Patch Notes

Replays get the whole screen. Watching a replay from the pause menu while you’re calling a play no longer leaves the play-call panel over half the screen: it steps aside until the replay ends. Reported in the Discord.

Patch notes. You’re reading them. A dot on the Patch Notes link means there’s a note here you haven’t seen yet.

A Madden-style game clock. After a play that ends in bounds, the clock keeps running while you call the next one, with a 40-second play clock that drops to :25 once both sides have called their plays (or :20, :15, :10 or off, in Settings). It stops by NFL rules: going out of bounds only stops it in the last 2:00 of the first half and the last 5:00 of the game. There’s a two-minute warning, new NO HUDDLE, SPIKE and KNEEL buttons, and a CPU that hurries when it’s behind and runs out the clock when it’s ahead. Quarters are now 3:45, 6:00 (the default) or 10:00, with as many plays as the old 2, 3 and 5 minutes, and saved settings switch over on their own.

Onside kicks are a gamble again. The return team used to run away from a short kick while it was in the air. Now the front line reads it and attacks the bounce, and the CPU remembers when you’ve tried one. Surprise onside kicks went from about 74% recovered to about 28% (about 1 in 10 when the CPU is expecting one). Normal kickoffs are unchanged.

Interceptions turn the play around. Blocks used to stay locked and the offense froze, so about 70% of picks went back for touchdowns. Now blocks break, the offense chases and the defense blocks for the returner: pick-sixes are down to about 9%, close to the NFL rate.

Fumbles are up for grabs. Both teams now go after a loose ball. The defense used to recover 85% of fumbles; now it’s about two in three.

Scrambles get chased. The CPU defense now reacts when your QB leaves the pocket: the edge keeps contain, the spy closes in, linemen peel off their blocks and everyone rallies. Sideline scrambles went from a first down about 57% of the time to about 34%.

PLUG is no longer an automatic sack. The CPU quarterback now reads an all-out blitz and gets the ball out, or throws it away. PLUG used to sack him more often than not; now it’s about 1 time in 10.

Faster game previews. The clips on the games page load faster, look sharper and use about a fifth of the data, and they only download when they’re on screen.

A sound when you’re on the clock. A chime when it’s your pick, a tick with 10 seconds left, and a speaker button in the pick clock to turn them off. A Discord request.

Two-point tries in the box score. A converted try no longer counts as a touchdown, a pass attempt or yards. Reported in the Discord.

A camera for defense. The new DEFENSE CAMERA setting, ALL-22 unless you pick another, takes over whenever you’re on defense, covering kicks included. Your old choice is now the OFFENSE CAMERA.

The slot is covered. Man defenders now take the receiver on their own side instead of chasing one across the formation, and play action only fools a defender who’s covering someone for a moment. Throws to the slot on PA CROSSERS went from a first down 47% of the time to 36%.

Player cards and season stats. Hover a player (or press and hold) for their card. Every game now has a box score, and the results add Season stats for every player; leaders land near 3,000 passing yards and 14 sacks. Nothing shows until the results, so the broadcast stays a surprise.

A full box score. BOX SCORE on the results, at halftime and in the pause menu lists every player on both teams. A Discord request.

Loose punts are live. A punt that bounces past your returner can still be scooped up and run back, though it can squirt away too.

Onside kicks, rebalanced. The receiving team now expects one when you’re behind late or have just tried one. A surprise onside kick works about 30% of the time (it was about 45%), and about 1 in 8 when they’re ready for it.

Last-second field goals. In the final seconds of a half you can kick on any down, and PRO’s CPU now takes the points on the last snap.

Win the toss, pick your half. Win the coin toss and choose RECEIVE or DEFER. The CPU usually defers.

Time to switch on defense. The CPU waits two more seconds before the snap when you’re on defense, so you can pick your player. A Discord request.

Difficulty that matters. The difficulty setting now changes how well the CPU plays, not your team too. In tests against the Kanto league, the average margin is about +8 points a game on the easiest setting, +4 in the middle and +1 on the hardest.

Returns by the rules. Carry a kick or a pick into your own end zone and go down there, and it’s a safety, so no more fielding a kick at the 5 to kneel for a touchback. Running out of your own end zone is a safety too, a returner brought down across the goal line scores, and kickoffs start the clock when the ball is touched.

Fits more screens. Both games fit small phones with Safari’s bars showing, BOWL plays upright on tablets, PRO shows the whole formation on iPads, and on iPhones the field no longer shrinks into a corner after you switch apps.

Draft-day fixes. A pick tapped at 0:01 now counts, picks no longer freeze phones in the biggest pools, and the chat keeps showing the newest line. On laptops the home and lobby fit without scrolling, and on a phone held sideways the pick clock scrolls away to give the pool the screen.

Picker fixes. Long names fit on phones without splitting mid-word, “025” finds #25, and tapping the QB’s name tag opens the QB, not the fullback.

Rules and screen fixes. Overtime works like PRO’s (a first-drive field goal gets an answer), receivers stop at the back of the end zone instead of running out of it, and there are no more forward passes from past the line. Halftime and the final score come back after a pause, and a held key no longer snaps the ball.

Smoother controls. A replay now pauses with the game and any key skips it, the QB is yours again after the flea flicker’s pitch, and T calls a timeout right after a play to save the clock.

Steadier runs. When a run isn’t your best, the results say “Your best: #5 today”. The share card works on older iPhones, a run you just posted shows on both boards, and a dropped connection gives up after 20 seconds instead of hanging.

Receiver buttons on touch screens. While your QB can throw, buttons 1 to 5 replace A and B, colored by how open each receiver is. Tap one to throw to him, as in PRO.

A new look. The Fantasy Draft moves to the site’s new design, with a violet accent and, on phones, a chat bar that opens as a sheet.

See the play on defense. On defense the camera now looks from behind the offense, as on your own drives. Before, only 5 to 8 yards past the line fit on screen.

Stats on every tile. The picker shows each Pokémon’s base stats, height and weight, and hovering a player on the field (press and hold on phones) brings up their card. Never a fit rating, so the challenges keep their secret.

No more touchdowns caught in the stands. Deep balls were thrown past the end line and still counted. Now throws aim inside the end zone, and a catch out of bounds is incomplete.

The Scouting Guide. What each position looks for (stats, size and types) in star ratings, plus how the Team Score works. The binoculars next to the builder’s title open it. Read the guide

Launch-night fixes. On phones BOWL keeps every receiver on screen, menu taps no longer get lost on iPhones, and with a controller each receiver shows the button that throws to him.

A new look. The builder gets a broadcast-style redesign: one menu for every mode, the field up top on phones, and challenges that read like a TV scorebug.

About, Privacy and a Discord button. New About & contact and Privacy pages, a Report abuse link in the footer, and a Discord button on the builder.

Crown the champion. The share card gets a big glowing CHAMPION banner, and the champion’s row turns gold in the standings.

Away teams. Miss two picks in a row and the computer picks for your team until you make a move or tap “I’m back”.

Scouting help. Hover a stat to learn what it does (a hint, never the answer), and heights and weights show in feet and pounds, like a US Pokédex.

Retro runs and a Legendary limit. A Retro 17–0 run rolls only Gen 1–4, Kanto to Sinnoh, and a 17–0 run can draft at most 3 Legendary or Mythical Pokémon.

Legendaries switch. Add each generation’s Legendary and Mythical Pokémon to the builder, marked with a star. Lineups with and without them are saved separately.

Formations, a kicker and every generation. A 3-4 or 4-3 defense, a fullback or a slot receiver on offense, an optional kicker, and all nine generations.

Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh and All. Gen 2, 3 and 4 pools, each with its own saved lineup, plus an All pool that mixes every generation.

Launch-night polish. Every player faces the middle of the field, sprites are sized by real Pokédex height (small Pokémon stay readable), and names stay readable over the sprites.