FOFC - ESPN NFL 2k5 league

[Sun Tzu]

When do you guys want to get the ball rolling? Here's the list, sound off if you have the game.

Sun Tzu - 49ers
SirFozzie - Patriots
Eaglesfan27 - Eagles
Pumpy Tudors - Broncos
Kingnebwsu - Bungles
ageofquarrel - Chefs
Bearcat729 - Browns
Hell Atlantic - Giants
gstelmack - Panthers
cartman - Cowboys
Ironhead - Falcons
RPI-Fan - Steelers
JeeberD - Titans
SackAttack - Ravens
Balldog - Redskins

I got my copy earlier today. Good stuff :)

[Pumpy Tudors]

Got the game.

[RPI-Fan]

RPI-Fan - Steelers.

Edit: Just bought the game.

[Noop]

Is this X-Box version?

[Bearcat729]

Got the game

[RPI-Fan]

Is this X-Box version?

Yep (AFAIK).

[Noop]

Yep (AFAIK).
AFAIK?

[ageofquarrel]

Yes I have the game, I just went out and bought xbox live. But I thought the cat5 cable I had at home was long enough to reach my xbox to the router. But it wasnt so I have to set it up tommorrow.

[Comey]

AFAIK?
As Far As I Know.

[SirFozzie]

got it

[gstelmack]

I've got it and am ready to get rolling at any time. I figure it will take a week or two for the league to get set up and get rolling, so we ought to create it soon and start figuring out the league stuff.

[Eaglesfan27]

I've got the game. I can't play tonight as I actually just fell asleep playing a game. I'm awed by it, but very sleep deprived ;)

Still, I just walked to the laptop which woke me up and I'm going to fool around with one more short exhibition game before I go to bed.

[JeeberD]

I might be interested, how often are you guys talking about playing?

I'll go ahead and reserve the Titans for now...

[kingnebwsu]

I'm in. Usually more available after 12:30 AM EST almost every day. Let me know! This is a blast! :D

[SackAttack]

I want the Ravens!

[Darkiller]

Sun Tzu - 49ers

YEAH, that's what I'm talking about :)

GO NINERS !

[CleBrownsfan]

I thought there was a feature that you can see your league posted on the internet? Anyone know about this feature??

Thanks

[SirFozzie]

The Xbox Live Online Leagues Website is
currently unavailble. You can continue to
join leagues and play games through your Xbox
and all your stats will be here when
it becomes available.

(through leagues.espnvideogames.com)

[SirFozzie]

A post on the ESPNVideogames board says it should be up later this week

[CleBrownsfan]

The Xbox Live Online Leagues Website is
currently unavailble. You can continue to
join leagues and play games through your Xbox
and all your stats will be here when
it becomes available.

(through leagues.espnvideogames.com)


Thanks for the reply Fozzie - will the PS2 have this feature also or just the XBOX?

[SirFozzie]

PS2's league interface is apparently live

[CleBrownsfan]

You have any clue how I can access my leagues site?

I'm in a PS2 online league but have no clue how the website works....

[SirFozzie]

Have you logged in with your PS2 name and password?

[CleBrownsfan]

Nevermind - I found it...

[Balldog]

I would like the Redskins.

[gstelmack]

It looks like we can either do a "Season" league or a "Tournament" (playoffs) league. I'm guessing with this crowd we want to do an entire season. I did not see an option for a career league with drafting and the like; did I miss it or is that what "season" is?

[Ironhead]

Got the game yesterday and didn't turn it off for 5 hours. Came to work bleary eyed this morning. Looking foward to playing some of you guys. :)

[Joe Canadian]

It looks like we can either do a "Season" league or a "Tournament" (playoffs) league. I'm guessing with this crowd we want to do an entire season. I did not see an option for a career league with drafting and the like; did I miss it or is that what "season" is?

I don't think you can play Franchise mode online...

[Sun Tzu]

I'm sure it would be possible to turn this into a franchise. If a couple guys are willing to do some work, we could age/progress the players, hold a draft, and start up another fresh season. I'm in an online franchise with Madden 2004 for the PC where we do all of the offseason stuff offline. We're currently in the 10th year and it's going extremely well.

[ageofquarrel]

Ok I got it hooked up and created an account - ageofquarrel

[ageofquarrel]

I'm sure it would be possible to turn this into a franchise. If a couple guys are willing to do some work, we could age/progress the players, hold a draft, and start up another fresh season. I'm in an online franchise with Madden 2004 for the PC where we do all of the offseason stuff offline. We're currently in the 10th year and it's going extremely well.


Hmmm, but that was the pc. Are we sure yet, that we can edit players in an xbox league? If we can that would be awesome. I am good for pretty much most days except after 9 est on tuesday and thursdays. So i can play games pretty much whenever

[Joe Canadian]

Why isn't my name in the first post? I signed up for the Colts in the other thread..

[Turd Ferguson]

I'd like the Dolphins, but I still need to go out and get XBox live...

[Joe Canadian]

I'd like the Dolphins, but I still need to go out and get XBox live...

The game comes with a 2 month subscription...

[SackAttack]

A PC game can do it, but the Xbox version, rosters are standardized for everybody as soon as you connect to Live. Online franchises are undoubtedly coming, but I don't think it's gonna be possible to do it that way this year.

[cartman]

I don't have the game yet. I'm out of town on a business trip, but I'll pick up a copy this weekend when I get back.

[mgadfly]

It depends on how often you are all planning to play. I would love to do a league where we played a game every weekend (once a week) or so... But I'm not sure I could handle playing 1 game per day or anything like that.

If it's once a week or less, I'd like the Seahawks (user name on XBox Live is MGadfly).

[kingnebwsu]

Once a week sounds like a good amount, plenty of time to schedule the play (then play other FOFC'ers in the time off ;))

[gstelmack]

I don't have time to do more than one game a week either, so that sounds best.

If no one else has done so, I'll probably create a league tonight. Even if it only lasts through a week or two, I figure we ought to start one, try it, see what we don't like, and if necessary restart with tweaked settings.

I'm assuming we'd like to try a season league?

[Sun Tzu]

correct. I was actualy going to start the league, but I just haven't had any free time lately to get onto live and get things started. Keep us posted gstelmack.

[gstelmack]

Wow, looks like a nice big league. I count 17 entrants so far (I have the Colts and Dolphins late entries above that are not in the big list at the top). I'll create the league in a few hours, then post the details.

[SirFozzie]

Can we get an 18th team?

[mgadfly]

I think if you count me for the Seahawks, we do have 18.

[cartman]

And I jut picked up the game on the way home from the airport. Gonna be a night of NCAA 2005 and ESPN NFL 2K5 :)

[gstelmack]

Okay, initial season league created. League size goes by 4, so since we don't have a commitment on 20 teams I had to go with 16 (tournaments are powers-of-2, so it's 16 or 32 there). Since this is our first league, it has a fair chance of being canned, so anyone who misses out shouldn't have to wait long (or we'll get a second league going in parallel for those who want to play more often). And maybe by then we'll have enough to go to 20 or 24.

Settings are:

- 16 players
- 8 make the playoffs
- 8 week season
- 7 days max between rounds
- All Pro
- 5 minute quarters
- Injuries on
- Challenges on
- Trading on
- Performance EQ off
- Random Weather on

Most of those settings can be tweaked while people are joining, so I'm open to suggestions.

Season name: FOFC
Password: elitist

Join up! I'll create the schedule once we hit 16.

[SirFozzie]

I'd prefer 8-10 minute quarters, but that works.

[Sun Tzu]

Agreed, I play with 6 minute quarters and get pretty accurate statistical results. I also think Performance EQ (isn't that where players get hot and cold?) should be turned on, otherwise it's like we're just playing a bunch of exhibition games strung together.

[Pumpy Tudors]

Agreed, I play with 6 minute quarters and get pretty accurate statistical results. I also think Performance EQ (isn't that where players get hot and cold?) should be turned on, otherwise it's like we're just playing a bunch of exhibition games strung together.

I agree about 6 minute quarters, but I'll play with whatever. Performance EQ "equalizes" the teams ratings, so no team has a ratings advantage over another. It just puts every team on a level playing field.

[Sun Tzu]

Performance EQ "equalizes" the teams ratings, so no team has a ratings advantage over another.

Oh, well nevermind then. :)

[Pumpy Tudors]

Is the league full already? I don't see it listed with the other available leagues.

[ageofquarrel]

if you hit the black button pumpy you can search by name.

[JeeberD]

Hmmm...to steal the Cowboys from cartman or not... :D

[Eaglesfan27]

I just got my new network and as a result X-Box live finally working. I now have a consistent "excellent" rated connection with speeds of 54 Mbps listed by my X-Box, so hopefully I will continue to connect smoothly now :)

Anyway, I'm about to head out to the French Quarter, but I'll be joining the league in the game tomorrow :)

[mgadfly]

How do you check how well you are connected?

[Eaglesfan27]

I'm doing it by going to network settings on the X-box virtual dashboard, then clicking advanced, then clicking wireless. It then gives me a listing of my network SSID, the channel, the speed, and the strength of the connection.

[gstelmack]

The league web page is up. Go to http://leagues.espnvideogames.com/login.php to log in, and you can view the leagues you've joined. If anyone wants access to post news articles, etc, just let me know. Since Sun Tzu has helped organize this, I'll probably give him co-commissioner powers on everything it will let me, but there are other permissions I can give to people like posting articles on the news page, etc.

[Sun Tzu]

Gstelmack, I'm wondering if we should switch the quarters from fives minutes, to six or seven minutes. Is it possible to just scrap/recreate the league with the same name and registration info? Perhaps we should take a poll of how many minutes each person would prefer to play on, and then go from there.

By the way, thanks for the co-commissioner...commission ;) . I will PM each person that is listed as having reserved a team also, just to be sure everything gets rolling.

[gstelmack]

I'm going to see if I can just change the setup. There was some indication last night that I could, but I have not verified. I don't want to go much over 6 minutes, though, as then people like me with a family may have a hard time finding enough time for a game (I'd like to see the total time for a game take about an hour of real time).

If I can't change it, I'd still like to see us run a week or two to see if anything else doesn't match up, then scrap and recreate with all the settings we like. It would not surprise me if we find other things in the setup that need tweaking.

[gstelmack]

OKay, I can change most of the league settings, and have set the quarter length to 6 minutes. We currently have 5 of the 16 spots spoken for.

[SirFozzie]

Played my first game today.. while the player I was playing was a bit sack happy, I learned from his mistakes (he had one key receiver, which I double teamed throughout the 2nd half), and I broke one of his blitzes for a 60 yard Corey Dillon Run, and won 17-3. I'm willing to take anybody on, NFL2K5 or NCAA2005

[mgadfly]

I played my second online game. I won 21-19 (Seahawks vs. Steelers). It was another great experience. I tried to meet a friend online to play last night, but we couldn't get a connection.

Anyone else having problems playing games sometimes?

[Eaglesfan27]

Right now I've scrolled through about 400 leagues looking for ours. Is there a better way to find it?

EDIT: Never mind, a help item just popped up saying hit the black button to search by league name. Joining now.

[mgadfly]

I also had a question for those of you with headsets. How well do they work? Are they worth it?

My friend and I just talked on our cell phones (we have headsets) last night when we were trying to get a game going.

[mgadfly]

How do we get the league password so that we can join?

[SirFozzie]

quotung gstelmack post#45

Season name: FOFC
Password: elitist

[mgadfly]

Thanks SirFozzie, I tried to type you a message on LIVE. I wrote:
I have to go help a friend move. How do I get the password to join the league?

I see by your post that I missed it, but the message system wouldn't let me send the you the message because it had inappropriate language. ???

[SirFozzie]

had ass in it i bet

[mgadfly]

I actually kept deleting one word at a time until it would let me send it. I got all the way back to I have before I just decided to delete everything and write "cant"

I suck at the game, but if you are still around when I get back from helping my friends move, lets try to set one up.

[gstelmack]

10 people have signed up for the league. Need 6 more. Including Sun Tzu ;-)

I've got interest from at least one person not in the original list, so sign up quick if you want to keep your spot.

[Sun Tzu]

Yeah I am going to sign up, but I haven't had time to play the game in the last two days at all. I'll see if I can get myself set up in the league before tommorow.

[gstelmack]

It only takes about 5 minutes to sign up for the league in the game.

[SirFozzie]

Woohoo! Beat RPI in Double OT (6 minute quarters) Fair Warning.. you WILL have to have someone spying on Vick EVERY. SINGLE. Play :)

[Eaglesfan27]

Woohoo! Beat RPI in Double OT (6 minute quarters) Fair Warning.. you WILL have to have someone spying on Vick EVERY. SINGLE. Play :)

I'll remember that ;)

[SackAttack]

He ran wild on you with Vick too, huh? Ask him about the 8 times I sacked Vick. :D

[Terps]

I'll join if you still have open teams.

[BigDPW]

Just Joined as the Ravens...

[Balldog]

I'd still like the Redskins, bear with me I am in the process of moving.

[BigDPW]

I just realized that SackAttack wanted the Ravens on page one... Let me know if you want me to switch or if I can even do that now... SORRY SACK! :-(

[cartman]

I just tried to join (after finally getting my Xbox live account moved from Italy). But it appears that the servers are down because I couldn't pull up a league list. Anyone else having problems?

Oh, and JeeberD, if you steal the Cowboys from me, I'll kick you squah in the nuts :D

BTW, my Xbox live ID is MoneyG

[cartman]

Dola,

The service came back, and I'm now signed up. Looks like we need 3 more coaches to sign up.

[gstelmack]

Yup, 3 more slots. I'd say if you're interested but are holding back for other coaches who spoke up sooner, go ahead and register (registrations have been open for 48 hours). I'd like to get this filled and started so we can find out all the things we don't like about the setup so we can restart if necessary with a lot of momentum (and if we do restart, looks like I'll have to up the league size given all the interest).

[SackAttack]

BigDPW, damn you, you took my team. Did you not fucking pay attention to the signup list?

[SackAttack]

Sigh. Guess I'm the Packers.

[SackAttack]

Dammit, it would have been a much better idea to fucking PM THE LEAGUE INFO to those who've signed up already, and THEN let the rest of the board at large know, if we had needed anymore spots. Sorry, but I'm really pissed about this.

[Eaglesfan27]

Why not have BigDPW and you SackAttack both leave the league, and then you rejoin as your rightful team SackAttack?

I believe a player can leave the league by pressing Y after hitting my leagues and with the FOFC league highlighted.

[SackAttack]

Eagles, I leave for work shortly. So let's say BigDPW does leave to free up the Ravens, and somebody else swoops in and snags not the team, necessarily, but the league spot, and BigDPW ends up on the outside looking in. How is that fair to him when he made what seems to be an honest mistake?

And frankly, I'm not willing to risk that happening to me by leaving the league shortly before going to work. So it's the quintessential rock and a hard palce.

Just leave it the way it is, I'll deal with being the Packers. But I did (and do) want it known that I'm not happy with the way league signups were handled.

[gstelmack]

Dammit, it would have been a much better idea to fucking PM THE LEAGUE INFO to those who've signed up already, and THEN let the rest of the board at large know, if we had needed anymore spots. Sorry, but I'm really pissed about this.
Sorry, I just did not have the time to send that many PMs. As excited as people were, I never expected to hit Sunday night and still have teams not signed up yet...

[SackAttack]

It's not War and Peace, gstel, we're talking about four words:

League: FOFC
password: elitist

Boom. PM sent. move to the next name on the list.

Not hard.

[gstelmack]

It's not War and Peace, gstel, we're talking about four words:

League: FOFC
password: elitist

Boom. PM sent. move to the next name on the list.

Not hard.
No it ain't, but it's 17 of them. Never even occurred to me that this would be an issue, given how many people wanted in and how quickly people grabbed teams in the forums. I reiterate, we're 48 hours after signups began, over a weekend, and we still don't have all 16 slots full.

[Sun Tzu]

What teams are still open? I'm off all day tommorow (finaly!!!), and I'll handle the PM's, as well as straightening out any team mix ups.

[gstelmack]

Current list of signees is at: http://leagues.espnvideogames.com/t/standings.php?l=5351

[Balldog]

Not sure when but sometime this week I will get signed up.

[SirFozzie]

2 Openings left.

[SackAttack]

No it ain't, but it's 17 of them. Never even occurred to me that this would be an issue, given how many people wanted in and how quickly people grabbed teams in the forums. I reiterate, we're 48 hours after signups began, over a weekend, and we still don't have all 16 slots full.

I'm not going to argue about it anymore. We're 48 hours after signups, and we're, what, maybe 96 hours since the game came out? And you didn't think that there might be a second wave of folks while things got sorted out?

More importantly, you thought people would actually go back to read an entire thread once signup info was posted?

Maybe I'm just a cynical bastard, but I think you're putting entirely too much faith in human beings to assume that there wouldn't be screwups like this.

[Balldog]

:confused:

You can take the 2 minutes it takes to post this message here, but can't take the 3 minutes to sign up for real?:rolleyes:

Ummm...I'm in the process of moving and my XBOX is in a box somewhere.

[RPI-Fan]

Ummm...I'm in the process of moving and my XBOX is in a box somewhere.

Sorry - bad mood - Monday morning.:)

[BigDPW]

Sack... I will be glad to back out as the Ravens... It is an honest mistake... Sorry I got the team you wanted... Let me know if you want and I will go on an back out of the league so you can have them... I am pretty busy at work so I will have to do it between about 7 and 9pm one night this week... If it is a big deal to you I will just back out tonight and let you pick them up anytime... If I end up not in the league that is cool I will try again next time we organize...

Again Sorry... :(

[SackAttack]

Big, don't worry about it. I know it was an honest mistake. I'm not going to have the time this week to sit and pounce even if I were so inclined as to 'force' you out of Baltimore, and I'd really rather not see either of us get aced out of a slot in the league over something so ultimately trivial. Keep the Ravens. There'll be another time.

[Sun Tzu]

Sorry, scratch that whole having the day off yesterday...and today. Wednesday I'm not scheduled to come in.

*cries*

[RainRaven]

Any teams still open? :)

[SirFozzie]

2 Spots. Still Open

[RainRaven]

The leagues On live don't seem to want to load at the moment but I will be joining at some point tonight and I don't know what team yet since my Ravens are already taken :) Probably the Colts though no matter how much I hate them for leaving many moons ago.

[SirFozzie]

Teams taken:
Atl
Bal
Car
Cle
Dal
Den
GB
KC
NE
Phil
Pitt
SF
Sea
Ten

[RainRaven]

Nevermind... Just checked the league page and it says I am in as the Colts, I guess the error message I got on the Xbox was wrong :)

[SirFozzie]

1 Spot left.

*grrr...*

[RainRaven]

If anyone wants to play a game tonight let me know, It would be nice to take the Colts out for a test spin againist a human opponent without worrying about cheese tactics and such :)

[BigDPW]

Rain I will play... Only I will have to play soon... I can't play after about 9:00pm EST...

[RainRaven]

Okay, About 6:30 Est? or is another time better? My SN on Live is the same as here just to let you know as well.

[BigDPW]

I am ready to play now if you want raven... Look for dpw0419 on AIM or I will be on XB Live...

[gstelmack]

1 Spot left.

*grrr...*Yup. Come on someone, grab it, anyone, please? Let's get this thing rolling...

And I was worried I should have created the league at 20 teams and wasn't going to have enough slots for everyone who wanted in...

[RainRaven]

DPW and me played a match for the hell of it and he won 21-6. It was a good game that was actually closer then the score suggests. He hit on acouple of big plays while my recievers had a case of the drops combined with me going away from the running game too early in the third quarter when down 14-6 at that point.

[Balldog]

Yup. Come on someone, grab it, anyone, please? Let's get this thing rolling...

And I was worried I should have created the league at 20 teams and wasn't going to have enough slots for everyone who wanted in...

Errr.....why must I be moving :(

[gstelmack]

Errr.....why must I be moving :(
My wife will tell you that every time we move, I'm a nutcase until the computers get hooked back up again. I don't care how much of a mess the rest of the house is, they're up and working within 4 or 5 days. It's one of my neuroses http://dynamic2.gamespy.com/%7Efof/forums/images/smilies/biggrin.gif

So I feel your pain. I wish they'd let you sign up on the web site. But the spot is still open, so get that Xbox set up quick...

[Balldog]

I just found out today I will not be able to sign up until Aug. 3rd.

I am assuming the Skins are the only team left, if someone wants them go ahead and take them. I would hate to hold the league up. :(

[SirFozzie]

Any NFL team other then the ones on the list above and Ind is available

[RainRaven]

I took the Colts already Fozzie just to correct that :)

[SirFozzie]

Read my sentence again.. I refer to the list I typed up earlier AND Indianapolis :D

[CentralMassHokie]

Is there still a spot open? I just signed up with Xbox Live last night. I'm willing to give the league a go.

I'll probably check it out when I get home and see if I can join up. If I can, I'll probably be Detroit for no other reason than imported Kevin Jones was a stud for me in Madden 2004.

[RainRaven]

Don't mind me Fozzie I was not reading all that closely it seems :)

[Sun Tzu]

Ok well here's what I'm seeing so far. We have 15 of 16 teams claimed as of right now. I'm not 100% sure who exactly hasn't signed up. I know Sackattack didn't get his Ravens which, if I hadn't gotten my Niners, would have ticked me off a little bit too. When we get one more owner I will get in contact w/ gstl and work out how we are going to run the schedule and try to lay down a set of ground rules for the league.

Atlanta - Leondegrance
Baltimore - BigDPW
Carolina - KBear
Cleveland - Bearcat729
Dallas - MoneyG
Denver - Pumpy
Green Bay - Rincewind
Indianapolis - RainRaven

Kansas City - aqeofquarrel
New England - SirFozzie
Philadelphia - Eaglesfan27
Pittsburgh - knsmith
San Francisco - Katsumura
Seattle - MGadfly
Tennessee - JeeberD

[RainRaven]

If anyone wants to play a game tonight I would like to get some more practice in againist live opponents.

[RPI-Fan]

If anyone wants to play a game tonight I would like to get some more practice in againist live opponents.

11:30-midnite-ish EDT?

[BigDPW]

Rain I am up for another game tonight if you want... I will be around most of the night... and I can play a little later tonight if you want instead of early like yesterday...

[RainRaven]

I'll take you up on that DPW, I'll be hanging around on AIM. That is a bit late for me RPI since I have to get up at 7 in the morning to go to work. :(

[Flasch186]

im trying to get in but when i go to DL leagues it wont DL anything...any clues?

[Flasch186]

im IN!!!!!!!!!! lets get this party started!!!

[gstelmack]

League full, schedule generated (was all automatic, I just had to say "generate schedule"). Check online on the Xbox or go to http://leagues.espnvideogames.com to view the league web page (we get a message board, newspostings, online stats, etc).

[Flasch186]

how do we work out when were supposed to play eachother?

[JeeberD]

Heh, this is starting at a really shitty time for me. Hopefully I can get my first game in before I go out of town on Tuesday. Hmmm, who's the Packers?

Edit: OK, that would be Sack. Ummm...would you be available to play Monday night, Josh?

[SackAttack]

Jeebs,

I can play after 11 pm Pacific on Monday night. My days off this week are Sunday, Wednesday, and Thursday, if that matters/helps.

[JeeberD]

Cool. I might be able to play Sunday morning/early afternoon if my girlfriend doesn't make me help her paint her old room before she moves out. If not, Monday night it is...

[SackAttack]

Jeebs,

if Sunday looks promising, PM me tomorrow night so I know to get up at a decent hour instead of sleeping 'til 2 pm :D

[ageofquarrel]

Does anyone know how to make switches to the depth chart online. Are will I have to do it at the very beginning of every game I play. Also thanks Flasch, for finally taking the last spot.

Just so everyone knows I am good for anytime. execpt tuesday and thursdays after 9pm eastern.

[gstelmack]

To arrange matches, you can use the Xbox messaging feature (in the League Lobby, you can message anyone in the league by clicking the "A" button when on their name). I have no clue what happens if a game is not played by the deadline.

My typical schedule is available 8-10 Eastern during the week (as long as we start by 10, I'm probably okay), and can arrange times during the day on the weekends if we set it up ahead of time.

As for depth charts and the like, we'll just have to figure that out as we go. As I said earlier, it would not surprise me if we figured a bunch of things out in the first 2 weeks and decided we want to start over with what we've learned (and if not, great!)

[Eaglesfan27]

Hey Pumpy,

We are playing each other in the 1st week :)

I can play during the daytime today or tomorrow. Otherwise, I can play most evenings Monday through Thursday of this upcoming week. Drop me a PM or a line on here if you want to set up a specific time.

[gstelmack]

First game played today. For those unsure how to play the league match, go in to the league lobby, click on your opponent, and select the "Ready to Play" option. Your opponent then enters, clicks on you, and gets a "Challenge" option. Once you're both in, it will launch the game.

ageofquarrel's Chiefs beat my Panthers 24-17 in a tight battle decided late in the game when Tony Gonzalez got behind the defense and my LB missed the shoestring tackle. The game got off to a bang when Will Witherspoon (OLB) picked off an early Trent Green pass and returned it for a TD. Late in the game the Panthers had a hard time stopping Priest Holmes, and could not get Stephen Davis on track.

[ageofquarrel]

First game played today. For those unsure how to play the league match, go in to the league lobby, click on your opponent, and select the "Ready to Play" option. Your opponent then enters, clicks on you, and gets a "Challenge" option. Once you're both in, it will launch the game.

ageofquarrel's Chiefs beat my Panthers 24-17 in a tight battle decided late in the game when Tony Gonzalez got behind the defense and my LB missed the shoestring tackle. The game got off to a bang when Will Witherspoon (OLB) picked off an early Trent Green pass and returned it for a TD. Late in the game the Panthers had a hard time stopping Priest Holmes, and could not get Stephen Davis on track.


Yeah, 2nd play of my 1st offensive drive, I throw a int returned for a TD. :mad: Then Priest Holmes got hurt :mad: and I am starting to worry. Luckily, Holmes was able to return. I think the best thing to happen for me on offense was when Mike Rucker got hurt. He was a beast and i think I got sacked at least 2 or 3 times by him. Plus your recievers dropped alot of passes.

[SirFozzie]

Don't recognize the name of the guy I'm going to play, but I'm on most nights after 6 (till 11), and on weekends, I can go late

[BigDPW]

RPI-Fan... Let me know when you want to play I am available most days 7:00 pm to about 9:30 EST. On the weekends I can play after about 2:00 pm most days... I can't play too late most of the time because my job requires me to be at work by 5:00 am so I gotta hit the sack early... Let me know... Hope to play soon...

[Pumpy Tudors]

Hey Pumpy,

We are playing each other in the 1st week :)

I can play during the daytime today or tomorrow. Otherwise, I can play most evenings Monday through Thursday of this upcoming week. Drop me a PM or a line on here if you want to set up a specific time.

Let's play during the day on Sunday. I would say about 2pm or something like that. This'll be fun! :)

[Eaglesfan27]

I might not be home from work by 2:00 PM (one of my side jobs changes hours and I just found out I have to be there by 11:00 AM) but I probably will be home by 2:00 PM. It usually only takes me a few hours to round on patients. However, at the latest I should be home by 3:00 PM. So, I hope to see you to play tomorrow :)

[Flasch186]

playing right now and lagging horribly.....this sucks

[Flasch186]

love playing in slo mo....

[Flasch186]

im not very good but this makes it soooo much more difficult.....

[gstelmack]

I did not see much lag or slo mo in game with ageofquarrel earlier. How is your connection in other games? Or is it just a bad connection with your opponent?

[Flasch186]

dunno, but the key to playing D with Lag, is to not switch defenders when you think the lag is coming, otherwise youre screwed.

[SirFozzie]

Whew. Good game, Deion Branch was unstoppable. Pats win 24-14. Corey Dillon busted a 72 yarder on the first play from scrimmage

[SirFozzie]

(recap typed up and released.. does anyone else want me to write this kind of thing for their game?)

I copy it here for all to read..

New England Branches out in Victory

The New England Patriots only threw for 145 yards in game one of the FOFC NFL2K5 league. Thankfully, 141 of them were to Deion Branch, and the Patriots defeated the Browns, 24-14 in front of a sellout crowd at Gilette Stadium.

Corey Dillon showed why the Patriots had traded for him in the offseason, breaking one to the outside on the first play from scrimmage, a 72 yarder, and the Pats led 7-0.

However, on their next drive, Tom Brady (5-19, 145, 2 TD, 1 INT) found the wrong color jersey, and after a 48 yard interception return by Anthony Henry, the Browns were at the Patriot 10, and Garcia picked out Quincy Morgan on 3rd and goal to tie it up at 7.

However, most of the 2nd quarter was controlled by the Patriots, and they had three good drives, the first one stalling out, and Adam Vinatieri missed from 52 yards out, just under the cross bar, the Pats didn't lose out on their next two drives, as Vinatieri hit a 32 yarder, and Brady found Branch over the middle for a 33 yard touchdown, and it was 17-7 at the half.

Early in the 2nd half, the Patriots tried sending a blitz, with so many people rushing, that somehow, Kellen Winslow II was behind the defense, and the 55 yard touchdown was Garcia's one shining moment (7-27, 112, 2 TD, 2 INT), and they cut the lead to 17-14.

However, Brady found Branch again, this time from 35 yards out, in a near carbon copy of their first hook up, and the Pats had restored their 24-14 margin.

Most of the fourth quarter was eaten up by slow and steady gains on the ground, and Garcia was never allowed time to find the open area against the Pats zone, sacked numerous times.

Patriot Head Coach David Yellope was pleased, but not excited by the result. "Nice to get Corey Dillon (20 carries, 131 yards) into the offense, but sooner or later, they're going to blanket Deion, and we had too many drops from our other receiving core."

The Patriots will take on the Denver Broncos at Gilette in week 2, while the Browns will try to rebound against Kansas City, who defeated Carolina in week 1.

[Flasch186]

after 1 week, im already over it....if the lag is like this every week, ill have to bow out...he beat me fair and square but talk about more frustration than its worth

[Ironhead]

That lag was terrible. We even started over half way through the first game. I am *hoping* that this was simply because it is a Saturday night and there are a ton of people playing. But if the game is that laggy during league then it will be very frustrating. That was the first 2k5 online game I have played that had lag in it.

But good game Flasch. Look forward to playing you again in the future, hopefully under more hospitable circumstances.

[Flasch186]

you kicked my ass, you deserved it...i was just frustrated at the game, of course, not you. you were great, especially that one defensive stand.....the sack(s)....awesomely done.

[BigDPW]

RPI-Fan - I am available this afternoon if you would like to play our league game...

[gstelmack]

Recap posted for the Carolina / Kansas City game.

[Eaglesfan27]

Pumpy,

I ended up getting home from work on time. I'm eating some lunch but I should be ready in ten minutes. I'll get on X-Box live around 2:00 PM. Hope to see you online.

[Pumpy Tudors]

Pumpy,

I ended up getting home from work on time. I'm eating some lunch but I should be ready in ten minutes. I'll get on X-Box live around 2:00 PM. Hope to see you online.

Oops. Ended up sleeping real late. Going down the street to pick up a late lunch right now. We'll catch each other. No worries!

[Eaglesfan27]

Oops. Ended up sleeping real late. Going down the street to pick up a late lunch right now. We'll catch each other. No worries!

No problems, I'm glad we got to play today.

Pumpy was a total class act throughout the game, and this was my first X-Box live game ever and the voice chat is just so awesome. I need to get some of my friends in New Jersey to get an X-Box so we can chat and play at the same time. Anyway, I'm hoping all of the games in this league are like this, good fun game with no cheese tactics. I'm confident that this is going to be a fun league :)

Edited to add: Also, I'm quite happy that this was a lag free game that ran quite smoothly.

[RainRaven]

MoneyG let me know what times are good for you to play our league game :)

[Ironhead]

There isn't any kind of free agency pool is there? I lost my starting strongside linebacker for the season and I only had 4 outside linebackers to begin with.

[gstelmack]

There is trading, but I don't think there is a free agency pool.

[RainRaven]

Ping MoneyG I can play anytime tonight up till about 10:00 pm eastern time so let me know if you can play :)

[cartman]

Ping MoneyG I can play anytime tonight up till about 10:00 pm eastern time so let me know if you can play :)

Hey, I'm free in about 30 minutes, so anytime after 6:30pm Eastern will work for me

[cartman]

Hey, I'm free in about 30 minutes, so anytime after 6:30pm Eastern will work for me

dola,
cartman=FOFC
MoneyG=Xbox Live

:D

[RainRaven]

Good idea posting that cartman, I was searching earlier trying to figure out to this mysterious MoneyG fellow was :) I'll be ready by 7, do you have an AIM SN?

[cartman]

Good idea posting that cartman, I was searching earlier trying to figure out to this mysterious MoneyG fellow was :) I'll be ready by 7, do you have an AIM SN?

:) Yep, in 30 minutes will be fine for me as well. My AIM moniker is ggowins.

[RainRaven]

Me and cartman played our league game but it had some lag throughout and at the 4quarter LIVE said it was unplayable (I disagree with that sentiment but considering their network seems to have gone down after that I guess they were right in the end) In any case I was up 27-7. Good game by him considering the conditions and I hope they get the network issues fixed since I had excellent online games last week with DPW.

[cartman]

Me and cartman played our league game but it had some lag throughout and at the 4quarter LIVE said it was unplayable (I disagree with that sentiment but considering their network seems to have gone down after that I guess they were right in the end) In any case I was up 27-7. Good game by him considering the conditions and I hope they get the network issues fixed since I had excellent online games last week with DPW.

Yep, the lag was pretty noticeable. All of my turnovers didn't help me either. :( But it was fun, and only the 1st of 16 games.

Quincy Carter is officially on the trading block. Any offers will be considered.

[JeeberD]

Sack is gonna kick my ass in aproximately two and a half hours...

[ageofquarrel]

Hmm checking out the league page right now . It is showing that Dallas has won in the standings and also on the scores page, even though they lost. Hopefully it is just a bug that will be corrected.

[SackAttack]

Jeeber, I'm ready to initiate said asskicking at any time. :D

[Sun Tzu]

Mgadfly...when did you want to play our game?

[JeeberD]

Logging on now, Sack...

[Eaglesfan27]

Hmm checking out the league page right now . It is showing that Dallas has won in the standings and also on the scores page, even though they lost. Hopefully it is just a bug that will be corrected.

Wierd, it shows Dallas being outscored 27-7 but they get credited with the win. Was this the game that the lag ended up making unplayable? Maybe some wierd disconnect thing?

[JeeberD]

Hell of a game, Josh. I thought that you had me beat.

Shut my ass down in the second half...

Titans 27
Packers 21

[SackAttack]

Jeebs, I might've if those last three damn passing plays hadn't had the fake handoff involved. That took away any time I had to throw against your blitz (never mind that I was jamming the pass button and Favre wasn't responding).

Wasn't a sure thing by any means, though, you were shutting my passing down all night long even without Favre being a dumbass. ;)

Great game.

[JeeberD]

Heh, that's how I felt all night long. Kept telling McNair to throw the dang ball but your guys kept getting to him first...

[SackAttack]

That was all I could do after you went up 20-0. Even stacking the line, George was getting 4-5 yards a carry with three guys hanging on him, so I figured the best thing to do would be to try and get to McNair ASAP.

I still say that was a fumble, incidentally. :D

[JeeberD]

Bah! The booth is NEVER wrong! ;) :D

Flasch, I'm scheduled to play you next. I'm going to be out of town until next Monday night. I probably won't be able to play until Tuesday at the earliest. Of course, you might have dropped out of the league by the time I get back... :(

[gstelmack]

Wierd, it shows Dallas being outscored 27-7 but they get credited with the win. Was this the game that the lag ended up making unplayable? Maybe some wierd disconnect thing?
If it thinks one of the players quit, it may give the win to the other. No matter what the score is. Sounds like one player had a good connection to Live, the other didn't, and it gave credit to the one with the good connection who could report the scores (that's where the arbitration thingy comes in).

[Sun Tzu]

I'm thinking that we need a better way to arrange meeting times than using this thread. I think either making one thread per week, solely for people to arrange a time, or using the message board that is on the league site via espnvideogames.com.

[RainRaven]

I usually have a great cable connection so I was unsure if it was me or cartman who had the bad connection for that game. I think they just had a horrible night on that LIVE network. I picked the Arbitration option considering It didn't give an option for the league to vote on the outcome which I would've found more appealing or even for the two contestants to decide what the result should be. I thought the L was a clitch since I mean it's not like i was up 14-13, It was a substantial margin with about 4 min. to go in the 4th quarter. However it was a good game and is only one game out of the season.

[Sun Tzu]

gstlmac, you have a PM.

[RainRaven]

If anyone wants to just play a non league game tonight let me know.

[SirFozzie]

If I'm not totally distracted by the Dawn of War Beta, the CoH group I hang out with, or trying to get FOFC FBCB under control.. I'm in.

If you see me online, just send me a message.. I might just be playing a Franchise game, but will always sim it for a real online game :D

[gstelmack]

I usually have a great cable connection so I was unsure if it was me or cartman who had the bad connection for that game. I think they just had a horrible night on that LIVE network. I picked the Arbitration option considering It didn't give an option for the league to vote on the outcome which I would've found more appealing or even for the two contestants to decide what the result should be. I thought the L was a clitch since I mean it's not like i was up 14-13, It was a substantial margin with about 4 min. to go in the 4th quarter. However it was a good game and is only one game out of the season.
Once two players are connected, Live is out of the equation. This just means there was a bad connection between the two of you. If you had a good connection to Live (i.e. your results went in) and he didn't (his results did not go in), Live's arbitration may well have given you the victory, figuring the bad network on his end did you in. There are other factors as well that we may never know about.

[mgadfly]

Sun Tzu, I replied to your PM a couple days ago and haven't heard back... Just let me know when you want to play.

[Sun Tzu]

Sorry buddy. I'm up for a game anytime before 5pm PST tommorow (Friday). Let me know either via PM or posting here what time is best for you and we'll get it set up.

[mgadfly]

I'll be home all day long. I'll check the board when I wake up to see if you had a time that'd work best.

[Sun Tzu]

How does 3pm PST today sound to you?

[mgadfly]

Sounds good. See you online then.

[Sun Tzu]

Hey man, are you around right now? It would actualy be easier for me to get the game in now.

[mgadfly]

I'm around right now. You online?

[Sun Tzu]

getting on now..

[Sun Tzu]

Hey guys, I dropped from the league. Sorry but maybe I was expecting too much from the guys here to actualy expect realistic play, and playcalling. I hope everything involving the league works out for the best.

[SirFozzie]

Sun Tzu:????

[Sun Tzu]

If I wanted to play a game of blitz the house on every play/only call no huddle, I'd go back to Madden 2004 on the PS2. Sorry fellas.

[mgadfly]

Sun Tzu, do you want to PM me with your concern? I didn't plan to go no huddle for more than two plays (especially since my players would die of exhaustion). I just wanted to pick that first down up while you only had four linemen on the field (I think a real NFL team wouldn't make a substitution if it was 3rd and 1 and they had the proper personnel on the field and the other team didn't).

Anyway, I don't want to start a big thing or anything, just wanted to say that I wasn't (nor would it be successful) planning on doing that all that much (less so than some real teams who use quick huddles to take advantage of defensive personnel).

[mgadfly]

Blitz the house every play? I rushed 4 guys (all linemen), 5 guys, 4 guys, and 6 guys in my four defensive plays. I got a sack and fumble, but one blitz in four plays and 3 soft zones isn't "blitzing the house"

[Sun Tzu]

I've said my peice, you know what you were doing. Don't make it more than it has to be.

[mgadfly]

I just don't think you know what I was doing, but whatever. You played all of 9 plays and got sacked once and I ran two "no-huddles" (in real life they'd be plays where I wouldn't switch packages, but there isn't an option for that here). Sorry. Plus, if you had a concern, you could have PMed me, or sent an ESPN message, or anything, but instead you came here and posted that message.

[mgadfly]

And on both of my no-huddles, I ran plenty of clock, I sent a man in motion, and gave you plenty of time to go through your audibles to call an appropriate play. I was just trying to keep your same guys on the field for the short yardage situation (which almost every NFL team would have done).

[gstelmack]

Sun Tzu:????
I'm with Fozz. There have been 7 other games in the league so far, only one of which was a bad experience for the 2 involved and that was due to lag, not poor play. You have one bad game (was it really only 9 plays like gadfly said?) and you're willing to drop the whole league? I mean, if he's really using cheese tactics, we'll find out in a game or two as others start complaining and kick him. But I haven't heard anything said so far that sounds all that bad. If someone blitzes the heck out of you, start calling short passes into the spots being vacated (my brother tried this all-blitz tactic on me 2 weeks ago and stopped when I hit 2 TD passes on him). If they go no-huddle and you don't like your defensive package, call timeout or go offsides to stop the clock and change your defense.

I just don't see either of these as particular cheese tactics, given that NFL teams do both all the time. It's all part of the chess match.

What exactly did he do that you considered so cheesy? And why would one game against one player cause you to drop out on the rest of us when you may never have to face him again?

[gstelmack]

Okay, with the dropout, I've advanced us to week 2. MGadfly picks up the win, and it looks like whoever plays San Fran is basically getting a bye each week (although it appears as though I have to manually advance it). I'm surprised the management software didn't resolve this game since it was actually started, but it's been taken care of now.

So week 2 games may be played at any time now.

[RPI-Fan]

Sun Tzu:

Stop being such a freaking baby.

[Sun Tzu]

I have zero tolerance for unrealistic play.

Chill out.

[gstelmack]

BigDPW, I'm available any night from 8 - 10 Eastern, or can arrange a time tomorrow (Sunday) to be on if you let me know when.

[BigDPW]

I will be available this afternoon and evening... Also I will be available tomorrow afternoon... Typically I am only available to about 8:30 on most nights however b/c I have to be at work around 5:00am... Monday night and Friday night will be out because I am on call those nights... Hopefully we can play this afternoon or tomorrow afternoon and not have to worry about evenings so much... let me know what you think or PM me...

[RPI-Fan]

I have zero tolerance for unrealistic play.

Chill out.

Quitting half-way through the first game of the season is realistic???

:confused:

[mgadfly]

I don't really want to get into this what is realistic and what is not thing with Sun Tzu, but at the same time he is impliedly (if not explicitly) characterizing my play as something other than it is. I'm not sure if this is because he doesn't know what is realistic or if it is just because he's kind of a poor sport. Here is what happened:

I won the coin flip and elected to receive.
Kickoff was pretty normal.
1st and 10: I ran a slant and go with my WR. I figured if he was in a zone or cover two I would hit my guy on the slant portion of the play. If he was in man, I'd lob the ball out deep during the go portion of the route. The idea was that even if it was incomplete, maybe a deep pass would get him thinking I like to go deep which would keep him in nickle/bear/and dime packages more than usual. I snapped the ball, read the defense, it was cover 2, so wanted to throw a quick strike quickly. Unfortunately I tapped the button instead of pressing it hard and my QB floated a perfect pass to his safety. Interception.

1-10 his ball: I called a Bear package and rushed my ROLB in addition to my four down linemen. Safties dropped into zone, with CBs bumping at the line. He ran the ball for negative or no gain.

2-11 his ball: I called a two deep soft zone rushing just four linemen. I did move my DE (that I was controlling) behind my DT because I called a loop stunt and I started to go early and decided to just keep him there rather than try to get him back to his spot. He dropped back, no pressure from my four man rush, fired a nice pass off to the flat where his HB was. His HB ran over my LB that was covering the flat, and then ran over the first DB he came to. 12 yard gain, first down.

1-10 his ball: I rushed my four down linemen and my MLB (figuring it'd be a run). But the MLB blitz was a dotted line blitz which I think means "delayed" blitz. I was hoping that if a whole opened up for the HB, that my MLB would fill it during his blitz. It worked and he only got a yard or two on the play.

2-long his ball: He'd burnt my two deep soft zone the first time, so this time I decided to really blitz (the other two times I'd rushed five guys were on running downs, and I still dropped 6 guys into coverage on those). I brought two LBs in addition to my four down linemen. He rolled out to his left and got creamed by one of my players (not sure which one) and his QB dropped the ball and my team recovered.

1-10 my ball: I called a quick play (regular process) because I was afraid he was going to challenge the play (I wasn't sure if he was in the process of throwing--see "tuck" rule from NE v. Oak). He didn't challenge the play. I have to admit that I'm not positive what package he was in, but I think it was bear. I had a running formation in and rushed off the right side (I'd learned my lesson about throwing against him) for seven yards.

Now, what I wanted to do was to keep his same package on the field. If the game completely accurate there would be a "quick huddle" option where neither team was allowed to change packages, but are able to call a new play. I had a running formation on the field with his formation that I felt I could run against, and had short yardage for a first down. SO I no huddled... but, I sent a man in motion, took my time and gave him every opportunity to call a timeout or to call an audible.

2-3 my ball: I ran off the left side for a pick up of 3 and had a 3rd and less than 1.

Now, I still have my formation that I like to run with, and he has a play/package that I can run against, and I have a 3rd and less than 1. During the first 20 plays of an NFL game a coach would probably stick to their scripted plays allowing a change of personnel, but not necessarily. In addition, if the same situation occurred at another point in the game, I'm quite confident the NFL team on offense wouldn't make a personnel change thus being forced to allow the other team to bring in their goal line package.

3rd and 1: he hits start and selects quit game.

That's a play by play of the entire game... Obviously this is from memory, and I might be wrong or have missed a play, but this is what happened as I recall it. If going no huddle from time to time is "unrealistic" to such a degree that others don't want me to do it, or if blitzing 6 guys once every five or so plays on defense (right after the other team burns my zone coverage) is "unrealistic" then I very willing to adjust my play. The only times where I plan to use no-huddle is when the other team has the wrong defensive package (goalline of 43 in a long yardage situation or nickel/dime/bear in a short yardage situation) for the situation, and I have the proper offensive package. So both conditions have to be met (I have the right package on offense and they have the wrong package of defense), which doesn't happen all that often.

As for the blitzing, that's just a joke in my opinion, because in the two passing situations I called a blitz once, but only after my zone had been burnt (plus, with the DBs the Seahawks have in this game, I'm going to have to blitz a little more often than other teams).

Now I've said my peace.

[Eaglesfan27]

Blitz against me :)

I'll burn you ;)

[gstelmack]

Gadfly, right now I still haven't seen any evidence you did anything wrong. And as Eaglesfan says, you start blitzing a lot, players will start burning you. There's a counter to pretty much everything.

BigDPW, I am likely to be busy this afternoon, but if not I'll drop you a line. Otherwise I can arrange to be online at any point tomorrow. Pick a time and I will be there (if you want me to pick a time, I'd do sometime between noon and 1 Eastern when my daughter is taking a nap, but I really have nothing else planned all day and so can arrange to be on at any time).

[Eaglesfan27]

Gadfly, right now I still haven't seen any evidence you did anything wrong. And as Eaglesfan says, you start blitzing a lot, players will start burning you. There's a counter to pretty much everything.


Exactly. I wasn't trying to be cocky, ok maybe I was being a little cocky and funny. I haven't heard anything that you have done wrong. There is a counter to pretty much everything which is why I do think this game is so good in the gameplay aspect (particularly in the MP area) I just wish the franchise mode was on par with the gameplay (although I'm still having fun with my dynasty despite several shortcomings in franchise mode that bother me.)

[SackAttack]

I had no idea quitting was part of the art of war.

[gstelmack]

Important safety tip: there are no ties. Every game is treated like a playoff game. So if, say, you're in a tight defensive battle, and the game is tied at 14-14, and it goes to overtime, and on the last play of overtime you go for a 50-yard FG in the hopes that you might win it, and you miss the FG, your opponent will get the ball to start the second overtime.

BigDPW and I just had a WHALE of a game. I kept Jamal Lewis mostly in check until late, but Delhomme could not complete a pass to save his life. Two big runs by Stephen Davis kept me in it, but a fumble in the red zone by Davis and an interception by Delhomme while near FG range on my first possession of overtime kept the Ravens in it. See-saw battle ended 3:12 into the second overtime when Boller found Darling in the right corner of the end zone for the winning TD.

We were both shocked when he missed the 50-yarder at the end of OT1 and it started OT2, so everyone be ready. But man, what a game! I'll have to rest a bit before figuring out a good recap for this one.

[BigDPW]

WOW what a game... I will have a recap later too... Gotta go to work right now... I wish I could watch this game over and over... So many twists and turns...

[gstelmack]

(I'll post this on the league site as well, soon. BigDPW, I think you can also edit the recap on the league site if you want to add your 2 cents there...)

In a titanic, back-and-forth, defensive struggle, Baltimore game out the winner with a 20-14 double-overtime victory over Carolina.

Neither team did much in the first quarter. Each team went 3-and-out on their first possession. Baltimore did manage two first downs on their next drive, including a 4th-and-1 conversion from Jamal Lewis, but Panthers Safety Traveras Tillman intercepted Kyle Boller to kill the drive.

On the ensuing drive, Stephen Davis broke open down the left side of the field for a 68-yard touchdown run on the first play of the second quarter. It looked like that might be all Carolina would need as the teams again traded 3-and-outs on the next two drives. Then Boller hit Kevin Johnson for a 21-yard strike, and suddenly Baltimore was threatening. Jamal Lewis ground out 14 yards on 3 carries to get Baltimore to Carolina's 28 yard line with 1:29 left in the first half, but a delay-of-game penalty thanks to one too many hot route calls followed by a sack of Kyle Boller by Julius Peppers left Baltimore with a 4th-and-21 at the Carolina 40 and 46 seconds on the clock. Baltimore ran the clock down, then trotted out Matt Stover to attempt to put some points on the board before the half.

Stover lined up, pummeled the ball, and had it headed down the middle. Everyone is holding their breath, watching close as it sails to the uprights, but it falls about a yard short. Unbelievable kick, but with a crosswind there was no help to nudge it the extra little bit. Carolina decides to play it safe and tries a sweep around the right side that goes nowhere, and the first half ends with Carolina clinging to a 7-point lead.

To this point, there has not been much offense. Take away the Stephen Davis 68-yard TD run, and Carolina has done nothing, going 3-and-out on 2 of their drives and the second half whistle ending their other drive. Baltimore has put together some first downs, but their only threat died on penalties and a sack. The second half changed all that, however.

Chris McAlister finally makes a mistake, and Steve Smith gets open behind him for a 42-yard reception down the right sideline to put Carolina in scoring position. Three Stephen Davis runs sets up Carolina at the Baltimore 11 yard line. Delhomme drops back and finds Stephen Davis all alone in the right flat. Davis grabs the ball, takes 2 steps, and a mad Chris McAlister pummels him and knocks the ball loose. Baltimore returns the fumble 28 yards to set them in business at their own 37 yard line. A huge opportunity wasted that will come back to haunt Carolina.

Baltimore uses the momentum to get their offense going again. Two 20+ yard completions by Kyle Boller sandwich a pair of Jamal Lewis runs to set up a 1-yard TD run by Lewis. Carolina's defense looks lost as they give up the 7 play TD march that ties up the game at 7 apiece.

But things quickly return to normal, as the third quarter closes with a Carolina 3-and-out followed by a Ravens 3-and-out.

Thanks to the strong punting leg of Todd Sauerbrun and strong returning of Drew Carter, Carolina is winning the field position battle in these punt exchanges and has the ball at their own 44. Mushin Muhammed finally manages to hang on to a pass for a nice short completion on the first play of the fourth quarter, and then Carolina watches Baltimore pinch in their linebackers towards the middle. Stephen Davis takes the handoff, steps out of a shoestring tackle, and breaks open another long run (this time 51 yards) down the left side for the go-ahead touchdown! The extra point is good, and Carolina has the lead again at 14-7.

Baltimore gets the ball back with plenty of time on the clock, knowing they need to put something together. Todd Heap finally comes alive with a couple of nice catches, and Jamal Lewis finds a bit of running room to move Baltimore into Carolina territory. Travis Taylor and Jamal Lewis combine to keep the drive alive, and Baltimore caps it off with an 8-yard TD run by Jamal Lewis off the left side. The tight end on that side does a nice job of sealing off the blitzing linebacker to open the hole, and once again the game is tied.

And the game immediately returns to form, as regulation ends with three 3-and-out drives, 2 from Carolina and one from Baltimore. Baltimore wins the toss in overtime and elects to receive.

Carolina catches a huge break, though, as Clarence Moore misjudges the kickoff and ends up smothered at his own 9. Boller and Lewis can't get anything going against the aggressive Carolina defense and are forced to punt from deep in their own territory. Drew Carter gets a nice 20-yard return, and Carolina is set up on Baltimore's 39-yard line.

Knowing they have a weak leg in John Kasay, Carolina knows they need a first down before they have a shot at kicking the winning FG. When Stephen Davis goes nowhere, Delhomme drops back and tries to find Ricky Proehl on a corner route. But Gary Baxter is right there and makes a nice leaping interception to kill the Carolina drive. Once again a Carolina threat is defused thanks to a turnover.

Baltimore is set up at their own 19, but manages to once again find some offense. Todd Heap grabs a 17-yard pass, and Jamal Lewis puts in some solid if unspectacular runs, but an incompletion breaks up the pattern and Baltimore is forced to punt from midfield.

Drew Carter manages another nice 20-yard return for Carolina to set them up at the 24, and Stephen Davis uses 2 strong runs to set up a second-and-1 at the 45. But a busted screen pass and a drop by Steve Smith (who had Chris McAlister draped all over him for most of the game) forces another punt.

Thanks to both teams finding some offense, Baltimore now has the ball back at their own 15 but with only 21 seconds left on the clock. Kyle Boller looks unconcerned, however, as completions to Todd Heap and Travis Taylor move them 45 yards in only 11 seconds. A 7-yard run by Jamal Lewis sets up Matt Stover at the 33 with 4 ticks left on the clock.

Once again he lines up, has a clean snap and hold, and nails the ball hard, straight, and true. Everyone is holding their breath as the ball sails closer, closer, closer, starts dropping, still true, and CLANG! hits the crossbar! The ball pops straight up, spinning end-over-end, and drops back in to the end zone. No good! The Panthers are jumping up-and-down celebrating.

But wait! The referee is trotting the ball back to the 39? What? You mean the game is not over yet? Carolina's offense trots back out onto the field.

And now Baltimore is hungry. Carolina gives up 2 sacks, and only manages 1 yard on a Stephen Davis run, and looks rattled. Sauerbrun punts away, and Baltimore is in business at their own 43. After an incompletion to Kevin Johnson, the offense gets rolling behind big Todd Heap receptions and solid Jamal Lewis running. Kyle Boller finally puts the fork in the game by finding Devard Darling open in the right corner of the end zone for a 6 yard touchdown.

This game was all about the defenses. Carolina bent but did not break, while 2 long runs by Stephen Davis kept them in it. Baltimore slowly wore down the Carolina defense by shutting down their offense and keeping the defense on the field, allowing them some late drives including the game-tying and game-winning drives. Carolina had their chances, but a fumble and an interception deep in Baltimore terriroty took the wind out of their sails. Both teams left it all on the field.

[SirFozzie]

Yo: Pumpy Tudors.. When do you want to play?

[SirFozzie]

Pats 17, Broncos 14. Wow.. what a game. Corey Dillon imitates Jim Brown on a couple plays, and we BARELY withstand a 4th quarter charge.. Great game, against a great opponent.

[Pumpy Tudors]

YEEEAAAH!! Broncos are on fire! We scored some points in Week 2! Bring on the next opponent!

Great game, SirFozzie. It was a joy to play you.

[SirFozzie]

So many long passes over the defenses head. Pissed me off near the end :D

[Pumpy Tudors]

That kid Luke can motor. It's too bad that he has stone hands. I'm surprised he held on for his touchdown catch. I just wished that I could've gotten Lelie more opportunities, but Ty Law had him blanketed. I had to keep everything on the other side of the field.

[SirFozzie]

Yup.. that last play was frightening. Too bad my "Opponent Time Out wasting" plays cost Dillon his 100 yard day.. how many tackles did he break on that first TD? five maximum tackles?

[Pumpy Tudors]

Yup.. that last play was frightening. Too bad my "Opponent Time Out wasting" plays cost Dillon his 100 yard day.. how many tackles did he break on that first TD? five maximum tackles?

I lost count. It felt like every player on my team got at least one hand on him during that run. I almost cried.

[SirFozzie]

Laughs.. he kinda did it again on that second touchdown. All my games so far online have been nailbiters. I just want to get my mic working again :D

[Ironhead]

RainRaven, just wanted to let you know that I will be available any day after 6:00 PM EST this week.

[RainRaven]

Want to play at about 6:30 tonight and what's your AIM name?

[Ironhead]

Sure! I'll go fire it up in a few minutes! AIM name is Aaenuel.

[Ironhead]

Idabeejesus! If this league were any longer than 8 games I might just be mad that VC didn't include free agency in online leagues. After tonight's league game my injury list looks like this:

Starting OLB Matt Stewart - OUT, 15 Weeks
Starting FS Cory Hall - DOUBTFUL, 4 Weeks
Starting/Backup RB T.J. Duckett - OUT, 10 Weeks
Backup CB Kevin Mathis - OUT, 18 Weeks

[gstelmack]

Maybe next time we'll have to turn injuries off ;)

[cartman]

In the first game against the Colts, Edgerrin James got hurt on the very first play! <grin>

Looks like I have the Sun Tzu bye this week, so no game for me. Next week is going to be iffy. What are the timeframes for the games? I'm leaving out on Sunday for a week long conference in Chicago. I'm back on Friday night, hopefully I can get the game in with my opponent.

[SirFozzie]

I'll be away Friday-Tuesday as well, but that should leave plenty of time.

(BTW, thank goodness for CD-RW's.. it allowed me to rip really good stadium Music :D

[gstelmack]

In the first game against the Colts, Edgerrin James got hurt on the very first play! <grin>

Looks like I have the Sun Tzu bye this week, so no game for me. Next week is going to be iffy. What are the timeframes for the games? I'm leaving out on Sunday for a week long conference in Chicago. I'm back on Friday night, hopefully I can get the game in with my opponent.
There is a week to play the games. Typically the rounds end Friday at midnight (they can end sooner if everyone plays their games and I manually advance the league), which means you'll either want to get your game in on Saturday or late Friday.
</grin>

[JeeberD]

Is Flasch still in the league or did he drop? I'm back in town and ready to play...

[ageofquarrel]

Hey bearcat when is a good time we can play? I can play at any time except thursday night.

[SackAttack]

Packers lost two more LB to the injured list this week. One of 'em is listed as out for a week, so I'm hopeful that means he'll be healthy for week 3.

[gstelmack]

Is Flasch still in the league or did he drop? I'm back in town and ready to play...
Have you heard from him yet Jeeber? I know he was having connection issues, so I'm not sure of his status.

[Flasch186]

im in, just hadnt paid a lot of attention since i played early in wk. 1......ill be able to play Saturday night, jeeber

[JeeberD]

I'll be working Saturday night until about midnight central, so that won't work for me. Any other times that are good for you?

[Flasch186]

I'll be working Saturday night until about midnight central, so that won't work for me. Any other times that are good for you?

Monday night or Tuesday night is best. If I know in advance I could play, early in the morning EST. start at around 8am, but i would rather not have to do that if possible.

[gstelmack]

Monday night or Tuesday night is best. If I know in advance I could play, early in the morning EST. start at around 8am, but i would rather not have to do that if possible.
That's too late. We have a week for the league games, and I think the deadline right now is Saturday night at midnight (August 15 at 12AM, if memory serves). If the game is not played by then, the service will decide the result (I have no idea if it will be a tie, or if it will award a winner based on some arcane formula they have buried in there based on who shows on Live, how many drops/quits they've had, etc).

[JeeberD]

Crap. My available time the rest of this week is:

Friday night (after 9 or so Central)
Saturday morning and afternoon until about four Central

Any of that compatible with you, Flasch?

[Flasch186]

unfortunately, If Friday night can happen it'll be by luck. Its my GF's b-day this weekend and while when it comes to the USFL, and other stuff I put quite a demand on keeping my own time sacred, this weekend is basically hers. I know for sure a bunch of us are having a late night dinner at a steak house and if we end up home sometime early that night, Ill pop on to see if youre on. Saturday day is when i work, I sell new homes, so Saturdays and Sundays are the busy days. Saturday night im available and then perhaps early sunday morning, but apparently that would be too late. Ill try and get home Friday night otherwise we'll have to see what the hand of god decides, sorry.

[JeeberD]

No problem, if it works out, it works out. If not, no big whoop...

[gstelmack]

RainRaven, I can play anytime tomorrow (Sunday) up until about 10PM Eastern, so give me a yell if you're available. Otherwise it's 8-10 Eastern during the week, or anytime next Saturday.

[gstelmack]

Jeeber/Flasch, looks like the league has not advanced yet. You may still have today to play your game...

[gstelmack]

The league did not roll over as expected to the next week. You guys still have time to play your game. But don't take too long as the rest of us are waiting for week 3...

[Flasch186]

wha wha what!!?? my gawd, Jeeber, what about tonight?

[Eaglesfan27]

Once we do roll over to week 3, I'm available to play my next opponent most nights after 6:00 PM Central time up til about 11:00 PM. This weekend I should also be available for a fair amount of time (not sure when yet) Drop me a PM or post in this thread to set something up.

[JeeberD]

Gimmie a couple of hours and I should be good to go, Flasch. I have something to do now...

[Flasch186]

k post on here when youre ready, i check this much more often then im on xbox live

[JeeberD]

I'm ready to go! Let the ass kicking of the Titans begin!