COACH'S MANUAL
GENERAL

PLAYER RATINGS... WHAT DO THEY MEAN?

Offensive players will play to their potential based on their stats, no over-all rating is needed.
They are however given individual ratings as follows:

Short yardage rating: (1-5) Rates the player's ability to gain the tough yard in a crucial situation.
Break-away rating: (1-5) Rates the player's ability to "break free" and gain extra yards.
Durability rating: (1-5) This rating will not matter because we will not be using injuries.
Receiver rating: (1-10) Rates the players ability to catch the ball.

Defensive players and offensive linemen:
The talent level is on a scale from 1 to 10.
In general, a 9 or 10 is star-level, an 8 is a solid starter, a 5 to 7 is an average starter.

2. There can be more than one team from each franchise --  eg. if someone has the 62 Packers, someone else can have the 97 Packers.

3. The top 4 or 6 teams go to the play-offs, depending on how many teams are in the current season.

4. Free Agency:

Every year each team can sign three free agents, two anywhere on your roster and one on special teams.
The special teams free agent cannot be used in any other capacity other than special teams.
These players can be from any available roster found at "Available Teams".
Players from "Free Agent Listing" can also be used as long as they are not determined to be on a current league roster.
There can only be one player from the same year in the league at the same time.
If someone chooses a team with an existing free agent on it the free agent player will be immediately "cut" from the roster he was on.

5. The Game plan:

The computer automatically will assign each team a "basic" plan, you can let the computer run the entire season if you choose or submit plans anytime you wish.

The Game Plan gives you the ability to adjust your team's strategy to fit yours.

It's up to you. You can change it once a week or never.

SCOUTING YOUR OPPONENT

View your opponent's ROSTER, SEASON STATS and PAST GAMES to determine tendencies, strengths and weaknesses.

OFFENSE LEGEND

PLAYACTION: Increases completion % when defense plays the run, but decreases completion % when defense is playing pass.

SHOTGUN: Decreases sack frequency and QB run frequency but reduces pass play yardage.

RUN COUNTER: Also referred to as misdirection.
Fool the defense as to which way the play is going.
The runner runs in the opposite direction of the blocking.

RUN WEAK: This will send the running back to the weakside
(the side opposite of the tight-end)

MOTION: Excellent allowing offense to detect coverage type, but delays a receiver in his route.

TRICK PLAYS: Flea flickers, HB pass, Hook & Lateral, Double reverse.
HIGH risk plays.



DEFENSE LEGEND

BASIC

A "bend but don't brake" philosophy. You won't get burned but you won't be making many big plays either.
If your playing a balanced team that mixes it up well, this may be a good choice, but if you're playing a team that is "heavy" in either running or passing, this defense may give up some yards.

PREVENT

Used when defending against a desperate team trying to score quickly with little time remaining. This defense will allow medium sized gains "underneath".
The idea is to prevent a score.
A much criticized defense that has been known to let teams back in the game. The most famous example of this is when the Bills came back from certain defeat against the Oilers in the play-offs. (Sorry Tom)

PASS

Used in obvious passing situations --- or used often when you want to "shut down" a hi-powered passing game. This strategy could allow some big runs, but can be affective if you feel the opposing team can't beat you on the ground.

RUN

Used in obvious running situations --- or used often when you want to "shut down" a hi-powered running game. This strategy could allow some big passes, but can be affective if you feel the opposing team can't beat you through the air.

BLITZING

How often do you want to "Blitz" ? - You can send 1, 2 or 3 Blitzers on each down and distance.
This is chosen for each down and distance situation.

MAN TO MAN COVERAGE

What % do you want to use man-to-man coverage?
Man is good against the short/medium passing game. Use sparingly  if your secondary is out-matched by the wide receivers. 
Speedy receivers and multiple receiver sets can eat you up.
When you are not in man-to-man coverage your are in zone coverage.

KEY RUNNERS

This decides how much attention the defense will focus on the running backs,
whether they get the ball or not.

DOUBLE RECEIVERS

This decides how often the opposing receivers get double teamed.


***********************
Strategy Football
Re-write NFL History