Restoring the Roar - A Detroit Lions Madden 11 Franchise

[pokerplaya]

Chicago Bears 44, Detroit Lions 37 at Soldier Field.

The game started off looking like it would be a very methodical game, with the Bears taking a few minutes and driving well into my territory, but having to settle for a field goal. I then ran off a 12 play drive, capped by a one yard run by Maurice Morris to lead 7-3. Got the ball back off a Cutler INT, and then hit Calvin on a 30 yard pass for a 14-3 1st quarter lead.

I was cruising along, making big stops on defense, but being forced to settle for 2 field goals inside of 30 yards, but I had a 20-3 lead... and had the ball with 1:39 to go in the half. I dropped back and the slant I was trying to throw was covered, so I look down to my check, throw to the flat, and Zackary Bowman jumps it and is gone to the house. 20-10. That's OK, I say... been playing well so far, one mistake won't kill me.

I get the ball back, get to 3rd and 1 quickly, drop back - throw... its bobbled, and intercepted by the Beast, Brian Urlacher! I manage to hold them to three, but still... two mistakes in my two-minute drill, and both lead to points, ten in total.

Things are going back and forth in the 3rd quarter, until something very strange happens... the phantom injury. I flat out lost Jahvid Best at this point, and I have no idea why. He does get crunched, and he fumbles the ball which is picked up by Julius Peppers and taken to the house for a Bears TD. Best never returned to the game, although he was not injured, and was still #1 on my depth chart. He was having a pretty crappy game anyways, except for catching the ball - but I'd still like to know what happened.

Cutler leads a scoring drive capped by Aromashodu's first TD of the game with little under 3:00 to go in the 3rd. After another Gould FG, the Cutler/Aromashodu tandem hooked up again to put me down 37-20, and I was just on the edge of being wrapped up when I made all hell break loose.

I drive the ball down well, unfortunately taking three or so minutes off the clock, and settling for the Hanson FG to bring me within two touchdowns. I kick the ball off, and its returned to around the 23. Cutler throws a pretty slant to Hester in between two defenders and he breaks away for a solid gain, but is LEVELLED by Louis Delmas and he fumbles. Detroit ball, and a chance to get back in the game.

Matthew Stafford and Derrick Williams made sure that chance was real, as the very next play Stafford hit D.W. on a brilliant play and he was gone to the races for 61 yards.

I then recovered the onside-kick, but I honestly never see it touch a Bears player and the ball had not gone 10 yards. It'll be one of the highlight films I upload, may be something we should show EA. Two plays later, I hit Pettigrew for a 19 yard score, and the game is tied with little under five to go.

I should note at this point that I lost two different challenge situations in the second half, one on a Stafford fumble, and the other on a clear sideline grab, so I only had one timeout. It wound up not really being relevant, as I wound up turning the ball over with Aaron Brown for the 5th turnover as I was going in to score the go-ahead points, and Cutler hit Knox for the breakaway touchdown run.

Strangely enough this is one of the few crazy and high-scoring games I've had in a while, but it was still a lot of fun. Highlights to come!

EDIT: Also, Ndamukong Suh did manage his first sack as a professional and his highlight will also be posted. We'll be looking for Jahvid to get his first score next game!

[pokerplaya]

Captain Suh's first sack as a professional!

Spoiler

EA Sports: Madden NFL 11 Video Highlight

Calvin Johnson and Matthew Stafford's 1st TD Catch/Pass of the year!

Spoiler

EA Sports: Madden NFL 11 Video Highlight

The "phantom" onside kick:

Spoiler

EA Sports: Madden NFL 11 Video Highlight

Unfortunately, it looks like you can only have six highlights stored on their server at a time, so I dunno how they will hold up and what not when I go to upload new games highlights. I'll do my best to make it an immersive experience, though.

[pokerplaya]

Philadelphia is coming in to Ford Field this week.

FB Jerome Felton is out 2 weeks with a dislocated elbow. The Eagles are missing LOLB M. Fokou for 3 weeks with a dislocated ankle.

The Lions gave WR Brian Clark, and LE Jared DeVries their outright release. DeVries is a 100k cap hit on a 1 year deal, and Clark cost no cap penalty.

To fill in the void at FB for the next two weeks, the Lions signed FB Terrelle Smith to a 1 year/1.13 million dollar deal. For an increase in depth at the tailback position, the Lions also signed former Indianapolis back Samkon Gado to a 2 year/2.48M contract.

GO LIONS!

[pokerplaya]

I'm actually going to differ the format, and I'm going to post the recap first as I can just type in things to my laptop as they occur, giving a better idea of the state of the game. Since it looks like I won't be able to post as many highlights as I'd like, that'll have to do.

[pokerplaya]

Philadelphia Eagles (0-1) 84 overall, AT Detroit Lions (0-1) 78 Overall

I won the toss and took the ball. I never do this.

We went 5 and out, getting a Calvin Johnson first down and then 3 and out. We punt, and then the Eagles drive down to our 42, where they will go for it on 4th and 6?

And Kolb is now 7 of 7 on the drive for the first down and more.

Make that 9 of 9, with a hookup with Desean Jackson in the back of the endzone for a 1 yard score.

The screen just came up and I know already that Minnesota and Green Bay have already won. I'm pretty sure this game isn't primetime.

Stafford's back at his own 16, drops back and is crushed by Trent Cole... Eagles ball on the 6. SUH stepping up like a captain with a big sack!

McCoy, handed to on a draw... he moves through the line... he's gonna score...NO... he's whacked at the one by Taylor Mays and the absolutely vicious hit knocks the ball free... recovered by the Lions in the endzone for a touchback!!! Great defense by the rookie not giving up on the play, and great alertness by Hill to smother the ball!

After a beautiful playfake, Brandon Pettigrew is delivered a laser with just an inch of separation... and HE'S GONE... that should take care of the speed differential talk, I'll make sure that highlight is posted. 7-7 Ballgame... very happy after the sloppy start.

Blown coverage by Chris Houston... just sloppy footwork. Luckily, Mays is having a great game and drops DeSean right where he sits with what are becoming trademark hits.

McCoy is gashing me though. 44 on 5 so far... and the first ends, 7-7. Eagle ball on their own 48.

McCoy coughed it up again on a amazing display of strength by Ndamukong Suh to come from his side and rip the ball from his body! Detroit ball on their own 48 after the recovery to redeem himself by Chris Houston!

Jahvid hasn't been going anywhere but Matt Stafford makes a beautiful read on the next play to see the blitz and a wide open Burleson on the slant who takes it to the house for a 53 yard TD. Lions 14, Eagles 7!

McCoy keeps gashing me but Sammie Lee Hill continues his strong game, adding to his fumble recovery with his first sack of the year on Kevin Kolb! Still, the Eagles remain strong on third down, completing a big gain to clutch reciever Jason Avant from the University of Michigan!

The Lions then hold after that first down, and this is not a chip shot (54 yards if they go for the kick...) but no, they choose to try to pin the Lions deep, but boot it into the endzone.

The Lions drive it down to the Eagle 31, and on the play giving them the 4th and 2, we see Julian Edelman carted off the field on his first catch of the year. It has only said he was out for the game, but we will know more soon. A 48 yard FG attempt by Hanson coming up...and it's good, but barely even with a strong (96%) kick...17-7 Lions 4:33 to go in the half.

The Eagles open with McCoy in the Wildcat. They've run it 3 times, and all three have been handoffs to Maclin on an end-around...and make that 4 for 4. 3rd down. They go 3 and out, and the Lions return the punt to the 47.

Best is up to 50 yards on 10 carries, and the Lions have the ball on the Eagle 28, 1st and 10 at the 2-minute warning.

HUGE run for 18 on the draw to the Eagle 10 by Best! Continue to run the clock down, getting it down to 29 seconds as I dump a 8 yard pass to Brandon Pettigrew on 3rd and 8! After Hanson's kick it looks like we will go into half 24-7 barring something crazy...

But nothing crazy happens and the Eagles hand off to McCoy twice and run out the clock.

24-7 at the Half.

Trade punts until at around 6 minutes of the 3rd quarter, Kolb finds Maclin and he breaks free for 66 before being hauled down by Taylor Mays with a great pursuit at the 22. After a Wildcat sweep to Desean Jackson, McCoy rumbles in for around a 10 yard run, which lowers the lead to 24-14, Lions.

On 3rd and 2 at their own 25, Best puts it on the ground but the Lions will get the ball back to punt it away. First true *whew* moment of the game so far...

The Lions make a big sack, and force a punt from deep in Eagle territory, and Brown makes a great return across midfield. The Lions drive down but are ultimately held to 3, making the score 27-14 with 0:20 remaining in the 3rd.

Nothing much happened at all in the 3rd. Both backs did go over 100 yards, and I probably could have scored again, but when I was driving to do so was during the time I could run the clock out, so I did just that and walked off the field with a 27-14 victory. Brandon Pettigrew was the Player of the Game with his 2 TD grabs.

Box score to come!

[pokerplaya]

NFL Scoreboard - Philadelphia Eagles (0-2) at Detroit Lions (1-1)

, 1 2 3 4 F Philadelphia Eagles 7 0 7 0 14 Detroit Lions 7 17 3 0 27 Top Performers Philadelphia Eagles - Stats Kevin Kolb (18/30 for 250 yards, 1TD, 0INT) LeSean McCoy (19 for 118 yards, 6.2avg 1TD) Detroit Lions - Stats Matthew Stafford (12/22 for 231 yards, 3TD, 0INT) Brandon Pettigrew (4 catches for 121 yards, 2TD)

Team Stats Comparison PHI DET First Downs 18 11 3rd Down Efficiency 4-13 (30%) 3-10 (30%) 4th Down Efficiency 2-3 (66%) 0-0 (0%) Total Yards 369 352 Passing Yards 217 217 Rushing Yards 152 135 Penalties-Penalty Yards 1-5 2-10 Turnovers 2 (-1) 1 (+1) Time of Possession 25:50 18:10

Philadelphia Eagles Passing C/ATT YDS TD INT Kevin Kolb 18/30 250 1 0 Rushing ATT YDS AVG TD LeSean McCoy 19 118 6.2 1 Jeremy Maclin 7 29 4.1 0 Desean Jackson 2 8 4.0 0 Receiving REC YDS AVG TD Jason Avant 7 97 13.8 0 DeSean Jackson 4 48 12.0 1 Jeremy Maclin 2 72 36.0 0 LeSean McCoy 2 17 8.5 0 Leonard Weaver 2 16 8.0 0 Defense TKL SACK INT TD Ernie Sims 9 0 0 0 Macho Harris 5 0 0 0 Stewart Bradley 4 0 0 0 Asante Samuel 4 0 0 0 Nate Allen 4 0 0 0 Detroit Lions Passing C/ATT YDS TD INT Matthew Stafford 12/22 231 3 0 Rushing ATT YDS AVG TD Jahvid Best 24 139 5.7 0 Aaron Brown 1 0 0 0 Receiving REC YDS AVG TD Calvin Johnson 3 26 8.6 0 Nate Burleson 2 61 30.5 1 Julian Edelman 1 14 14.0 0 Aaron Brown 1 5 5.0 0 Brandon Pettigrew 4 121 30.2 2 Defense TKL SACK INT TD Ndamukong Suh 5 1 0 0 DeAndre Levy 7 0 0 0 Kyle Van Den Bosch 4 1 0 0 Julian Peterson 5 0 0 0 Louis Delmas 5 0 0 0

OperationSports.com

[hockeyplaya2724]

Wow great job defeating the Eagles, I'm definitely following this.

[pokerplaya]

Just so you guys know, I have a full time job so I won't be updating every day, and most of the updates won't be the length of that one, just a brief summation of the game, and the boxscore!

I just found that it was a LOT of pausing to write on the level I did, and it took away from the flow of the game, so I'm strictly going to write my recaps after the games. The more I have fun PLAYING, the more games we'll get in so we can see how the league develops (and how the stats work out with my NFL Experience sliders!)

Thanks for following, I will be playing a game or two right now, so there will be an update soon!