NFL Head Coach Complaints

I have already reviewed this new game for the PS2 and gave it a 7.5 out of 10 score. I've completed one full season, which I went into detail about in a previous blog. With this first season in the bag, there are several things that I'd like to see improved upon if EA decides to continue this series in the future.

1) Player Ratings- I don't mind the attribute aspect of the game so much, where a player has a minimum and a maximum ranking, because there will be good days and bad days for every player. But, I don't like how some of the players are rated. From what I've seen, it appears that they're rated more based on their fantasy value than on how they actually perform on the football field. Also, it makes no sense to me how much a player's rating increases, decreases, or doesn't budge at all throughout a practice week. When it appears a quarterback had a great practice, his rating may move up a few points from his minimum. The rookies on my team have ratings that appear to remain the same unless they play in a game and then their ratings may move beyond their minimum. Another complaint is the fact that when a player hits the age of 30 on that game, their minimum and maximum attributes drop tremendously. My right guard, Damien Woody was in the low to mid-90s last year, but now that he's hit 30, his ratings have been decreasing on a weekly basis and he's down to 85 and a 2nd stringer. This hasn't just occurred with the big guys up front, either. My cornerback Dre' Bly has moved down from a maximum of 90 at the start of training camp to an 85 after the first pre-season game. Many players have great ball in them after they turn 30. How long ago did Brett Favre hit the big 3-0? Warren Sapp? I imagine Randy Moss and Terrell Owens are around that age. There isn't a rule that says on someone's 30th birthday, their career immediately begins to go in a downward spiral and quickly.

2) Trust level- I like the idea of having a trust level meter between all the coaches, agents, and gm's, but there are some aspects of it on this game that I don't particularly like. For example, my scouting director gets ticked off if I don't choose the player he wants me to pick and if I don't, our trust with one another declines. When I picked Reggie Bush, he wanted me to take someone else. Mike Martz couldn't stand me by season's end, because I didn't go with him on all of his play call selections. In fact, I may be exaggerating when I say I went with half of his play calls. I don't like that. On a 4th and inches, I'm not going to call a draw play, like Martz wanted me to do. I'm also not going to call the same dang play three or four times in a row. I'm not Frank Solich (Nebraska fans will understand that joke). They also seem to enjoy calling plays that weren't practiced very often throughout the week. The less repetitions there are of a certain play, the less fresh it's going to be and the more apt we will be at turning the ball over. Some of the defensive play calls are ridiculous as well. In my brief stay with the Falcons, my defensive coordinator wanted me to call a prevent defense on a 3rd and 1. I don't think so! Also, inside two minutes to go in the first or second half, the offensive coordinator wants you to run the clock out, so if you choose any pass play, it'll tick them right off! They'll even want you to do this if you're at your opponent's end of the field. Toward the end of every week, I'll receive a phone call from one of my coaches, suggesting that we should get one more practice in before the game. Many times, I look at my schedule and all the slots have been filled and there's no where I can fit another practice, so what's the point of the phone call? There are two options: 1) Say that you will modify your schedule (which, in many cases, you can't) or 2) Tell him that you'll just have to go with what's been planned. Also, at the start of every week, there's a meeting to review the last week's game, between all the coaches. Many times, these coaches will suggest you start your back-up quarterback over your starter, because his numbers are higher at that point in time. This may be true, only for the fact that the starting quarterback played on Sunday and is still sore from the game. If you tell that coach, "No, that's a bad idea," then your trust level will decrease. Also, in these meetings, it seems like unless you play the perfect game, the offensive and defensive coaches are not all going to be happy. My games are 20 minutes long (five per quarter), so it's quite difficult to throw for 300 yards, run for another 100, play excellent special teams, and solid run and pass defense all in a 20-minute game. Even if you completed 12 of 14 passes, if you only threw for 150 yards, either the offensive coordinator or the quarterbacks' coach will complain and trust will be lost between the head coach and them because of it. If the games were 60 minutes long, I could understand some of these complaints more, but considering the team is only playing one-third the time of an actual game, I don't see reason for trust to be lost. If this continues, I'll go through a new offensive coordinator every single year, because I like a balanced offense and with only 20 minutes to work with, I'll be content to run for 150 and pass for 150.

3) Practice- The area you'll spend the most time in is practice. The problem is, there's lots of repetition and little reward. Once in a while, I'll see a player's attributes increase slightly after a lot of practice, but these occasions are very few and far between. Also, come gameday, I honestly don't see practice working for or against your team. During some weeks when practice went great, especially the running game, you may run for only 30 yards. In other weeks, when your quarterback struggles immensely throughout the week, he may be on fire come gameday. I wish, with all the time spent on the practice field, there was more reward in the end. Player's attributes should increase a bit more, especially the rookies and younger players who are finally getting repetitions. Practice throughout the week should also be more indicative of how well the team performs on Sunday, especially the few money plays you have (plays that were practiced the most throughout the week).

4) Special Teams- Or lack there of, I should more appropriately say. There are practice drills for: quarterbacks, wide receivers and tight ends, defensive backs, offensive linemen, defensive linemen, running backs and fullbacks, linebackers, and full contact eleven-on-eleven practices. There are NO drills for special teams. I have two kickers right now that could desperately use some practice. It'd also be nice to practice return and coverage drills. At the start of every game, I see the kickers' ratings at the very minimum of their attribute scale.

5) Commentary- The music and overall sound to the game is very good, but the game's commentary is extremely boring. It's reminiscent of the commentary in old genesis games. Even Madden and Michaels in the Madden games have more exciting commentary than this. The games can seem to drag on a bit because of this. The announcer messes up with people's names consistently, as well. He called Cory Schlesinger by the name of "Sauerbrun." He called my tight end David Thomas by the name "Thompson." He also can't count when it comes to kickoff returns. If someone returns the ball from the one to the 18-yard line, he may claim that the player returned it twenty-three yards. The talk to your players option is also a hit and miss feature. If you want to motivate your players, you have two options: 1) aggressive and 2) passive, but oddly enough, sometimes the passive option comes out aggressively and the players don't take too kindly to it and at other times the aggressive will come out passively and the players will respond well. So, I never know which way to go about motivating my players, because I'm unsure if the aggressive option will actually be aggressive and same with the passive option.

6) Depth Chart- I've noticed with both the Falcons and now with the Lions that there are 1-3 players whose places I cannot alter on the depth chart. What I mean by this is, Peerless Price is currently (rating wise) the 4th best receiver on my team, next to Reggie Wayne, Roy Williams, and Jabar Gaffney, but for some odd reason, Price is set as the #3 receiver. If I attempt to switch he and Gaffney, instead of having Gaffney at the three and Price at the four, Price is both the 3 and the 4. This is also true of my fullback Thomas Tapeh, who's stuck at the #2 slot on the depth chart, and it is true of my right end Blaine Coles whose stuck at the #1 spot on the depth chart. This can be quite aggravating. It was especially the case last year when I had a right outside linebacker by the name of Alex Lewis, who had a max rating of 70, and he was stuck at the #1 spot on the depth chart. I wanted Boss Bailey at the left, Mike Vrabel up the middle, and Jay Forman at the right, but I could not substitute anyone for Lewis, so I had to move Foreman up the middle and stay with Bailey at LOLB. Because of this, Vrabel was used minimally. Sometimes, I've even gone to the measure of releasing certain players that are stuck at a certain spot on the chart, so I can move someone better into their place. This usually costs me, because of the player's bonus check. Coaches will also keep saying at meetings, "Maybe you should switch Gaffney with Price" and every time, I have to roll my eyes and say to myself, "If I could, I would buddy!"

Overall, I do like the game and am sticking to my 7.5 out of 10 rating, but think some improvements should be made. The game does have a lot of potential, and I hope with a year under its belt to learn what worked and what didn't work, the game will be new and improved a year from now.