2023 Week #14 Discussion (games thursday night)

[tarcone]

GG to everyone the last few weeks. Sorry I havent posted.

I think I get too much credit for "knowing" this game. I know some things and am always happy to share. I dont know how to make sure I get a PI call. Or a 2 play 66 yard drive. I do know that WRs are king in this game. I know a good WR is a great WR if he has a high BPR. I know that end of half and game logic is screwy. I know that you game plan to your strengths. I know to go to FOFC and look at the draft analysis when drafting. I know cohesion plays a big part.

BUT> I am not one of the best players in this league or around. I would consider myself middle of the road. I am in IHOF and am about 11-69 in the last 5 seasons. I am way out-classed over there. Now I have 3 G to VG WRs, a VG QB and a O line that is building lots of cohesion. I will see if I can GP over there.

I play this game for enjoyment. And it isnt like SP. Humans are a lot harder to play against then the AI. And if you are new to MP you have a steep learning curve. Lots of GMs have years of experience, done or read studies on the game, tinkered with GPs to find out what works for them. This isnt a game, in MP, that you walk into and win right away. Its not possible.

I wouldnt focus on the shortcomings of the game. I would focus on the positives. Learn the game. Get the right guys in place. It will become more fun.

[Pirates]

Nice post Tarcone. I agree with you. I am well below your middle of the road rating and I am ok with it. It seems I win when I dont put a lineup in and I lose when I think I know what I am doing. Still love my team and the guys in this league. That is good enough.

[ukpatfan]

For me, the pace of this league really contributes to the feeling that your players are your players.

When you invest several months of real time into a season, you invest heavily in your roster.
I get a huge buzz when I see LB Tommy Bean stuff a runner for loss, or when Diedrich slips a defender and takes it in for 6.
Hell, even when my gunner stuffs a return deep inside the 20.

I bet a high number of GM's can list their starters from memory, or even their full roster, or list off their stars of seasons past.
For me, the fun is in creating a team of 'my guys'.

If you manage to win some games, it makes the effort seem worthwhile of course, but the real fun comes from drafting or trading for a guy and seeing him develop and perform.
It's a long term thing and if you get into that, you'll get some W's even if you're not a huge gameplanner.

Wichita are winning at the moment but I know they will hit some hard years again.
I'll see them through it because I've invested personally in the franchise.
To enjoy this league you have to enjoy the pace of things, grab some tips where you can, try things out and get roster building.
Build some foundations, speak to a friendly GM or two and then tinker with the GP and see what works and what doesn't.

[Matt]

I agree whole heartedly.

I play this game for fun. this league especially is tremendous for me because I DO fall in love with players. I have been in the league since we started in 2004. I could tell you my defensive line back then that first year.

There's a lot of great players at this game. some people can do it all.....draft, gameplan, scout players..........some are good at 1 or 2 things. Sometimes there's situations where you're good at drafting specific types of players.

Me personally, I think i'm pretty good at finding offensive linemen that work well. I don't trust myself at QB's......things like that.

if anyone wants any tips from me, I would be more than happy to share. I am by no means an expert so take it with a grain......

[JesterBlaze]

And if you are new to MP you have a steep learning curve. Lots of GMs have years of experience, done or read studies on the game, tinkered with GPs to find out what works for them. This isnt a game, in MP, that you walk into and win right away. Its not possible.

Don't let this be discouraging though. If you care enough you can research FOFC and learn what others found out over years in less than a week. And the pace of the IFL will never be faster than the pace of a motivated student of FOF.


Regarding WRs and BPR in FOF: I haven't been torched on par with the rest of the league since I've all but completely dropped double coverage (which is a waste against the better WRs if it leaves a 3rd or 4th quality WR open) and blitzing, and got the DE duo that I've craved for a while. I think teams might be gambling at the wrong time out of fear. I know when I had good/great WRs I loved to see "double coverage" in the game log because I knew a non-starting WR was going to have a big day. Of course once everyone realizes the power of a playmaking WR it will be too hard for any one team to stockpile them. I don't know that FOF is imbalanced so much as the NFL has just never had a situation with a Terrell Owens, Randy Moss, and a Reggie Wayne type on the same team in their primes. We see 2 All-Pros and a quality 3rd WR on the same roster all the time in the IFL.

[Matt]

Don't let this be discouraging though. If you care enough you can research FOFC and learn what others found out over years in less than a week. And the pace of the IFL will never be faster than the pace of a motivated student of FOF.


Regarding WRs and BPR in FOF: I haven't been torched on par with the rest of the league since I've all but completely dropped double coverage (which is a waste against the better WRs if it leaves a 3rd or 4th quality WR open) and blitzing, and got the DE duo that I've craved for a while. I think teams might be gambling at the wrong time out of fear. I know when I had good/great WRs I loved to see "double coverage" in the game log because I knew a non-starting WR was going to have a big day. Of course once everyone realizes the power of a playmaking WR it will be too hard for any one team to stockpile them. I don't know that FOF is imbalanced so much as the NFL has just never had a situation with a Terrell Owens, Randy Moss, and a Reggie Wayne type on the same team in their primes. We see 2 All-Pros and a quality 3rd WR on the same roster all the time in the IFL.

i've always found that I have more success when I have multiple weapons to throw to. even if they're all just "good" WR's, if I can find that 3rd or 4th guy against my opponents 3rd or 4th CB, I'm probably going to beat that lower tier CB

I've tried the no double team strategy in other leagues and never did more than an eyeball test. I don't know if it made a difference.

I've never had top flight WR's in this league.......even though I've craved one. Just have to make due with what I have. maintain the depth. Statistically, Jose Hoover is the greatest WR in Bulldogs history.....pretty lame, eh!

[Beeznik]

Regarding WRs and BPR in FOF: I haven't been torched on par with the rest of the league since I've all but completely dropped double coverage (which is a waste against the better WRs if it leaves a 3rd or 4th quality WR open) and blitzing, and got the DE duo that I've craved for a while. I think teams might be gambling at the wrong time out of fear. I know when I had good/great WRs I loved to see "double coverage" in the game log because I knew a non-starting WR was going to have a big day.

I am like the others here, I consider myself a middle of the road GM.

I used to run 'no double coverage' in my other league 100% of the time, and always had a top notch defense. Now, I run it sometimes, but not a lot.

Georgia has been a frustrating endeavor for me. I think I draft well, but I am also impatient and tend to trade guys at times(Garrod, Harris, Sparkman) when I should keep them for cohesion reasons. And getting over the Tulsa hump is/has been more difficult than I thought it would be.

Some points that I really believe in:

Definitely realize that if you are struggling, picking up a couple of stud WRs will turn that around. I would take a 55 WR with the right bars over an 80 DE any day of the week. I took Pat Durham very early in the last draft (Top 5 I think?) and he is creeping, he will probably end up somewhere in the 50s/60s and he will be well worth it considering his BPR bar.

I generally try NOT to draft OL in the first round, although I sometimes settle for one if I haven't spent a lot of time looking at the draft class. I have been pretty successful finding them later. I think the first round is the place you shouldbe looking for players that can make a huge difference in the game. QB, RB, WR, defense, etc.

[BuddaKINGII]

GG...Lansing. We jumped out early 14-0 and looked like we were gonna score 40 then our offense just disappeared after that. Jacobs threw picks so we were lucky to send it to overtime and win. And what a ugly ot that was...lol

I thought we might have a outside shot at winning 4 games but the way we've been playing on both sides of the ball doesn't look promising for the team to do that. We will need to get lucky and have Fresno continue to lose. Looks like they have Portland...I hope Jave doesn't let up on the pedal!! 8-)

[BOSS]

GG Jave!

You jumped on us early and it proved to be too much too overcome. Turnovers at a bad time are killing us at times. You took full advantage and before we knew what hit us you were up 24-0. Glad we still had some fight in us as the rest of the game was pretty decent. We're not a come from behind team at all.

Lansing pays a visit this week. We need to win the next two games against LANSING and LOS ANGELES and for PENN to lose one of their next two games @DAKOTA (not likely) or PORTLAND to win this division if we don't win @ PENN in the season finale. PENN holds the tiebreaker if we end up tied and this division is only sending one team to the playoffs. GO PORTLAND!!!

[CyYoung]

I've had bad red-zone defense since the dawn of FOF time. Sometimes I have good/bad/great overall defense, but never worth a poop in the red zone. I think there's a basic FOF difference, or maybe even a real life set of data, that I'm missing or misinterpreting. Any info on the subject would be nice to hear. Thanks, Cy.

FWIW - My "suckness" goes around the board: scoring, pass yards/attempt, rush yards/attempt, pass completion, etc... and like I said is consistent every season.

There's no easy answer for this one. It's hard to focus a gameplan only on the redzone defensively. I think the game engine favors the offense in the red zone. (Exemple : It's nearly impossible to stop a team who has a 1st and goal at the one) The only thing I do is blitzing more than usual. I rarely blitz in normal situation since I think it's the best way to give up big plays, but I figured that if you reached the red zone, Plan A is not working so I start blitzing.

The best way to prevent scoring from anywhere on the field in my mind is gameplanning heavily against the pass. Of course you need to have good personnel to stop the run or you're getting run over.