Solo Elementary Adjustments for SOM Football
BarryK Year-Offensive-Line-Ratings2012-25-16.6.xlsx
A special treat! Barry The K, aka BarryK1960 on the SOM Forum, has very kindly allowed me to host his basic/ elementary sack adjustment file. (There’s this part of me that remembers that he’s from Michigan originally too, not far from where I grew up, but that I’m not sure about. )
Anyway, the purpose of the file is a solo tool for those who play the elementary game and use those cards to resolves sacks in Strat-O-Matic Football. The idea is using only the basic game sack numbers off solely the defensive cards will cause “oversacking” by about 15-16 pct, and that this also fails to take into account the quality of the offensive line in question. Offensive line quality is something that is handled by the Advanced game (line ratings) and Super Advanced game (individual ratings) versions but not in the Elementary Game.
Barry The K solved this with a (mostly) downward modifier he applied season by season based on the offensive line’s numbers. If you look, as an example, at 1985 Chicago’s sack ratings off their cards, you find they have one of the greatest team sack cards, 14 chances out of 36 on elementary short and long passes. (1984 Chicago had a whopping 18!) Without some kind of adjustment they would dominate 1985 Miami, which was not how the head to head matchup in the real season played out.
This is the Antidote
Checking the ‘1985’ tab Barry suggests using the 5 column for 1985 Miami as a modifier. This column, the strongest on the chart, gives 12 results back to the offense out of 36 as receiver outcomes, something that favors 1985 Miami. This will reduce 1985 Chicago’s sack pct from 14/72 (19.4 pct) overall chances defense right to 9.33/72 (13.0 pct) chances overall on downfield passes.
This also brings The Marks Brothers, those magnificent Miami receivers into the game, adding in an additional 4.66 receiver results to the 8 chances on the defense’s card. Those results may be defense right, but they count for yardage none the less.
Now if 1985 Chicago faces 1985 Detroit instead, the Lions use the 2 chart, which converts 3/36 results to receiver outcomes. The sack percentage is now 12.83/72 (17.8 pct) and the additional receiver 1.17 results are not nearly as impactful, and those results are not coming from Duper and Clayton.
That’s not gone well
If you are going to use the Elementary Defenses in solo play I think these spreadsheets are fantastic. Thanks 🙏 Barry!
Enjoy!
Fred Bobberts
Reprinted with Permission from the Author November 8, 2026.
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