@Mr_Mustache

Yep, that's pretty awesome. There's so many areas you can upgrade a player too, I was surprised at how much depth there was to it. I was torn on some players, whether to upgrade toughness or something cheap or hold off for something better.

@TheOldManFromZelda wins 31-17!

That game was hilarious! I was laughing nearly the entire time. 12 TURNOVERS!!!

If I could just kick field goals on first down, it would have been a different game....ugh, my backup guys can't hold on to the football to save their lives.

@Mr_Mustache
I'm holding off for the more valuable abilities on most players, at least for now.

As you may have noticed, I went ahead and joined the fantasy league.

@TheBigG753

That would have been painful to watch on TV. But it was fun to play.

Matt Leinart has possibly the slowest arm motion and ball delivery I've seen in a game. I can't believe he's my backup. I feel kinda blessed to have RGIII as my starter.

I think I lucked out by having two starting running backs on my team. Moreno could start for at least 5 or 6 other teams in the NFL today if he wasn't in Denver.

@TheOldManFromZelda

Yup, Moreno was the difference. He carved up my backup defense, while my RBs were fumbling every other play. Also couldn't believe how many easy drops there were in the game, by both teams. I feel like we completed more passes to the defense.

The blocked punt was the weirdest thing I've seen. I thought at first that you just totally botched the kick, because I didn't think I got there. Maybe it's because I don't recall ever blocking a punt in either Madden or NCAA but it just looked....weird.

@TheBigG753

Oh! that's because my kicker was punting, and in preseason, it automatically switches to the backups after the 1st quarter. It was too late at that point to switch. That's why I paused the next play to get the regular kicker and punter back in.

@ludist210

Should have clarified...3-5 includes d-linemen.

@TheOldManFromZelda
I've seen some pathetic punts and FG attempts because of this. I'm really anxious for the regular seasons to start in these leagues.

Yeah. I would've been happier with 2 preseason games.

Yeah, maybe next season when the league is more established we can talk him into 1 or 2 just to get used to your roster changes and then move on to the season. Offline in all the years since Madden added preseason games in franchise I've played exactly one of them.

Good game, @DeputyVanHalen! I finally won one. Turnovers were the big difference, and the kick return TD after you cut it to 8. After the last game against @TheOldManFromZelda, I decided to keep it to low-risk passes in the red zone instead of running it because my backups were coughing it up every other attempt. Getting those field goals helped. A lot.

Oh, and how bad did Gronk get hurt? I was like, "oh shit!" when he went down and Simms was saying it looked major. As your FB he was destroying my defense.

SO GLAD the preseason is over. The number of dropped passes once the backups came in was disgusting. Bring on the regular season!

Good game. Yeah, that kickoff return when I finally got some momentum killed me. I completely panicked when Gronkowski got hurt, but somehow he was back in 2 plays later. I just never threw to him again because I didn't want to risk anything. I chose blind on my fantasy league team joining in week 3, but wanted a different team than the Skins so I wasn't playing the same schedule in 3 different leagues including my offline franchise too. I think my offense is decent, but I know where my focus in the draft and free agency will be in the first offseason. My defense, especially the secondary, isn't very good.

Yeah, I'm glad the preseason is over too. I'm done with it in both leagues, so I'm happy about that. Between the drops, the horrible passing at least with my fantasy team, and the incredibly awful punts and kicks, I'm ready for the real games.

@DeputyVanHalen

I saw that! VOLTRON SMITH. I wish you coulda drafted with us!

@DeputyVanHalen
@TheOldManFromZelda

I like 'em! Tough cutdown day.. And you guys know that you can just opt to Sim them, right?

@DeputyVanHalen

Yeah, playing the same schedule all over the place would be no good. I think you play my Fantasy Team in Week 2! (They've score 0 points in the last two games )

@Mr_Mustache
Yeah, I really didn't think I'd be able to play in 2 leagues at the time. I'll probably go down to one league in Madden 14 since my girlfriend will be living here by then. I have a lot of free time now. we don't play each other this season in the fantasy league. The only NFC West team I play is Seattle, which as it stands now will also be my first regular season game against a real person in that league in week 5.

F THIS GAME!!!

Lost the opener 34-20 to the Broncos. Total BS. Roethlisberger sucks, threw 4 picks and overthrew two wide open TDs. I cut the lead to 20-13 at the start of the 4th quarter after my offense doesn't do dick for the entire game (I got another KR TD). Then, I force a 3 and out and look to get the ball around midfield. BUT NO, my returner fumbles the punt!!! GREAT TIMING!

Naturally, Denver scores in like 3 plays. So now, its 27-13. I finally start passing the ball effectively and lead the team down to score, making it 27-20 with a minute and a half to go. I try the onside kick, and it bounces off a few Broncos...and they return it for a TD!!! GREAT TIMING!!

@DeputyVanHalen

I wish I had more CPU games.. I was pretty free with it, but chearn joined up so I have to play him, and I lost to AirGator with my Bills tonight for my first loss. They didn't even show me in the game at all, just stupid Steve Spurrier. I had Tebow basically shut down, but I had all kinds of fumbles, and one time his dude caught a quadruple coverage ball AFTER he should've been sacked..TWICE.

George Wilson had 2 INTs. I think he needs 4 for his Yearly goal, haha!

@TheBigG753

Why are the Broncos super-charged?! They shut me out 37-0 in the Fantasy League!!

Lets talk about something awesome instead of onside kick miscues: did you start scouting any good stuff at all yet? How about those COACH POINTS?! I'm FINALLY going to be able to buy a package in both leagues which'll help me out Weekly/Yearly. And those are permanent? So awesome.

Speaking of Practices, which do you find works the best? I've been doing the 1800 "Easy" one, which has the score like 6-3 in the 2nd..but the team last night scored 33 points on top of that. How are you supposed to keep pace with that? Ridiculous!

I won both of my week 1 online league games, one against the computer, and one against a human.

Against a human in the real league, I ran for over 300 yards combines with the Vikings in a total squash of Jacksonville. Like, total curb stomp. If AP doesn't win the best rusher award, I'm doing something wrong. I even sat him for the final 3 minutes of the game to avoid injury. The guy I was playing said I was "beast on D".

I'm worried about the quality of the fantasy league. I beat the CPU Jets 7-0, if I remember correctly. It was a struggle. Is it me, or are the offensive linemen subpar on your fantasy teams? They can't hold a run block for more than a second, and pass blocking is attrocious. Luckily I have RG III to scramble around. I think most of the humans, when they drafted, drafted like a fantasy football draft, taking all the key offensive players (QB, RB, WR) first and then thinking about OL and DL. I do think my defense is pretty stellar because I took care to draft key positions early.

Scouting is pretty cool. I already know what I need for both leagues, so I've been looking at some key players. Good idea, and takes some of the guessing game out at draft time (granted, if you scout efficiently).

Coaching points... are kind of useless. The XP boost packages are the only things worth spending points on.

@Mr_Mustache

I spent points on the XP boosts that I could afford (kicker, punter, fullback I think). Now, I'm just saving up for the next XP boosts. I haven't toyed around too much with the practices, I've mostly stuck with the "Up by 10" scenario, which is easy.

@TheOldManFromZelda

I've noticed that, too. My O-Line is awful. Against the CPU, I can't run any sort of outside run and get more than a 2 yard-loss. It's like my line isn't even on the field. And pass blocking, nothing is more apparent than when I was forced into chucking a few hail marys at the end. The defense is only rushing 3, and I still have no time to chuck it deep.

I didn't think the blocking was bad on my fantasy team. I don't remember the exact stats but I know I had over 120 rushing yards. The only reason that game was even close was because I threw 2 redzone INTs, the first of which was returned 90 yards for a TD. The killer in that game was losing Welker for 8 weeks.

The scouting stuff is pretty cool. I also know exactly what I need from both leagues, especially since going through an offline offseason gives me an idea of who to expect to retire after the season, so I've been taking a look at a few players at those positions.

@TheBigG753
Not sure if you're doing it or not, but I know on those I've had to retrain myself to unlearn 25 years of video game football and not back up in the pocket. Doing that gives the DEs a much easier angle to get to you a lot faster.