Teams that I used to beat handily are now fighting back. Some even winning.
I hope it's just that the coaches have improved their team.
What I am not sure of is have the new owners been tweeking under the hood ?
I dont expect anyone here to know the truth. But wondered if anyone else sees strange things going on ?

I haven't noticed anything different yet.

You're slipping old man.

Could be , could be .

dominance begets bombinance

nokoboy

Bag, is that like Bomba the Jungle Boy ?

you use your TEs wrong

get them boys movin

like road graders

Won 8-3 today being favored by 21....I'm slipping....

Well, I don't know about other coaches, but I recently switched to a numerology recruiting and game planning strategy based on player name and weight and ever since the performance of my teams has rocketed from abject failure to almost tolerable mediocrity. Just like the old gypsy woman said!

Recruiting emails are different I know that much. Used to be the recruit would let you know if your opposition had taken the lead in a recruiting battle after signings began. Not anymore.
Without that email, it seems the longer it takes to sign, the more likely it is you are losing..

Oh, and the consequences for failing to give a recruit a promised start has changed as well. Used to be if you gave the recruit three straight starts after he complained initially, his WE would mostly recover and you could then send him back to bench. His WE was in no danger of ever falling again. Now, if you don't give him a start through the ENTIRE season (games 11,12, &13) after he initially complains, his WE will bottom a second time and it will NEVER recover.

Posted by columbusbuck on 9/7/2017 12:43:00 AM (view original):
Recruiting emails are different I know that much. Used to be the recruit would let you know if your opposition had taken the lead in a recruiting battle after signings began. Not anymore.
Without that email, it seems the longer it takes to sign, the more likely it is you are losing..

Oh, and the consequences for failing to give a recruit a promised start has changed as well. Used to be if you gave the recruit three straight starts after he complained initially, his WE would mostly recover and you could then send him back to bench. His WE was in no danger of ever falling again. Now, if you don't give him a start through the ENTIRE season (games 11,12, &13) after he initially complains, his WE will bottom a second time and it will NEVER recover.

I can say that the emails are still there regarding who has the lead. I got them in the last couple cycles in Leahy.

They are spotty at best then, because I did not get them. Twice.

Posted by columbusbuck on 9/7/2017 12:43:00 AM (view original):
Recruiting emails are different I know that much. Used to be the recruit would let you know if your opposition had taken the lead in a recruiting battle after signings began. Not anymore.
Without that email, it seems the longer it takes to sign, the more likely it is you are losing..

Oh, and the consequences for failing to give a recruit a promised start has changed as well. Used to be if you gave the recruit three straight starts after he complained initially, his WE would mostly recover and you could then send him back to bench. His WE was in no danger of ever falling again. Now, if you don't give him a start through the ENTIRE season (games 11,12, &13) after he initially complains, his WE will bottom a second time and it will NEVER recover.

I use player positions, not the generic OL #1, OL #2 etc...
My right Tackle is a promised Fr start. He started 1st game, and didn't start second game. wth? I did not change the depth chart, A N D, he ****** and moaned on the sidelines the whole game, wrecking morale; players giving me the stinkeye,....and we lost 3-12 to a SIM lol.

Has anything changed over the last month with how the game simulation results are determined? I've had three games go different than expected in Yost resulting in losses or close games with seemingly weaker teams to mine. Two occurred in this current season, and one last season, and I can't figure out a reason from the game planning side of things. I had never noticed this occurring as dramatically in the 22 proceeding seasons....

I'd read before (speculation?) that there's a certain number of games where a team will randomly over-perform, and a certain number in which they will randomly under-perform. It may be that these unexpected results are tied to this part of the sim (if it is in fact true to exist).

Basically, I see three possibilities:
1. I was significantly out game-planned.
2. There's a random over-perform/under-perform variable per game that I had bad luck to have hit in my games against the closest matched teams I met these seasons, and even though my team was stronger, this variable was enough to affect the outcome. Maybe the frequency of this over-perform/under-perform variable has increased?
3. Something has changed with the simulation that is affecting the results. It could be something seemingly minor that is having a greater affect on my team due to my system...?

I'd like to know if #3 is true, as it would mean that I need to re-evaluate my approach. At the moment, the game has been decidedly less fun as I've had two seasons in a row end unexpectedly in the playoffs, and my game planning changes at the half seemed to make no difference.

If #3 isn't the case, then all I can do is put my attention to improving my game planning within the body of knowledge I've built up (because I wouldn't know whether #2 had been the cause).

I for one hope that I am doing a better job with the gameplanning,I recruiting, and developing formations. So I hope that is what is causing the decrease of winning by the elite coaches. There have been some great posts about how to improve gameplans, formations and development. We are learning and evolving and maybe giving the old guns a run for their money.