The season has officially started...good luck to everyone. To kick things off, I played the CPU Chargers in Week 1 and completely dominated them. OFFENSE I've re-created my offense now that I have a young running back in Donald Brown. DB rushed for 118 yards and 2 TDs. David Carr is no longer a gunslinger...he's a game manager. 76% completion percentage and no picks. 1st round pick Jamarion Bellows looks like he'll be a hell of a player for me. F-A-S-T. Jared Cook is still a threat over the middle. Rookie tight end/fullback Phoenix Bible made a few plays as well. My newest wideout Roy Williams gives me a legitimate redzone threat now. Roy caught a leaping TD early in the first half. Even though Rhett Bomar didn't take any snaps, I believe he's my quarterback of the feature. I selected Tribow in the second as a package player and he's going to be extremely valuable...especially inside the five yard line. Tim Tribow is a beastly runner. He isn't too effective as a passer, but he is a beast in short yardage situations. DEFENSE Chris McCalister was smart for not retiring. C-Mack had two interceptions returned for touchdowns and a forced fumble. Josh Wilson is my second corner starting over Ronald Bartell. Wilson also had a pick 6. Newly acquired defensive end Tyson Jackson had a deflection that led to a Adam Carriker interception. Jackson also added two sacks. Chris Long is going to have a big year off the edge. Long was constantly in the backfield. He had two sacks on the day. My 3-4 defense finally has enough rotational players at every level to be completely effective.
I played my first game against the CPU Dolphins and won by 8 points (31-23 or something close to that). I have never played with Peyton before, and he ended the first 3 drives with INTs on my side of the field. I started to get used to his style of play late in the first half and he ended up with 2 TDs and about 220 yards passing on the day. My running game was in the negatives in the first half, but it picked up a little in crucial parts of the game. My first round pick (Girlie?) returned a kick for 95+ yards for a TD and also had some nice runs and a TD that was called back. Is there anyway to use your team and practice with them?
In progress right now. Can't wait to give you guys the update. My team is gorgeous. Yamon Figurs returned the opening kick 108 yards for the score. Dude is a problem. Great report, Mr. E. You are really into this as am I. You're building quite the franchise, too.
Just a general question, I remember reading a while back about the online franchise in Madden and seeing that the online franchise only went for 10 seasons. Is this true or did they change it?
I'm really going to try to limit my turnovers this season. Only one this game and it was a Tribow pick in garbage time.
Sometimes the CPU just makes ridiculous interceptions. I forced my fair share of passes with David Carr last season, but at least 9 or 10 of his interceptions shouldn't have happened.
It's tough picking up a new team at first, but you'll get in the groove. Your first round running back looks like a Chris Johnson type player...very fast. Unfortunately there isn't a way to practice with your team...but you make trades and practice offline.
Not a great game by me. I defeated the Broncos 44-20. Highlights: 559 Total Offense, with 151 yards rushing. Newly-acquired speedster Yaman Figures opened the game and our new season with a spectacular 108-yard TD return. Nate Davis finished 28 of 39 for 409 yards, 3 touchdowns and 3 interceptions Frank Gore (66 yards rushing) and Devontae Sanders (85 yards, two touchdowns) were solid. Robert Tolliver, my second round pick and a 6-foot-5 beast, was the Player of the Game after hauling in eight receptions for 214 yards and a score. Vernon Davis and Crabtree added receiving touchdowns. Willis had one of SF's four sacks, while one of my rookie CB's forced a fumble. Clements added an INT. Is it Week 2 yet?! And E, I need to know your coverage plays because....5 int's? Later
I complelty dominated the Pats last night 66-10. Ray Rice 155 yrds Rushing 2td and 2 rec 44 yrds 1 td Vince played alot better had 4 td and 1 int. I can't get any pressure on the cpu. I had no sacks. Definitly got to work on that.
I played a pretty lousy game against the NY Giants last night. I beat them 31-25. My secondary (Atari Bigby, specifically) missed out on two picks in the endzone that were mistimed jumps. That leads to two NY Giants touchdowns that should have gone six the other way. Merriman and Raji were in Eli Manning's face ALL DAY. Merriman got two sacks, including a safety and Raji got one sack, one interception (credit to Lights Out for the pressure on that INT). Nick Barnett also got a sack. It's funny...I was concerned about my front seven coming into the season and sure about my secondary but on Week 1 my secondary was toast on a few plays and my front seven was a lock. On offense, I REFUSED to pass the ball. Aaron Rodgers went 5/7 for 53 yards, 0 TD's. I wanted to get a feel for my improved OL and the new RB's (Thunders & Lightning), Reggie Bush and Lendale White. The USC duo's reunion did not disappoint. Reggie Bush: 40 attempts, 223 yards, 2 TD's Lendale White: 8 attempts, 37 yards, 1 TD Commitment to the running game. Hopefully this can continue because that's my preferred way of playing offense on Madden.
I'm REALLY happy to see Raji rated as an 86 as my NT already. Anyone seen significant improvements over their rookies from last season?
Looked thru my schedule last night...noticed I'm gonna be vs'ing a lot of users. I can't wait. From the last time I vs'd Matty, I picked up a few things to bring more pressure. I'm not a huge online gamer, so, picking these things up will make me a better competitor. I got Sancho Week 2, so I'll get my game done tonight.
James Laurinaitis went up a lot - he was all over the place in my first game. Trading for Tyson Jackson really improved my defensive line. I'm now running a speed 34 on my plays with Adam Carriker at nose. Patrick Kerney and Tyson Jackson are my ends. My linebackers have tons of space to make plays.
Im not too sure about my rookies, but I noticed that Jonathan Stewart went up from a 88 to a 90 with seeing limited time. I know his trucking rating is now a 99. Guess whos going to see the ball alot more this year?
