How's Your Franchise Going: Madden 21 Edition

[ProximateGrunt]

Quote: Originally Posted by Vanilla_Gorilla

Year 2 of my Saints franchise has been wild. Year 1 went well but ended in heartbreak. The Saints lost 41-35 to the Dallas Cowboys in the NFC Championship game on a blown coverage by Patrick Robinson filling in for the injured Marshon Lattimore. It was the final heartbreak Drew Brees could take as he hung up his cleats for the final time. It wasn’t over for Sean Payton though as he and General Manager Mickey Loomis got to work. Even with Brees’ retirement, the Saints had geared up for a Super Bowl team, meaning they had a Super Bowl team’s cap hell. The Saints found themselves underneath Cap Hell. Over $80 million over to be exact. The Saints and Loomis had to make moves. Had to make sacrifices. And had to get creative. They had little draft capital, few young cornerstones, and a lot of aging superstars. Fortunately, there were options. The Saints began the overhaul by cutting some fat. Jared Cook and near Defensive Player of the Year Sheldon Rankins were not retained. Tre’Quan Smith was shipped off to the Patriots. Josh Hill was shipped off to the Texans Janoris Jenkins was shipped off to the Rams Emmanuel Sanders was released Nick Easton was released Patrick Robinson was released But still the Saints weren’t quite where they needed to be. They had to make a major sacrifice and they had a huge hole they needed to fill. Mickey Loomis made his move and got on the phone with the Jacksonville Jaguars who held the #1 pick in the draft. Done deal. The Saints had opted to ship off All-Pro LT Terron Armstead, RB Latavius Murray, and a 4th round pick to the Jaguars for QB Gardner Minshew, a future 1st Draft Pick, and a Conditional 6th rounder. With Minshew at the helm, the Saints would be able to spend their draft capital elsewhere to shore up their team and be able to rely on a proven promising QB and not have to draft one. The Jaguars would go on to draft Trevor Lawrence and gave him the LT he needs to protect his blindside.

Despise the saints, but this was a great read


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[ProximateGrunt]

Quote: Originally Posted by MattyIce

I'm thinking I'm going to have to switch over to 32-team control. Although I hate the front end set-up, I hate even more what I've been seeing on the transaction wire. Significant players dropped/cut all the time not just during cutdown days. It just kills the realism for me when rosters get messed up. I do have one question about the in-game ticker. When you do 32-team control doesn't that prevent the ticker from showing real time updates from scores around the league? And doesn't it also replace each team abbreviation with your user id? That always frustrated me because I enjoy seeing the score updates during my game.

So as i only play 32 control franchise, how it works is as you play the games it will show up after the game is completed ( if you only play one 1pm game, the next game at 1pm you play will only show that score being updated. the rest will say your gamer tag vs gamer tag)


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[Jm0ney2001]

Just won the Super Bowl in my first year on All Madden difficulty 31-17 over the Chiefs. I was the Minnesota Vikings. I feel like it was too easy. Cook rushed 26 times for 256 and 3 TDs. Hoping next gen gives more of a challenge on Friday.


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[MattyIce]

Quote: Originally Posted by ProximateGrunt

So as i only play 32 control franchise, how it works is as you play the games it will show up after the game is completed ( if you only play one 1pm game, the next game at 1pm you play will only show that score being updated. the rest will say your gamer tag vs gamer tag) Sent from my iPhone using Operation Sports

What if I advance for each game other than my user played game. For example. If I play at 1pm and I advance Thursday night game, all 1 pm games and the late afternoon, SNF/MNF games. Would that still allow me to play the 1pm game and see the updated scores in real time or would it only show final scores? And would it still show my gamertag next to all teams or the correct abbreviation? Sorry I cant test it myself at the moment.

[Cory Levy]

[Excerpt from Around the NFL Podcast Episode: 2024 Sandwich Bets Extravaganza]

Dan Hanzus: So that means it is back to me and, fellas, it's time to start dropping some BIG ONION BETS. It is time to look into ourselves and our big onions and lay out the biggest, juiciest, most meaty sandwich bets yet. For mine I'm going to the GREAT WHITE NORTH and Toronto's own Huskies: they will win no less than 13 games in 2024!


Gregg Rosenthal: Wow.


Marc Sessler: Actual absurdity and I will take that sandwich.


Hanzus: Now, now, look. We're in year 4 of the newest NFL franchise, the first ever International one at that and they've been building to something since day one. 4 wins in year 1, 6 wins in year 2, 9-7 last year with a truly shocking win against divisional foe Indianapolis in the Wild Card round. They are trending upward!


Sessler: Or they could just as likely fall back to 6 or 7 wins and miss the playoffs. The Huskies are a nice underdog story but they're not exactly proven yet.

Hanzus: Just look at their roster, Marc, just look at it. They are young and they are hungry and they are more talented then they look. They have last year's rookie of the year in QB Ben Taylor, who looks like a future superstar in OUR league and will only get better with experience. They have an underrated squad of skill players with Javier DuBois, Antonio Callaway, Taylor Shepard, Josh Gentry, who broke out of nowhere as a rookie last year, TE Dalton Schultz and then they traded up to secure the TAJ - WR Taj Maynard - in this year's first round of the draft. They signed the crafty ole veteran Tyron Smith to anchor, what I think, is going to be a contender for one of the best O-Lines in football this year, C Alex Bond is a beast, baby!


Chris Wesseling: To be frank, Dan, the reason I'd have confidence in the Huskies lies on the defensive side of the ball. Especially that defensive line. Is there a better DT duo out there than Alex Mullins and Titus Archer? They are monsters in the middle of that defense and then you throw in speed rushers like Jacquez Calloway and Sharif Finch off the edge and it's just a nightmare scenario for opposing QBs. Their D-Line makes every level of the defense behind it look and play better than they should.


Rosenthal: The problem with Toronto is that it's all fluff until we see otherwise. We all love the story of the Huskies and how they've become something out of actual nothingness but to chalk up 13 wins for them in Year 4 is almost insanity and I fear we may have finally lost you, Dan.


Hanzus: Don't belittle what Jason Buono and General Manager Will McClay have built up there, Gregg. I'm telling you they are going to take the league BY STORM this year. The league already knows it too, Toronto will be in Prime Time 5 times this year, 6 if you count 'America's Game of the Week' at 4:05! They're ready to roll and the time is now to jump on the Huskies' bandwagon with me!


Sessler: I mean, it is surprising to see how far Buono has come. He was, what, working in a Canadian hockey rink five years ago or something like that. By all means, Dan, you can be the bus driver of this bandwagon and the rest of us will be eating sandwiches while it burns and crashes.



Wesseling: For the record I like the Huskies, too. 13 wins is a lot to ask from any team, especially one that has as packed a schedule as them. They have an entire month of the season where they'll be playing on the road. That's a tough task, even if it does come after their Bye Week. So, I'll take that bet.


Rosenthal: Of course, you'd be nuts not to.


Hanzus: I thought that would be the case and I'd figured I'd be standing by my lonesome in the Huskies House. Telling you boys now, watch out for Toronto!

[ProximateGrunt]

Quote: Originally Posted by MattyIce

What if I advance for each game other than my user played game. For example. If I play at 1pm and I advance Thursday night game, all 1 pm games and the late afternoon, SNF/MNF games. Would that still allow me to play the 1pm game and see the updated scores in real time or would it only show final scores? And would it still show my gamertag next to all teams or the correct abbreviation? Sorry I cant test it myself at the moment.

i believe it will only show the results of the completed games prior to the kick off of that game


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[ProximateGrunt]

Quote: Originally Posted by MattyIce

What if I advance for each game other than my user played game. For example. If I play at 1pm and I advance Thursday night game, all 1 pm games and the late afternoon, SNF/MNF games. Would that still allow me to play the 1pm game and see the updated scores in real time or would it only show final scores? And would it still show my gamertag next to all teams or the correct abbreviation? Sorry I cant test it myself at the moment.

i believe it will only show the results of the completed games prior to the kick off of that game


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[whiterattle11]

Now that “next-gen” is out I’m thinking about starting a franchise! Bengals, Dolphins, Bears, and Broncos are the teams I’m trying to decide between. Which team should I go with?!


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