Completed my first regular season... some thoughts

[Rodgers2Jennings]

Hi there, i am the new one. Been lurking for a while but did not have the guts to post... now i felt it was time to say hello.

I stumbled across this awesome game about two months ago and have just finished my first regular season. I started a new franchise with my beloved Packers after the draft took place. So far i think i have done well, considering the fact that i am from the motherland of American Football.... you guessed it right... germany !!!

Ok, kidding aside... i love football but as you can imagine i am not that deep into it like some of you guys which have been taught this wonderful sport since they were little kids but i try hard. I do not sim any games and call all the plays by myself because first i have a crappy OC and second a more crappy DC who seems to only know four or five plays out of the whole playbook.

My first regular season went well, going 10-6 and winning the NFC North granting me a wild card spot with homefield advantage against the Cowboys. (i promised the play offs right before the season started) I saved my career right before the Play Off game and it will snow heavily once i will have the time to finally play the game. My last meeting with the Cowboys was undoubtedly the most strange game i had during the whole season... Romo and company wreaked havoc on me, putting up insane numbers... over 580 yards passing... Barber III went wild with nearly 200 yards on the ground... I couldn't do sh!t in this game... i simply was not able to stop them at any time in the game... but the most hilarious thing in this game was that i somehow managed to still win this game... i won the turnover battle 6-1 so i think this was the key... final score: Packers 48 Cowboys 45... that was some crazy stuff...

Now, i think i am better prepared this time since i now know how to stop these power houses... but i keep thinking that it could not be the answer to blitz 100% of the plays which is what i basically do... the only time it did not work was against Jacksonville... lost the game 0-17... still wondering why i couldn't do anything in this game... i have serious trouble with man coverage... Al Harris has an overall of 91 and Charles Woodson an overall of 85 so i guess this is not too shabby but when i play man coverage or zone i simply am not able to get to the QB in time... resulting in a completion almost 90% of the time... maybe someone can give me a hint on what i should do to improve in this department of the game...

When i blitz i put heavy pressure on the QB... AK74 has 18 sacks in the season... but honestly: which team blitzes 100% of the game ?

My off season activities will include the firing of several coordinators including my trainer who has a craptastic overall of 12 !!! I wonder how i made it through the season with only 2 players on IR ?! I only will keep my QB coach and my LB coach... all others will get canned. I have to get rid of some of my depth players and search for some youth especially at OL... Tauscher and Clifton are nearing the fall of their careers...

Found out that i have the Zazzali path... i read in here that it's one of the tougher ones... I did not scout any big school prospects and keyed on the small and medium schools... curious what i can get during the draft...

With all that being said (sorry guys, you had much to read) this game skyrocketed into my all time Top 5 games ever played.

Cheers

[ebongreen]

Welcome aboard from a fellow Packer fan!

10-6 isn't a bad record at all, especially considering that you didn't redo the 2008 draft like many of us. Consider it a learning opportunity - you may wish to restart your franchise at a later date, after you've had more experience playing the game.

Unlike you, I (still) haven't fired the majority of my coaching staff. Sanders & Philbin have their redeeming features, even if they can't call plays worth squat - they're both very good at developing players (or they can be if you spend the points to make them so). Besides the initial trainer, the couple of folks on the staff that are "spare parts" are really RBC Bennett & WRC Robinson, both of whom have relatively low maximum thresholds. If you're looking to replace a couple of coaches, those would be the pair I would target. Later on you may wish to fire Philbin and promote QBC Clements to take his place, but Mr. P is very much a decent coach.

The challenge with Harris & Woodson is that they're slow: they simply can't keep up with most NFL receivers after the initial jam. And if you don't jam & blitz , the receivers come out of their break, make the catch, and the offense continues its drive. My recommendation (and something I've done several times now) is to create cap room and then either cut or trade both, preferably for draft picks to be used on their replacements.

Sounds like you've been bitten by the HC bug - have fun here!

[coachchris]

Welcome aboard! Glad to see you are enjoying this great game. Keep up the good work. Man coverage is difficult even if your corners have really good man coverage ratings. I do try to mix in press and show blitz to get the cb's up on the wr and confuse the qb. Good luck

[slacker2]

Just be careful when you hire new coaches. The hiring process for coaches starts soon after the regular season is over. If you make the playoffs then some coaches will be gone by the time you either go all the way or lose.

Don't worry though personally i won the superbowl in my first year as the bears and in my second year i am 16-0 and will probably win the superbowl. I never changed any of my coaches except for my trainer and i am doing fine even though every coach except for the wr coach and the gm stink.

[Burntoatmeal]

I agree with ebongreen. Dumping Charles Woodson is usually my first move. He's a dog in speed and even with a good trainer (which the Pack don't have Year One) he's tough to keep on the field in Year Two and beyond. Al Harris is in the same boat but he's slightly more durable. It's a coin toss if you keep him or dangle him for trade bait.

As the Pack, with their standard D playbook... Press, press, press, press and ... press! Once those WR's get past the first 5-10 yards, they are gone. Cover Man and Cover 1 are the bread and butter. Upgrade your FS or SS in the first draft. I saw your path (Zazz) and it's a good one for this (no spoilers). A ball hawking FS is what you need to complete your secondary. Once you've got a good SS or FS, look for those plays where the CB's play Man to Man and the FS and SS are zone over the middle. It'll rain INT's.

Find some plays that get Kampman freed up on the outside. He'll beat the best tackles in the game like a drum for years. I always rely on him as a cornerstone on the D-line. He's a beast.

On the other side of the ball, the 93 & 94 middle run plays work well for me historically with the Packers. Don't limit yourself to the hooks and slants (WR Comeback)... find a few vertical plays for your #2 WR on the left side of the formation. Play action is very effective with the Pack once you get the middle run game going. Just watch out for your divisional rival, the Bears. Their linebackers don't bite on play action.

Hope that helps. Welcome.

[ebongreen]

Quote: Originally Posted by Burntoatmeal

Al Harris is in the same boat but he's slightly more durable. It's a coin toss if you keep him or dangle him for trade bait.

Oh, he's very good trade bait. I used him once as part of a package to move up in Round 1 of a draft for a stud LT. *nostalgia*

Quote:

As the Pack, with their standard D playbook... Press, press, press, press and ... press! Once those WR's get past the first 5-10 yards, they are gone. Cover Man and Cover 1 are the bread and butter. Upgrade your FS or SS in the first draft. I saw your path (Zazz) and it's a good one for this (no spoilers). A ball hawking FS is what you need to complete your secondary. Once you've got a good SS or FS, look for those plays where the CB's play Man to Man and the FS and SS are zone over the middle. It'll rain INT's.

Agreed on all counts - though the Zazz path is a stranger to me. Cover 2 Man, Cover 1, and press-man blitzes are my living.

Quote:

Just watch out for your divisional rival, the Bears. Their linebackers don't bite on play action.

This is true - but once you discover the Secret Fail of Tampa 2 (custom plays), you can max-protect and still pass on them All. Day. Long. at nearly 20 yards-per-catch. It's a sin, but a happy one, because I'm a mean & ruthless gamer.

[Burntoatmeal]

Re: Tampa 2 and those Zone D's
I agree 100%. The (non-custom) play I find just destorys those D's... has a 3 RB's 2 TE's set. I believe it's called TE Option or TE Attack... two RB's stay in to block, one RB and the TE's run right up the middle. It's good for 20+ yds a pop against the zones with a run of the mill (Overall in the 70's) TE. With someone like Gonzo or Gates.. forget about it... just add 7 points to your score when you dial it up. It's not a Packer Play but It's always in my playbook by the end of season two. Maryland I is the formation. Not sure which playbook it comes from. It's usually a 90+ success rate and the YPC is 20+ yards. I call it the "Bear Buster". It's almost comical to watch the TE just run straight down field for the bomb while the MLB and FS just hold their coverage areas.

[Aurabolt127]

There are a lot of scores Woodson has that makes him worth keeping - try moving him to FS (like the pack experimented with). I'd try to trade Al Harris for a pick or young fast DB.