defensive capabilities.
New York Giants
This playbook has quite the variety of defense plays. You can pick between 3-4 or 4-3. One of the staple 3-4 plays is 3-4 Odd which is really useful.
You can use the Tampa 2 and Tampa 4 blitz with this. Big Nickel Over G is also a really great formation.
One thing that makes this playbook really unique is that it has 3-3-5 Odd. This is a formation that allows you great coverage and run day. It is unique in that many of the playbooks don’t even have this formation.
The Kansas City Chiefs
This playbook is one of the better Defensive playbooks in Madden NFL 21 because of its versatile nature.
It has Nickel 3-3-5 which is a very good defensive play for when you want to pass cautiously.
This allows you to more freedom to position players across defense and you can get pass rush from your defensive lines.
Best Offense Playbooks
Las Vegas Raiders
This one is for all you runners out there. This playbook has all the formations and runs you need to get yourself moving into a strong offense.
It has some solid Gun plays that you can turn to with very tight doubles but one notable formation is Bunch T/E which is difficult to stop.
In addition to being good for running, this playbook has some great passing plays as well. You can pick Close Flex to suit your more pass-heavy play style.
New Orleans Saints
This Playbook has been renowned over the years because of its great offense capabilities. You get a wide variety of choices in Shotgun plays such as Y off Trio WK which is great for running.
Plays such as Saints Curls, Saints Out, Saints In and Out and many others are notable as well and have led to this playbook being deemed as the best by players.
Your running quarterback has many options in terms of formations available to him.
I Form Tight, Slot Flex and Close are all great so this playbook allows you to cover some ground efficiently.
These all lead to it being considered a strong first choice by many for an offensive playbook.
Baltimore Ravens
This playbook has everything a running quarterback needs to get ahead in the game. This year, in Madden 21, Spread has been what everyone has been running and this playbook has just that.
Spread Y-Flex is a really good formation with many options such as Raven HB Seam, RPO Zone Peak, PA Deep Outs, and Y-Sall. You have a lot of options to format into audibles.
Running Quarterbacks can take advantage of the Gun Y Trio Offset WK formation. It has options such as Inside Zone Split, PA FL screen and Z Under.
This playbook also has all the running plays you need. It has Power, I Form and Singleback. The Ravens are a pro’s choice for an offense playbook so you should consider it a must-have.
Best Overall
West Coast Alternate
This one isn’t particularly stacked but it makes up for it with some quality formations. Singleback has a variety of possibilities that you can pursue such as the Doubles North.
This formation allows you to pass around with great ease using plays like bench sweep.
I Form tight and I Form Wing are great for running plays. Strong Close is really good if you’re under center. However, the playbook’s real specialty is in the Shotgun plays.
The Gun Bunch formation has a lot to offer in terms of unique plays. WR Post is an amazing pass play that is rare so don’t expect to find this in a lot of the other playbooks.
The Gun Bunch play Deep Corner is similarly unique to this playbook. Stick has one of the best corner outs in Madden NFL so don’t take it for granted.
All this variety earns this Playbook the spot on the top of many lists every year.
New England Patriots
This book is made for players who have a Pass-heavy playstyle. It has a lot of different options for Singleback and I Form.
The Shotgun has the best Split Close in the Madden NFL 21 because of impressive plays such as X Drag Trail, Pats Curls, Z Spot and others.
The P A Y shot isn’t available in every playbook so that’s another unique thing about the Patriots.
You’ve also got the Gun Y Off Trips Pats which is unique to only a few playbooks but plays best her.
It has plays such as Pats HB screen and Deep Slot Curl. Not to mention it has possibly the best Gun Bunch in the game.
The Gun Ace Slot is one of the best formations because it allows you to run the ball across the field easily. It has many options such as Inside Zone, Power O and Level Y Sail.
This Playbook is an all rounder but it is absolutely phenomenal in terms of offense.
Las Vegas Raiders
This one is for all you runners out there. This playbook has all the formations and runs you need to get yourself moving into a strong offense.
It has some solid Gun plays that you can turn to with very tight doubles but one notable formation is Bunch T/E which is difficult to stop.
In addition to being good for running, this playbook has some great passing plays as well. You can pick Close Flex to suit your more pass-heavy play style.
This is an all-around kind of playbook so you’ve got your back covered when you play this.
