Madden 2004 frnachise mode problem

dammit meat. i've been playing madden all night now.

 

I was playing last night, and I got pissed. All of the sudden the O-line and secondary don't want to freaking play anymore. It's like anarchy. I got 9 players ranked an average of 85, and nobody's doing squat. No holes for the running game, QB's getting hammered, and I got blown out by an 0-6 Tampa Bay team that converted something like 10 of 11 third downs.

I'm in the 2009 season, and I'm HC and owner of a Panthers team that's won back-to-back Super Bowls, with mostly the same players. But last night I was benching guys right and left. I got down to my third string QB (undrafted FA), and he was the only one who could move the friggin' ball down the field. RMJ has been demoted to dime back because he's lost his vertical and can't tackle anymore. I got a LOLB who's been holding out on me since pre-season I finally caved into. He's rated 82, and held out for $3M+ a season, which is more than Morgan or Witherspoon make, who are ranked 92 and 86 respectively. I gave him a one-year deal and will let him float at the end of the year. In retrospect, that was stupid -- it would've been cheaper just to cut him. Oh, well.

Anyone else finding it's near impossible to draft a blue chip guard?

 

Witherspoon is a beast in the computer version.

 

I've drafted top shit guards. You HAVE to start them. I've had guards that were 65 at rookies develop into the 90's.

Grant becomes a stud, too. So does Mitchell, Morgan, Jenks / Pep / Ruck, Smitty (if you pass more than run, and play aggressive offense and have a strong qb).

 

Yup. Drafted Morgan, Jenks, and Ruck across two different franchises and they've all been good.

HB - Meat is right. You gotta be real patient with linemen and let them suffer some growing pains.

 

Yes, he is. Almost as good as Morgan.

 

I've found that as the years go by, everybody has stud lb's. I've had them stacked 5 deep with 90's.

Also of note - I traded Jenks, Ruck, Pepp, Gross, all for 1st round picks. They were all like 100 years old, and wouldn't retire. Better than nothing.

WR's are the hard ones to develop.

 

Week 6 is clearout week for me. Anyone approaching 100 years old and having dropped a few points is gone for next year's picks.

I love the dumbass computer GM's.

Agree on WR's. Especially when all of them are drafted in the first 15 picks.

 

i had to restart last night. deleted my season awhile back. that sucks.


i love trading for draft picks.

 

I was afraid you were going to say that. Painful learning curve, though. Most can run block okay, but I've only seen two who could pass block for anything. One I kept. The others I've let rot on the bench or traded away. I started one for over 2 seasons, who could pass block, but couldn't run block for anything. Traded him to the Raiders and the next season he winds up starting in the Pro Bowl. Figures.

Grant is good, but his awareness has never come up for me so he gives up too many big plays (funny thing about that, huh?). I drafted a FS in about the 3rd year, and he's better.

Pep is a freaking BEAS' (owns about every sack record there is), and Ruck is solid. Smitty is a HOF returner and home run receiver for several years, but in the 2008 he started fumbling every other return, so I had to bench him.

In 2009, I still have the following "real" Panthers on my roster:

FB1: Hoover
FB2: Moore
TE1: Seidman
LT: Gross
C: Mitchell

RE: Rucker
DT1: Jenkins
LE: Peppers
ROLB: Witherspoon
MLB: Morgan
CB4: Manning
FS2: Grant
SS: Minter

P: Sauerbrun

Davis, Foster, Kasay, Fields, and Buckner all retired.