The title speaks for itself, how do you stop the big, the bad, and the deadly, RPO’s.

But the first thing we are going to do is stop regular stretch run plays that give people a lot of problems.

Run Defense

So, we will be in dollar to start, and we want to make sure we set the alignment to base align. Then, we are going to pick DB Fire 2. And we are going to face HB Stretch out of Pistol.

For the adjustments to stop these types of plays, you are going to pinch the D line, slant them to the inside, and then QB contain the ends. Lastly, you are going to press Y or Triangle and down on the left stick to press the secondary.

Now, obviously, you can change your coverage shell to whatever you want. But for this guide, we are solely talking about how to stop the run and RPO’s. But what is certain is that if you master these tips and also use your Madden 24 Coins to improve your players quickly, you will become even more powerful!

The next thing you want to do is user the linebacker to the side the opponent is running to and put him right behind the defensive tackle. This will put you in a prime spot to shoot the outside run gaps like you see here.

Your goal as the user is to stay as flat as possible near the line of scrimmage, that will put you in the optimal position to shoot the first outside run gap for easy tackles.

Now, there may be times where you need to go around blocks to shoot the first open gap.

The key is to make the turn around the blocks as tight as possible to be able to meet the running back near the line of scrimmage. Because if you take too long to get to the gap, it will be too late to make the tackle.

So, you do not want big turns, or in real life we might call these false steps.

The other great thing about this defensive setup is that the outside corners help contain the run.

So, if the running back tried to get to the sidelines, we have the corners there to counter that. That is also why base alignment is important in this formation.

Madden Tips

One more bonus tip is that when you are about to make a tackle, press X or square to pretty much dive at the runner.

These types of tackles though are way more effective and harder to break. You will see your tackling improve instantly using this mechanic and you will see a lot less broken tackles.

Also Read: How To Master Match Coverage In Madden NFL 24 Cover 4 Quarters? - Tips & Breakdown

Stopping RPO’s

So, now you can shut down the stretches, but what about RPO stretches?

Let’s go to the same. Play DB Fire 2 in dollar and do the same exact adjustments, pinch D line, and slant them inside, QB contain the ends, and then press the secondary.

And it’s important to note that any adjustments I show you to stop the RPO’s will not affect the run defense whatsoever.

Now, the first way to stop the RPO is to simply man the slot defender up with the bubble receiver. But you want to be careful with this. If you keep the manned-up defender pressed on the bubble, there is a risk that he will run into these two players, which will ultimately lead to an easy catch and a lot of yards after that.

So, a way to counter that mishap, is to back off the slot defender, you can do that by pressing Y, then A, and then the receiver icon that the player is lined up over so in this case it would be B, then simply flick the left stick up, and the player will be backed off. This will allow the defender that is manned up to flow to the bubble and make a tackle in open space.

Now, there is a to defend these types of plays with zone drops. So, we are gonna go to coaching adjustments and put the flats on 30 yards and the curl flats at 5 yards. Then put zone coverage on match. And once again, we will be using DB Fire 2.

The primary zone that will be helping us guard the RPO bubble is the 5-yard curl flat. So, something you can do with your coverage is put the slot defender on a 30-yard hard flat, the corner on an outside third, the safety on the bubble side on the 5-yard curl flat, and the other safety on an inside third, and the outside corner on another outside third.

And if you have time, you can bring the two safeties down into the box to help guard the bubble or defend the run. So, when the ball is snapped you are going to see that 5 yard curl flat on the safety pretty much followed the bubble and ran downhill for an easy tackle.

The cool thing about these 5 yard flats is that you can put them on the safety like I just showed you, linebackers, or the slot corner.

It’s also worth mentioning that 5-yard curl flats are great at stopping any type of short routes like flats or any type of short route going to the sidelines.

Personally, I would even argue that 5-yard curl flat zones are better than just the normal light blue flat zones. So, that is the gist on how to defend RPO’s and stretches. But what about RPO’s out of shotgun? We are going to face RPO Alert Bubble.

For this setup, though, we are going to be in Big Nickel in the 46 playbook. For coaching adjustments, we want base alignment, flats on 30 yards, and curl flats at 5 yards with match coverage on.

For this setup, we are going to do the same thing we did in dollar: pinch the D line, slant them inside, QB contain the ends, and press the secondary.

And again, you will want to user the linebacker to the side they will run to and line up over your interior d linemen.

On the back end, we could just man up the slot defender on the bubble like we did at the beginning of the guide, or you can put him on a 5-yard curl flat while the light blue flat will be at 30 yards.

When you snap the ball, you will see that curl flat defender is sort of playing the run and the bubble at the same time, he’s pretty much right down the middle of both, while the 30-yard flat stays in place unblocked, which will just lock down the bubble.

And on the flip side, we the user can shoot the outside gap to prevent any rushing yards.