How do you find the problem?

[eel1987]

So I started a new season after a very successful one. Great recruit class. Solid roster. Projected to win the conference. And I lose 3 of my first 4 games. When this is happening--you're losing way more than you think you should be--how do you figure out the problem? Just look through player stats and see if anything stands out as especially bad? What do you look for specifically?

[Colly]

So I started a new season after a very successful one. Great recruit class. Solid roster. Projected to win the conference. And I lose 3 of my first 4 games. When this is happening--you're losing way more than you think you should be--how do you figure out the problem? Just look through player stats and see if anything stands out as especially bad? What do you look for specifically?

Wow. I feel your pain as I've been there, but there's so much that can be happening. There's no one or right answer and can depend also on how you play the game. Are you simming or playing each down?

I don't think there's any simple answer. I once had Kent go 2-10 in my first season. Then the next season I added strength at QB, RB, WR, and DE, and with these new freshmen went 10-2 and had Kent ranked 7th. The following season, after what I thought was another good recruiting year I, like you started 0-2.

I remember analyzing my opponents and making changes to my game plans (oh and I had hired a better defensive coordinator) but things only improved when I reverted to calling my own defensive plays 90% of the time. (I'm pretty convinced there are issues with 3-4 and 4-3 defenses but I could be wrong).

I play heavy on run offense but use my passing plays regularly to match the strength of my starting QB. Don't throw long if he's a short thrower. Conversely, don't throw long if your WRs have no speed or hands.

On defense try blitzing more often. I've had way more success when I blitz than if I don't. Gamey? Not sure, maybe - but it wins games.

Good luck turning things around!

Make sure to adjust your depth charts based on your game by game opponent.

If you are using Overall to rate your players - don't! Make sure you evaluate them based on the best stats for the critical positions within your game plans. For example, if you've got a stud QB with a strong arm but no speed make sure you play him in the pocket and that your OL have great blocking and strength and they should all have good intelligence and skill. Get him good support with a solid run and pass TE and match your playbook to your players (especially QB, OL, and receivers for a passing game).

If you are using the new PRO it's vital to have key players with intelligence and skill otherwise I've witnessed things can go south quickly

Are you sure your recruiting class was as good as you think? Or maybe you need to tweak your gameplan strategy to get the best out of them.

Consider having specific training schemes for each player position and even player types.

Make sure you've not recruited a disruptive influence and also be sure to redshirt players you've just recruited unless they are clearly starters. They'll benefit from the additional development time.

I also cut players and carry a smaller roster ass sometimes the depth chart will force players in the lineup that you'd maybe rather not be there. (If only we could make subs on the fly when actually calling the plays). I can't tell you how many times a play is run and only then do I find out my stud QB was subbed by the AI (probably due to some arbitrary coding based on endurance) but I should get to make that call not the AI when I'm playing every down.

Don't let the AI or coach call when to punt or try a FG. The AII/coach plays very conservatively. I usually override and kick the FG and I've had regular kicks over 52 yards.

[C-Bailey24]

So I started a new season after a very successful one. Great recruit class. Solid roster. Projected to win the conference. And I lose 3 of my first 4 games. When this is happening--you're losing way more than you think you should be--how do you figure out the problem? Just look through player stats and see if anything stands out as especially bad? What do you look for specifically?

Wow. I feel your pain as I've been there, but there's so much that can be happening. There's no one or right answer and can depend also on how you play the game. Are you simming or playing each down?

I don't think there's any simple answer. I once had Kent go 2-10 in my first season. Then the next season I added strength at QB, RB, WR, and DE, and with these new freshmen went 10-2 and had Kent ranked 7th. The following season, after what I thought was another good recruiting year I, like you started 0-2.

I remember analyzing my opponents and making changes to my game plans (oh and I had hired a better defensive coordinator) but things only improved when I reverted to calling my own defensive plays 90% of the time. (I'm pretty convinced there are issues with 3-4 and 4-3 defenses but I could be wrong).

I play heavy on run offense but use my passing plays regularly to match the strength of my starting QB. Don't throw long if he's a short thrower. Conversely, don't throw long if your WRs have no speed or hands.

On defense try blitzing more often. I've had way more success when I blitz than if I don't. Gamey? Not sure, maybe - but it wins games.

Good luck turning things around!

Make sure to adjust your depth charts based on your game by game opponent.

If you are using Overall to rate your players - don't! Make sure you evaluate them based on the best stats for the critical positions within your game plans. For example, if you've got a stud QB with a strong arm but no speed make sure you play him in the pocket and that your OL have great blocking and strength and they should all have good intelligence and skill. Get him good support with a solid run and pass TE and match your playbook to your players (especially QB, OL, and receivers for a passing game).

If you are using the new PRO it's vital to have key players with intelligence and skill otherwise I've witnessed things can go south quickly

Are you sure your recruiting class was as good as you think? Or maybe you need to tweak your gameplan strategy to get the best out of them.

Consider having specific training schemes for each player position and even player types.

Make sure you've not recruited a disruptive influence and also be sure to redshirt players you've just recruited unless they are clearly starters. They'll benefit from the additional development time.

I also cut players and carry a smaller roster ass sometimes the depth chart will force players in the lineup that you'd maybe rather not be there. (If only we could make subs on the fly when actually calling the plays). I can't tell you how many times a play is run and only then do I find out my stud QB was subbed by the AI (probably due to some arbitrary coding based on endurance) but I should get to make that call not the AI when I'm playing every down.

Don't let the AI or coach call when to punt or try a FG. The AII/coach plays very conservatively. I usually override and kick the FG and I've had regular kicks over 52 yards.

You're not wrong. 4-3 and 3-4 are essentially broken. They're terrible against the pass.

[brooks_piggott]

Yup, in general 34, 43, and 52 give up an extra yard or two on average to the pass, and 335, dime, quarter, and nickel give up an extra yard or two on the run. Also highly depends on the plays called too...

Not seeing anything in my analysis that shows anything as broken though.

[C-Bailey24]

Yup, in general 34, 43, and 52 give up an extra yard or two on average to the pass, and 335, dime, quarter, and nickel give up an extra yard or two on the run. Also highly depends on the plays called too...

Not seeing anything in my analysis that shows anything as broken though.

True, broken may be too strong of a word. The flaw in your analysis is your basing it on cpu vs cpu. 4-3, 3-4, 5-2 are abused in MP leagues. Secondly, why should 3-4, 4-3, 5-2 give up more yards than any other formation in the game? Doesn't really make sense. It should be more based on personnel and matchups. As far as plays called these STILL need some work. Mostly in the zone coverages. I've watched BOTH my safeties in Cover 2 or Cover 2 Man run straight toward the line of scrimmage and abandon their assignments multiple times in the same drive. Also have seen them run off the screen/field.

[brooks_piggott]

There is no code specifically that targets different formations... it's all based on the plays in the playbook. The only difference is the initial alignment/starting point of the players and which depth chart it uses. After that it uses the action of the particular slot to determine their behavior, whether they're zone, man, rush, etc. So telling me a formation is broken doesn't really give me anything to go on... I'd need to look at broken plays and see if I can figure out why they're not working, but in doing my analysis I'm not seeing any particular plays that are broken. If you notice any let me know and we'll remove them or adjust them.

[eel1987]

...

I'm already doing pretty much all of this. That isn't really my question, though it's all great advice for any players that aren't doing it. But all these suggestions are really more preventive, whereas I'm asking about what you do to determine why, if you've taken all of these preventive steps to get your team in the best situation, what do you do when it's all going to hell anyway? In BBCF there are some in-game ways to help you figure things out, like the post-game emails you get breaking down player stats in the key areas for their position. Like, for example, if I lose a game and I notice my QB was sacked 8 times. That's definitely not good. So I look at the post-game email for the offense, and, look at that, my left tackle has 6 sacks allowed, and the other two are on two different offensive linemen. That left tackle gets replaced.

Or I notice my QB's completion percentage was under 50%. Now I have to do more digging, though. Is it because my QB is making bad throws? Well, in his post-game breakdown he has 2 bad passes, but that's it. Doesn't necessarily seem like enough to hurt my passing game that badly. So I look at my receivers--my WR1 had 20 targets, and caught 2. So I look at my other receivers. They all have fewer targets, but their reception % is much higher than WR1. I conclude that I need to swap out my WR1 for someone else--maybe a receiver with a better hands rating even if it means sacrificing some speed.

Then I check the stats next game. If my total sacks are down, I can conclude that the left tackle was causing the sack problem. If my QB's completion percentage improves, I can conclude the WR1's weak hands were the problem. If the completion percentage stays bad, now I start to think maybe it's the QB. Or it could still be the O-line not protecting the QB long enough for a play to develop.

The point is, in BBCF there are ways to see that a problem exists somewhere and a way to figure out where the problem is, which feels a lot more immersive. In this game it doesn't feel like the same kind of problem-solving detective work is there, or maybe I'm just missing it.

Edit: Also to your second to last point, I think my list of suggestions in the other thread includes asking for us to have more control over playing time. BBCF, again, provides a way to set a % of starters' playing time for the next game, so if you want your stud QB to play every down even if he's tired you set that box to 100. Frankly I think it's silly that in-game substitutions are handled based on game code and we have no way to influence it, because it's completely unrealistic for a head coach to not be able to decide how much time each player gets to spend on the field.

[brooks_piggott]

Yea, we can probably do a better job with the coach grades and sending out more emails for postgame stuff. And I'll try in the next version to revamp the substitution logic and enable a 100% mode for people playing out games.

[eel1987]

Yea, we can probably do a better job with the coach grades and sending out more emails for postgame stuff. And I'll try in the next version to revamp the substitution logic and enable a 100% mode for people playing out games.

That would be excellent. I feel so bad for my starting QB when the backup is racking up TDs after the starter runs the whole drive but gets subbed out right on the goal line.