After Work Football League: Rules & Regulations
Ver: M22 - Dec 2021
I. Resources
II. General Rules
III. Gameplay
IV. Team Building
V. FAQ: What does 'realistic gameplay' mean to AWFL?
Ver: M22 - Dec 2021
I. Resources
Spoiler
II. General Rules
- Leadership
Spoiler- Commissioner: RFF
- Asst. Commish: hskr
- Asst. Commish: seran
- Asst. Commish: BR
- Asst. Commish: NB
- Expectations & Goals
Spoiler
- Don't be a dick.
- Any concerns or issues should be addressed privately via PM with the Commissioner Team (CT).
- AWFL is targeted toward adults who lead busy lives and work or are in school full-time but still want a competitive, realistic league atmosphere. As such, members are expected to generally be prepared to start their M-F weekday games between 6pm EST and 10pm EST.
- Of course games can be played at any agreed-upon time. But, assuming both players make a reasonable effort and a scheduling conflict still exists, the tie may go to the person whose availability adheres closest to this 6-11 window.
- Our goal is to be a true realism league. That means gameplay, team building, & general behavior are all designed to simulate the NFL as closely as we reasonably can and without sacrificing fun. It will never be perfect, but we will continue to strive for this goal.
- To this end, we will attempt to avoid excessive rules wherever possible, but at times it may become necessary to put restrictions on gameplay or team building mechanics that expose or exploit flawed AI.
- Every other regular season will be simulated. Specifically, seasons 2 & 4 we simulate up to the Super Bowl (then those 2 teams play it out), and season 7 we simulate up to playoffs (with all qualifying teams playing them out).
- Everyone in the league must join our Discord server and have an OperationSports forum account.
- The expectation is to complete 7 full seasons in a single Madden cycle, i.e. roughly August through ~May/June, with a break to recharge before the next Madden.
- This league is for adults. If you’re younger, please be aware of this expectation, and if you’re an adult, please act like it.
- Quitting in the middle of a league game because you are losing or disagree with how an opponent is playing is prohibited and will be punished severely, up to and including expulsion without any prior warnings. Record the evidence and/or pause & contact a commish so they can handle any issues appropriately.
- Have fun! It’s just a game.
- Don't be a dick.
- Scheduling & Activity
Spoiler
- We will advance every 3 days (72 hours), or sooner if all games are completed.
- A clear & visible effort to schedule games with your opponent must be made in the Discord scheduling channels, else you risk your opponent being awarded the win.
- ALL scheduling is expected to be coordinated via that week’s Discord scheduling channel, NOT private messages or league chat.
- Please be specific about time zones when scheduling.
- No-showing for an agreed-upon time without giving your opponent the courtesy of a heads-up in advance that you need to reschedule is grounds for immediate forfeit. Repeated no-shows may be grounds for expulsion.
- General Discord activity & playing your games each week is expected. Teams are not permitted to go on AP for the rest of a user season because they are losing games.
- Teams may occasionally be permitted to go on AP for an extended stretch for “life” reasons as long as they discuss with CT first. Any extended absence will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.
- Teams may occasionally be permitted to go on AP for an extended stretch for “life” reasons as long as they discuss with CT first. Any extended absence will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.
III. Gameplay
- The Big Rules
- Play like you see it on Sundays.
- Mix up your play calling—specifically with offensive passing plays.
- Players must always rush at least 3 defenders. Zero exceptions.
- No intentionally exploiting the AI.
- Anything that is determined to intentionally cause AI players to glitch out or miss an assignment or break in any way falls under this rule.
- Play Calling
Spoiler
- Mix up your play calling! A specific pass play shouldn’t be called out of the same formation more than a couple times in a game. The same route concepts can be called more often than this out of different formations/looks, but not to the point of abuse (i.e. constant slants or verticals out of different formations is not allowed).
- Run plays tend to be more vanilla (inside/outside zones, power, dives, counters, sweeps & tosses) and thus much more leeway will be granted in how often standard run plays can be called.
- As with other subjective rules, the CT will deal with this case by case. If you toe too closely to the line of what’s acceptable, be prepared for punishment.
- 4th downs: going for it on 4th down is permitted under realistic/advantageous circumstances. We want to avoid strict rules here (e.g. “Teams can only go for it on 4th & inches within the opponent’s 40”), but nobody better be going for it on 4th down on their own 35, for instance, unless it’s late game desperation time. We do want to allow for situational aggression (e.g. 4th & 3 on an opponent’s 35 or at the goal line).
- As with other subjective rules, the CT will deal with this case by case. If you toe too closely to the line of what’s acceptable, be prepared for punishment.
- Excessive audibling or hot routing is prohibited.
- Audibling out of a play due to a bad defensive look or hot-routing a single receiver (e.g. when you sense a blitz coming) is permitted, but changing 2+ routes is not permitted. If you need to change 2+ routes, you called the wrong play and should audible. Hot routes should be called situationally as a reaction to the defensive look.
- Excessive hot routing can also mean calling a single hot route with extreme frequency, e.g. calling a slant or drag on nearly every play call.
- An “audible” here means changing to a different play entirely.
- A “hot route” here means changing a WR’s route to an entirely different route.
- Pre-snap adjustments such as line protection, the depth of WR routes via Smart Routes, flipping run direction, calling for additional blockers, or “fake” adjustments to throw off a defense are not considered audibles or hot routes, and as such these can all be called without any restrictions.
- As with other subjective rules, the CT will determine what is “over the line” on a case by case basis. If you toe too closely to the line of what’s acceptable, be prepared for punishment.
- No huddle is permitted, but only in limited doses. At the end of each half under 2 minutes, no huddling is permitted entirely. Outside of these ends of halves, teams may run the no-huddle for 1-2 plays at a time, but not on every drive and not as their base offense (and remember: the rules explicitly forbid excessive play & concept repetition—a more limited selection of plays out of no huddle is not an excuse for calling the same plays).
- Additionally, no huddle offenses must still let the defense set for a few seconds before snapping, unless the clock is truly ticking down to the final seconds of a half/game.
- Why?
- There is a subtle but important difference between No Huddle and Up Tempo. Most NFL offenses do not stay in No Huddle for long stretches of time, but many NFL teams do employ varying degrees of Up Tempo stretches.
- Please see FAQ section at the bottom for a more detailed explanation of why we limit No Huddle offenses despite their becoming more frequent in the NFL.
- Play Action on 3rd & long is prohibited. What is “long?” It’s definitely 7+. It might be 6+. The closer you toe to this line, the more likely you are to feel some CT punishment. Play Action on 3rd down plays of any distance is frowned upon in general.
- Why?
- Play-action is called on just 5% of all 3rd down passes in the NFL (source: http://www.footballoutsiders.com/sta...action-offense), the vast majority of which were 3rd & short. Additionally, in Madden the AI often adjust poorly to PA calls even in situations where no NFL player would bite on a run (e.g. 3rd & long with a WR streaking deep over the middle).
- Why?
- Mix up your play calling! A specific pass play shouldn’t be called out of the same formation more than a couple times in a game. The same route concepts can be called more often than this out of different formations/looks, but not to the point of abuse (i.e. constant slants or verticals out of different formations is not allowed).
- Player Control
Spoiler
- User Playmaker is prohibited.
- Excessive motioning of offensive players pre-snap is not permitted.
- Occasionally motioning one player in a given play to read the defense is permitted, as are plays with auto-motioning players.
- Cancelling Play Action (pre- or post-snap) is prohibited.
- Immediately sprinting to the sideline from inside run plays or standard drop-back passes.
- Statistics
Spoiler
- Stat abuse is not permitted and will be monitored. This includes both running up the score and individual player stat padding. Stat padding can involve a single game, a single player in a single game, or a single player in a season.
- Examples of running up the score could include but are not limited to:
- Throwing the ball more than ~once per drive when ahead by 28 points midway through the 3rd quarter.
- Not running the clock out with vanilla runs when ahead by several scores and 7 minutes remaining.
- Not kneeling the ball when you can run the clock out.
- Keeping all stars in the game and running the same types of plays while up several scores in the 4th quarter.
- Examples of stat padding could include but are not limited to:
- Your RB rushes 35 times for 295 yards and 4 TDs in a game you win by 35 pts, and your RB2 only gets 3 carries.
- Several games into the season, your WR is on pace for 2,500+ yards and 20 TDs.
- Your TE is among the top players in the league in receptions or yardage.
- Your QB is on pace for 6,000 yards passing.
- Note: we’re not out to get you. Sometimes you play in a sportsmanlike fashion and still win by a lot. What we want to regulate is intentionally running up the score with unsportsmanlike gameplay.
- Examples of running up the score could include but are not limited to:
- Wherever possible, we will try to use sliders to combat unrealistic stats rather than rules, but on a case by case basis the CT may judge something to be stat abuse. Punishment could include warnings, suspensions for a given player on your team, forfeiture of games, or even removal from the league after repeat infractions.
- High Interceptions & Sacks
- Any QB who throws 35+ INTs in a single season and receives an end-of-season development boost will have this dev boost cancelled out.
- Any QB who throws 45+ INTs in a single season will have their development trait reduced one level at the end of the year, whether they received a dev boost or not.
- Any QB who takes 60+ sacks in a single season will have their Sense Pressure trait reduced one level at the end of the year.
- RB Workload
- Half season
Any RB who meets the following criteria in the first OR second half of the season will receive the following penalties for each half-season:
Tier 1 (avg 22 touches/gm): -2 INJ, -2 TGH, -2 STM
Tier 2 (avg 25 touches/gm): -4 INJ, -4 TGH, -4 STM
Tier 3 (avg 27 touches/gm): -8 INJ, -8 TGH, -8 STM
Minimum 100 touches weeks 1-9 or weeks 10-18 - Full Season
Any RB who meets the following criteria in a full season will receive the following penalties after the regular season ends:
Tier 1 (avg 22 touches/gm): -1 SPD, -1 AGI
Tier 2 (avg 25 touches/gm): -1 SPD, -1 ACC, -2 AGI, -1 COD
Tier 3 (avg 27 touches/gm): -2 SPD, -2 ACC, -3 AGI, -2 COD
Minimum 200 touches for the season
- Half season
- Stat abuse is not permitted and will be monitored. This includes both running up the score and individual player stat padding. Stat padding can involve a single game, a single player in a single game, or a single player in a season.
- Miscellaneous
Spoiler
- Playbooks:
- Offensive custom playbooks are prohibited. If you want to use a playbook different than your team’s default, you must declare it publicly on the forums before each regular season. Teams may not switch playbooks after the regular season has begun but can change at any point in the offseason. Any team caught using a custom playbook on offense is subject to punishment without warning including expulsion from the league.
- Limit of 2 teams per playbook.
- Defensive custom playbooks are permitted.
- Offensive custom playbooks are prohibited. If you want to use a playbook different than your team’s default, you must declare it publicly on the forums before each regular season. Teams may not switch playbooks after the regular season has begun but can change at any point in the offseason. Any team caught using a custom playbook on offense is subject to punishment without warning including expulsion from the league.
- Streaming
- Streaming league games is required—either team can stream, but the Away team is ultimately responsible.
- Playbooks:
IV. Team Building
- Roster
Spoiler
- Every team must maintain a 53 man roster and be under the salary cap throughout the regular & postseason.
- Every starter on the "regular" depth chart must be their actual position, e.g. starting LT must be an LT, starting ROLB must be an ROLB, etc. Specialist depth charts (e.g. Rush DE, Slot CB) do not need to adhere to this rule. For details on eligible position swaps, please see Position Change Tracker thread on our forum.
- Any DB in the SUBLB depth chart must weigh 210 lbs or more.
- Minimum roster requirements:
- 2 QBs
- Position changes.
- Please click here for rules/guidelines/instructions on position changes.
- You may not edit QBs for any reason.
- Editing player names is not allowed without explicit commissioner approval. Please contact the commissioner directly to get any changes approved. Editing player names in secret will be penalized in the form of lowered attributes.
- Trades
Spoiler
- Trades with CPU teams are strictly prohibited—no exceptions.
- All trades are required to be submitted to @hskr8128 for TC approval before they may be completed in-game.
- Pick-for-pick trades that occur during a slug or live draft do not need approval. No players may be traded during drafts, only picks--no exceptions.
- PLAYER RESTRICTIONS:
- Young players on their rookie deal, depending on the round taken.
- Round 1 picks are restricted until year 4
- Round 2/3 picks are restricted until year 3
- Round 4-7 picks are restricted until year 2
- Stars in their prime who are in the beginning or middle of a multi-year contract.
- Veterans or aging stars who are near the beginning of a multi-year contract.
- TC may grant exceptions to these restrictions specifically for rebuilding teams.
- Young players on their rookie deal, depending on the round taken.
- Teams may not trade away 1st or 2nd round picks two drafts into the future until they have completed one full user season in the league. Additionally, all trades by new members that include 1st or 2nd round picks will be given greater scrutiny by the TC.
- Why? Whenever possible, the CT attempts to level the playing field for all teams, but we feel strongly that this protects the league against well-intentioned but inexperienced or uncommitted new members who might join, trade away 1-2 full drafts for veteran talent, and then quit, leaving the team with older, regressing talent and no meaningful way to improve their situation. That is a franchise new members will not want to take over or stick with long-term. We want all new league members to be able to improve their team via trade, draft & FA, but in these extreme cases we feel the need to set some restrictions. We believe that no team is ever wrecked by keeping their picks—but teams can absolutely be wrecked by making the wrong pick-for-veteran trade.
- Re-Signing
Spoiler
- You may not re-sign your players to 5+ yr contracts unless they demand it (screenshot evidence must be submitted to commish team).
- You may not re-sign your players to contracts extending past our final (7th) season unless they ask (screenshot evidence must be submitted to commish team).
- Free Agency
Spoiler
- You must offer free agents exactly the length of contract they are requesting (regardless of length or whether it extends past our final/7th season).
- Waivers
- Immediately following the draft, there will be one round of waivers for any UFAs & remaining unsigned free agents.
- After this waiver period, free agency is open to anyone for the rest of the season.
- Scouting / Draft
Spoiler
- Privately trading draft boards with another member to gain an advantage in the draft is grounds for severe penalty up to & including expulsion from the league without prior warning.
- Will you be expelled for giving away 1 attribute of 1 player? Probably not. Will you be expelled for setting up a secret scouting board swap with another league member? 100% yes. Where that line is drawn between those two extremes is a subjective judgment by the CT. Please do not put yourself in a situation that’s close enough to the line to be judged. Swapping scouting boards with another member for the purpose of gaining an advantage over the league will be considered cheating.
- Privately trading draft boards with another member to gain an advantage in the draft is grounds for severe penalty up to & including expulsion from the league without prior warning.
V. FAQ: What does 'realistic gameplay' mean to AWFL?
Spoiler
- Is running a lot of snaps out of 3+ WR formations considered cheesy gameplay? Is running the ball out of 3 WR sets “unsim?”
- No. It’s entirely acceptable. 2-RB formations are getting rarer & rarer in the NFL. 3 WR sets are the de facto “base” formation for many NFL teams now. 3 WR sets as a base offense is perfectly realistic, and running the ball often out of 3 WR sets is equally fine.
- How often do NFL teams run plays out of the Shotgun? How often do teams run the ball out of Shotgun formations?
- In 2014, 26 NFL teams ran Shotgun over 50% of the time. League average was over 60%. Chip Kelly in Philadelphia led the league at 86%. Shotgun is used often and it’s consistently more effective than taking snaps under center in the NFL. Moreover, in 2015, four NFL teams (KC, SEA, SF, & CLE) ran 40-45% of their total rushing plays out of Shotgun. That trend will likely continue in 2016. Moral of the story: you can use shotgun formations frequently. You shouldn’t run the ball out of shotgun more than ~half the time, and let’s not have anyone run plays exclusively out of Shotgun—but it absolutely can be a huge part of your offense.
- Interesting to note: the rushing champs still tend to come almost exclusively out of under-center formations (2015 Adrian Peterson famously struggled out of shotgun but is dominant in the I-Form; 94% of 2014 DeMarco Murray’s carries came from under-center).
- In 2014, 26 NFL teams ran Shotgun over 50% of the time. League average was over 60%. Chip Kelly in Philadelphia led the league at 86%. Shotgun is used often and it’s consistently more effective than taking snaps under center in the NFL. Moreover, in 2015, four NFL teams (KC, SEA, SF, & CLE) ran 40-45% of their total rushing plays out of Shotgun. That trend will likely continue in 2016. Moral of the story: you can use shotgun formations frequently. You shouldn’t run the ball out of shotgun more than ~half the time, and let’s not have anyone run plays exclusively out of Shotgun—but it absolutely can be a huge part of your offense.
- How often do NFL teams run the No Huddle?
- In 2014, Chip Kelly ran nearly 70% no-huddle in PHI; GB/IND/DEN/NYG ran 46-49% no-huddle. It’s a realistic strategy. The reason we are still more restrictive of No Huddle in our league has nothing to do with whether the NFL uses it—we acknowledge they do. It’s because Madden doesn’t represent defending the No Huddle well yet. First, there are different speeds of no-huddle in the NFL. You don’t see 310 lb OL literally sprinting full-speed down after down to the LOS, immediately line up, and instantly all 11 men know the play call like you see in Madden. Second, to combat a no huddle offense, Madden defenders may have to re-enter on every play all their pre-snap adjustments that an NFL team would instinctively understand (e.g. watch for the pass, press corners, inside leverage, rush the edge, etc.). And third, defenses in Madden cannot make substitutions, whereas NFL defenses have caught up somewhat to No Huddle offenses and are able to make limited substitutions during the course of a drive. No Huddling is a realistic strategy that we want to continue to review so that we can make it a bigger part of our league. But right now the in-game mechanics haven’t caught up to how it plays out in the NFL, resulting in a marked imbalance for the offense. We will periodically review this policy and, again, we’d love to see no huddle allowed more liberally at a later date.
- How often do NFL teams run Play Action?
- In 2013, the top few PA teams ran PA on ~30% of their pass plays. Note that these top PA-using teams only ran PA 5-10% of the time on 3rd & short, and virtually never on 3rd & medium/long. Most of the league ran PA less than 5% of the time on 3rd down. In a perfect world, Madden mechanics would mirror the NFL perfectly, and no restrictions would be placed on PA. But there has been some goofiness with the defensive AI on PA plays in the past. If M17 appears to have solved this, we will review the need for any PA restrictions.
- Rule of Thumb: No more than 30% of passes on 1st down should be PA, no more than ~25% on 2nd down, and generally avoid PA altogether on 3rd down except for the occasional 3rd & short call.
- In 2013, the top few PA teams ran PA on ~30% of their pass plays. Note that these top PA-using teams only ran PA 5-10% of the time on 3rd & short, and virtually never on 3rd & medium/long. Most of the league ran PA less than 5% of the time on 3rd down. In a perfect world, Madden mechanics would mirror the NFL perfectly, and no restrictions would be placed on PA. But there has been some goofiness with the defensive AI on PA plays in the past. If M17 appears to have solved this, we will review the need for any PA restrictions.
- How common are Inside Zone runs in the NFL?
- They are the most common type of run play found in the NFL. Entire run games are based around inside zone. There are some legitimate criticisms for how Madden actually represents zone-blocking concepts in-game (not very well in many cases, as of M16 anyway) which may or may not make the Madden plays a bit more powerful than their real-life counterparts. But that is something we are bound to—I suspect Inside Zone plays are, at worst, a little “too good.” But given they are the bread & butter of so many NFL run games at this point, we will balance run game sliders around this. If you decide your team has the personnel to run zone concepts as a large part of your offense, then I want the ability for teams to call these runs liberally.
- What constitutes abusing TEs? Are TEs overpowered?
- This is a touchy subject for many Madden vets. In Maddens of years past, TEs were often blatantly overpowered, resulting in exorbitant TE stats & blatant exploitation of TE matchups. While it’s true TEs are probably still a little too easy to develop into dangerous pass-catching threats, a large part of what drives unrealistic TE stats falls on the defense. In the NFL, most LBs are not expected to be able to cover solid receiving TEs—this is considered a matchup any NFL offense will attempt to exploit, and on passing downs NFL defenses try to avoid it. But in Madden, receiving TEs are almost always covered by an opponent relying on LBs to cover. This is simply a knowledge gap that we can & will attempt to close. Most TEs defended by a solid backup CB will have a trouble gaining separation on routes where they would often be wide-open against a LB—of course, a CB covering a TE also leaves the defense vulnerable to the run. The best TEs force defenses into a mismatch either way (just like the NFL). It’s up to the defense to decide whether to cover the run with an extra LB or cover the pass with an extra DB.
- I’m an aggressive defensive player. I like to stack the box with 8 players near the LOS and/or I prefer my corners to play up in press coverage. Is this considered cheesy?
- We’ll review this case by case if it gets incredibly excessive, but going in there will be no restrictions on defensive aggression. We want this to be a valid defensive strategy, as it is in the NFL--including the risk associated with such aggression.
- In online play, milking the clock is often called cheesy, but some NFL offenses employ ball control as a viable strategy. Can I milk the clock in AWFL?
- Yes. Since we play with 12 min quarters where the average snap count for a typical game should wind up around ~110, ball control offenses should not be considered cheesy. With 5 minute quarters, a single drive could take up 1.5 quarters, but in our league this won’t be possible. What we do care about is that offenses don’t use the Chew Clock setting unless they are running/kneeling out a game in the 4th quarter, because that doesn’t give defenses time to adjust pre-snap (see the No Quick Snapping rule above). But in terms of waiting longer to hike the ball, as of now there are no plans to regulate this whatsoever. We want ball control offense to be a valid strategy. We’ll review this policy if necessary.
- Is throwing to my RBs frequently cheesy?
- If you’re running a bunch of designed passes to the RB, possibly. Designed passes generally mean screens in Madden, which means you’re calling a lot of the same play/concept and not mixing it up. While the defense your opponent is running plays into this, running a lot of screens is probably frowned upon somewhat. However, if the defense is dropping back into zones and leaving your RB open out of the backfield, and you are checking down rather than the force the pass downfield into congested areas, then this isn’t cheesy play at all. Or if your opponent is bringing extra blitzers on many plays, and you consistently are finding your RB on the “hot” read to combat this, that’s perfectly acceptable. In fact, NFL QBs check down to their RB far more often than players in our league. In short, unless you’re loading up on screens every drive, you are most likely doing just fine.
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