A Game of Inches | Cheese's Buffalo Bills Franchise

[cheese2121]

Prologue:
I have been a longtime lurker on this site and on the sportsgamer forums before that. I've always enjoyed reading franchise stories dating back to the RockUrSocks's Raiders and Bucs franchises. I love playing Madden and really hope I can report my franchise as successfully as many of you. It is only recently I finally was drawn out of my lurking(by DeeGeezy's Bengals) and began posting on the board. This is my first time doing anything remotely like this so I ask that you bear with me as it may take me some time to get the hang of putting together updates/graphics/etc. Any constructive criticism is definitely welcome. I have loved keeping track of my roster/stats and other franchise things on my computer for a long time. I am doing this for my enjoyment and hope that you will enjoy it as well. I will warn you right now, updates may be incredibly slow at times as I am in college and some weeks can barely find time to breathe. That being said, I do intend on keeping this going for a long time. I would like to give a special thanks to the following members. Even though I do not know all of you, you all have influenced me in one way or another and have led me to doing this. Thank you. Special Thanks to DeeGeezy, Woy, Lumpkin, Matt10, RockUrSocks, Tearz49ers...Without further ado I give you A Game of Inches


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Disclaimer: The following story lines, game results, etc. are purely fictitious and are for entertainment purposes only. Any fictitious story/article posted that any person(s) from the Buffalo Bills organization or the National Football League feels is inappropriate will be taken down immediately upon request.

[cheese2121]

Franchise Rule Book

Personal Statement
This franchise will be as realistic as I can possibly make it. I will most likely be controlling all 32 teams to ensure this. I have not yet decided whether I will be controlling the draft but for the most part everything will be set to CPU. This control is done strictly for the purposes of keeping the franchise as realistic as possible. It will be in no ways used to give me, the user, an unfair advantage. I have chosen the Bills because they have been mediocre for a long period of time. I am, in truth, a diehard Falcons fan. A lot of the formatting for this franchise will be similar to DeeGeezy's Bengals. I give him all the credit for giving me the great ideas. As I said in the prologue, sometimes updates could be very slow due to school and a million other things. Don't expect lots of games to be churned out quickly. I would much rather take my time. This report will be about quality before quantity. Please don't bash others in my thread. I welcome criticism as always but I would like not to have arguments and such going on in here. I am a very laid back guy and am not here to argue/fight with anyone. I would love to hear your opinions/criticisms but I don't want people getting attacked on my thread. This is for fun, let's try to keep it that way. Thank you for following and once again welcome and I hope you enjoy.

Franchise Settings

Game:Madden 10 on Xbox 360
Skill Level: Custom
Sliders: A slight modification of Bill's V3 (OperationSportsForum)(User/CPU)
QB Accuracy(7/16), Pass Blocking(15/85),WR Catching(40/45),Broken Tackles(20/40), Run Blocking(15/75), Fumbles(26/26),ReactionTime(pass)(25/100), Interceptions(0/10), Pass Rushing(47/87), ReactionTime(run)(30/75), BlkShedding(0/15), Tackling(37/50)
Quarter Length: 12 minutes with :15 accelerated clock
Game Speed: Fast
Speed Threshold: 75
Injury Slider: 70
Penalty Sliders: Offsides(100), False Start(100), Holding(52), Facemask(62), Def PI(100), Off PI(100), KR/PR Interference(70), Clipping(75), INT Grounding(70), Roughing the Passer/Kicker(70)
Rosters: Default with some manual changes made (such as Braylon to the Jets etc.)
NFL Drafts: Will Be Imported from NCAA 10
ALL BILLS GAMES WILL BE PLAYED NO SIMMING

*The following rules are all word for word from DeeGeezy and will be followed to the letter in this franchise.

Preseason Transaction Rules

- 55 man roster can be carried starting with the beginning of the free agency signing period and going into the start of the NFL preseason.

- Must cut down to 53 players after preseason game #3

- Must cut down to 47 players +1 Emergency Quarterback after preseason game #4

- Free agents can be signed at will without penalty who are either a.) rated lower than the lowest rated player on the Bills' active roster at their respective position at the end of the off-season free agent signing period or b.) were on the Bills active roster at some point during the current season. Two days must be skipped at the start of following season's free agency period for every player that is signed that has the same or a higher rating than a player on the Bills depth chart at their respective position at any point between the start of the preseason and the end of the current season's Pro Bowl.
- All free agents signed during this time period must be signed to a one-year contract.

Regular Season Transaction Rules

- A 48 man active roster maximum (includes one designated emergency QB) will be used to emulate a real life active gameday roster (The actual real life gameday roster is 46 but two extra spots are given due to Madden's roster limits at Guard and Tackle both being four, which is unrealistic). Cap implications are of no concern since th extra cap room this possibly may create will be necessary to have in order to manage the ever-changing bottom of the roster, which will now more closely replicate real life. Other rules are in place that will prevent the team from being stacked with top players in an unrealistic fashion.
- The emergency QB can enter the game for any reason however once he enters the game, neither the #1 or #2 quarterback is permitted to re-enter the game. This rule precisely replicates the real-life emergency QB rule.
- The 48 man active roster maximum is also a minimum.
- A new player may be signed, in accordance to the below signings rule, from the free agency pool for every multiple-week injury that occurs which results in a player being placed on the Inactive List or on the Injured Reserve List. Once the player(s) comes back from injury and is removed from the Inactive List, someone must be cut to maintain the 48 man active roster maximum.

- Free agents can be signed at will without penalty who are either a.) rated lower than the lowest rated player on the Bills' active roster at their respective position at the end of the off-season free agent signing period or b.) were on the Bills active roster at some point during the current season. Two days must be skipped at the start of following season's free agency period for every player that is signed that has the same or a higher rating than a player on the Bills depth chart at their respective position at any point between the start of the preseason and the end of the current season's Pro Bowl.
- All free agents signed during this time period must be signed to a one-year contract.

Off-season Transaction Rules

- Only three players' whose contracts have expired and/or are due an extension can be re-signed or extended prior to the free agency signing period per League Year*. Every player that is re-signed or extended must have a contract that pays them the average of the top 10 highest paid players at their respective position; Otherwise, one free agency day must be skipped at the beginning of the unrestricted free agent signing period for each one that does not get a top 10 contract.
- The franchise tag may be used on one of the three re-sign-able players in lieu of signing them to a long-term contract however the tag cannot be used twice on the same player.
- The free agency signing period is the only time that the team can sign a player from another team that would represent an upgrade to the active roster at a specific position (based on overall rating). Once this signing period ends, in-season free agency rules begin with one caveat; Any Bills' unrestricted free agent from the previous season can be signed any time team between the draft and the first preseason game. After the first preseason game, this caveat to the in-season free agency rules ceases.

- A maximum of two players can be cut between the end of the regular season all the way through the end of the free agent signing period (unless more is necessary in order to get under the salary cap or in the case of a player being replaced by a draft pick). This should eliminate the opportunity to unfairly upgrade the depth chart in a fashion that the CPU is not capable of doing. Every team has weaknesses and this should ensure the Bills will always have some.

- Once the free agency signing period begins, only one offer can be made per free agency day. In addition to this, one free agency day must be skipped for every player that gets signed to the Bills active roster, this includes Bills' free agents.

- There are no rules regarding who can and cannot be signed. However a strong emphasis will be placed on keeping things as realistic as possible with the thought in mind that Buffalo typically isn't a prime free agent destination in real life.

[cheese2121]

Buffalo Bills' Draft Classes

2010:
1 (18): QB Sam Bradford (74) - Oklahoma
2 (50): WR Deonte Thompson (70) - Florida
3 (82): FB Matt Clapp (77) - Oklahoma
4 (114): RG Alex Parsons (61) - USC
5 (146): FS Brendan Smith (58) - Northwestern
6 (178): C Jacob Hickman (53) - Nebraska
7 (210): SS P.J. Mahone (48) - Bowling Green

2011:

[cheese2121]

Buffalo Bills Individual Players Honors/Awards

2009-2010:
DT Marcus Stroud (Pro Bowl)
CB Terrence McGee (Pro Bowl)
HB Marshawn Lynch (Pro Bowl)

2010-2011:


Hall of Fame Inductee's Since Franchise taken over by cheese2121

[cheese2121]

NFL Yearly News


NFL Current Week Standings:

Bills' History:

Super Bowl Winner:

2009-2010: Carolina Panthers (12-4)
2010-2011:

NFL MVP:

2009-2010: QB Tom Brady (Patriots)
2010-2011:

Offensive Rookie of the Year:

2009-2010: QB Mark Sanchez (Jets)
2010-2011:

Defensive Rookie of the Year:

2009-2010: MLB James Laurinaitis (Rams)
2010-2011:

[cheese2121]

Bills' Current Depth Chart/Team Roster
C-Indicates Captain
E-Emergency Quarterback
*-Rookie
()-Overall Rating

[cheese2121]

Alright guys, that is all I will be updating tonight and that completes the front page set up for the most part. Please feel free to post even though I know there is hardly anything to post on. If anyone could PM me about how to do tables (that's how I would like to do my roster/depth chart..I already have it set up in excel) I would greatly appreciate it. Also if anyone is good at making banners I could desperately use one but if not I can always roll with the current one. Thanks for everything!

[Woy]

I'll be following along.

[Skins2K9]

Should be a great franchise. Im following

[cheese2121]

I'll follow. Good luck.

Should be a great franchise. Im following

I'll be following along.

Thanks guys! Glad to have you on board. I just got the roster/depth chart up. Does it look okay and lined up to you all? Easy to read? If it works it will probably be the same style I use to keep track of stats during the season. I have a few more little front page things to do and then I should have a season preview and roster moves as I fill out my roster for the start preseason up. Thanks again!

[cheese2121]

Following bills are a fun team

Thanks! Yeah it should be interesting..definitely a lot of rebuilding to do

Preseason Power rankings are up and will be updated weekly throughout the season!

[Tearz49ers]

When you right reports like I do, there is nothing more thrilling than to inspire someone else into righting reports of their own. Thanks for the shout-out Cheese and you have a follower in me big respect.

[cheese2121]

Bills Sign Two/Release One to Finalize Roster Before Preseason


-Rudi Johnson (71) signed a 1 year $1.41 million deal to fill the Bills third running back spot due to the suspension of Marshawn Lynch. The eight year veteran from Auburn is expected to be third on the depth chart heading into the preseason. Johnson is expected to fill the Bills' desperate need for a power back and could be used in goal line situations. Head coach Dick Jauron had this to say, "We didn't bring Rudi in to ride the bench. While Jackson will be the starter, during Marshawn's absence, if we find ourselves with the lead late, I want Rudi running out the clock."

-On another note, the Bills have terminated the contract of second year corner Reggie Corner (55) in order to make room for rookie quarterback Hunter Cantwell (52), who was signed to a one year league minimum deal. Cantwell will most likely be the emergency quarterback behind Edwards and Fitzpatrick.

[cheese2121]

When you right reports like I do, there is nothing more thrilling than to inspire someone else into righting reports of their own. Thanks for the shout-out Cheese and you have a follower in me big respect.

Glad to have you following man! I have a lot of respect for the work you do and am definitely following your latest chise. If you have any suggestions for me please feel free to comment. Thanks!

[Tearz49ers]

Glad to have you following man! I have a lot of respect for the work you do and am definitely following your latest chise. If you have any suggestions for me please feel free to comment. Thanks!

The only thing I would say is Sliders, they are a must, alsong as you have them down you should be fine.