Only thing I play is Franchise Offline mode. BIG NOTE THAT I FORGOT about
: I play with Rondo's TakeThatEAV4 roster. It is not been updated since earlier in the year so some of the no name guys that get signed or brought up from practice squads late in the season are not in there. But it does include a lot of guys who are still technically free agents but aren't in Madden anymore. JaMarcus Russell, Steve Slaton, Joseph Addai are a few off the top of my head. Pretty cool. The Ratings are different as well, He bumped up pass rushing ability and Tackling ability from DL so no more trucking 350lb dudes with your RB. I think this has a major effect on sliders so remember that.
-1. I have 4 penalties in the 1st 3 games. This is verryyyy low. I only get about 2 a game from both teams. What can be done that won't effect the game play too much is to raise the Clipping penalty to 56. You'll see more penalties but usually only on KOFFs/PUNTS. You can raise RTP to 55 but you'll get the QB flopping like LeBron James anytime you get anywhere near the QB. This may be somewhat realistic if you can deal with the constant 15 yard penalties. You'll probably get around 5 per game and it will probably lower Sack stats if you're getting too many.
-2. The CPU does drop the ball. I have anywhere from 1-5 drops per game both teams combined. This is more than realistic as Elite WRs drop like 8 a year maybe. If that. CPU Completion is still effected though. It's pretty variable I'd say, the two games that stick out the most for me was Eli Manning throwing for 60% completion 357 yrds (I shut out Peyton Hillis for 57 yrds in the game so Manning threw a ton and they were down. I also had 4 picks before I dropp the INT down to 10 but then again I was playing against Interceptin' Eli) Alex Smith threw for 75% 321 yrds (had a great game against a **** Defense. Also connected with Charles for an 88 yrd TD. Couldn't stop Jamaal Charles on (167 yrds Rush) if I had 15 men on the field, and I was down the whole game so it was Run, Run, easy pass completion, Run, Run. Pretty realistic IMO).
-3. The player ball carrier is more agile but only in the open. Honestly, I'm not sure what's really making this happen, if it's the RTK slider and the KR/
PR slider at perfect settings but it's very difficult for me to get to the second level. I can't get around the end very easily, LBs stuff holes, and I don't break many tackles from Dlineman. When I do get out there it's because I called the perfect HB draw out of Shotgun or a nice Misdirection call. Just 5 minutes ago I was 1st and goal on the 3, I-Formation Iso *stuff*, Goal line Power-O *loss of 3*, Goal line PA Waggle *INCOMPLETE*. DeMarco Murray isn't the most elusive dude but that's great because he's not being elusive for me. McCoy and Charles might get diff results for you guys but remember they are probably some of the quickest most explosive dudes in the world. They should break off a nice 12-14 yarder every handful of runs. DeMarco's Long after 3 games is 16 yards. CPU Rushing is helped more with the RBK slider in my set. I may bump it down to see more agility for CPU but Jamaal Charles blew me up so I think I'm pretty happy with it for now. I suck at tackling too though so that's going to be a personal tweek for everyone.
-4. I get sacks because DeMarcus Ware is 96, Jason Hatcher is 93 and Anthony Spencer is 89. Dallas has one of the best Dline in the League but they've only played 2 pre-season games with everyone healthy. And Hatcher just broke out this year. I got 5 against Eli (he's got oblivious to pressure trait), 2 against Alex Smith (much more mobile), and I think 4 against Rams back up QB. I'm 3rd or 4th in the league tied with 5 other teams, I think it's perfect. I'll end up being a top sack Defense but hopefully it won't be crazy. With the OFF so High and the other Line sliders so low, what happens is you get a lot of pancakes with your O Line. This will get them all into the Pro Bowl. Madden doesn't Sim pancakes at all really. Like 3-4 per Division week by week. We're just going to have to wear this. I don't run screen passes to the RB and I try not to call running plays that my Guards pull on. CPUs going to have Pancakes but it's only in the 1-2 weeks that you play them that it will happens so just forget about it. Realistically solid O-Lines get like 3-4 per game (scoured the internet to find this stat (NFL doesn't keep it) and all I could find was a pamphlet from a Denver Broncos game saying they would donate money for every pancake. Said they averaged 3-5 per game in like '10 or'11) The low Int Grounding penalty helps a lot with this but my DEs are very fast and they get to QBs more often than not. I can see the QB recognize it though and make the attempt to get away (the right one not the one where they run right into the other DE). What I do sometimes if I see pressure is take control of the DE and hit Y real quick to try and swat the pass. I've gotten 2 of those already. It's pretty cool. If I don't get it, the QB scrambles around me while I'm in the air and usually will throw it away fairly quickly after that.
Hope that helps. It's not glitch proof. I think if I really wanted to I could dominate on Offense. Not so much on D because I suck at tackling. I just try to keep it conservative. Short passes all game unless I need the 1st or if it's single high safety with press coverage on Dez Bryant. That's when I hit the deep 25-30 yard passes. Happens 2-3 times a game prob. I'm only getting 4-5 20+ yard plays a game. Perfectly average. If I run it up the gut, I hold RB until I get to the next level. If I run outside I hit the boost but I still don't really get around. What I want to happen with that is, have the fatigue in the perfect place where Defenses get tired halfway through the 3rd Q. If I play it properly and my RB isn't dying than I should be able to run more effectively. So less Running ability in 1st half, more in 2nd. This is pretty realistic in NFL. Good teams will start busting more runs open in the 2nd half. My Defense is finishing up the game in the yellow. Right where I want them. Tinker with this if you'd like but be careful of going too high with fatigue. Players will start to disappear in the 4th because they are too tired to finish the game.