DSP Madden Online Franchise 360 Sign Up / Discussion

Slumberland · Post by **Slumberland** » Tue Oct 27, 2009 11:55 pm

Jets close out their regular season with a 49-14 romp over the visiting Bengals, who came down with a case of fumbilitis in the rain, offering up three on the day. Leon Washington had a monster day with three TD receptions and a 94-yard TD kickoff return. Coach Ryan rested most of his starters in the second half.

RobVarak · Post by **RobVarak** » Wed Oct 28, 2009 1:53 am

The Bears finished up their season with a comfortable 31-10 victory over the dismal Detroit Lions. The Bears defense smothered the Lions, allowing only two long plays which somewhat sullied the statistical record. The Lions managed only 152yds of total offense, and 130 of them came on two plays...including their only TD (a 77-yd monster by Calvin Johnson)

Adewale Ogunleye was unstoppable, adding 5 sacks to his league leading total. Matt Forte paced the Bears on offense and made his bid for the league rushing title. He had 120 yds on 20 carries and a TD.

Pretty dull game. No highlights.

Brando70 · Post by **Brando70** » Wed Oct 28, 2009 9:19 am

The Texans finish the season with not just a win against the CPU Patriots, but a bold victory against rogue programming code, winning 24-17.

The game got off to suspicious start when sure-handed Texans receiver Andre Johnson fumbled on the Texans first play. "It's like the ball disappeared from my hands and reappeared on the ground," the receiver said. New England seemed poised to score, but Texans defensive end Mario Williams forced a fumble on a sack of Tom Brady, giving Houston the ball at their three-yard line.

For the next three quarters, the game seemed normal. The Texans scored on a 14-play, 97-yard drive after the Brady fumble, with Matt Schaub hitting Johnson for a six-yard score. Houston quickly made it 14-0 when Duanta Robinson intercepted a Tom Brady pass and returned it 50 yards for the score. By the early fourth quarter, a second six-yard touchdown pass to Johnson made it 24-3 and seemingly put the game out of reach.

At that point, however, the CPU Patriots switched their offensive and defensive playcalling over to assistant coach C. B. Code. Lawrence Maroney got things going by breaking out of a Texans tackling gangbang to streak 52 yards for a TD and make the game 24-10.

On the Texans next possession, Steve Slaton fumbled after breaking a 10-yard run, despite Slaton covering up the ball. Tom Brady, who morphed out of his football uniform and into a jacket, tie, and dark sunglasses, quickly led the Patriots to a score, making three third-down conversions, including a pass that Randy Moss dove for and caught one-handed. Brady finished the drive on a play where he ran left, lept in the air, and, while freezing time momentarily, threw back across his body, delivering a bullet that a diving Moss caught for a TD to make it 24-17.

With the Patriots likely set to recover an onside kick, things looked bleak for Houston. But a group of rowdy, drunken, virtual Texans fans stormed the coaches box and poured their beers on C. B. Code, causing it to malfunction and call a regular kickoff. At that point, the Patriots shut down, helping the Texans convert a key first down by getting called for encroachment. Houston then ran out the clock to preserve the win for humanity.

After the game, Brady -- still wearing his sunglasses -- ran away from a chasing Suzy Kolber, muttering, "I'll get you next time, Mr. Anderson."

TCrouch · Post by **TCrouch** » Wed Oct 28, 2009 12:01 pm

Raiders 35, Ravens 17

The Oakland Raiders (12-4) finished the 2009 regular season on a 9-game winning streak, defeating the Baltimore Ravens (9-7) in week 17.

JaMarcus Russell was flawless in his final audition game to be the Raiders' starting quarterback in the playoffs and foreseeable future, completing 11 of 14 passes for 207 yards, 2 touchdowns, and a perfect 158.3 rating.

Counterpart Joe Flacco was effective, especially to Todd Heap against the Raiders man coverage, completing 19 of 32 passes for 293 yards and a touchdown. However, two interceptions (and explosive plays by Darren McFadden off the edge) were Baltimore's undoing.

McFadden needed just 12 carries to amass 158 yards and 2 touchdowns against the Ravens defense, as the perimeter of the Raiders offensive line sealed off the edges with ease. Baltimore carried the ball just 9 times for 31 yards as a team in comparison.

However, Todd Heap provided a spark for the Ravens, which were as close as 21-17 late in the 3rd quarter. Heap caught 5 passes for 122 yards and a score as the Raiders tried everything to contain him, but couldn't.

In the end, it wasn't enough for Baltimore, as McFadden's huge bursts and Russell's ability to spread the ball around (11 completions to 7 receivers) sealed it for Oakland late.

***************************************

Good game, Scoop. That was pretty unexpected, as neither of our defenses (statistically ranked pretty well) could seem to stop the other team for the longest periods. With Wayne's Jags losing, it comes down to the wacky tiebreakers...best of luck with those, man.

RobVarak · Post by **RobVarak** » Wed Oct 28, 2009 12:43 pm

Nerf JaMarcus Russell!

Seriously, any game where he can get a ball within 10 yards of his intended receiver is clearly broken, much less one where he can rack up those numbers. LOL

TCrouch · Post by **TCrouch** » Wed Oct 28, 2009 12:51 pm

Seriously. I kept commenting about how bizarre it was.

He was standing tall in the face of pressure, and getting off throws as he was hit. Flacco would get popped and throw one of those "duck balls" to almost nowhere. Russell was taking hits and throwing a nice touch ball to a wide open receiver. Then he hit some fade routes and posts that were just silly-accurate. I don't know what got into him in that game.

Post by **ScoopBrady** » Wed Oct 28, 2009 1:54 pm

TCrouch wrote:Seriously. I kept commenting about how bizarre it was.

He was standing tall in the face of pressure, and getting off throws as he was hit. Flacco would get popped and throw one of those "duck balls" to almost nowhere. Russell was taking hits and throwing a nice touch ball to a wide open receiver. Then he hit some fade routes and posts that were just silly-accurate. I don't know what got into him in that game.

I think it was a severe case of Terrycontrolledhimitis.

It was definitely frustrating watching JR stand tall under pressure and still deliver while Flacco was all over the place even when not under pressure. I went into the game thinking I had no chance in hell because your reputation preceeds you. It's hard to believe we've never played a game of Madden against each other previously but I have at least been on the wrong end of an ass-whoopin in racing games and UFC plenty of times to know that you're just good at videogames.

Once we started playing I realized that you weren't invincible and that I did have a chance to win. The 3rd quarter was spent missing 2 opportunities to take the lead before you finally started to pull away in the fourth. As it is on every Sunday, if I had made a play here or a play there I would have come out with the win. You made those plays and you won.

Great game and good luck in the playoffs.

Wayne, you deserve the playoff spot but you never know how this will shake out. I hope you get it. Good luck.

TCrouch · Post by **TCrouch** » Wed Oct 28, 2009 2:10 pm

Exactly. This Raiders team isn't something I can thoroughly kill everybody at and never lose. But they have enough weapons that I can make a play here or there and change a game.

What you can't do against them is throw the ball against the linebackers (usually). Heap seemed to excel where other teams fail miserably, so that was curious to see. Against Denver in the OS league, for example, Orton completed 8 passes...but threw 9 picks.

You did exceptionally well at tearing apart my man coverage when I went with it, and then sliding in a pretty throw under the safeties when I went zone.

In any case, I'm hardly invincible. No way. But I'm damn hard to beat, and to do so it takes a lot of work for 4 full quarters. Once I get some more weapons on this team, it'll be a bit trickier, but as it stands there's no way I will just dominate every game with the Raiders. I'll take an eeked-out W as long as it's a W

Brando70 · Post by **Brando70** » Wed Oct 28, 2009 2:23 pm

JaMarcus Russell probably couldn't fall into bed 11 times in 14 tries.

eman · Post by **eman** » Wed Oct 28, 2009 4:48 pm

I played BHoward (an excellent player) last night and he replaced John Kitna with his 3rd string QB in the 2nd quarter (dont know McGee's ratings but they have to be pretty low) and he ended up 11 for 15 against me. Most of the catches were to Witten on crossing routes - something I just can't handle yet.

That's the frustrating part for me - I knew Witten was his main target, and although I doubled him, tripled him, highlighted him, assigned A. Samuel to him, covered him manually, covered him with the computer, whatever, I still couldn't stop the guy. I think Witten had 6 catches and it seemed like every one converted a 3rd down!

That loss might boot me from the playoffs depending on how Madden's playoff logic works. I can't wait for midnight and the flip to find out.

TheGamer2 · Post by **TheGamer2** » Wed Oct 28, 2009 6:31 pm

Actually Eman, after Romo got hurt, I had been reviewing McGee's ratings. I really thought about starting him because outside of the overall rating and the awareness, most of McGee's ratings are better than Kitna's. I just didnt have the nerve to start him. When Kitna got hurt in the second qtr, McGee hit Crayton on a pass that Kitna had threw wildly on 2 previous attempts. So instead of bringing Kitna back in when he recovered from his injury, I went back to McGee with pretty good results. Also Roy Williams had 5 catches as well, and he converted some 3rd downs too. It was truly a great game. I was sweating when you stopped me 4 times at the goal line at the end of the first half. It seemed you always knew when I was trying run a misdirection, counter or to the weak side throughout the whole game.

Good luck to you and Zeppo in the playoff picks.

TCrouch · Post by **TCrouch** » Wed Oct 28, 2009 6:39 pm

Yeah, Romo-to-Witten gave me fits on his first drive, but Thomas Howard pretty much ate his lunch from that point on. Witten is a tough cover, but I handled it. For some reason I can shut down Gonzales, Witten, Gates...you name it. But Heap has manhandled me several times. He must be in my head.

TheGamer2 · Post by **TheGamer2** » Wed Oct 28, 2009 6:46 pm

Yeah, you're D pretty much shut down everything I had without Barber. Jones and Choice aren't very good between the tackles and you could read pretty well when I was trying to get outside, and you could release off of Witten to help with the run.

TCrouch · Post by **TCrouch** » Wed Oct 28, 2009 6:47 pm

Yeah Barber would change that gameplan quite a bit. Witten probably does some more damage there, because I'll take my chances with that over a Barber break-tackle-and-run-for-70 lol

eman · Post by **eman** » Wed Oct 28, 2009 7:42 pm

Yes, Witten was getting so much of my attention that Williams was left in man to man (against lesser corners) and you found him - kudos. I just felt like Witten was the guy largely responsible for moving the chains and converting key 3rd downs.

Madden is much like boxing - styles make fights. What I mean by that is Dallas and their defensive personnel (combined with your playcalling) seem to match-up perfectly against what I try to do. You take away the flats, and for reasons I cant explain, absolutely dominate my ground attack. Everytime I called a run, it seemed like Jay Ratliff hit Westbrook 3 yards deep in my backfield - consistently. The losses on 1st down lead to a lot of 2nd and 3rd and longs which in turn lead to interceptions.

After the first two drives, I had that here-we-go-again feeling and lost confidence. Then I had to pause because 2 sets of batteries died on me. You should have heard it - me screaming for batteries as my poor wife was like WTF is wrong with you. To be honest my only score came because I rolled out of the pocket and the play broke down. As I move forward I need to explore a more dynamic passing attack and make more big plays. I have way too many 15 play drives and dont incorporate my WR's enough.

Finally, when we play again (hopefully you come back) I need to figure out how to block Raliff and get more balance offensively. One thing I have a tendancy to do is to run to the short side of the field (which actually confuses many people). I considered that you may overload strong side and crash weakside? That would explain why your so disruptive against my ground attack. I may also need a little more max protection as you pressured McNabb all night.

Finally, did you have a headset in the first game? I can't deal with the xbox live virtual keyboard - makes my blood boil. Oh, and after three straight disconnects the game finally started when I didnt defer possession to you on kickoff. Odd...

TheGamer2 · Post by **TheGamer2** » Wed Oct 28, 2009 9:06 pm

Pretty much my gameplan was to keep things as simple as possible. In the games I lose online, its normally when I wait until the offense calls their play and I check personnel and set my defense accordingly. Which is what most players do. I find myself over thinking the situation in trying to match up and I think it takes away the teams strength. I like to run the defense that I prefer, mixing in blitzes with my linebackers. I don't rush Ware anywhere near the amount of times the real Cowboys do or people expect. So I think it surprises people when he and Spencer are waiting in the flats. My defense is really simple in how I use it.

In regards to the headset, no I didn't have one before, but I can/did hear you screaming after the 2nd disconnect. It was pretty funny actually. So if you guys have something to tell me during the game, I can hear it through my speakers, especially when we are in party mode.

eman · Post by **eman** » Wed Oct 28, 2009 10:16 pm

TheGamer2 wrote:Pretty much my gameplan was to keep things as simple as possible. In the games I lose online, its normally when I wait until the offense calls their play and I check personnel and set my defense accordingly. Which is what most players do. I find myself over thinking the situation in trying to match up and I think it takes away the teams strength. I like to run the defense that I prefer, mixing in blitzes with my linebackers. I don't rush Ware anywhere near the amount of times the real Cowboys do or people expect. So I think it surprises people when he and Spencer are waiting in the flats. My defense is really simple in how I use it.

In regards to the headset, no I didn't have one before, but I can/did hear you screaming after the 2nd disconnect. It was pretty funny actually. So if you guys have something to tell me during the game, I can hear it through my speakers, especially when we are in party mode.

Oh, nice. I didn't realize you could hear me. *embarrassed*

The dying batteries really pissed me off. I worried that you would think I was stalling, not to mention that it breaks the flow of the game. When you combined the batteries dying with the early disconnects, rain and cut scenes of Tony Romo warming up, I was pretty stressed out from the get-go. Then we start the game and my first 4 rushing attempts netted -11 yards and I was like WTF, is this guy somehow stealing signals from the sidelines?

When the headset rule was discussed earlier this year I didnt care either way. After last nights game I'd vote to make it mandatory. Although you could hear me, I had no idea what you were thinking and that bugged me and just added to the stress level. Again, not your fault at all and it had nothing to do with the fact that you own me on the field. It just would have been nice to convey what was happening.

Come on midnight...

Post by **ScoopBrady** » Wed Oct 28, 2009 10:42 pm

I have a bad feeling that this whole thing will come down to alphabetical order. If you look at the franchise website and click on the owners tab it has us all listed in order of record. Tied teams are listed in alphabetical order.

JaredM Miami Dolphins 14 1 0
RobVarak Chicago Bears 12 3 0
BHOWARD Dallas Cowboys 11 4 0
MMEH97 Philadelphia Eagles 11 4 0
Slumberland New York Jets 11 4 0
Ragehawk Oakland Raiders 11 4 0
TMDBA37 Tennessee Titans 11 4 0
Data Badger Minnesota Vikings 11 4 0
Nozzleman 216 Cleveland Browns 10 5 0
HOGZ TheTruth Atlanta Falcons 10 5 0
XXXIV 34 St. Louis Rams 10 5 0
CP Zeppo Washington Redskins 10 5 0
wayne23 Jacksonville Jaguars 9 6 0
Scoop Brady Baltimore Ravens 9 6 0
GameSe7en New York Giants 8 7 0
Cowboys59 Indianapolis Colts 7 8 0
MacMan858 San Diego Chargers 6 9 0
Danimal66 Denver Broncos 5 10 0
Brando70 Houston Texans 4 11 0
vader29 Pittsburgh Steelers 3 12 0

That would really suck if true.

Post by **Jared** » Wed Oct 28, 2009 10:53 pm

Not that we should or shouldn't do this...

...but could Dan use his commish powers to give a team a loss in a game they won, in order to have the playoff slots come out correct by the NFL tiebreak rules? I have no idea if he even has that ability or not (after games have been played). I've also heard the alphabetical order possibility on other forums, and it would be horrible if it were true.

...and if it is alphabetical, then the Giants-Vikings game is for the last playoff spot: Vikes get if they win, Skins get in if the Giants win.

Zeppo · Post by **Zeppo** » Wed Oct 28, 2009 11:09 pm

Jared, the Commish has no power to do anything like that at all. We are at the mercy of the designers.

That said. . . go Giants! (ugh I think I just threw up a little in my mouth)

eman · Post by **eman** » Wed Oct 28, 2009 11:18 pm

Zeppo wrote:Jared, the Commish has no power to do anything like that at all. We are at the mercy of the designers.

That said. . . go Giants! (ugh I think I just threw up a little in my mouth)

G7 can save the day for you, huh? Wow... would be something if 3 NFC East teams make it.

I agree though, shame it's not setup with legit NFL rules.

Post by **ScoopBrady** » Wed Oct 28, 2009 11:36 pm

Is it too late to change my team name to the Baltimore Aardvarks?

Danimal · Post by **Danimal** » Thu Oct 29, 2009 12:38 am

I have no power to do anything but advance the week, boot owners and move players around.

EDIT: nevermind appears game is being played now.

Badger_Fan · Post by **Badger_Fan** » Thu Oct 29, 2009 1:09 am

Vikings are in. Vikings are in. All the Redskins fans cheering on the hated Giants to have a shot at the playoffs whored themselves out in vain. Minnesota rallied from a 7-0 2nd quarter deficit to win 17-7 in the final game of the regular season.

The turning point in the game occurred in the 2nd quarter. Minnesota was driving to tie the score when the Giants came up with a huge defensive play:

<embed src="http://cdn.www.easports.com/static/110. ... player.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="640" height="360" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" flashvars="height=360&width=640&file=http://cdn.content.easports.com/media2/ ... ="></embed>

The Giants couldn't take advantage though, and two plays later the Vikings would get the ball back:

<embed src="http://cdn.www.easports.com/static/110. ... player.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="640" height="360" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" flashvars="height=360&width=640&file=http://cdn.content.easports.com/media2/ ... ="></embed>

With the ball back the Vikings drove for a touchdown just before the half on a beautiful pass from Tarvaris Jackson to Bernard Berrian:

<embed src="http://cdn.www.easports.com/static/110. ... player.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="640" height="360" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" flashvars="height=360&width=640&file=http://cdn.content.easports.com/media2/ ... ="></embed>

In the second half the Vikings were able to really slow down the Giants offense. Brandon Jacobs was lost for the season with a broken collarbone and the Giants just couldn't get anything going. The Vikings converted a key 4th & inches with under two minutes to go from the Giants 3 yard line, with Adrian Peterson running up the gut for a touchdown.

Danimal · Post by **Danimal** » Thu Oct 29, 2009 2:18 am

Wild Card Match Ups

Jaguars (9-7) at Titans (12-4)
Line: Titans -2
Key Injuries: None

These teams split two meeting this year, the game being in Tennessee gives the Titans a slight edge. The Titans have the #2 rushing offense in the league but the two regular season match ups were fairly high scoring.

Jets(12-4) at Browns (11-5)
Line: Jets -1.5
Key Injuries: None

The surprising Browns will host this game against the favored Jets. In my opinion this is one of the most evenly matched games of the wild card round. It's all going to come down to turn overs. The Jets and Browns are 2 and 3 in turn over differential. While the Browns are second in the league in take aways, the careful Jets have only given the ball away 14 times.

Eagles(11-5) at Falcons (11-5)
Line: Falcons -6.5
Key Injuries: Justin Peelle TE (ATL)

The Eagles can put up the points at times with a very fast group at wide out. But the Falcons have a really balanced team and a good defense. I think their promising young QB will shine in this game.

Vikings(12-4) at Rams (11-5)
Line: Vikings -8.5
Key Injuries: Brett Favre QB (MIN)

The Rams at 11-5 is one of the surprises of the season. XXIV has his team playing well but talk around the league is the Rams benefited from a weak conference in terms of coaching. Minnesota has been dealing without Favre for a while and they look to sail past the first round on the legs of one man.

Commish Picks:
Titans giving the points
Jets giving the points
Eagles to cover and win the game
Rams to cover but losing the game.