In week one of the SFL season the Tennessee Titans hosted the New York football Giants, in what looked like a promising start for the Titans as they went into halftime with a 4 point lead which turned into 7 when they kicked a FG in the 3rd after getting ball to start half anf goig up 20-13. After the FG to go up 7 the offense seemed to stall for the rest of the game. Tennessee had the run game going early and the defense was forcing turnovers and had a pick 6. Late into the game it seemed like head coach Byrd didn't seem to trust Willis' arm as the playcalling stayed true to the run game that wasn't working after halftime. The Giants went up 29-20 with 6 mins left in the 4th and needed a big drive from the offense, Willis didnt come up to the occasion as he threw a pick 6 missing an open reciever consequently ending the game. The Titans O got shutout in the second half and willis threw 3 INTs and finished the game 6-18 with a mere 76 passing yards, a rough day for the rookie. Willis was a 3rd round pick who was a clear project QB so it came to a surprise when Willis was announced the starter week 1 over vet Ryan Tannehill. Coach Byrd didn't seem to be very confident in the rookie despite starting him week 1, but reassured that he will be the starter going forward, saying "We drafted a QB for a reason"' it seems like the Malik Willis project in Music City is going to continue. The Titans will travel to Buffalo next week looking to right the ship on offense.

After a month of inactivity due to the negligence of our good friends over at EA, the SFL is back! Sort of....soon we will be starting up a fresh new league with some people keeping their teams while other owners entered themselves in a randomized team draft to find a new home. And while it does suck that we have to restart I think we can find one bright side to come out of this, that being everyone who got trade raped in the league get a new chance to keep their virginity in tact this time around! In this post im going to be looking at the dynamics of trading here in the SFL. As some may know I've been vocal in the chat about this subject but instead of just complaining in there I'm putting out an article to help put things in perspective for people with little experience trading in the SFL.

Let me start by saying this for all the new owners and PLEASE listen carefully when I say this. 99% of the time if an owner who has been around is slithering his way into your PMs looking for a trade, I promise you no matter how they try to word it, they ARE NOT there looking to "make your team better"! No matter what you think you know, if you're new you are not familiar with how things like the trade calculator, development, drafts, etc all work in this league specifically! There are things that don't show up in the trade calculator that are very impactful such as a player being dumped from a team to avoid having to pay them, a player that is clearly going to regress, trading for a 1st round pick that will be bottom 12 etc. I'm going to be showing some examples of some VERY BAD trades that happened prior to our restart and go over why they were horrible trades.

Lets look at this trade between the reigning SB Champion Chargers (Q) and a guy who just had entered the league and had no idea of how anything shakes out in the SFL later in the cycle.

First problem here is that Dolphins owner is trading for a running back, RB is the easiest position to development and get abilites for in madden and it is NEVER worth it to give up large amounts of capital for. The only excpetion to trading for an RB is if they are an X factor with wrecking ball / freight train IE. Henry bc those RBS are broken. Ekler on the other hand does not have either trait and you could easily draft or trade for a RB thats speedy and feed them to eventually get whatever abilities. Secondly when you look at this trade, the TE involved was an X factor rookie!!! Just horrible he was involved in this deal, thats an X factor at TE which you dont see many of, that also will be getting paid 1M each year for the rest of the cycle, thats a huge steal to have and he should not been anywhere close to this deal. Third, Ekler was on contract year and was around 99 ovr w X faxtor meaning he'd be getting top RB money, Q was a able to dump ekler off on this new guy and not have to worry ab paying him and not being tight for cash having to pay other young stars like Herbert. Q got great draft capital, an X factor rookie TE, a solid young interior Oline in return for dumping off an X factor back that needed to be paid and  didnt have wrecking ball / freight train, an absolute fleecing of a poor new guy.

Now we have another truly horrible trade that was made involving another new guy. Here the Steelers traded for two average defenders with no abilites (Smith also 30 years old and will regress) a first and a third and sent away X factor safety Minkah Fitzpatrick. This is a bad trade because when you look at the two aquired picks you have to figure that Steps is probably making the playoffs so that pick is most likely going to be in the bottom 12, I PROMISE YOU! You are not drafting anybody that is going to have the impact on your team that Minkah will have on field. That is a player in the deep part of the field your opponent just cannot throw too and is huge to have on defense! It'll make your life much easier when defending to have someone like Minkah and nobody you are getting with those 2 picks will be a better player then minkah by the time the cycle ends. You have to remember with each season that passes, the less valuable those draft picks are despite what they say in the calculator. The average cycle is about 4 seasons so a player selected in the 2nd draft will only give you 2 seasons worth of dev, that player will not become a Minkah Fitzpatrick. And with us having to restart we dont know how long this cycle will be which in my opinion makes trading for picks and giving up studs even more foolish. Steps with the fleece here!

Third trade here we have another new owner (looks like a pattern) trading with Turk and GB. Aaron Jones is a 28 yr old RB that was making 16M per who was a superstar with the following abilites: Matchup Nightmare and Recupuration. Neither of these abilties have anything to do with the power back build and recupuration just gives better stamina recovery while nightmare gives better cuts vs linebackers but is that really worth trading a first round pick for? NOOOO!! This was an average RB with an expensive contract dumped off for a first round pick, fleece by turk! You could have any average RB fill in for AJ here and keep your first rounder because you most likely as a new owner with a bad team are going to have a high pick!

Now after analyzing these trades I hope it will open the eyes of people who were trading and getting fleeced, just remember anyone who pops up in your DM is probably looking to trade rape you if you are new, they are not looking to make your team better. And this article is not here to try and make me look like a good guy because if one of you came into my office looking to get fleeced, I would fleece you too! So please look out for yourself when trading here. Do not trades for players with useless abilites, guys that are old and going to regress, guys that have mid abilities that are on contract year and will be a great dump off for other owners to get off the books or runningbacks with freight train or X factor, stay safe out there new guys, and remember no mean no!

I'm back with my annual “Way too early” season predictions, there has been a little moving around conference wise but mostly the AFC is still intact with all of its former champions. There are some more interesting division this year but less talking let's get right into it.

AFC East

1. Buffalo Bills - Guy

2. MIami Dolphins - Matt

3. NY Jets - OG Walker

4. New England Patriots - Hoodie Dan

First off we have the AFC East, I have guy taking first after a very impressive back half of last cycle where Guy made his way to a super bowl after besting Matt in the conference championship round so I’m giving him the edge here. I think theres a possibility Matt will struggle a little bit with the severe downgrade at QB but there is still a lot of firepower in the offense so I think he’ll take the division in later seasons. Dont really expect much from OG walker but I think he’ll finish above the new guy.

AFC North

1. Baltimore Ravens - Ed

2. Cincinnati Bengals -  Codie

3. Cleveland Browns - Julian

4. Pittsburgh Steelers - Dillion

Here in the AFC North we have Ed in first and Codie in second, in years past these two have been in the same division and Eds had the edge over Codie and expect it to stay that way here, I do think Codie will finish above Julian as we haven’t seen Julian play on a consistent level for an entire cycle and will take a season before he gets his game right, not much to say about another new guy.

AFC South

1. Indianapolis Colts - Mike

2. Tennessee Titans - Bryce

3. Jacksonville Jaguars - AC

4. Houston Texans - Stackz

Easily the harder prediction comes from the AFC South, I honestly don't know how this division will play out season 1 so this is what I decided based off roster talent. AC, Bryce, and Mike are all good users but are inconsistent. I think they all split with each other so it comes down to outer division play. Again, dont know much about new guy.

AFC West

1. San Diego Chargers - Q

2. Las Vegas Raiders - Me

3. Denver Broncos - Castro

4. Kansas City Chiefs - Crim

In the west I have Q taking 1st as I believe I might struggle a bit defensively with all the firepower in the west before I can make some real changes to the defensive, I definitely wont finish below Crim tho, he sucks!. Crim and Castro are interchangeable tbh, but I think castro might throw some games out of the division.

Conference Playoffs

1. Chargers

2. Ravens

3. Bills

4. Colts

5. Raiders

6. Dolphins

7. Bengals

** Just putting it out there this conference has got more talent than the NFC so good users will consistently be left out of the playoffs **

NFC East

1. Philadelphia Eagles - Gharl

2. Dallas Cowboys - Gomes

3. Washington Commanders - Goon

4. NY Giants - Palpatine

 Now to start off the NFC I have Gharl as the champ of the east, a division that is kind of up for grabs but I think Gharl has the most sense out of all the user and a good squad so I see him winning. I got gomes coming in 2nd and Goon in 3rd because Goon got exposed for being mid without an OP team last cycle as he failed to make playoffs and just was in games because he was super cheesy and does gay shit that children who play MUT do and last Madden defense sucked. Again nothing for the new guy.

NFC North

1. Minnesota Vikings - Steps

2. Detroit Lions - Jason

3. Green Bay Packers - Turk

4. Chicago Bears - Schwartz

Oh lord, where do I start here? No offense to these guys, but this has to be the least competitive division in the league. Steps made his return last madden after a hiatus and didn’t quite look like the Steps I say pre hiatus, but I think his squad is pretty legit and will win out in this division. Jason Miller looked somewhat nice before he quit last cycle so I’m not sure what to expect from him but I think he’ll do better than Turk, just haven't seen Turk play at a high level yet. And then another new guy in 4th.

NFC South 

1. Carolina Panthers - Malek

2. Tampa Bay Bucs - Chan

3. Atlanta Falcons - Mark

4. New Orleans Saints - Gabe

Really hard for me to decide who will take first here in the south, but I have Malek taking it first season just because he’s in a conference that he’s familiar with where generally no one took him down last year, maybe Chan drops a trap game or two but they'll still split in the division. Mark has never really showed anything and lets be real, Gabe just ass juice.

NFC West

1. Arizona Cardinals - LB

2. San Francisco 49ers - Zach

3. Seattle Seahawks - PatLad

4. Los Angeles Rams - Brad

And Finally we have the west, newcomer to the NFC LB will most likely take first in the opening season but Zach will be a problem down the road because that roster is loaded. I actually played Pat today and he's not bad at all, Brad hasnt shown improvement yet but lets hope we see it this cycle!

Conference Playoffs

1. Cardinals 

2. Panthers

3. Eagles

4. Vikings

5. Bucs

6. 49ers

7. Cowboys

I'm back with my annual “Way too early” season predictions, there has been a little moving around conference wise but mostly the AFC is still intact with all of its former champions. There are some more interesting division this year but less talking let's get right into it.

AFC East

1. Buffalo Bills - Guy

2. MIami Dolphins - Matt

3. NY Jets - OG Walker

4. New England Patriots - Hoodie Dan

First off we have the AFC East, I have guy taking first after a very impressive back half of last cycle where Guy made his way to a super bowl after besting Matt in the conference championship round so I’m giving him the edge here. I think theres a possibility Matt will struggle a little bit with the severe downgrade at QB but there is still a lot of firepower in the offense so I think he’ll take the division in later seasons. Dont really expect much from OG walker but I think he’ll finish above the new guy.

AFC North

1. Baltimore Ravens - Ed

2. Cincinnati Bengals -  Codie

3. Cleveland Browns - Julian

4. Pittsburgh Steelers - Dillion

Here in the AFC North we have Ed in first and Codie in second, in years past these two have been in the same division and Eds had the edge over Codie and expect it to stay that way here, I do think Codie will finish above Julian as we haven’t seen Julian play on a consistent level for an entire cycle and will take a season before he gets his game right, not much to say about another new guy.

AFC South

1. Indianapolis Colts - Mike

2. Tennessee Titans - Bryce

3. Jacksonville Jaguars - AC

4. Houston Texans - Stackz

Easily the harder prediction comes from the AFC South, I honestly don't know how this division will play out season 1 so this is what I decided based off roster talent. AC, Bryce, and Mike are all good users but are inconsistent. I think they all split with each other so it comes down to outer division play. Again, dont know much about new guy.

AFC West

1. San Diego Chargers - Q

2. Las Vegas Raiders - Me

3. Denver Broncos - Castro

4. Kansas City Chiefs - Crim

In the west I have Q taking 1st as I believe I might struggle a bit defensively with all the firepower in the west before I can make some real changes to the defensive, I definitely wont finish below Crim tho, he sucks!. Crim and Castro are interchangeable tbh, but I think castro might throw some games out of the division.

Conference Playoffs

1. Chargers

2. Ravens

3. Bills

4. Colts

5. Raiders

6. Dolphins

7. Bengals

** Just putting it out there this conference has got more talent than the NFC so good users will consistently be left out of the playoffs **

NFC East

1. Philadelphia Eagles - Gharl

2. Dallas Cowboys - Gomes

3. Washington Commanders - Goon

4. NY Giants - Palpatine

 Now to start off the NFC I have Gharl as the champ of the east, a division that is kind of up for grabs but I think Gharl has the most sense out of all the user and a good squad so I see him winning. I got gomes coming in 2nd and Goon in 3rd because Goon got exposed for being mid without an OP team last cycle as he failed to make playoffs and just was in games because he was super cheesy and does gay shit that children who play MUT do and last Madden defense sucked. Again nothing for the new guy.

NFC North

1. Minnesota Vikings - Steps

2. Detroit Lions - Jason

3. Green Bay Packers - Turk

4. Chicago Bears - Schwartz

Oh lord, where do I start here? No offense to these guys, but this has to be the least competitive division in the league. Steps made his return last madden after a hiatus and didn’t quite look like the Steps I say pre hiatus, but I think his squad is pretty legit and will win out in this division. Jason Miller looked somewhat nice before he quit last cycle so I’m not sure what to expect from him but I think he’ll do better than Turk, just haven't seen Turk play at a high level yet. And then another new guy in 4th.

NFC South 

1. Carolina Panthers - Malek

2. Tampa Bay Bucs - Chan

3. Atlanta Falcons - Mark

4. New Orleans Saints - Gabe

Really hard for me to decide who will take first here in the south, but I have Malek taking it first season just because he’s in a conference that he’s familiar with where generally no one took him down last year, maybe Chan drops a trap game or two but they'll still split in the division. Mark has never really showed anything and lets be real, Gabe just ass juice.

NFC West

1. Arizona Cardinals - LB

2. San Francisco 49ers - Zach

3. Seattle Seahawks - PatLad

4. Los Angeles Rams - Brad

And Finally we have the west, newcomer to the NFC LB will most likely take first in the opening season but Zach will be a problem down the road because that roster is loaded. I actually played Pat today and he's not bad at all, Brad hasnt shown improvement yet but lets hope we see it this cycle!

Conference Playoffs

1. Cardinals 

2. Panthers

3. Eagles

4. Vikings

5. Bucs

6. 49ers

7. Cowboys

Halfway through the season and we stll have 8 contestants. This week we have Zach as a heavy favorite with 3 people counting on him to win his game vs Turk. At this point in the season picks will start ti get more interesting down the road.

Nobody was eliminated in our previous week so we still stand at 8 contestants. We have a popular matchup in the NYG vs SEA game with the Giants as favoritrs. Kasodilla has potential to eliminate quite a few people again if he can pull out the upset. 

What a week it was for the survivor pool last week, we saw a record 4 participants eliminated, now down to 8 from our starting 15! Kasodilla defeated the favorite OG Walker in a game that saw Ed and Codie to the door, while Julian took a nice win over Tampa to eliminate Malek, and lastly Guy was gone after fooolishly picking NOLA in their 38-0 shutout to Steps. We have some more good games this week that might see some more eliminations so lets get to it.

The Miami Dolphins have found themselves to a hot start to the season sitting at 5-0 entering their bye week. After starting off 2-4 in the previous season and later being eliminated in the wildcard round Miami is looking to turn it around this year. In the first 5 games its been the Dolphins defense thats been in the limelight. 3rd year players Jevon Holland and Jaelen Phillips have evolved into cornerstones of the defense making impact plays in every game, while being complimented by rookie first round draft pick Thomas Andrews, signal caller Jerome Baker, vet superstar Xavien Howard, and more; the defense has come into its own and has been setting up the team for much success. On the other side of the ball 3rd year WR Jaylen Waddle has gotten off to a hot start scoring 4 TDs and racking up 400 yards, while Miami has been missing out on their newfound star RB  Kyle Morris who will return in 1 game Nyhiem Hines has been picking up the pieces. The team looks to keep this momentum as the season goes on.

Down to 12 owners in our survivor pool, Kale was eliminated last week after Julian won vs Chan.

Here we are in week 3 and we had another elimination last week as Diego picked Gharl over WILLIAM GOMES and saw himself out. Week 3 picks are here.

Welcome to week 2 of the SFL Survivor pool! Last week saw two particpants already eliminated, Gharl and Chan thanks for playing. Chan's homeboy OG Walker failed him and saw him out in just one week, while Gharl was a victim of Gabe's stripper fueled victory over Zach and the Steelers. This week we have some more interesting matchups so let's get into it.

Welcome to the new addition of SFL's Survivor Pool! Here we are going to be running a survivor pool just as you would IRL minus the cash buy in. As far as reward goes commisioner Q said he will have a proclaimed prize for our winnner soon. The rules are simple: Typical survivor pool. Pick a matchup each week and choose your winner, if you pick wrong you’re out. You cannot pick a team twice during the season. You cannot choose a matchup that has a CPU involved. You are not allowed to choose a matchup involving yourself.

With that being said lets get into this weeks picks. In our first week see some popular picks throughout the table. Overwhelminly Buffalo seems to be the most popular pick against Philly, it seems Brad A has the oppurtunity to really shake things up here week 1. The next common pick is the reigning super bowl champions Clevland Browns over Indy. Ed coming off an offseason where most of the team was retained and looking for another run going up against Julian, some can consider this the "Lock of the Week". Q and Turk are among the next most popular picks and we have 3 rougue picks from Castro with JAX, Chan with MIN, and Gharl with PIT. It should make for an interesting week 1. 

Now before we ask "Whos is Diego?" let me introduce him. Diego is a member of the crew who does not play madden but has been keeping up with the SFL since we first joined, some may call him the SFL's #1 fan or SFL Super Fan. He thoroughly enjoys watching SFL games and is following most of your twitch channels. He checks up on the DL regulary and likes keeping up with the league, so I asked him if he'd like to be part of the pool for fun. Fun fact Diego is a Computer science major and currently working an making an "SFL Redzone" website similar to how NFL redzone works to stream multiple games as they're going on.