Full league GM Dynasty - 32 Team CPU vs CPU (madden 10)

[SonicZulu25]

I have been running a franchise where it is only CPU vs CPU where I control every team. Originally, I was controlling one team (actually playing with them) and letting the other teams play out their games CPU vs CPU since the stat generator for this game is severely broken. Yes, I am that picky about the stats. In all honesty, I did not enjoy playing this version and preferred seeing how the CPU vs CPU games played out, along with the stats that were generated. So, somewhere in the middle of season 1, I abandoned my team and became the general manager for each team. Besides, with a family with little ones running around, I do not have much time to game. I have been able to set up the games and let them play out while I do other things.

With this franchise there are so many house rules imposed that I do not even know where to start. But it does work for me even though some of the rules have not been applied consistently as my franchise has progressed.

I am halfway through the 6th season...so 256 regular season games, 12 playoff games, and a Super Bowl (I have been running this since about January 2010). But really, it is the off-season that slows me down due to how I now manipulate salaries and signings to make the game more realistic. Drafting is based off of a needs analysis done for each team since I draft each and every player. Free agency is also done by needs analysis and an assessment of the salary cap health of every single team. Coaches are fired and new assistants are hired who come in with the playbooks that made them successful. When working with each team, I treat it as my own but working within my strict house rules.

If anyone is curious about the settings that I use, below is a link to my posts. It is current as I have been consistent with the sliders. However, keep in mind that not all of the house rules are in there as this link was merely to get me the sliders for gameplay and stats. For example, I have a formula to determine when I need to bench a QB and for how long. I also impose injuries which I think are discussed in the link. I even run a separate Free Agency period from the actual one in order to impose the more realistic salaries (ensures that good players do not remain FAs during the season due to high demands). But one thing I do that many may not like is that I do not play out the preseason. It is simmed completely as I find it adds no value to the season.

Here is the sliders link:

http://www.operationsports.com/forum...u-sliders.html

Understanding that there is limited interest in these dynasties, I thought I would do this more for me in order to take a look at some of the storylines that emerged throughout the seasons as well as to take a look back at the stat lines. However, should there be any interest in specific teams, players, or potential storylines from any of the posters, then I thought that I could address those in more detail if requested in the posts.

My plans for this dynasty at this point are not fully clear to me but I thought that I would try to make it similar to what we often see in the weekly sports newspapers that cover everything with more focus on the highlights, leaderboards, standings, and storylines. This likely won’t be as detailed as some of the other dynasties that we see posted on here due to the number of teams that I would cover. I also do not plan to doctor this up like some of the outstanding dynasty authors do on here.

For anyone interested in how I run this franchise then feel free to ask away or even PM me. But I would probably need to generate a manual for how I run everything…which I do not plan to do.

My plan for this dynasty at this point will be to provide the following as I go:

1. Season preview – The main storylines for the season, and a brief synopsis of each team along with predictions/previews for the season.
2. Preseason news – this portion of the season is simmed but this would include injury update and any late roster moves moving into the season.
3. Weekly previews – previews of any key matchups and storylines
4. Recaps – to be broken down into the following:
a. Thursday night game recap
b. Sunday’s game recaps
c. Monday night recap
d. Weekly performance leaders
e. Storylines
f. Weekly MVPs
g. Season stat Leaders
h. Overview of any records broken or notable career stat achievements
5. Weekly Power rankings
6. End season review prior to playoffs
7. Season Stat leaders
8. Detailed Playoff game previews and reviews
9. Detailed Super Bowl Preview
10. Pro Bowl selections
11. Player Awards
12. Super Bowl Review
13. Retirements and career overviews HoFs and other significant players
14. Off-season storylines
15. Coaching firings and hirings
16. Team needs analyses
17. Draft recap and analysis
18. Free Agency highlights

Not sure that any Dynasty has been done like this before, so I am not sure of the interest. I also was not certain whether to put it in the football or coaching dynasty threads but thought the coaching guys might have more interest in it.

I'll start posting soon and I welcome feedback.

[SonicZulu25]

The end of last season had the Pittsburgh Steelers coming off yet another Super Bowl win against the Arizona Cardinals. The 6th in their storied franchise. This season, like the ones before it in the new salary cap era should prove to be as unpredictable as usual. That said, we will try to look into our crystal ball to provide some insight and predictions for the upcoming season.

So now, welcome to the 2009 season.

The past off-season saw the usual introduction of rookies and the ever moving carousel of coaches and free agents. Here is our 2009 preview:


Top story lines to watch:

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1. Can the Steelers Repeat?

6 Super Bowls. 2 of those having been won in the last 4 years. Can the Steelers stay competitive? We think so. Over the years, they have been one of the most consistent teams in football. More recently, since the turn of the century, they have been contenders almost every year despite all of the organizational change around them. They have made the playoffs 6 of the last 9 years. The players and coaches come and go, but the franchise remains steady and strong.

Coach Tomlin enters his 3rd season with the team and he of all people in his short time with the organization knows the traditions of this team. He says it is "to inspire on a daily basis which has created the standard we all aspire to. This makes us who we are and we have the tangible examples in our history to follow."

It is this tradition, this mentality, this leadership from the Rooney family that has the Steelers in the mix once again for the 2009 season. Will they repeat? Maybe but the odds are against them. However, in looking at their team, they look very similar to last year. Their weakness last year was their 23rd ranked running game. This year they hope to have their 2008 #1 pick Rashard Mendenhall back from an injury plagued season. Pair him with Willie Parker, along with a passing game that saw the emergence of Santonio Holmes and they could be as complete a side as their defense.
Tomlin acknowledges that a repeat, no matter how talented his squad may be, is difficult but he is determined to make sure they don't forget what they did that got them to the top last season.

2. Tom Brady returns....

Remember Matt Cassell? Well, he won 11 games with the Patriots. Pretty good. But he is not Tom Brady. The Patriots have so much faith in Brady returning to form after his devastating 2008 week 1 knee injury, that they traded away Cassell to the Chiefs. Does anyone expect Brady to be the same guy from the 2007 record breaking year? Not really but the Patriots expect that his leadership, preparation, and the confidence he instills in the rest of the team will bring them back to another Super Bowl.

Brady's injury would normally require a full year of recovery but he does not really use his legs much, making a comeback season that much more realistic. The organization has helped Brady in beefing up the offense with veterans such as running back Fred Taylor and wide out Joey Galloway. The downside though, is Brady will no longer have offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels in his corner. Many view McDaniels as the mastermind of the 2007 year explosion of offense out of the Patriots and he has also been credited for his ability to adapt the offense following the week 1 injury to Brady.

Even with the loss of McDaniels to Denver, the Patriots have proven that their system is bigger than any individual. That includes McDaniels and Brady. We like the look of the Patriots again with the Brady to Moss scenario. If the key players can remain in place on both offense and defense, they look like Super Bowl material.

3. Cutler goes to the windy city.

The hiring of Josh McDaniels by the Broncos, brought with it the trade of Jay Cutler to the Bears which involved Kyle Orton moving to Denver. Cutler has not lived up to the expectations of him over his three seasons in Denver where his record as a starter was 17-20, with a QB rating of 87.1, and not one playoff appearance. Now bring in McDaniels who was openly seeking Matt Cassel in Free Agency, and you get one not so happy Jay Cutler.

Many view the hiring of McDaniels by the organization an odd choice if the intent had been to keep Cutler as the franchise guy. McDaniels system requires QBs who do not take chances. So maybe a Kyle Orton is a better fit for Denver. Regardless, the Bears think they got their man which has created a buzz in Chicago that has not been felt since the 85 season.

So what makes Cutler different in Chicago. Well for starters, he does not have Brandon Marshall....not even close. He also does not have as good an O-line in Chicago. But what he does have is a fresh start and hopefully some new found confidence and maturity. Although not considered one of the elite QBs like a Drew Brees or Peyton Manning, many view him as a top 10 QB with lots of upside at just the age of 26.

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Trends around the league:

1. The Wildcat

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Is this a passing fad or the real deal? Well the Miami Dolphins were able to go from a 1-15 season to an 11-5 season. In order to have that great turnaround, they had to do something. The holes were not there for running backs Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams, two of their best offensive players. A conventional running attack was not the solution so they brought in what worked at Arkansas a few years back with elite backs, Darren McFadden and Felix Jones. Adding to this was that Brown could throw.

So they introduce it against a team coached by Bill Bellichek, that would normally be the one with an original strategy. New England had no idea what happened and lost 38-13 against what many saw as a gimmicky strategy. But they kept utilizing it all season with great success. Looking to the present, they even drafted QB Pat White, with many speculating that he could either run the Wildcat or run out wide with Brown taking the snaps. Likely a more versatile threat than a Chad Pennington.

Now with the NFL being the copycat league that it is, many other teams experimented with the Wildcat in some way. Many expect this trend to continue but others such as Saints coach Sean Payton, who has someone he could use for this in Reggie Bush, says that with a guy like Drew Brees under center, why take the ball out of his hands. However, many others see this as a way to keep defenses on their toes, where they can't just scheme for traditional offensive sets.


2. The 3-4 Defense

The Patriots and Steelers have both been two of the top teams with top defenses over the last decade. Hence the reason why many of their assistant coaches have moved on with their 3-4 defensive playbooks in hand. This year alone, the Broncos, Chiefs, and Packers will all be moving to the 3-4 defensive front.

It was not necessarily that the 3-4 was any better than the 4-3 schemes, but maybe that it provided that extra wrinkle for offenses to prepare for. 4-3 has been the standard defensive base for so many teams for so long that a 3-4 scheme can provide those unfamiliar headaches for opposing teams. With only three days for teams to prepare for their next game, this could be seen as an advantage. However, with so many teams adopting it, perhaps it will lose its luster.

Look at the Bills, Bengals, and Raiders for example. They are all in divisions where the other three teams all run 3-4 schemes. Yet they will be running the more conventional 4-3. One has to wonder who will have the advantage there.

For many coaches however, it is about personnel availability. Many coaches prefer the unpredictability of the 3-4 but do not have the right personnel to employ it and transfer to it. The transition can be difficult. Packers defensive coordinator Dom Capers talked about the decision to move from the 4-3 and specifically referred to both former DE now OLB Aaron Kampman, and rookie OLB Clay Matthews. In the case of Kampman, who has been a classic DE and has produced as a down lineman, it will be interesting to see if he will be able to make those adjustments in playing off the line and having to drop into coverage. For Matthews though, it makes sense. He has the potential to thrive and make lots of plays in this role.

Now almost half the league will be running the 3-4. 13 teams are expected to line up this way on opening weekend.


3. The new breed of Safety

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Safeties used to be just the guys you plugged in to play deep middle or cover the tight ends. It's different now. Many of the safeties today are x-factors. Guys like Ed Reed, Troy Polamalu, and Bob Sanders, can do many different things. Reed and Sanders have both been defensive players of the year in the past. Now there are a handful of players like them.

With the trend of having athletic and dominant receiving tight ends such as Gonzalez, Gates, and Olsen, you need to have safeties that can match up with them. It used to be that the tight ends were just blockers who could provide the occasional outlet for a checkdown pass. Now the safeties are a unique blend of athletes who are ball hawks, tackling machines, blitzers, and general game disrupters. They are complete players.

There is such an abundance of talent in today's game that there are so many great plays that can be made from this position. A position now that is hard to truly define. Coaches know that the creativity that they use with their safeties opens up their potential on defense. The safety is truly the position on defense that can set the tone of game.

[SonicZulu25]

NFL 2009 Draft - Round 1 Recap
Pick	Team	Player	Pos	College
1	Detroit	Matthew Stafford	QB	Georgia
2	St. Louis	Jason Smith	OT	Baylor
3	Kansas City	Tyson Jackson	DE	LSU
4	Seattle	Aaron Curry	LB	Wake Forest
5	New York Jets	Mark Sanchez	QB	USC
6	Cincinnati	Andre Smith	OT	Alabama
7	Oakland	Darrius Heyward-Bey	WR	Maryland
8	Jacksonville	Eugene Munroe	OT	Virginia
9	Green Bay	B.J. Raji	DT	Boston College
10	San Francisco	Michael Crabtree	WR	Texas Tech
11	Buffalo	Aaron Maybin	DE	Penn State
12	Denver	Knowshon Moreno	RB	Georgia
13	Washington	Brian Orakpo	DE	Texas
14	New Orleans	Malcolm Jenkins	CB	Ohio State
15	Houston	Brian Cushing	LB	USC
16	San Diego	Larry English	LB	Northern Illinois
17	Tampa Bay	Josh Freeman	QB	Kansas State
18	Denver	Robert Ayers	DE	Tennessee
19	Philadelphia	Jeremy Maclin	WR	Missouri
20	Detroit	Brandon Pettigrew	TE	Oklahoma State
21	Cleveland	Alex Mack	C	California
22	Minnesota	Percy Harvin	WR	Florida
23	Baltimore	Michael Oher	OT	Ole Miss
24	Atlanta	Peria Jerry	DT	Ole Miss
25	Miami	Vontae Davis	CB	Illinois
26	Green Bay	Clay Matthews	LB	USC
27	Indianapolis	Donald Brown	RB	UConn
28	Buffalo	Eric Wood	C	Louisville
29	New York Giants	Hakeem Nicks	WR	North Carolina
30	Tennessee	Kenny Britt	WR	Rutgers
31	Arizona	Beanie Wells	RB	Ohio State
32	Pittsburgh	Ziggy Hood	DE	Missouri

Draft Recap

Best Value - Eugene Munroe, OT, Jaguars - This guy could have gone number 2 overall. Getting him at the #8 spot was a bonus.

Biggest Reach - Darrius Heyward-Bey, WR, Raiders - Leave it to the Raiders to go after the guy with the best 40 time. Another WR in the draft really went before Michael Crabtree?

Biggest Gift of a pick - Beanie Wells, RB, Cardinals - He has the potential to be a stud back. He has size and game speed. Both Knowshon Moreno and Donald Brown went before him. Both Denver and Indy may regret passing him up.

Biggest Impact for opening day - Aaron Curry, LB, Seahawks - Although there was a lot of talent at the linebacker position, Aaron Curry is arguably the most NFL ready of any player that was picked in the draft. Pairing him up with guys like Lofa Tatupu and Leroy Hill will only help him grow in his rookie campaign.

Best Fit - B.J Raji, DT, Packers - With the decision to move to a 3-4 defensive front, this guy makes complete sense. Expect him to be another Vince Wilfork or Casey Hampton.

[SonicZulu25]

AFC Playoff Seeding Predication

1. Patriots
2. Steelers
3. Colts
4. Chargers
5. Titans
6. Texans

NFC Playoff Seeding Prediction

1. Eagles
2. Cardinals
3. Falcons
4. Bears
5. Giants
6. Saints

Super Bowl XLIV

PATRIOTS over EAGLES

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Predicted AFC Award Winners

Offensive Player of the Year - Randy Moss, WR, Patriots
We expect that with Brady back in form that Moss should be able to light it up once again.

Defensive Player of the Year - Mario Williams, DE, Texans
This former #1 overall pick is dominant. Reggie who?

Comeback Player of the Year - Tom Brady, QB, Patriots
He's back. It's showtime.

Offensive Rookie of the Year - Knowshon Moreno, RB, Broncos
Denver likes to accumulate backs, but we think this guy could be something special. Kyle Orton will need the help.

Defensive Rookie of the Year - Brian Cushing, LB, Texans
He is going to a team with some talent in the front seven. This is a good fit for a guy coming from a great USC program that pumps out linebackers.

Coach of the Year - Jim Caldwell, Colts
So he simply inherits a team he was already a coordinator with....and Peyton Manning is the QB? Should be a no-brainer here.

[SonicZulu25]

Predicted NFC Award Winners

Offensive Player of the Year - Adrian Peterson, HB, Vikings
A.D. is a menace to every opposing defense. 1st rushing title down. 3000+ yards in first two seasons. If he stays healthy, he will put up some serious career numbers.

Defensive Player of the Year - DeMarcus Ware, OLB, Cowboys
Teams need to figure out how to block this guy. With an ever increasing sack total over the last four years, could he top his 20 sack mark from this past season? Even if he does not, he will disrupt any offense.

Comeback Player of the Year - Osi Umenyiora, DE, Giants
He's coming back healthy on a deep and talented D-line, making it tough to double team him. Expect him to dominate.

Offensive Rookie of the Year - Beanie Wells, RB, Cardinals
It will be interesting to see how the Cardinals offensive philosophy changes now that they have an explosive player behind Warner.

Defensive Rookie of the Year - Aaron Curry, LB, Seahawks
Constantly touted as being "NFL ready", he should fit in nicely with a strong linebacking crew. Although there may be pressure for him to replace departed pro bowl linebacker Julian Peterson, we think he will be solid.

Coach of the Year - Andy Reid, Eagles
Could this be the year that Reid and McNabb finally seal the deal and bring back the Super Bowl trophy. This may be his best squad yet.

[SonicZulu25]

Buffalo Bills

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The Bills have had a nine year playoff drought. They are hoping that their 50th anniversary season proves different. The big story for Bills fans has been the free agent signing of WR Terrell Owens. We are not certain how his mantra will mesh with the small market town. More importantly, will he complement WR Lee Evans, and be a dependable target for a mediocre QB in Trent Edwards.

Owens may be stealing all of the headlines but this team needs to get their running game going under a revamped O-line. If Marshawn Lynch and Fred Jackson can combine for serious ground game yardage, then that should free up Owens and Evans.

Defensively, this team was average last season. It was however an improved over the season prior. Much of the credit goes to DT Marcus Stroud who was able to eat space but more needs to be done in order for them to stop the run. It remains to be seen if the 1st round pick DE Aaron Maybin, teamed up with DE Aaron Schobel, can put pressure on opposing team QBs. Posluszny is good in the middle but needs better play around him from the other linebackers.

If Coach Jauron can not get this team a winning record or even into the playoffs, it is not expected that he will remain at the helm. He is 21-27 over his 3 year tenure.

Key Acquisitions

QB - Ryan Fitzpatrick (Cin)
WR - Terrell Owens (Dal)

Key Losses

OT - Jason Peters (Phi)

Key Draft picks

DE - Aaron Maybin - 1st round
G/C - Eric Wood - 1st round
FS - Jairus Byrd - 2nd round
G - Andy Levitre - 2nd round
TE - Shawn Nelson - 4th round