Whether you’re playing online quick play against a friend, grinding through Superstar mode, or duking it out with the CPU in Ultimate Team, there are some core mechanics in Madden 26 that you need to have ingrained in your head. These mechanics are spread across every facet of the game, from offense to defense to special teams to in-game management.
One of the mechanics that has been tripping up players for years, however, is intercepting a pass on defense. An interception can totally change the course of a game, for better or worse, but it seems like most of the time, you’re simply better off letting the CPU control your defender and intercept a pass for you.
If you want to start taking control on defense, check out the guide below to see how to intercept a pass in Madden 26.
How To Intercept In Madden 26
There are a few factors you need to remember if you want any chance of intercepting a pass in Madden 26. If you don’t follow the right guidelines, you’ll either leave your defender standing still as the receiver catches a ball for a touchdown, or you’ll perform some other mechanic, like a swat.
Here are the steps you want to follow to give yourself the best chance at picking off a pass on defense:
- For starters, you’ll want a play to develop and user a linebacker, safety, or a defensive lineman.
- While you can attempt to user a defensive back on a receiver, it’s harder to stay with a receiver for an entire play. You’ll find it much easier to let the CPU control your DB/defensive player until a pass is thrown. Then, you can user to the defensive back closest to the targeted receiver.
- Once you figure out which defensive player you’ll be usering to, user to that player and remember to keep running with the receiver.
- Keep an eye on the ball and the distance between you and the receiver. If your defender is too far away from the receiver (over two yards), then you’ll have no chance to intercept the pass.
- However, if your defender is in tight coverage, then wait for the ball to be just out of reach and press the following button:
- Triangle on PlayStation / Y on Xbox
- If your defender is close enough and you don’t press the button too early or too late, then your defender will make a play for the ball.
- The rate at which you intercept the ball is dependent on your timing, the defender you’re using and their stats, and how far away you were from the ball.
- If everything lines up, though, you’ll have a decent chance at picking off the pass.
- If you wound up swatting the ball, you likely pressed Square/X instead of Triangle/Y or you were too far away from the receiver.
For anyone still struggling to intercept passes consistently, there are some settings in Madden 26 you can use to help. One of those settings is called “Defensive Switch Assist,” which gives you some more wiggle room when it comes to keeping momentum after switching your user on defense. This can make it easier to stay with receivers as you’re running after them before the ball reaches you.
You can also use the Ball Hawk feature in Madden 26. This lets the game help you position your defender for an easier interception. To use the feature, simply hold Triangle/Y when you’re trying to intercept a pass, and Ball Hawk will move your defender in a more advantageous position to pick the ball.
Of course, neither of these tricks is foolproof, as you’ll still need to do a majority of the legwork when it comes to intercepting a pass. You can hop into practice modes or go into offline quick play to master the art of the interception, allowing you to work on switching between defenders, keeping momentum, positioning, and the timing of your button presses.
You could also practice swatting passes down, which requires pressing Square/X when you’re a couple of yards away from a receiver. More often than not, you’re going to be in a position to swat the ball compared to intercepting a pass, so you’ll want to know how to swat as well. It also helps when the quarterback is using a faster kind of pass, such as the bullet pass, as those are much harder to intercept.
