Description: The Sidelines are where all the game time decisions may be entered. This includes the hire and fire of Trainers and Head Coaches. Please note that games are played unattended on the nights specified in the league information screen, therefore owners of teams do not make decisions as the games are being played. You must set up a generic "style" you wish your team to play in the Sidelines section, then, they execute that style.
Related Topics
Offensive Sets: There are seven offensive sets in Franchise Football. Each of those sets helps your team in some situations, but also hurts your team in others. For example, the I Formation might help your team in rushing situations, but, may hurt your team in long passing situations. You may select three formations, a primary, a secondary and a tertiary. A teams primary set will be used roughly 50% of the time and the secondary set about 35% of the time. The tertiary set will be used on 4th downs, short yardage and goalline plays. The remainder of your sets will be chosen at game time and could be any of the seven. The seven offensive sets are:
I Formation (I Form)
Pro Set
Singleback
Empty Backfield
Weak I
Shotgun
Goalline
Pass Type Distribution: You may specify what types of passes you wish to throw and what percentage of the time you would like to throw them. Short Passes (<8 Yards) are higher percentage passes, Medium Passes (8-15 Yards) are lower percentage passes, and Long Passes (15+ yards) are the lowest percentage pass but yield the highest yardage return. Longer (like long and medium) passes will also be intercepted more often, however, short passes are more vulnerable to long returns when they are intercepted.
Run Play Distributions: There are five general directions to run in. Run Play Distributions tell the team which direction to run and how often to run there. Running at your most talented players and away from the oppositions quality stars will yield better results. When looking at your lineup, the first starter at any position is the "Left" player of this position (including defense). Positions on offense and defense are always read as though looking at the play from behind the offensive team. The left defender always matches up against the left offensive player as well. The five directions that a team can run in are:
Ouside Left
Off-Tackle Left
Middle
Off-Tackle Right
Outside Right
Running Back Carry Frequency: This section let you adjust what percentage of the time (that your team runs the football) you would like your HB and FB to carry.
Receivers: Here you may pick which receivers your Quarterback uses as his Primary, Secondary and Tertiary targets. A Primary receiver will get about 28-32% of the throws, a Secondary receiver should get about 20-25% of the passes and the Tertiary man usually gets about 15-20%. The remaining passes are thrown to the other eligible receivers. Please note that you may not pick a particular person, but, only a position. That means that the man you want to catch 30% of the passes may not, in fact, he probably won't. All players who play there in the game will share those passes. This includes backups.
Offense Play Selection: The
Offense Play Selection section empowers coaches to decide how often (and in
what yardage situation) they will pass vs run. For example, in a 3rd down and
short situation, you may want to run 70% of the time. Here, you can set that
by making the pass value 30%. The definition of short decreases as the downs
increase. Anything under 5 yards is short on second down, anything under 3 is
short on third. In most cases, your team will punt on 4th down. The exception
is trailing late in the game and that grey area where a field goal is too long,
yet a punt will likely be a touchback.
Defense Set Selection: There are six defensive sets in the game. Each (like offensive sets) is good for some things and bad for others. The six defensive sets are:
Similar to the Offense Play Selection, you choose defensive sets according to the down and yardage situation. The yardage definitions are the same as those in the Offensive Play Selection section.
Special Defensive Setups: These are special defensive options.
Double Team: Choosing a position here assigns two defensive players to that position for passing plays. This decreases that positions effectiveness, however, increases the effectiveness of other receivers slightly. This is a good option to use when facing a team with a clear star receiver, but little if any supporting cast.
Shadow: The same as the Double Team, except for the running game. Shadowing a running back will make that position less effective, but, will increase the effectiveness of the other back.
Blitz Frequency: This is how often your team will blitz. Blitzing helps to increase turnovers, but, does sometimes result in easier completions if picked up properly. A team can blitz up to 70% of the time while on defense.
