[Aestis]

OK so all but our last user game has been played for week 1.

Initial look at the data:

- INTs sky-high, about 4x the NFL. This is unsurprising, INTs were high all through M17. The vast majority of INTs I've seen were completely user error. I have refused to balance to get INT #s in line, because that means many other things will be way off base. Madden players refuse to play conservative. They force it into coverage, they stay aggressive, etc. etc. So be it. Will soften PDRT a bit more to reduce zones jumping routes but not going to touch coverage at the moment.

- Sacks are happening at about 2x the NFL rate. I do expect sacks to be higher than NFL for similar reasons as INTs (guys want to throw deeper routes all the time forever). But 2x is high even for us, PBK is getting a bump.

- Run game 60 RBK was within the range of what I'm shooting for. Median YPC was 4.0 which is almost exactly NFL's weekly median (ranges from 3.5 to 4.3). Going untouched.

- 83% of FGs were made, right around NFL level (85%).

- Scoring was a tad high (26 ppg vs 22.8), but a meaningful chunk of this is coming off the turnovers and short fields they create.

- Fumble rate was half of the NFL. Dropping slider to 75.

- Completion rate was low (median 55% vs NFL more like 62-63%). This is also tricky because Madden players attempt WAY tougher passes than NFL QBs. Completion rate SHOULD be low. I can measure Yds thru the Air, and our league median in week 1 was 8.8 compared to NFL median 6.3. That means we're throwing it 2.5 yds further through the air per completion. Our most air-out teams were topping 12-14 which is nuts. So you can't expect completion rate to match NFL if guys want to be that aggressive. I am giving catching a +1 bump up to 56 to help this a small bit, to help guys who have a step come down with it in traffic... but if this goes too high then it's jump ball city.

- Our Pass Yds per Attempt was 8.5 which is significantly higher than NFL (7.2 avg). This means that for all the difficulties of the passing game and low completion rates, people were completing deep passes for a lot of yards. You can't balance so that hyper-aggressive passing completes 63% of the time with 0 INTs, because that Yds per Attempt will go up to 11-12. Which is beyond insane. Madden players will always test the boundaries of aggression compared to the NFL.


All in all, I do feel some of these #s will come down to Earth like they did last cycle, as guys learn the limits of what they can & cannot get away with. If all you do is balance so that sack & INT numbers are like the NFL, then what you end up with is nutso passing and sky-high scoring. Pass rush & coverage are the guardrails that keep this in check. I'd rather balance for the risk/reward of aggressive passing than make it so easy that you can do it without throwing picks or getting sacked.

Almost every INT I have seen so far (one or two exceptions) in all the games I've watched & now played are either 1) a bad decision, 2) bad placement, 3) a missed pass on a very aggressive throw by a low accuracy QB where a DB deep in the field is there to make the pick. If you want ratings to matter... don't complain that your 79 MAC QB misses a 15 yd pass with a deep S lurking behind him. Adjust your gameplan to be more conservative. Ya know... like an NFL coach would.


OP has been updated with adjusted sliders for wk 2!