Season 2013

[Dave Flesfader]

ugly performance by the Cards. lol Despite putting up some decent yards, we just could not put it together on the scoreboard. With so many player waivings going on in the desert, you would think it would be serving as some motivation to the rest of the playing group. Perhaps another axing this week may do the trick.

Roster is slowly turning over, looking to sign a big name FA this week. Thankfully with the NFC East so tight, it is giving us a little extra breathing room to get the roster right and still scrape into the playoffs. Well that's the plan anyway.

As Alasdair said, its great to see a continued influx of coaches into the BJ, a big welcome to Dave at the Fins and Keiron at the striped cats. Great news for the league!

How did everyone else's games go?

[kappa_ap]

Just wanted to say hi.

Haven't had much of a chance yet to look over the team but am looking forward to turning this franchise around!

I used to run the Bengals in NFLBF but gave it up after a while. Hoping to stick with it for longer this time around.

Go Bengals!

[Alasdair Campbell]

Hi Keiron

Welcome to the league, I can't remember off-hand what the Bengals' roster was like, but this season should give you some time to turn things around. Best of luck for the season, and the rebuilding process in Cinci.

Cheers

Alasdair

[Andy Starkey]

A big welcome to Kieron and Dave - It's great to see new faces joining the league - wish you'd have prefered the NFC though lol.

[Dave Flesfader]

Just wanted to say hi.

Haven't had much of a chance yet to look over the team but am looking forward to turning this franchise around!

I used to run the Bengals in NFLBF but gave it up after a while. Hoping to stick with it for longer this time around.

Go Bengals!

Fantastic to see you on the forum Keiron. Good luck with the Bengals for the rest of the season, great to see the league growing in strength.

all the best
Fles

[Ben Cox]

Welcome 2 Keiron and Dave Keiron good luck with the Rebuilding process in Cincy,but not at my expense!!

[Alasdair Campbell]

I'm glad to get a win over Dave's Dolphins before he finds his feet! A few big plays and some turnovers made the score a lot worse for Dave, as the game was overall fairly close. I've got the fins in a couple of weeks again, and I'm sure Dave will have learned a few more tricks by then.

Well done to Keiron on his first win with the Bengals, and Andy's Hawks came off worse in another bruising encounter with the Broncos. Looks like turnovers were a key factor again. Dave lost an OT squeeker against the Skins, but's still in the thick of it, and John's Packers had a tough time against the Bears, but prevailed.

At the turn the Superbowl champs look to be in unstoppable form with the top-ranked 'D' and 'O' and no apparent weaknesses. Can anyone stop them achieving the perfect season?

Good luck to everyone in next week's matchups. Troy's Chargers take on the new-look Dolphins and Keiron's Bengals host Andy's Seahawks. Meanwhile in the NFC Mark's 49ers travel to Washington where he can do Dave's Cards a favour.

[kappa_ap]

Thanks Alasdair. Like you say, good to get the first win. Although I hope we can do better in the weeks to come; our offense didn't put up much although Palmer had a reasonable day passing.

Looking forward to the next match-up.

[Troy Dilworth]

Welcome to the league!

Great to have you aboard and I really hope you enjoy playing in BJ.
Ask whatever you like but I am sure that you probably know most/all things already.

Regards
Troy

[Alasdair Campbell]

Well week 9 for the Jets was another good one, but for one big passing TD, our 'D' held up pretty well. Our running game continues to grind away, and our kickoff return team excelled once again. The games against the coachless teams gives me a chance to try some plays which I might try out later in the season. Pretty pleased with the 2nd year QB so far, although the real tests lie ahead .

Elsewhere, Dave's Dolphins ran into the Chargers, enough said. Ben's Titans had a stellar day throwing the ball, and in what looked like the game of the week, Keiron nearly took the scalp of the Seahawks. Looks like your going to turn the Bengals around in super-quick time, and the AFC is getting tougher and tougher.

Over in the NFC Fles' Cards are now beginning to look a lot healthier with a shut-out of the Lions, and Mark's debut win with the 49ers will have to wait for another week. And the Packers just keep rolling.

Back to inter-divisional rivalries next week, the Dolphins will have a better idea of what to expect, so this could be a close one. The Broncos and Hawks get it on again, in what could very well be a preview of the WC game. Fles can peg back the Skins to tie them top of the division, Mark's 49ers can claim his first win against the winless Falcons, and the Bears will be looking to spring a surprise on the Pack.

[Dave Flesfader]

Finally the Cards clicked into gear and produced easily our best all round performance under my tenure. Offence did a sterling job of both running and passing the ball, but I was perhaps most delighted with the way the defence stepped up to shut the Lions out of the game. The extra form gains certainly will come in handy particularly for a clutch game against the Skins next week.

If we want to win the NFC East, this week is an absolute must win. Certainly won't be an easy task to say the least. lol

So how did everyone else's games go? I noticed the Charger's stretch out their mini run of victories on the trot to a paltry 26. Talk about a superb run, they certainly look the goods.

[Mark Wood]

WOW welcome to the NFL

I decided to make very little change to the turnsheet I inherited. Oh well, I'd better start reading the rulebooks

[Dave Flesfader]

WOW welcome to the NFL

I decided to make very little change to the turnsheet I inherited. Oh well, I'd better start reading the rulebooks

It can be a tough gig starting out, takes some time to pick up the nuances of the game (mind you i am still learning things after near 18 years... ).

If you feel like you need a sounding board for ideas or some advice, please feel free to message me, more than happy to help in any way. I think you will find the majority of the guys on the board feel the same way. The sharing of ideas and thoughts is one of the best things about this forum IMHO.

all the best
Fles

[Alasdair Campbell]

I second what Dave said, if you need any help, you can send me a private message and I'll try to help. I'm not the most experienced coach, but I've picked up a lot of tips through the forum and by messaging some of the experienced players.

If it's any consolation, I went 1-7 in my first eight games with the Jets, I seem to recall, and had a torrid time trying to make sense of things. But slowly I managed to turn things around. Your roster may also be in a mess and have some weaknesses if it's been on auto for a while, which it has. So I wouldn't worry about your first few losses, those are where I did quite a lot of my learning.

Best of luck for the rest of the season, and as I said, if you need some help just let one of us know.

Cheers

Alasdair

[Ben Cox]

Mark,welcome aboard chap I went 5-50 in BD so don't worry sheer class!!

[kappa_ap]

Was gutted to lose to the Seahawks in overtime. The game was looking promising early on, but felt as though we couldn't contain their wide receiving corps, especially towards the end of the game.

PD is a frustrating defensive play call. It seems like a good call in certain situations but doesn't seem to produce the goods when you'd expect it to.

Something that struck me when I picked up my report and began planning for the Seahawks game was, wow, there's a lot of information to take in, and right, what do I do with all this information!

I'm developing an approach to each game and, hopefully, I think I'm on the right track.

Looking forward to the upcoming Steelers game. Having faced them two weeks ago there's lots of scouting info to wade through here

[Alasdair Campbell]

No disgrace whatsoever to lose to the Hawks, Andy is a great coach, so to take them to OT in your second game is a real achievement.

As for PD, maybe some other more experienced heads than me can help. Like all plays, its effectiveness will be partly due to your roster strengths, if you don't have very strong OPS or OPL, then this might not work so well against a strong passing team. If it has not been trained up, again it may not be as effective. And as it is a general pass D, it can be passed on by a good passing team. And if you don't have a strong BZ then without pressure, the QB might pick this apart. It may be better at stopping short passes, but not so good at stopping long passes? Someone else may be able to come in here, in fact if you look at the coaching tips section on the forum boards, there may be a section of PD?

If you have a strong blitz, then sometimes the most effective way to stop the pass is to pressure the QB, although the chance of breakout after a completion goes up considerably. The humble RD can stop short passes to the RB, I've found, and WC can help to contain some pass attacks, although dump-offs and passes such as screen passes will be completed all way and to great effect. I've found DD can be quite effective, I think you need good OPL in your DBs? Which reflects speed and so coverage, and DBZ in your DLs will help get to the QB also in this D with only a 3-man rush?

The great thing about Gameplan is that there is no right way to do things, it often comes down to what suits your roster, and coaching style. There are a lot of defensive and offensive plays I have not tried out yet.

[Alasdair Campbell]

Well the return encounter with Miami proved to be a closer affair, and but for turnover and punt return touchdowns could have been a lot closer. Well played Dave, and by next season with your roster in better order I can expect a real tussle for the AFC East crown. The Jets this season are a bit of a conundrum to their coach. Their special teams and D come up with big plays to help an offense still to mature with their young QB. But for all the wins, they still feel like a team in transition with all the fragility that that brings, and a lack of XP in some key positions leaves me thinking a real slice of luck will be required to surmount the powerhouses of the West.

Speaking of which Andy's Hawks lost what looked like a heart-breaker against Denver. The re-building process continues in Cincy with another good win.

Over in the NFC Mark's 49ers came very close to their first win, looks like turnovers lost that one for you. And in the Central the Packers were made to work hard for their win despite total dominance in TOP and territory. And in the game of the week, Fles' Cards were undone by 6 turnovers and now have to hope the Skins slip up in the run-in.

Next week's Game of the Week sees the Jets and Titans get it on to see who owns the bragging rights for the best of the rest outside of the Division of Death in the AFC. Vince Young and his potent areal airial attack look like a very good match-up against the porous Jets pass D.

[Ben Cox]

1 would think that!!

[Alasdair Campbell]

Well hard luck Ben, a good old battle, but turnovers left me with a couple of short fields early on which left you playing catch-up thereafter. Elsewhere the Bengals continued their impressive form since the arrival of the new coach, and congratulations to Mark who picked up his first win with the Niners. The Steelers gave the Chargers an unexpectedly tough game, although I suspect late DPs helped the Pittsburgh cause. And Fles put in a good performance against the Vikes whilst the Falcons handily upset division rivals the Redskins.

And so to week 12 and inter-conference time... and the small matter of the 11-0 Chargers meeting the 11-0 Packers in a rematch of last year's Superbowl. Can John gain some regular season revenge? Can he stop 'the streak'? Or will he want to hide some tricks for a possible SB rematch? All will revealed in week 12, in what is the game of the season. Keiron and Dave get it on in another coached match-up which could be tasty, and the Jets host the Rams in what could be a real grind.

All the best to all the active coaches...

[Troy Dilworth]

Not really. We led 31-10 with very little time left. They scored a TD, recovered an onside kick, scored another TD but we were never troubled.

Still gave my boys a rollicking though for easing up ... lol.

Currently 11-0 but we could easily end up as a wild card team if we are not careful as we have a nightmare run in. Starting with having to play the 11-0 Packers. I am sure they will have revenge on their minds too. Great Still not played the Jets, have to play the Broncos and Seahawks again. I can not remember the other 2 teams I have to play so could also be difficult. Therefore, a wonderful start could easily deteriorate unless we are totally on the ball from here on in because we were not fully concentrated against the Steelers which I fully take the blame for.

Regards
Troy

[Ben Cox]

It was a poor showing from us,not 2 take anything away from Al's win because his team played really well on the day.We need 2 Work Harder in training,a possible rematch in the Play-offs? mmm you never Know !!

[Alasdair Campbell]

Well a few good games over the last two weeks of the season. In the game of the season week 12 the Bolts stayed on course for a perfect season with an OT win over the Packers, in what once again could be a preview of the Bowl game. Mark's 49ers keep up their good form and Dave's Cards beat the Bengals. I was surprised to see the Broncos to go down to the Vikes, but they can spring a shock, as they have proved over the past couple of seasons.

And my Jets in Week 13 once again succumbed to the Broncos in another close match-up. I'm certainly heartened by the fact that I've managed to just about hold my own with the Broncos and the Packers in my two losses this season. Keiron's Bengals bounced back with a good win over the Bills. Ben's Titans keep rolling towards another division title. Andy's Hawks and Dave's Cards both lost throwing them right into the mix for the final wildcard spot in both conferences.

Indeed with three games to go there are some interesting dynamics in the AFC and NFC: Mark has dragged the 49ers into contention for the final WC spot, and the Cardinals can still win their division or hang on to the WC (as Chicago looks almost certain to claim one WC spot). In the AFC it looks like a straight fight between the Seahawks and Bills for the final WC spot with Denver having sown up the other WC spot.

The Jets will not be looking to do their division rival Bills in their meeting in Buffalo, and the Hawks face the Chargers, so both AFC wildcard hopefuls face tough assignments in week 14. In the NFC the Cards face the Eagles and the 49ers face the Panthers, games you would expect them both to win. So barring shocks it may be week 15 or 16 which separates the WC contenders. In the AFC the Hawks have the Steelers and Oakland to finish which on paper looks an easier schedule to that of Buffalo, who face the Titans in Week 15, and then Miami in Week 16.

And in the NFC the two contenders meet in Week 15, Cards host the 49ers. And then the Cards face the Giants in their final game while the 49ers face the Rams. So the Cards may have the edge in terms of the schedule. But the Week 15 showdown could be key! A Cards win and it's over, but a 49ers win and it could come down to points differece...

Good to have competition like this, with meaningful games between coached teams.

I've now got to try and figure out how I'm going to derail the San Diego express in Week 15 and then find a way to beat Denver in the playoffs!

Good luck to everyone.

[Ben Cox]

I'm not looking towards the play-offs full-stop mate,and u know that!!

[Alasdair Campbell]

Well Ben, you'll get San Diego in the Divisional Round, just like last year, and Vince Young could somehow have an off the charts day... . I don't think I'll get past my nemisis Denver to get a beatin' by Troy's Bolts, but you never know... . That's what makes the playoffs fun, one fluke and your in the big show...

At least that's what happened to me. .

By the law of averages, Troy's got to lose at some point over the next decade... .

[Dan Slavin]

By the law of averages, Troy's got to lose at some point over the next decade... .

Given playoff defeats that Troy has suffered in BJ over the years he's due a ten season unbreaten streak, so I wouldn't count on it!

[Alasdair Campbell]

Now Dan, if only you would come back to the Raiders, then Troy would have some real competition in the AFC... . Season's coming to an end... or you could jump into the under-manned NFC. We could do with another legend or two in this league .

[Mark Wood]

Hi all,

Just over a month into my first coaching role, not doing too bad so far 3 wins 2 losses!

Now seeking advice in relation to my turnsheet


1. In relation to the training & Keys (page 1), how do I deal with these? what should I look for and how do they affect my stategy/game plan?

2. In relation to my current roster (page 2), How do I manage players with reduced status, and those with zero nominal value?

3. In relation to my team strengths (page 2), squad, form, average and relative etc.. how do thses affect my teams performance? and what should I be looking for to do and to avoid.


These are the first of my questions, hope the answers are too obvious!!!!!


Regards


Mark

[Troy Dilworth]

Just over a month into my first coaching role, not doing too bad so far 3 wins 2 losses!

Not bad for starters.

1. In relation to the training & Keys (page 1), how do I deal with these? what should I look for and how do they affect my stategy/game plan?

For training, a good approach is to say have 8 passes and 8 runs that you want to use and to get them trained up to 6. The difficulty for you is that you currently won't know what plays you like using and what plays you don't. This will only come from experience and watching what other people do. Remember that the plays that you use effectively train themselves over the course of the season. After a match the 2 offensive plays and 2 defensive plays listed in the match summary get 1 pt of training. When using plays in your gameplan try whenever possible to have them on a minimum of 2 pts of training. Later in the season, most of the plays that you use should be on 4+ pts of training. Because offensive and defensive plays effectively train themselves in the long run it is imperative that you train your special teams. So that will be plays KR/KV, KO, FG, PN/PC, PR/PV (depending on which ones you use).

For keys there are probably a few approaches. One way is to look at what your opponent is doing and see how many keys you have stored up on the plays that they use. Then decide which ones would suite you more. Another way is to look at your own defense and you may think that your DPL is poor so go keying the long passes that your current opponent uses. Another way, is based on your defense philosophy. WARNING, this is an extreme example. Say you call alot of OX, you may consider keying the inside runs that your opponent will be using to try and counter the negative matchups that you would undoubtedly get.

2. In relation to my current roster (page 2), How do I manage players with reduced status, and those with zero nominal value?

Firstly, zero nominal value are effectively window dressing, simply view them as not even being there. If you sign a free agent, they simply replace these zero nominal value players.

I used to fix reduced status players, not anymore. Don't worry about them, simply ignore the reduced status. If you go fixing or waiving these players, long term you would probably end up with a small squad albeit probably experienced. You can still win a lot of games, but this would probably mean you falling short in the playoffs when you come up against a bigger squad. The worst thing that you can do is to waive an experienced reduced status veteran. If they retire that is one thing, but please don't waive these guys! Experience on your players is very important indeed.

3. In relation to my team strengths (page 2), squad, form, average and relative etc.. how do thses affect my teams performance? and what should I be looking for to do and to avoid.

Ok, well, I've never looked at the average and relative values. For starting off, just ignore them it just isn't worth worrying over.

Basically, the higher the team strength the higher the effectiveness in such an area. However, I've found that you can have a non-existant team strength be not much of an issue if the form is high enough. Often caused by having alot of one type of skill being on reduced players. Again, I would say to a large extent ignore this as a problem. As long as you have team strength or form or both of them containing at least some numbers make sure that you have plays in those "weak" areas well trained and you will still be ok.

These are the first of my questions, hope the answers are too obvious!!!!!

There is no quick fix in the very beginning but you will pick it up quickly. You will also find that players do it their own way and there will be many people who disagree with things that I say above. That is also good, as that means that there isn't just one way of winning at this game. The secret is finding the way that suites yourself and that generally only comes with time and I started out playing gameplan in the 80s and still end up changing my views over certain aspects of the game. Good luck and enjoy!

Regards,
Troy

[Alasdair Campbell]

Hi Mark,

Congratulations on your start with the 49ers, as I said you are in with a hunt of a WC place, and you have quickly found your feet in the NFC. I'm by no means an expert, as I've only being playing Gameplan for a couple of seasons, but here are my attempts to answer your questions, and maybe some more experienced heads can step in. Also have a look in the coaching tips sections on the website, they are a mine of useful information on GP do's and dont's.

1. Training indicates which plays your team executes best all things being even. You can add to training for a play with the training options (you can train offensive/defenisve/special teams plays), and if your team excels at a play during a game, I think I'm right in saying you can accrue some training points for that play. Teams strengths and form strengths also have a bearing on how effective a play is. So for example if you have training 7 (7 is the maximum for training a play, so don't waste training points on a play after this) for SO, and your team has a team strength of OPS 6, then that play is goint to work well for you. Of course if your opponent has called a good defense to counter it, and has a good DPS strength then your play call might not work so well.

And here is where keys come into play also. Keys are the counter to training, so in effect the defense's answer to training. If your opponent had a key of 5 for SO, then they would be better at countering that play. As well as training keys for a particular game, your keys accumulate over a season, and you get keys depending on what plays your opponent has called for a game. Also the rulebook asserts that there is some spillover from the effect of keys, so if you have strong keys for SO, SI and LI may be better defended by your D.

So you should try and train in areas of strength for your O, and according to the GP you want to devise. You can run plays that are not a strong area for your team with some success if you get the right D, but if you have a strong ORO, and have trained SW to 7, then the play may become a bread and butter call for you which nets you yards even when a decent D formation faces you. Hope this all makes sense. You want to train in areas where you want your GP to go, and this should be based mainly on your team strengths and form strengths, and on your opponents defensive frailties also at times!

Training, as with team form, is affected by a law of diminishing returns, so as you get closer to 7 in a playcall, the effect of the increase is less.


2. As for zero value players, they are no more than cosmetic fillers, they have no impact on the game whatsoever. So just leave them. As for reduced players, they are players who are injured. They are a little less effective, and their strengths are appliled to team form rather than team strengths. As I will try and explain below, form strengths suffer from a law of diminishing returns which means that as you get closer to the maximum of 9 points for form, the actual benefits diminish with each increase. There are still benefits, but the team does not get as big a boost in the category as when it goes from 1 to 3 say. So reduced effectiveness players can lessen the impact they have on overall team totals if there are too many form points under a certain category. Also although the rulebook says that a player's individual strengths still count the same as individual strengths for certain plays, I think it has been said that some reduced players are more likely to fumble say, or play less well? One of the other things to remember with reduced effectiveness players is that they can retire at the end of the season if they are reduced again. Age is a factor in this one. Many people don't fix most of their reduced effectiveness players, as it is seen as a waste of Losing Points. You may want to fix a star player who is perhaps a bit older to try and make sure he doesn't retire, but you would have to weigh up how much you needed the LPs elsewhere.

3. As for squad and form strengths, as I said these are the accumulated individual strengths of your team, based on fully effective and reduced effectiveness players (as I said recuded players are counted as form). And as you go through a season you accumulate form for certain categories based on your performances in each game. Team strength points are more effective as they do not suffer from the law of diminishing returns, that's not to say that having 9 form for OPS will not help your cause a lot with short passes. Averages and relatives, tell you how your team measures up in each category, in terms of the league average, as for relative, I'm not sure myself!

I hope all of this makes sense. Look at your team strengths and weaknesses, then decide what kind of GP you want to impliment, and then train accordingly. At the same time remember the strengths and weaknesses of your opponents, this may alter your thinking. You might no want to train up lots of running plays, even if you are super strong in ORO and ORI, if the league is full of killer run defences. You might want to train some pass plays as a counter, and start assembling a pass-happy roster on O.

And so the possibilities go on..I hope this helps for starters Mark. Come back on anything I said and maybe I can help. Or someone else can come in. And explain to me what relative means in the league reports!

Okay I've just written all of this, and then seen Troy's post, oh well, you can never have too much advice!

Cheers

Alasdair