PS5 M24 The Football League (TFL) Sign Up Thread + Rules
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Welcome to The Football League. We are an established 32-man CFM League that started back in 2012 on Operation Sports under the league name “SOS Crew”. The original league mantra was “strategy over skills”. We live by that mindset today. We look to build a respectful, fun environment that rewards Football knowledge both in the front office and on the field, and not just user stick skill on the game of Madden. Notable features of our league include
NO SWITCH gameplay.
Simulated seasons allow for the management side of the sport of football to shine through and reward owners who can have a strong long term vision throughout a Madden Cycle.
Unique contract rules that allow for free agency to resemble a more realistic form of player movement.
Gameplay Rules that allows everyone to compete if they are able to call a strong game on the field, while also running a good organization off the field.
Incentive Rewards to promote activity both within the league by playing games, as well as promoting the league using various social media formats.
A great core of players who, for some of us, have been together for at least 7 years now, while some faces inevitably change, we can always rely on our core to always be here. And we’re always looking to add to that.
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Ultimately, The Football League is a Simulation league whose aim is to replicate the real game of football. Our mantra is strategy over skills. This means team management, coach play calling, roster construction, and ability to create a long term vision for your team are what will be the main path to success. Skills will always be a factor in every game but the goal is to create a playing field where anyone can succeed through different avenues and make an environment enjoyable for players of all skill levels to play in.
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TFL uses Neonsportz and Discord to run its league, the use of Discord is mandatory in TFL.
Initial Start Up & League Settings
Spoiler
Roster Used - 75-Man Preseason or Week 1 Rosters polled yearly with user base
Season Schedule
Weekly Advance Period - 72 hours with 8 PM EST Advance Times. If games are scheduled in public for after 8PM EST on advance day, the league will wait for the game to finish. If all games are completed prior to advance, the league will advance early and use 8PM EST on that day as reference for the beginning of the next 72 hour period.
League Settings
Difficulty: All Pro
Quarter Length: 10 Minutes (18s Play Clock)
Team Settings
Auto Flip - User Discretion
Ball Carrier Special Move - Manual
Defensive Auto Strafe - Off
Defensive Ball Hawk - Off
Defensive Heat Seeker Assist - Off
Defensive Switch Assist - Off
Game Play Rules
Spoiler
*ALL RULES, INCLUDING GAMEPLAY RULES AND SLIDERS ARE SUBJECT TO ADJUSTMENT/CHANGE*
Standard In Game Rules
“No Switch Rule” - You may not switch offensive players at any time. You are to control whatever players currently has the ball. On defense you must control the same player from the time the ball is snapped until the completion of the play. The exception to this is on a turnover. You can run with the player who has the ball. On special teams you can switch players up until the ball has been caught by the return man.
Play Call Integrity - Run your plays as they are designed. On offense you should not be hot routing in a certain route every play, or when you call a run play you should be trying to hit holes within the designed play, not bouncing runs to different parts of the field. On defense if you call a zone, you should be playing zone as your user player. While it makes sense to cover a guy within your zone, running between multiple receivers is not realistic and not what we want. Overall, audibling should be kept to a minimum.
Varying Plays - On both sides of the ball you are expected to be varying playcalling. Different run designs, different routes, different zone calls, different man coverages. This will be more detailed in the Offense and Defense sections. Basically this is a core of any simulation league and is a main component in our league. Using your coaching ability is a core component of how we evaluate owners.
Respectful Gameplay - This is nothing that is quantified, but playing with respect for your opponent is a key part of this league. If you find yourself calling certain plays or doing certain “skill” moves where you are taking advantage of the game flaws is not very respectful and makes for a miserable gaming environment. We all know the flaws, you can take advantage sometimes, but doing it consistently is frowned upon. We are all here to have fun.
Playmaker - The QB Playmaker function is not allowed to be used in game.
Play Calling - A coach is expected to call their own plays. Using suggested plays on either side of the ball is not permitted. Learn your playbook, ask other owners for advice.
3 Strike Policy - We will be instituting a 3 strike policy regarding ALL rules violations. Each “violation” only counts if a proper complaint is sent in to the commissioners. On your first 2 strikes, the commissioners will open a dialogue with the violator to help them going forward. On the 3rd strike you will enter a hearing with 3 commissioners and the onus will be on you to explain the violations and convince the 3 commissioners why you belong in the league. We will be willing to hear you out, but we would rather never get to that stage. Not every case will result in expulsion, but there may be discipline handed out depending on the situation.
Offensive Play Rules
QB Movement - QB’s can’t drop back more than 10 yards from the line of scrimmage and if there is pressure you must escape right/left/middle. QB’s can’t drift right or left after the snap if it is a standard drop back. You can sprint right/left on a rollout or boot pass within the play design.
League-Wide Passing Settings: Users will be allowed for some creativity with the inclusion of the new Free Form Passing in Madden 23. We will allow Free Form Passing under the Near & Far settings.
Run With Integrity - Run the ball where the play is intended. If you want to change a play drastically, use the juke or spin features. Left stick running is allowed but you should not be completely changing a play design by doing so. Do not bounce runs horizontally, there should always be some sort of up field direction on each run.
Skill Moves - Skill moves, pertaining to any move that can be abused/button mashed on Madden, should be only used in moderation. Repeatedly without creatively using them in the open field to break a big play is not within the mindset of the league.
Outside Runs - Outside runs are not to be abused or called with regularity. With our full no switch format it allows for more inside runs to work than other Madden CFM formats. There should be no more than 40% outside run designs called in any given game.
Play Variety - Vary your runs, vary your formations, and vary your routes. Do not resort to go-to plays on every 3rd down. We all have tendencies, but let’s open up the playbook for the league and see some different, creative play calling. 4 Vert plays are not permitted unless you are in a desperate situation late in the game. Hail Mary’s are only allowed for Hail Mary situations. And MOST IMPORTANTLY vary your concepts. Running inside zone or quick slants out of different formations is not considered mixing up your play-calling. We want you to mix up the concepts you are running out of the different formations.
4th Downs - Teams are expected to allow the game situation to dictate their 4th down decision making. Do not abuse 4th Downs.
Quick Snapping - Do not snap the ball immediately when you get to the line. Allow for the defense to adjust when they see your offense. If you audible give the defense time to adjust as well. Only time this is not enforced is when you are up against the clock.
Play Action Passing - Play-Action is not to be used on 3rd & 6 or longer. *You can actually remove the play action part of a play call by keeping your HB in to block or to run a route. This will eliminate the fake in all PA plays and will keep every play in your playbook available on 3rd down*
Hot Routes/Pre-Snap Adjustments - No more than 3 pre-snap adjustments may be called on any given play. This includes the following: hot route, fake hot route, flipping runs, blocking adjustments (ID the Mike, Double Team, line shift), adding a blocker, motioning, or audibling . Do not abuse these the entire game as well. WR Hot Routes and Audibles should not be a staple of your offense and should be used minimally. In addition, if you do make adjustments, you must wait an additional 4-5 seconds to allow the defense to adjust (the exception is a hurry-up offense late in the half/game).
HB Screen Passes - If you call a HB Screen you either have to throw it to the HB, throw it away OR scramble. Do not throw to another route on these plays.
QB Sneaks - QB Sneaks are not permitted at any time.
FB Dives - These plays are not permitted on 3rd & 3 or less. Additionally you cannot call a fake FB Dive HB Toss on these same plays. They are permitted in other situations.
Catch Influence - The use of the catch influence Buttons is not permitted while the ball is in the air.
HB Carry Restrictions - Please get your backup HB's carries over the course of the game. The guideline will be that starters can get a maximum of 80% of the total carries for a team. If you run 20 times in a game you need to give 4 runs to backups. The rule will take into account game flow when looking at these guidelines.
Offensive Movement - Motions are permitted, but do not make them a staple of your offense. Your ability to call and execute plays as their designed should take precedence over your ability to take advantage of potential coverage exploits in the game.
Defensive Play Rules
SUB LB & Nickel CB- We do allow safeties to play in both of these spots, if owners follow the personnel matchup rule, it will match guys up in situations where these players will be matched up on passing downs mostly.
Coverage Integrity - One thing we require is for user defenders to defend their assignments. A middle zone should remain a middle zone. You should not follow a player to the sideline. Same goes for abandoning an assignment in man coverage to double team a different player when it’s not assigned. Also defensive line players should not stop their pass rush/run defense in order to go into coverage if they are not designed to. Users in coverage must also strafe when covering their zone.
Play Variety - Vary your coverage, vary your formations, and vary your blitzes. If you have a team that is built to play more man feel free to do so. The same goes for zone schemes. Within your scheme you still need to call different zone/man plays.
Rush Variety - Vary who you user when playing in the trenches or off the edge. Users cannot control the same DL/OLB (3-4) on back-to-back plays or specifically on certain downs.
Loading the Box - In recent Madden’s there are plenty of cover 1 and cover 3 playcalls that bring down the safety into the box. This should not be a staple of any defense in the league. You can call cover 1 or 3 and base align to get out of loading the box. Game situations will be taken into account for these violations.
3 Man Rush - Defense must rush a minimum of three (3) defenders on every play with the exception of a Hail Mary situation. Also please don't manually hot route DL into zones as a common practice. Use this VERY sparingly.
Pre-Snap Movement - any player who is manually moved by a user must be controlled by the user. Use the game designed shifts (show blitz, man align, shift LB right/left/spread, etc). If you user a safety you can bring them to the LB level but they should never be placed on the LOS.
Run Commit - The use of run commit is permitted. It may be used on 3rd/4th and short or any "goal to go" situation.
Engage 8 & Zero Blitzes - These are allowed, but do it at your own risk. Quick passes are very effective against both of these playcall styles and if an offense notices a trend and starts throwing short to avoid these blitz play calls, it will be actually encouraged. Do not abuse either of these, use them in moderation as you would with any other playcall.
Scheduling
Spoiler
72 Hour Advance Periods
Scheduling your games within 36 hours is an absolute requirement
Last edited by butler4life; 08-09-2023 at 01:56 AM.
08-08-2023, 03:23 AM
