Your Best Ever Franchise Mode

[scitychamps87]

What was your favorite franchise mode experience in a Madden game? What made the experience so memorable and which Madden was it?

It can be just your must successful championship coaching/ownership tenure or just features and moments that got you incredibly immersed. I'd love to hear everyone's thoughts on this.

Sent from my XT1650 using Operation Sports mobile app

[Toupal]

Quote: Originally Posted by scitychamps87

What was your favorite franchise mode experience in a Madden game? What made the experience so memorable and which Madden was it? It can be just your must successful championship coaching/ownership tenure or just features and moments that got you incredibly immersed. I'd love to hear everyone's thoughts on this. Sent from my XT1650 using Operation Sports mobile app

Uploading Draft Classes from NCAA Football to Madden 12.

Having the ability to continue my franchise with real players from my NCAA game added enough immersion to get me through multiple decades within franchise mode.

I would try hard to trade for my favorite player from NCAA. So as the Bears I'd always try to get Trent Richardson, RG3, or Andrew Luck.

[ksteward84]

In 12 I took my QB from high school to Stanford to 2 Superbowls in a 7 year NFL career with the Arizona Cardinals.

At Stanford I won a minor bowl as a Junior. We were 6-5 I think, and somehow beat a 9-2 team. I relied heavily as a Senior on a guy named “Barry Sanders Jr” to make it to and win the Rose Bowl (Sanders Jr won the heisman that year).

I was drafted as a 200+ pick and sat one year before the Cards traded their 2nd string QB then didn’t resign their starter, leaving me as a 77 ovr with a starting job.

From losing record to first round playoff loss to super bowl win to not making the playoffs with a winning record to first round loss to Super Bowl win to Super Bowl loss.

The Saints drafter a QB who was a powerhouse MVP machine who’s shadow I was always trying to get out of.

[CM Hooe]

I'll go with a Madden NFL 13 online franchise I played in with 20+ users from OS. Getting so many people engaged on a single franchise at once was a fantastic experience.

The online league I played in with some close friends in Madden NFL 17 is a close second.

[coach422001]

Draft classes from NCAA 06 into Madden 06 was a blast. I never paid much attention to college football but this got me into the real thing again like when I was a kid. I am still playing my sixth season in Madden 12, happy to be able to draft and edit current players onto their real teams. If they fixed the punting issue in 17 I would have continued with that. In never bought 18.

[TexInOrd]

NCAA 10 and importing classes into Madden.

I was young, had time, limited responsibility, and my roomie loved football too and also had time and limited responsibilities. We played NCAA constantly, taking over two weak programs and turning them into powerhouses. When we reached the top of the mountain with that, our coaches got “hired” into the NFL on two bad teams and we started importing classes.

We still reference players from that game like they are real when we are doing draft analysis and talking football.

“Yea Baker Mayfield is good but I don’t think he’s a Pat Jones...”

Ridiculous fun. I miss NCAA.

[ForUntoOblivionSoar∞]

Quote: Originally Posted by scitychamps87

What was your favorite franchise mode experience in a Madden game? What made the experience so memorable and which Madden was it? It can be just your must successful championship coaching/ownership tenure or just features and moments that got you incredibly immersed. I'd love to hear everyone's thoughts on this. Sent from my XT1650 using Operation Sports mobile app

Sit around the fire, young lads, and I'll tell you a legendary tale of of all the stars lining up for a Franchise...





It was an online sim league. Madden 16 I believe.

Season 1 for me (I think this was after the first season we played; I requested a team switch because I LOVE the Falcons uniforms with the black pants)

I took over the Falcons after the off season had already finished, who were mediocre. Due to some unfortunate injuries, I ended up 5-11 or 6-10.

Season 2

I had Julio Jones, so everyone assumed I'd take the top cornerback when I picked, but I surprised everyone in the draft at I think 5 over all by taking the best route running receiver in the draft, who also happened to be the 2nd fastest (corners were at a premium, and I only had one good corner, so that everyone assumed I'd be taking one). This pissed off a lot of people who projected that he would fall at least to 10 or to the late first. He was listed as the 5th or 6th best WR, but by gosh he was the best, at least for what I specifically needed him for. Of course, I couldn't really use him in the slot at the time, because my other outside WR was garbage. So he was in the wrong place and my offense couldn't quite operate how I wanted.

My defense was also a work in progress, so that season I still ended up with a high pick, although I wasn't exactly tanking. I just didn't have quite enough weapons on offense and defense to win. I had a lot of close games though, but once again lost key players to injury, and the guys I had didn't quite match my system on offense or defense.



Season 3

The next off-season, I got a 6'3 corner with elite speed and acceleration in free agency because his coverage traits were mediocre for a cb. However, due to his weight, tackle and hit power, by the league rules I was allowed to make him my free safety (after asking the Commissioner and presenting my case). Instantly my secondary got better. I also signed the marquee middle linebacker everyone was bidding on (forgot the name, but he had all the physical traits plus great zone coverage). I also got the marquee FB everyone wanted; he was like Kyle Juice Check- fast, great route runner, and great blocker. I spent like hell on him, but it was worth it. Then I added a couple monster sized DTs, so I could emulate the 2000 Ravens type defense.

I then managed to sign some low-key offensive line upgrades.

The Draft

This time I was picking 2nd or 3rd (part of it was my bad record, but part of it was a trade I made the previous season). Once again, everyone assumed I'd take a cornerback or safety, even though I had a great cb (and no one knew how well my cb to fs experiment was going to work). In fact, there was a TREMENDOUSLY talented CB available, which everyone was sure I was taking. One guy asked me to trade down for an extra first round pick, and by his roster, I was sure he was taking the CB, so I agreed and got it. (note, this was a trade down from like 2 to 3. I got a first for moving down one spot due to how bad this guy wanted this CB). Even then, there was another good cornerback available, which everyone assumed I would get (there were three good ones in the first round, and one excellent one, which the guy I traded with got).

So what did I do with my pick? Surprised the whole league again by taking ANOTHER WR. NO ONE saw this coming since I had Julio and the guy I drafted the previous season. But this guy was 6'4 with 96 speed, great jumping, catch in traffic, and elite acceleration and release. Once again this pissed everyone off, since they completely misjudged what I was going to do, and several people thought he'd make it to 5-10 and were counting on him being there.




So at this point I had a monster WR core: Julio Jones, my WR of the previous year who was short but very fast and quick, and now this Randy Moss clone. Plus I could now put last season's first round WR selection where he belonged: in the slot. He was basically a faster Julian Edelman.

I also had a second first round pick (from the aforementioned trade), and took a reasonably talented CB. So my secondary had one elite CB, one solid veteran CB, this new rookie, and a FS who was great at everything but awareness for his position. In addition, I believe I signed a second tier but solid SS like Antoine Bethae.

Unfortunately, in the 2nd round someone sniped my TE I was going to take (incidentally, I ended up playing this guy in the Super Bowl). No matter, however. I got the last laugh. Somehow, a super fast great receiving TE had been missed in free agency, and after the draft I got him.

So now my offense looked like this:

A great QB
The best WR in the game.
A 2nd year slot WR who pushed for rookie of the year due to his elite quickness.
A Randy Moss clone
Freeman at running back
A super fast TE
A super fast FB who could block and catch
A better than average offensive line.

Then in round seven, the QB I had wanted was still there. I first scouted him because his name was like Jacob Stark or something like that (when you watch Game of Thrones, you don't pass on a guy named Stark). But what I found was that he had the strongest arm of anyone in the draft (I'm talking ELITE arm strength), and what's more, he turned out to be one of the highest rated players in the draft. One of the super gems. Of course, I had Matt Ryan, but now I was set for the long term.


The Season

I breezed through the preseason. It was very clear that my offense was going to be a juggernaut. I was making efficient, high TD% drives left and right. And then... tragedy.

I think it was week three or four, but I lost Matt Ryan for almost all the season (it was like a 10 or so week injury). So in stepped #9, Mr. Stark, who had a much stronger arm. My completion percentage went down, but my play-action game got ridiculously more effective. Because now, with a 6'4 96 speed WR and Julio Jones (not to mention my quick route runner from the year before, who also had super high speed), if I ran a PA with a deep cross and a deeper post behind him, the deeper throw was going to be open almost every time it was man coverage, and if not, Julio was going to make a play on the ball on the shorter deep cross. If that was covered, my check down was going to be faster than any LB covering, or my rookie from the other season was going to beat his man (because when you draft a WR at 5, and he's matched up against the third DB, he's going to constantly own him).

So Stark's completion percentage hovered around 65% (Ryan was around 70%), but his yards per attempt was somewhere around 9.9 or higher. By the end of the season I set the NFL scoring record (I think it was 626 total points - I averaged about 39 per game, about a point more than the 2013 Broncos) and threw I think it was 43 touchdown passes to 13 interceptions with a rookie QB - in 12 games! Got Rookie of the Year and MVP, if I recall.

And my defense? Led the league in forced turnovers. Although I was not elite in that department, I did make so huge plays.


Overall I finished 2nd in the standings of my conference. I think my record was 11-5 or 12-4.

Playoffs:

My first game was a rematch against the Packers from earlier in the season. In the first game, I started out with like a 31-7 lead at half time, but he suddenly got his offense rolling, and by the fourth quarter he had taken I think a 45 to 42 lead. I then quickly scored again, after being shut down from the first minute of the third to the last 3 minutes of the 4th, intercepted him, and scored a field goal, taking a 52 to 45 lead. Amazingly, he came right back and scored again, making it 52-52. But, with the guys I had on offense, he couldn't stop me. I scored the game winning touchdown with 7 seconds left: 59-52. Unbelievable. That was the only game like that all season, and the most points I've ever scored in a head to head game. I've never seen anything like it, tbh.

However, the rematch was different. He took a very measured and methodical approach on offense, playing keep away. I had the ball for I think only two possessions by half time, but scored touchdowns both times. It was 17-14 at the half. I, too, had been more methodical, running the ball more, so both my drives were long. I got the ball in the third quarter, and lined up in a tight I-twins formation, with the WRs on the right side. This "tipped him off" to the fact that I was running a stretch or toss play to the left, like everyone always does. But being a Mike Shanahan fan, I don't call plays like that, no sir. I ran a play-action with two deep crossing routes. He bit so hard that my rookie had like 15 steps on the defender (he was manually controlling the free safety). From that point on, magic offense was back on track. Final score I believe was something like 38-23. Unfortunately, my rookie QB got hurt. Fortunately, with Matt Ryan back from injury, I was able to game manage the 4th QTR to victory.

Conference Championship.

This was against Arizona, if I recall. They had a monstrous defense that season, and the guy using them was one of those guys who was great at ball control offense. With Matt Ryan, my offense was efficient in moving the ball on the first drive, but I couldn't get in the end zone, and he kept me off the field from then until midway through the second. Unfortunately, once again, Ryan got hurt. Now I'm with my third string QB. 13-9 in the 4th quarter. I have yet to score a touchdown.

But how long can a defense, even a really good one, contain Julio Jones, a Randy Moss clone, and a WR drafted 5 overall the previous season who was basiclaly Julian Edelman but with elite speed? Around two minutes left, I just heaved one. Jones caught it in traffic, broke a tackle and took off. He got to the five yard line. I then lined up with my best players on the field in a tight single back formation, and he has to come out in dime. I run the ball right up the middle and score.

Then he, being used to ball control offense, can't make the big plays to come back. I hold him, and win 16-13.

Super Bowl:

Rookie comes back. I'm playing the Titans, and the user is probably the best one in our league. I start out doing well, moving to his thirty in three plays, but my dumb *** throws an interception. He marches right down and scores a touchdown. Then, I, starting to feel the pressure, overthrew a key third down pass (it was like twenty yards down the field on third and two, because that worked for me all year when people kept playing the short yardage). He goes down the field again, this time getting a field goal.

Finally I get my ish together, starting with a screen pass he didn't expect, which got me like 26 yards, a couple stretch plays, and then a deep post from about the 35 that went into the end zone to Julio. 10-7. But of course, he marches right back down the field and scores another TD. 17-7.

There's like 31 seconds left and I have one time out. I throw a deep out, then surprise the ever loving crap out of him with a zone run out of a spread formation (he's in quarters). I get about 29 yards, and call time out. There's like 14 seconds left and I'm about at the 40. I decide, F it, I'm going endzone. Throw a 9 route, my rookie WR turns around and catches it at like the 2, and I swear to the Almighty he ran out of bounds, but stupid Madden animations made it look like he was pushed out or something. I don't know what happened, but bottom line is I got no points. 17-7 at half time.

Then here's where things get interesting. I kick the ball, and I hit stick this dude, fumble. I recover at like the 19. Come out in a bunch formation to the left. Motion the TE across the formation. Then, I reverse the direction of the play, making it bunch again. This guy then assumes I saw his defense strong on one side, and switched to change the direction of a run. Play-action, dude run commits, and my short rookie from the year before, running the medium depth route, easily gets in the end zone. Now I'm back in business at 17-14.

He gets the ball back and starts marching, but then at around my thirty yard line Desmond Trufant finally saves me and picks it off. Now my nerves are gone and I'm running my full offense.

It's first down, and I pull something I saw Mike Martz do with the 2000 Rams (I copied this play and presnap motion EXACTLY, so call it cheese or not, it's an exact duplicate of a real NFL play, so I call it sim): I line up in a singleback under center trey formation to the right. The main read on the play is a ten yard post by the TE and a deep angle route, trailing the TE at a higher depth, by the slot WR (who was Julio Jones in this formation). The outside WRs run 9's.


Just like the pre-snap motion I saw Martz do, I motion TE to the left. Then, by reversing the play, I duplicate Martz' second motion, where the slot WR then moves across the formation. Then finally, I throw one more thing I saw in this Martz' play: a third motion. I empty the backfield by moving the RB out to the slot in the right, and have him run a crossing route (once again, exactly like Martz' play). So now I'm in an empty, under center trips formation.

I snap the ball. The user safety jumps all over the TE post, biting super hard, and Julio is wide open. He catches it in stride and he is GONE.

Here is a step by step diagram of what I did (which, again, I saw in a 2000 Rams game):




Again, he foolishly jumped on the TE post, thinking the slot WR was running to the outside.



Now it's 21-17. He drives down the field and by a miracle I sack him in the red zone. He's at the 8, so he kicks the field goal. 21-20. During his drive we went into the fourth quarter.

I get the ball back, we have about 75% of the 4th quarter to go (in our league it was like 7 minutes left, I believe), and after a couple of runs, I go to my "wrong side" play-action again, which I used once every two or three games. It looks like this:



EVERYONE expected the run when the WRs are lined up twins and are on the short side of the field to the RIGHT, and the TE is to the left. I'm guessing people try to exploit the run defense logic or something, but I see this over and over again. He expected it too.

He was in cover 1, playing safety, and he bit so hard on this play action that my rookie WR had 25 yards between him and nearest defender as he waltzed into the end zone.

It's now 28-20. He gets the ball back with about 4 minutes to go. But now, since the last two touchdowns have come in huge 60+ yard passes, and they came out of plays and play-calls he hadn't seen all season, he's starting to feel the pressure to score. He completes a couple of passes in hurry up, and gets out of bounds. I then decide to call my secret weapon defense call: it's a dime formation, and a double blitz by the outside corner and the inside corner. I pull my outside corner in, clearly showing I was blitzing. So I'm near the line of scrimmage, about five yards from the WR. I then do something some of you might consider cheese (but this is the GD Super Bowl FFS): I switch to my 6'3 safety, who had responsibility to cover the third of the field that the blitz was coming from.

This guy is fairly convinced pre snap he will be able to hot route a streak and throw quickly and pick up 15-20 yards. He snaps it, and his guess is "confirmed," as both my corners blitz. But the entire thing was set up: I was baiting him to throw to that outside WR. As soon as the ball is snapped I make a b-line for where that outside WR should be catching the ball, and I get there just in time to intercepted it. I run it to the house, and now it's 35-20 with about 3 minutes and 20 seconds left.

He gets the ball back and makes a good drive that takes about a minute and twenty seconds left, and cuts the score to 35-27.

But I recover the onside kick. I run three times, and each time he calls a time out. I'm just at the very edge of my rookie kicker's range (another steal of a pick, which I took in round five, who had like 98 kicking power- I actually had people trying to trade for him during the season). But I decide that I'm going to make him go the entire field. There's only about 55 seconds left, and he has no time outs. I punt the ball and get him starting at his own 6. 94 yards to go AND a two point conversion.

And would you believe it? In one play he throws deep and scores, then converts! 35-35!

HAHAHAH JUST KIDDING!

What REALLY happened is on first down, I came out in a dime formation, and then I freaking sent the house. Robber man coverage with both slot corners blitzing and the middle linebacker as well. Why did I do this? From something I remember Mike Shanahan saying to his defensive coordinator at the end of the Broncos' first Super Bowl victory on Favre's last (failed) drive: "I don't care the situation: whatever you've done all season, do now. No prevent stuff we haven't run all year or all game." (it wasn't exactly that, but it was something to that effect)

Because it was robber coverage, with my SS slipping into the middle where he was going to throw hot, he hesitated. My defensive end absolutely SMASHES him, he fumbles, and I recover at the two yard line in a pile of bodies.

I then kneel, and I win the Super Bowl 35-27.






My single greatest feeling in all my years playing online Franchise. I spent three years building a team to have VERY specific strengths. The players I drafted on offense would have made any offense good, but they especially matched the scheme I was running, which was a combination of Mike/Kyle Shanahan's scheme and Mike Martz' scheme. And even my late draft selections fell into place perfectly for three consecutive years. Never had that kind of luck before, and this was a 32 man league, mind you.


So yeah, there's my best franchise story.


Some might say what I did was cheese (both by drafting so many great WRs and by the motion and play calling I did), but need I remind those folks two things: (1) The 1997 Vikings had the 7th best offense, but still drafted Randy Moss. And (2) those plays I called, and the pre-snap motion I used, were exact duplicates of what I saw in looking at NFL film of the Martz Rams and the Shanahan Broncos.

Everything I did that season was based on real NFL stuff. And people bit on it hook, line, and sinker all season. Why does no one ever expect a right handed quarterback to do a play-action and roll-out left? Mike/Kyle Shanahan have been doing that for 25 years.


But the bottom line is, from the way I built the roster to the schemes to the play-call timing to the way I disguised those calls, everything fell perfectly into place that one time. And it was against intelligent, quality sim Madden players. That's never going to happen again, I'm sure.

[BJNT]

Madden 04. I took a sudo-expansion team(game didn’t have a real expansion mode so I replaced a team with a created team) to the playoffs in their 4th year. But that wasn’t the most exciting moment of the experience. That came from a game winning Hail Mary touchdown pass from Randy Fasani to Mike Williams(yeah USC receiver Mike Williams).


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