The Birds! Arizona Cardinals Franchise [Coach Mode]

[claydo270]

Arizona Cardinals

Franchise - Madden 11
Settings: 12 Minute Quarters
Sliders: Bill's Realism Sliders [Coach Mode]





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Hello and welcome, this is my first franchise I will be playing in this manner. I chose to play the Arizona Cardinals, for one they are the team I grew up watching and loving. They have always been a franchise on the verge, but in the end failing. Therefore I look to to set the team up as a franchise and look towards the future.

We have some great, players on the team already. What I look for when I am building a team is an unstoppable passing offense, and dominating run defense.

A few rules will be presented and I will stick to these throughout.

• Contracts - Contracts will be offered at the monetary level I deem appropriate. If it is refused then the player will not play for this team, drama is not needed on this team. A franchise option will always be available.
  
• Rookies - I love bring up rookies and grooming them to be the best they can be. With that said, we will follow standard contract negotiations with rookies, the higher the pick the lengthier and more expensive a contract they will get.
  
• EA Make a wish kids - They are removed, very nice of EA though.

The first year will be simmed so I can draft to improve the team and start to mold them into the team I believe they should be.

Dynasty or bust.

[claydo270]

OFF SEASON

The season finished dismally, a 6-10 record. A 6 game losing streak at the end of the season really hurt the franchise and morale, it was in part due to very poor quarterback play and extremely bad offensive line play.

SUPER BOWL: Vikings vs. Chargers. The Vikings pulled this one out, 38 - 34.

Evaluations are needed if this time is to go forward with any hopes.

STRENGTHS:

• Passing Game - We have the potential to be the greatest passing offense in the league. Larry Fitzgerald will be a dominant force in the league for many years.
  
• Pass Defense - Our secondary will shutdown passing games on a given Sunday. With players like Rogers-Cromartie, Kerry Rhodes, and Adrian Wilson it is only to be expected.

WEAKNESSES:

• Offensive Line - With the exception of Alan Faneca the o-line is fulle of holes. Every position will need to be filled as Faneca as on the eve of his career.
  
• Quaterback - Derek Anderson was fleeting hope, inconsistent play was a the heart of many losses last season. Max Hall is in the wings, but his lack of arm strength hardly makes him a candidate for the future of this team.
  
• Run Defense - Defensive line play is solid, the players are stout and possible game changers. With an improvement in Linebackers the run defense will be stout.

Contracts

Significant Resignees:
Steve Breaston - WR
Early Doucet - WR
Ben Patrick - TE
Ben Graham - P

Significant Departures:
Alan Faneca - G (Refused Contract)
Tim Hightower - HB

Losing Alan Faneca is major hit to an already weak o-line. The draft focus is taking shape quickly.

A trade down to the Broncos was made, our 1st round 5th overall pick for their 1st and 2nd round pick. This will allow us to target a quarterback and more o-line.

Round 1 Pick 19: Dakota Mayer - QB (5.28M, Bonus 2.08M, 4YR) (63 OVR, A Pot)

6'3 225 Typical build QB. 21 years old, and absolute standout in his college years. One downside, his college was Appalachian State a school that only just recently was transfered to Division 1 football. Our hopes are on this boy, hopefully he can hold up against much more formidable foes.

Round 2 Pick 5: BJ Zorn - G (19.50M, Bonus 5.44M, 4YR) (77 OVR, C Pot)

Round 2 Pick 19: John Morgan - C (2.08M, Bonus 200K, 4YR) (63 OVR, C Pot)

Round 3 Pick 5: Jordan Moses - G (6.00M, Bonus 1.77M, 3 YR) (83 OVR, A Pot)

Round 4 Pick 5: Julian Watson - WR (3.18M, Bonus 570K, 3 YR) (84 OVR, A Pot)

I had to break the O-Line draft streak or risk a full on riot on draft day. This 6'5 man beast's combine results were phenomenal. He contribute in his rookie year, maybe as a slot receiver.

Round 5 Pick 5: Justin Graves - HB (620K, 2YR) (69 OVR, B Pot)

Round 6 Pick 5: Aaron Sam - TE (620K, 2YR) (57 OVR, A Pot)

A pure gem late in this draft, he can make an impact as a great pass catching TE in this league.

Round 7 Pick 5: Josh Edwards - FB (310K, 1YR) (85 OVR, A Pot)

The draft leaves a lot of questions. Is Mayer the hope of the future? He is raw but we have hopes. Is our O-Line a little more secure now? The season will tell. An all offense draft, not always advisable. Off to the preseason!

[tomriddle]

interesting chise right away just because of Arizona's makeup..

gonna have fun looking for a QB in your 1st draft..

one thing.. keep an eye on Beanie Wells.. he's quite a nice runner, a surprising one

[claydo270]

PRESEASON

Week 1 vs BEARS: W 23 -10
Week 2 vs FALCONS: L 14 -17
Week 3 at JAGUARS: L 24 - 37
Week 4 at 49ers: L 10 - 34

Injuries:

Dan WILLIAMS - (NT of my 3-4) Torn Shoulder Labrum, 1 Week

NOTABLES:

QB controversy in the preseason. Max Hall is declared the starter for the season, as Dakota Mayer 1st round pick of 2011 needs time to mature before he is allowed to take the reins. Controversy came about when Dakota Mayer out performed starter Max Hall this preseason.

Dakota Mayer: Rating: 66.3 Yards: 383 TD: 3 INT: 3 COMP %: 54

Max Hall: Rating: 62.1 Yards: 380 TD: 2 INT: 3 COMP %: 54

Depth Chart For Regular Season

Arizona Cardinals - 2011 Depth Chart - Regular Offense

	Starter	2nd	3rd	4th
WR	Larry Fitzgerlad	Julian Watson
TE	Ben Patrick	Aaron Sam	Jim Dray
LT	Levi Brown	Adam Terry
LG	BJ Zorn	Jamar Nesbit
C	Lyle Sendlein	John Morgan	Dylan Gandy
RG	Jordan Moses	Rex Hadnot
RT	Brandon Keith	Jon Jansen
WR	Steve Breaston	Early Doucet
QB	Max Hall	Dakota Mayer	Derek Anderson
FB	Josh Edwards	Reagan Mauia
HB	Beanie Wells	Larod Stephens-Howling	Justin Graves

Arizona Cardinals - 2011 Depth Chart - Base 3-4 Defense

	Starter	2nd	3rd	4th
LDE	Calais Campbell	Kenny Iwebema
NT	Dan Williams	Ian Scott	Tank Tyler
RDE	Darnell Dockett	James Hall
LOLB	Clark Haggans	Will Davis
LILB	Daryl Washington
RILB	Gerald Hayes
ROLB	Joey Porter	O'Brien Schofield
CB	Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie	Trumaine McBride
SS	Adrian Wilson	Roy Williams
FS	Kerry Rhodes	Rashad Johnson
CB	Gregory Toler	AJ Jefferson

OperationSports.com

[claydo270]

WEEK 1: Arizona Cardinals at Philadelphia Eagles

This was a very interesting game, we started off extremely slow. The offense would click for a play then fizzle out, largely due to inaccurate passes by Max Hall. However the O-line was playing out of its mind the first half. After leaning on Beanie Wells to calm Max Hall down the offense started to click. Max Hall came alive in the fourth quarter, he started finding Larry Fitzgerald more often and spread the ball around quick and accurate. The downside here was the O-line didn't show up for the second half and Max Hall took a lot of hits.

The defensive was disappointing, we couldn't stop the big play. Contain, contain, contain, and then bam there goes McCoy for an 80 yard TD. I need to find some LBs that will sure up the run defense so my safeties don't have to keep creeping up to help. This game was against Michael Vick and a very young and fast team, so over all I'm happy.

Injury Notice: We lost starting MLB Daryl Washington for 10 weeks. A devastating lost, he was Defensive Rookie of the Year last year. A sure run stopper. The team is no shopping around the free agency pool to sure up the LB hole.

Beanie Wells was also injured in this game, however he looks well enough to play in the next game.

NFL Scoreboard - Arizona Cardinals (0-0) at Philadelphia Eagles (0-0)

September 11, 2011 1 2 3 4 F Arizona Cardinals 7 7 7 21 42 Philadelphia Eagles 7 10 14 0 31 Top Performers Arizona Cardinals - Stats Max Hall: 21-40, 312 YDS, 3TD Steve Breaston: 7 REC, 125 YDS, 1 TD Philadelphia Eagles - Stats Michael Vick : 18 - 37, 242 YDS, 2TD. 4 ATT 14 YDS. LeSean McCoy: 12 ATT, 110 YDS, 1 TD. 1 REC, 5 YDS.

Team Stats Comparison ARI PHI First Downs 16 13 3rd Down Efficiency 46% 23% 4th Down Efficiency n/a n/a Total Yards 590 535 Passing Yards 331 215 Rushing Yards 103 155 Penalties-Penalty Yards 4-20 Turnovers 3 2 Time of Possession 24:19 23:41

Scoring Summary First Quarter ARI PHI PHI 7:16 D. Jackson 78 YD pass from M.Vick 0 7 ARI 1:43 L. Stephens-Howling, 1 YD run 7 7 Second Quarter ARI PHI PHI 10:34 D. Akers 50 Yd FG 7 10 PHI 2:34 D. Jackson 30 YD pass from M. Vick 7 17 ARI 1:10 B. Wells, 47 Yd run 14 17 Third Quarter ARI PHI ARI 6:25 S. Breaston 20 YD pass from M. Hall 21 17 PHI 2:34 L. McCoy, 80 YD run 21 24 PHI 1:06 J. Maclin, 4 YD run 21 31 Fourth Quarter ARI PHI ARI 11:52 L. Fitzgerald 8 YD pass from M. Hall 28 31 ARI 9:57 E. Doucet 23 YD pass from M. Hall 35 31 ARI 1:40 L. Stephens-Howling 29 YD pass from M. Hall 42 31

OperationSports.com

[claydo270]

Quote: Originally Posted by tomriddle

interesting chise right away just because of Arizona's makeup.. gonna have fun looking for a QB in your 1st draft.. one thing.. keep an eye on Beanie Wells.. he's quite a nice runner, a surprising one

I've noticed that so far through the games I've played, Wells is a nice runner to lean on. Good mix of power and speed.

[claydo270]

The other weeks will load soon, they have to be approved by a moderator.

WEEK 3: Arizona Cardinals (2-0) at San Fransisco(2-0)

This was one hell of a rivalry game. The 49ers are in a different class at this point though. They tore through our the defense on the ground, with Frank Gore totaling 100+ yards. Alex Smith was kept in check, but he made the passes when he needed to, including a 48-yard laser to Michael Crabtree that was a knife in the heart.

The defense of the 49ers was unbelievable, Beanie Wells could never get going as he was met by Patrick Willis every time he started to run. Max Hall looked nice in stats but he left a lot of potential yards and plays out on the field. He continued to check down all throws when receivers down the field were open. The O-line was beat up all day so Hall was feeling the pressure constantly.

All in all it is starting to look like we caught the Eagles off guard and the Rams are the powder puffs of the division.

Injuries:

Adrian Wilson - SS. Adrian got hurt in the 1st quarter and was out the entire game which was one of the reason the 49ers offense looked so good. He looks fine for Week 5, as next week is our bye.

NFL Scoreboard - Arizona Cardinals ((2-0)) at San Fransisco 49ers ((2-0))

September 25, 2011 1 2 3 4 F Arizona Cardinals 0 3 0 0 3 San Fransisco 49ers 0 10 3 11 24 Top Performers Arizona Cardinals - Stats Max Hall: 24-36, 223 YDS San Fransisco 49ers - Stats Frank Gore: 28 ATT, 132 YDS, 1 TD Patrick Willis: 9 TAK, 2 FF	Team Stats Comparison ARI SF First Downs 11 17 3rd Down Efficiency 46% 46% 4th Down Efficiency 0% 0% Total Yards 387 341 Passing Yards 216 153 Rushing Yards 46 148 Penalties-Penalty Yards 3 - 15 0 - 0 Turnovers 2 0 Time of Possession 22:37 25:23
Scoring Summary Second Quarter ARI SF SF 6:32 J. Nedney, 29 Yd FG 0 3 ARI 2:24 J. Feely, 38 Yd FG 3 3 SF 0:34 M. Norris, 3 Yd run 3 10 Third Quarter ARI SF SF 7:37 J. Nedney, 49 Yd FG 3 13 Fourth Quarter ARI SF SF 10:11 J. Nedney, 46 Yd FG 3 16 SF 2:14 F. Gore, 1 Yd run (2 pt) 3 24

OperationSports.com

[claydo270]

WEEK 4: Bye week! AZ (2-1)

The bye week is here and the break is greatly appreciated, we were man handled by the 49ers. An extra to dwell on this is never good, but it gives us much needed physical rest.

So far Max Hall has been playing well, he hasn't made any mistakes and we look pretty smart for giving Dakota Mayer the bench for his rookie season. While I think the type of passing game I would like to have is hampered by having Hall in, Mayer needs more time to mature and add some accuracy to his throws.

The newly built O-Line so far has been playing inconsistently, at times they will give Hall all day and then turn around and give him maybe 2 seconds.

I'm very excited about Julian Watson, this kid will be great. When Hall gets him the ball he is explosive ( 99 spd, 84 cth). If he keeps playing at this level he will replace Breaston as the second receiver. A fine fill in for Boldin.

At this point in the season I'm thinking next year's draft will have to focus on improving the run defense and the left half of my O-Line.