Recovering an Onside Kick can be crucial in an attempt on making a comeback in Madden 26. Chances are you are going to be down in the 4th quarter at some point in time with minimal time left on the clock and the only way you are going to get the ball back is by successfully recovering an Onside Kick.
While there is no method that you can use to recover Onside Kicks 100% of the time, there is a method that you can use that will better your chances of successfully recovering an Onside Kick.
Best method for recovering an Onside Kick
When the time has come to try and attempt an Onside Kick and you pull up the playbook, you are going to have quite a few options to choose from. Your best two options are going to be to select either "Strong Onside" or "Onside Kick."
Once you are lining up for the Onside Kick you are going to want select "Low Kick" with either LB/L1 depending on the platform you are using. Once you have selected "Low Kick" you are going to want to angle the meter all the way to the right. Then you are going to start the meter and let it run its course without stopping it. This should kick the ball roughly 10 yards to the 45 yard line to where you can then recover the ball while the defenders pass the ball by.
You must remember that to recover an Onside Kick, the ball must travel at least 10 yards before the kicking team can touch it.
Once again, this method nor any method has 100% success rate. However, this will give you the best chance to recover an Onside Kick due to the nature of how the kick reaches the 45 yard line. You might not recover an Onside Kick on your first attempt using this method, but just practice it and experiment with it a few times and then you should find yourself recovering them more than not. If this method helps you recover them at a 60% rate, thats more than half the time getting the ball back which is a very high mark.
During the 2024 NFL Season, only 6% of Onside Kicks were recovered during a game. This was due to a couple rules changes for last season that appeared to hurt teams' chances of recovering an Onside Kick.
The upcoming 2025 NFL season will now see a couple new rules changes in regards to the Onside Kick because of the low success rate last season. Teams can now attempt an Onside Kick at any point in the football game as long as you are trailing and not just trailing in the 4th quarter. Also, the kicking team will now line up one yard closer to the receiving team in an attempt to make it easier for the kicking team to recover the football.