Madden NFL 23: Best Offensive Playbooks, Formations And Plays

Running a Madden NFL 23 Offense can be really hard, especially if you aren't playing with the right playbook or formations. In this article, we'll show you which playbooks to run and which plays are almost unstoppable.

Madden NFL 23 OP Plays
Dominate your opponent with these OP Madden NFL 23 Formations and Plays. | © EA / EG

If you want to be really successful in Madden NFL 23, you have to be a good offensive playcaller, because it's really not easy to play offense. The defensive players read the plays so quickly that you can often only throw into very narrow windows. In addition, your own offensive line is often dominated by the opposing defensive line. That means you can only make a few yards in the run game and are immediately under pressure on a passing play.

You can withstand this pressure from the defence by using the right playbooks and playcalls. There are some formations that will get you a lot of yards right off the bat - until the opponent adjusts to your new offence. Here are our favorite playbooks and playcalls.

Madden NFL 23: The Best Offensive Playbooks

We recommend you find a 32 player online franchise and go on the Super Bowl hunt there. Sure, it's fun to play against the AI, but a "real" opponent is much more fun. And at this point it should also be said that the tips listed here do not automatically mean that you will win every game. You're still the one holding the controller in your hand.

The best offensive playbooks are of course also related to the best formations and the plays they contain. The "perfect" playbook with flawless formations and plays does not exist - at least not in the franchise mode. And we should also, everyone plays differently, and they might need different playbooks than those suggested here. Just try it out and see if it works for you.

Best Offensive Playbooks: Chiefs, Patriots, Lions, Saints

The best playbooks in Madden NFL 23 are those of the Chiefs, Patriots, Lions and Saints. Good playbooks come from good, creative offenses, at least in theory. Now the New England Patriots currently have anything but a good offense, but with an offensive coordinator who is actually a defensive coach, one is not surprised. Much of the Patriots playbook comes from last season when Josh McDaniels was OC.

Madden NFL 23 New England Patriots Playbook

The big advantages of the Patriots playbook are the many run heavy formations from which to first establish the run and then create big plays with play action. Examples of this are formations like Weak I and Strong I. There is also the Shotgun Trips TE and Trips TE Flex formation from which the routes can attack any coverage. For this playbook, you need two good tight ends who can block as well as be quick receivers.

Madden Gun Bunch TE
This play (Shotgun Bunch TE) is one of the best in Madden NFL 23. | ©

Madden NFL 23 New Orleans Saints Playbook

One of the best plays in Madden NFL 23 is Bench. This is a play you will have to defend multiple times in the game against any good opponent. Bench comes in the Shotgun Tight Offset TE formation, and it's one of the plays you'll find in the Saints playbook. Why is this playbook so good? You can find some of the best run plays like 01 Trap or HB Quick Base in this playbook. But, we do have one small criticism of the Saints Playbook: You won't find Taysom Hill formations there like you did in the last Madden. Those QB Power Run Plays were definitely strong.

Madden NFL 23 Spread And Run N Gun Playbook

In addition to the team playbooks, there are also alternative offensive playbooks with a specific theme, such as Spread (there are no plays where the QB lines up under center, except for goal line plays) or Run Heavy (only six shotgun formations).

Run N Gun is based a lot on RPO, this playbook is a lot of fun. It's also the only playbook with the Wildcat Trips Over formation, you have to try it out.

Spread is the playbook with the most trap run play calls, such as 01 Trap or 56 Trap. These run plays are the best in Madden, in our opinion, because the pulling guard often blocks perfectly. Spread, however, is largely based on passing plays with 4 or 5 wide receivers on the field, so if you want to throw the ball all the time, give this playbook a try.

Best Formations And Plays In Madden NFL 23

We've already told you some of the OP formations and plays in the different playbooks, now we'll show you an overview of which formations you should call with which play.

PlaybookFormationPlay
Patriots, Lions, Run N GunGun Trips TEPA Crosses, HB Angle, PA Slot Corner, HB Counter
Spread, Cardinals
Gun Slot Offset
RPO Peek Zone Bubble, Mtn Y Cross
Patriots, Saints, Lions, Spread
BunchMesh Spot, Mesh Post, Flood, Dig Return
Run Heavy, Chiefs, Lions
Gun Bunch TE
PA Boot Over, Mesh Spot, Inside Zone, RPO Alert Bubble
Run N Gun, 49ersStrong I Close
PA Deep Cross, HB Stretch
Patriots, Raiders
Strong I
Z Close PA Cross, Pats PA Shot
Lions, Chiefs
Singleback Deuce ClosePA X Post Cross, Bench
49ers, Packers
Singleback Bunch
Cross Drag, Stretch Alert Bubble
Patriots, Cheifs
Weak I CloseBench Switch, Mesh
Saints, Patriots
I Form Z ClosePA Cross
Saints, Chiefs
Shotgun Spread Dbl FlexInside Cross, Four Verticals, HB Quick Base
Saints, Packers
Shotgun Tight Offset TEPA Seams, Drive Out, 01 Trap

Madden NFL 23: All Soundtracks

Jonas Sohns

Content Creator for Sports Games & FIFA. Jonas studied sports journalism in Munich and has been working for EarlyGame since 2021. His favorite games are FIFA, Madden NFL and Formula 1....