The Cardiac Cats (Madden NFL 2004)

[superjames1992]

After playing some of my Yale Bulldogs dynasty recently, I was looking for another football game as a change of pace as some things about NCAA Football 07 really start to grate on me after a while (mainly, the impacts players and number of turnovers).

I decided to head back to one of my favorite Maddens, Madden NFL 2004. This game is somewhat special to me as it was my first Madden I ever owned on the Xbox (I had Madden NFL 2000 on the N64). It also starts in the 2003 season, which is a special season for my favorite NFL team: Carolina's first Super Bowl appearance. The title of this is a homage to that team, which was nicknamed the "Cardiac Cats" because of their tendency to play so many close games, and more often than not come out on the right side of them. Unfortunately, the Super Bowl was rather an exception to that rule as Adam Vinatieri won it with a walk-off 41-yard kick.

I have actually run a dynasty on Madden 2004 back some five or six years ago (LINK), but I ended up discontinuing it after getting too good at the game. I've found some better sliders now that I think should present more of a challenge. Unfortunately, I cannot pick up that old dynasty as my Xbox from 2018 bit the bullet and I don't have that file anymore.

[superjames1992]

Reserved...

[superjames1992]

Reserved....

[superjames1992]

Reserved.....

[superjames1992]

2003-2004 Carolina Panthers Roster



(Number / Name / Rating / Height / Weight / Experience)

OFFENSE

QB
17 Jake Delhomme (75) 6'2, 205, 4 Years
9 Rodney Peete (75) 6'0, 230, 13 Years
16 Chris Weinke (67) 6'4, 229, 2 Years

HB
48 Stephen Davis (87) 6'0, 230, 7 Years
42 Skip Hicks (71) 6'0, 230, 5 Years
20 DeShaun Foster (68) 6'0, 222, 1 Year
22 Dee Brown (66) 5'10, 209, 2 Years

FB
45 Brad Hoover (71) 6'2, 242, 3 Years
37 Nick Goings (62) 6'0, 225, 2 Years

Backfield notes: Jake Delhomme will get the nod over Rodney Peete at quarterback. Peete is 37 and will probably retire soon, so I don't see any reason to pass over Delhomme (and Delhomme was the historical starter after game 1, anyways). That being said, we may need to find another quarterback for future seasons as I don't expect Jake to be as good in the game as he was in real life over the ensuing seasons (not that he was ever a top-flight QB in real life, to be clear). Stephen Davis is a monster and will be fantastic this year for us. We should try to run the ball as much as possible. Brad Hoover is a solid fullback.

WR
87 Muhsin Muhammad (85) 6'2, 217, 7 Years
89 Steven Smith (80) 5'9, 179, 2 Years
85 Kevin Dyson (79) 6'1, 208, 5 Years (Injured Reserve, complete ACL tear)
81 Ricky Proehl (76) 6'0, 190, 13 Years
19 Walter Young (65) 6'4, 214, Rookie
88 Karl Hankton (61) 6'2, 202, 4 Years

TE
86 Kris Magnum (68) 6'4, 249, 5 Years
80 Keith Heinrich (62) 6'5, 255, 1 Year
84 Jermaine Wiggins (58) 6'2, 255, 3 Years

Receivers Notes: Muhammad is our top receiver, but Steven Smith has great speed and is young, so he should become our top receiver in the coming years. Kevin Dyson will be missed this year, but Ricky Proehl is a very good slot receiver, so we should be covered there well enough. Kris Magnum is a competent tight end, but nothing special.

LT
75 Todd Steussie (83) 6'6, 308, 9 Years

LG
79 Doug Brzezinski (79) 6'4, 305, 4 Years
76 Tutan Reyes (51) 6'3, 295, 3 Years

C
60 Jeff Mitchell (85) 6'4, 300, 6 Years
72 Bruce Nelson (70), 6'5, 301, Rookie
66 Louis Williams (57) 6'4, 291, 2 Years

RG
65 Kevin Donnalley (75) 6'5, 310, 12 Years
74 Derrick Fletcher (61) 6'6, 350, 3 Years

RT
69 Jordan Gross (77) 6'5, 306, Rookie
79 Melvin Tuten (73) 6'7, 320, 6 Years
78 Jeno James (66) 6'3, 310, 4 Years

Offensive Line Notes: Jeff Mitchell and Todd Streussie are pretty good, but aside from them our offensive line leaves some to be desired. Jordan Gross will get the nod at right tackle as a rookie and should develop into a top-level tackle in the coming years, however. We should probably try to find a replacement for Kevin Donnalley; he's not very good and is already in his 30s.

DEFENSE

LE
90 Julius Peppers (93) 6'6, 283, 1 Year
92 Kavika Pittman (74) 6'6, 273, 7 Years

RE
93 Mike Rucker (88) 6'5, 275, 4 Years
96 Al Wallace (62) 6'5, 258, 3 Years

DT
77 Kris Jenkins (93) 6'4, 315, 2 Years
99 Brentson Buckner (82) 6'2, 305, 9 Years
98 Shane Burton (73) 6'6, 305, 7 Years
92 Mario Fatafehi (56) 6'2, 305, 2 Years

Defensive Line Notes: This is the best unit on this team. Julius Peppers, Mike Rucker, and Kris Jenkins are some of the best defensive lineman in the NFL and will be a terror for opposing offensive lines to deal with.

LOLB
58 Mark Fields (85) 6'2, 244, 6 Years
53 Greg Favors (66) 6'1, 242, 5 Years

MLB
55 Dan Morgan (86) 6'2, 233, 2 Years
57 Lester Towns (62) 6'1, 252, 3 Years

ROLB
54 Will Witherspoon (77) 6'1, 231, 1 Year
52 Brian Allen (66) 6'1, 238, 2 Years

Linebackers Notes: This is another strong point for this team. Mark Fields and Dan Morgan are both very good. Right outside linebacker leaves a little to be desired, but Will Witherspoon is young and should continue to develop.

CB
21 Terry Cousin (77) 5'9, 181, 6 Years
23 Reggie Howard (74) 6'0, 190, 3 Years
34 Ricky Manning (69) 5'9, 185, Rookie
36 Brad Franklin (67) 5'9, 190, 1 Year
29 Dante Wesley (64) 6'0, 211, 1 Year

FS
27 Deon Grant (80) 6'2, 207, 3 Years
39 Damien Richardson (59) 6'1, 210, 5 Years

SS
30 Mike Minter (85) 5'10, 188, 6 Years
40 Jarrod Cooper (66) 6'0, 210, 2 Years

Secondary Notes: This is definitely the weak point of the defense. Mike Minter is a good strong safety and Deon Grant isn't a bad free safety, but our cornerbacks are frankly not very good. I wouldn't expect us to field a very good passing defense this year. Our best hope is to get a lot of pressure on the quarterback with our top-notch defensive line so that the pressure is taken off our subpar secondary.

SPECIALISTS

K
4 John Kasay (77) 5'10, 198, 12 Years

P
10 Todd Sauerbrun (98) 5'10, 204, 7 Years

Specialists Notes: John Kasay has solid accuracy, but lacks the power for deep kicks. Todd Sauerbrun was arguably the best punter in the NFL in 2002 and will be key to winning field position.

[superjames1992]

2003 Carolina Panthers Schedule



9/7 vs. Jacksonville Jaguars
9/14 at Tampa Bay Buccaneers
9/21 vs. BYE
9/28 vs. Atlanta Falcons
10/5 vs. New Orleans Saints
10/12 at Indianapolis Colts
10/19 vs. Tennessee Titans
10/26 at New Orleans Saints
11/2 at Houston Texans
11/9 vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
11/16 vs. Washington Redskins
11/23 at Dallas Cowboys
11/30 vs. Philadelphia Eagles
12/7 at Atlanta Falcons
12/14 at Arizona Cardinals
12/21 vs. Detroit Lions
12/28 at New York Giants

[dfsJunkie]

Scary d-line! Big Julius Peppers fan though. Fun roster.

[superjames1992]

Quote: Originally Posted by dfsJunkie

Scary d-line! Big Julius Peppers fan though. Fun roster.

Yes! Just as in real life, the defensive line will be our defense's strength. We're a little weak at cornerback, but I think with our front seven and our safeties, we'll be okay. Our question mark is the offense, which I am not so confident about. Delhomme turned out to be a good quarterback in the mid-2000s in real life (albeit, a bit loose with the ball at times), but in this game he is very average, at best. Stephen Davis is a great running back, at least, but if we can't present a good passing attack, it may not matter. Steve Smith hasn't quite budded into the superstar he became in 2004, and given this is a videogame, that may never happen. So it'll be interesting.