The most important part of any offensive scheme in selecting the right playbook. In Madden 25, some playbooks have incredibly overpowered formations and plays while other playbooks are mostly duds.
Not only is it important to find a playbook with great plays in it, you also want to pick a playbook that matches your playing style. A lot of people fall into the trap of using the “meta” playbooks but those often aren’t the right choice for everyone.
At Madden School, we have two huge differentiators that allow us to properly rate the best playbooks in all of Madden 25.
First, we’ve been developing schemes, ebooks, and money plays for the past 17 years (all the way back to the original XBOX/PS2 days). We know which formations/plays work and which don’t.
Second, we publish theMadden 25 playbooks databaseevery year which gives us unique insight into which playbooks gamers are using.
When you add together our nearly two decades of expertise with the wisdom of the entire Madden community, the end result is a list of playbooks that you really can’t go wrong using.
We’ll first go over what we think are the 5 best offensive playbooks in Madden 25 and then move into the 10 most popular offensive playbooks in the game according to the Madden community.
Let’s dive in!
Detroit Lions Offensive Playbook
The Detroit Lions have one of the absolute best offensive playbooks in Madden 25 and the best part is very few people know about it.
When you initially look at the Lions playbook it doesn’t immediately jump out at you but when you really dive into it, you can see just how versatile it is.
Let’s take a look at some of the best formations in the Detroit Lions Offensive Playbook:
- Gun Doubles
- Gun Bunch X Nasty
- Gun Trips TE Flex
- Gun Empty Bunch Open
- Gun Empty Chips Nasty
- Singleback Wing Stack
- I Form Close
The first four formations on this list are incredibly difficult to stop when run correctly. There are specific plays in each of those formations found in just a couple of playbooks making the Lions’ playbook incredibly powerful.
That’s why we choose it as our first Madden 25 eBook of the year. It features 40+ different setups and has ways to beat every coverage in the game for a 1 play touchdown.
You can get instant access to that ebook as well as all of our other Madden 25 eBooks by joining Madden School Unlimited today!
Green Bay Packers Offensive Playbook
The Green Bay Packers’ offensive playbook has almost every “meta” formation in Madden 25. This is the type of playbook where if you watch competitive Madden tournaments, you will see run at very high levels.
The Packers playbook has a good mix of running and passing formations and has the classic formations so many players seek out in a playbook every year.
Some of the best formations in the Packers’ offensive playbook include:
- Singleback Bunch X Nasty
- Gun Bunch Str Nasty
- Gun Bunch Str Offset
- Gun Bunch TE
- Gun Tight Y Off
- Gun Trips TE
- Gun Wing Stack
- I Form Close Flex
- Strong I Close
You can see from just the list above how many of the top formations in the game the Packers’ playbook has.
If you run this playbook correctly it is so hard to stop. Anytime your opponent stops one formation, you have 10 other really effective ones to switch into.
Seattle Seahawks Offensive Playbook
The Seattle Seahawks have a completely revamped offensive playbook in Madden 25. If you play EA Sports’ College Football 25 game, it is very similar to the Alabama offensive playbook in CFB 25.
Let’s take a deeper look at some of the best formations in the Seahawks’ offensive playbook.
- Singleback Bunch X Nasty
- Pistol Trips
- Gun Bunch TE
- Gun Empty Trey Stack
- Gun Normal Flex Snug
- Gun Trips HB Wk
- Gun Trips TE
- I Form Y Off Close
The Gun Normal Flex Snug formation can only be found in the Seahawks playbook as well as the QB Zone play from the Gun Trips TE formation.
Indianapolis Colts Offensive Playbook
The Colts Offensive Playbook makes our top 5 list because it has the best Gun Bunch Offset formation in Madden 25.
It is the only playbook in the game that has the Gun Bunch Offset – Double Post play that absolutely dominated last year’s Madden game and continues to be effective this year.
There are plenty of other reasons to use the Indianapolis Colts’ playbook in Madden 25 including:
- Gun Bunch Offset
- Gun Bunch Str Nasty
- Gun Deuce Close
- Gun Split Close
- Gun Trips TE Offset
You can easily audible between the Gun Bunch Offset and Gun Bunch Str Nasty formation which have more than enough money plays to put together a really effective offense.
Miami Dolphins Offensive Playbook
The Miami Dolphins have one of the most unique offensive playbooks in Madden 25. The Dolphins’ playbook has auto-motion plays in nearly every formation which will either cause you to love it or hate it.
It works really well if you have speed on offense, like the Miami Dolphins do in the actual NFL.
Let’s take a look at some of the best formations in the Dolphins’ offensive playbook.
- Pistol Tight Y Off Flex
- Gun Bunch
- Gun Empty Bunch Wide
- Gun Split Close
- Gun Split Close Pro
- Gun Tight Slots HB Wk
- I Form Close
- Strong Close
The Dolphins playbook ha a very heavy focus on compressed/tight sets which are always effective in Madden.
Top 10 Most Popular Offensive Playbooks In Madden 25
Now that we’ve covered our top 5 offensive playbooks in Madden 25, let’s turn to the community’s ranking!
Every year we publish our Madden 25 playbook database (Note: this year we also published a College Football 25 playbook database). Because of this, we have a very unique insight into which playbooks the community is most interested in.
Our database has already received nearly 1 million pageviews and the most popular playbooks are really starting to emerge.
Below you can find the top 10 most searched for playbooks in Madden 25:
- Indianapolis Colts Offense
- Miami Dolphins Offense
- Green Bay Packers Offense
- San Francisco 49ers Offense
- Kansas City Chiefs Offense
- Seattle Seahawks Offense
- Chicago Bears Offense
- Cincinnati Bengals Offense
- New York Jets Offense
- Run N Gun Offense
This is a pretty significant change from last year’s top offensive playbooks with the Eagles offense nowhere to be found and the Chiefs and Jets playbooks way down the list.
The Run N Gun alternate playbook barely squeaked into the top 10 making it the only alternate playbook on this year’s top 10 list.
Remember, there are a variety of reasons people look for specific playbooks so don’t put too much weight into this. It just serves as a handy tool for what offensive playbooks the Madden community at large is running.
What playbook are you using in Madden 25? We’d love to hear your input in the comments section below!
