SSG Madden Connected Franchise Rules

The SSG Madden Connected Franchise league is based on the mission of sim gameplay, first and foremost. Our rules are subject to being changed–even midseason–if an issue has been identified that is grossly impacting this mission. We will do our best to handle rule changes quickly and appropriately.

Overview

  • Advances are every 72 hours at 8pm ET. We do use, however, a hybrid schedule that allows for a 48-hour advance if the following two conditions have been met:
    • All user vs user games have been played
    • No remaining user v user are scheduled within the 72-hour window
  • Offensive Skill: All-Pro
  • Defensive Skill: All-Pro
  • Custom Sliders
  • Quarter Length: 10 Minutes
  • Clock Runoff: 20 seconds
  • Game Speed: Normal
  • Home Field Advantage: On
  • Playcall Coodown: None
  • Playcall Limit: None

 Playbooks: Users must declare their offensive and defensive playbook for each season prior to Week 1. For Offense, users may choose any stock playbook and may Add/Remove plays from the formations already in that book. Users may create a fully custom Defensive playbook.

  Sim Gameplay

  •  NO SWITCH Users on offense may not switch players while the ball is in the air. You must wait until the ball has been caught to begin controlling the receiver and/or defensive player. Users on defense may switch on running plays. You are allowed to switch on special teams.
  •  Play Selection Cheese: Don’t do it. Don’t run any type of glitches, youtube money plays, etc. You will be removed from the league.

 Offense-Specific

  •  Flipping Plays: The flipping of a play after you select the play is not allowed and is strictly prohibited. If you feel the need to flip or adjust your formation, call an audible, a single hot route, or use a timeout instead.
  •  Snapping the Ball: Users on offense must wait 3 full seconds after your QB is fully set to snap the ball. If this is not possible, you must use a timeout or take the delay-of-game penalty.
  •  Hot Routes: Users may only hot route a maximum of 1 player on offense on any play.
  •  QB Play: No dropping back 10 or more yards after receiving the snap. QBs should not be dropping back unrealistic distances.
  •  A QB must wait 3 seconds after the snap, i.e. taking time to read his routes, before taking off to scramble. The only exception is if the user is under immediate threat from a pass rusher.
  •  RB Play: Backup RBs must receive 20% of the carries. Example for every 10 carries your starter receives, your backup RBs must receive 2.
  •  Ball Carrier Users should not run with any ball carrier parallel to the line of scrimmage, except on reverses, end routes, and jet sweeps.
  •  All cuts should be made with the right stick, not the left stick. Zig-zag running is not allowed. Do not make sharp cuts that allow you to take advantage of the AI pursuit angles.
  •  DO NOT immediately cut outside unless absolutely necessary. Hit the hole that is designed by the play YOU call.
  •  Fourth Down Inside your own 35, you should always be punting the ball unless it is a comeback situation in the 4th quarter. From the 35 to midfield (50) you are allowed to go if it is 4th and 3 or less. Once past midfield (50) you are allowed to go for it at any distance on 4th down.

 Defense-Specific

  •  Pre-Snap: Users on defense may not manually move (with the joystick) more than one player pre-snap. If the user manually moves a defender pre-snap, they must then control that player after the snap.
  •  DO NOT pinch/spread D-line every play. DO NOT pinch/spread D-line if you cannot explain the reason you are pinching D-line.
  •  D-Line Rush: Users must rush at least 3 players every down.
  •  Control: Users must play their defender according to the called play. If you are assigned a man, you play that man. If you are assigned a zone, you must play that zone. Users running a match defense may break out of their zone to follow a receiver, but once attached to a receiver, must stay on that receiver.
  •  Users playing zone coverage must strafe within their zone until the ball has been released by the QB. No wild running from side to side within a zone.

Roster Management

  •  53 Man Roster: Users must have 53 players signed to your active roster at all times. It’s each user’s responsibility to manage their own team’s cap accordingly.
  • Position Minimums: Users must have at least the following minimum number of players at each position:
    • 2 QB
    • 3 HB
    • 5 WR
    • 3 TE/FB
    • 8 OL
    • 4 DE
    • 2 NT (3-4) or 3 DT (4-3)
    • 4 OLB
    • 2 MLB (3 for 3-4)
    • 5 CB
    • 4 FS/SS
    • 2 K/P
  • Position Changes: Position changes are only approved in the offseason. Rules and guidelines will be reposted each offseason and users may post their requests in #position-change-requests if you would like to change your players’ positions.
  • Do not switch players without approval.
  • Trades: Once a trade is agreed upon by both players, that trade must be submitted for approval through Neon: https://neonsportz.com/leagues/SFDL/trades/create. Only after The Office has approved a trade via Neon should the users submit the trade through Madden.
  • Users may not trade rookies or players on their first year of a multi-year contract.
  • Players on a 1-year contract or a franchise tag may be traded.
  • Newcomers must play a minimum of 4 regular season games before participating in a trade. Reasonable exceptions may be made at The Office’s discretion.
  • Practice Squad: Teams may sign other teams’ practice squad players as long as they keep that player on their main roster for the remainder of the season. We want to avoid players just being shuffled from one practice squad to another.

Free Agency

  • Users may only offer a player the amount of years for a neutral offer plus/minus 1 year. Exception: During Stage 3 of Free Agency, users may offer any player down to a 1-year deal.
  • NO-SNIPING WINDOW: Users may not bid on a player that they had not already bid on during the no-sniping period window, which is typically one-two hours prior to advance and will be announced ahead of time. During this window, you may only bid on players you have already bid on or players with no current bids

Scheduling Games

  • Users must schedule games within 24 hours after advance.
  • Post your available times in your set weekly scheduling thread on Discord
    • Please, please use the scheduling threads. Using the public threads allows league admins to easily see which users have attempted to schedule, which users have not, and if there are any scheduling issues. Using DMs makes this harder for us, and we are not responsible if your game gets simmed because you scheduled in DMs. Please use the threads.
  • Users should post their availability when scheduling.
    • Example of a good post:
      • “I can play Mon-Wed after 7 pm est”
      • “What about Monday at 8pm?” assuming User 1 has specified their window
    • Example of a bad post:
      • “Hey let me know when you can play”
    • Both users should communicate that they have agreed on a specified time, whether that be with a reply, a thumbs up emoji, etc.

Force Wins

  • If you have a USER opponent:
    • If your opponent does not schedule within 24 hours after advance, you may take the FW or choose to play the CPU.
    • If you and your opponent agree on a time, and your opponent is more than 15 minutes late, you may take the FW or choose to play the CPU.
  • If you have a CPU opponent:
    • You may choose to play the CPU or take a fair sim

In the event of a disconnect/desync:

  • League admins will decide whether to award a FW or to require a replay/fair sim depending on the game state. If there is determined to be a clear winner with a low chance of a comeback, a FW will be awarded.

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