The Tampa Investment - Madden 20 Owner CFM

[Tritoch42]

The Tampa Investment

A Madden 20 Owner Mode CFM

Hello OS'ers! Many a year ago I ran a Madden game taking the Oakland Raiders, sprucing them up, and moving them to Portland. I haven't touched a Madden game for quite some time, but I picked up M20 for my PC and I'm feeling that Franchise itch again... And for me, any Franchise mode is missing something if I'm not writing up / reporting on it!

I wobbled between a few possible teams to rebuild this time around, and after debating the Bills, Browns, Texans, and Bucs, I decided on Tampa Bay. I think they're in an interesting spot being in a crowded Florida market, with minimal big playmakers, and the chance to take the team in any number of directions following the season.

I'll be taking over as the team's new owner, meaning that a stadium rebuild or even a relocation will probably be high on my personal to-do list. Most posts will be journalist-style coverage of games, but I'm a writing geek so I may throw in a few random character-driven intermissions just to keep things interesting.

Game settings are as follows:

Difficulty: All-Madden -- I am a little too good for All-Pro, but definitely not nearly good enough for All-Madden. That said, I prefer a stiff challenge, so I'm going with it.

Game Time: 12 minutes / 13-second accelerated clock. May adjust this over time to make sure I'm still hitting the sweet spot.

Gameplay Sliders: Matt10's sliders with the tiniest of tweaks.
XP Sliders: TDawg's, as-is.

Hoping to begin working through games today! The Preseason will probably be played very quickly and will focus on positional battles, with more attention paid to the regular season games.

Going to drop in two placeholder posts, and then get ready to run. Feel free to chime in if you enjoy what I write!

[Tritoch42]

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[Tritoch42]

The New Captains of the Ship
Setting the Stage for 2019

The sudden sale of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to wealthy stock & crypto investor Ryan Sterling came as a surprising change of leadership, but it was not the only one for the Bucs heading into the 2019 season.



The team was also entering into the season with a new Head Coach at the helm in Bruce Arians, who left his retirement to take the reins of the struggling team. Arians signed a four-year deal with the team, and then proceeded to assemble the largest coaching staff in the league for the year in his bid to right the ship in Tampa Bay. The 66 year old coach spent many years of his career working to improve NFL Quarterbacks, and it was widely hoped that he could prove to be the missing ingredient in the development of Jameis Winston's skills.



The team that Sterling purchased and that Arian signed on with had little in the way of showstopping talent prior to the start of the season, with Wide Receiver Mike Evans and Linebacker Lavonte David among the team's small group of top-tier players. The majority of the rest of the roster ranged from above average at best to unknown and abysmal at worst -- leaving Arians with few deadly weapons to wield against opposing teams.

The preseason was always a time for position battles, but in the case of the Buccaneers, most of those competitions were between similarly mediocre players hoping to edge out their rivals to get a spot on the final roster. In fact, the most interesting battle might have been not for a position, but for job security.



Jameis Winston and Blaine Gabbert both found themselves in a Quarterback battle, but of a slightly different sort. Winston was the clear and secure starter, with Arians expressing his faith in the young back. However, both Winston and Gabbert were on the final year of their respective contracts in 2019. For Winston in particular, this was an important year -- he didn't have to win the starting job, but he did have one year to convince Arians that he could be the future of the franchise and deserved a new, extended deal.

Both men were put on notice that 2019 was a make-or-break season -- management would be watching their progress closely.

[Tritoch42]

Buccaneers Defense Drives First Preseason Win

Buccaneers DT Vita Vea hurdles over an opposing lineman to attack Ben Roethlisberger.

Aggressive, attacking defense was the name of the game on Friday night when the Buccaneers visited the Steelers to kick off a new year of football for 2019. From the first snap, the Buccaneers showed that they planned to put pressure on the opposing Quarterback, and Ben Roethlisberger found himself throwing just in time to beat a vicious sack on more than one occasion during his one quarter of play.

The Steelers advanced steadily into the red zone under Big Ben's command, but their momentum was cut short when Steelers Running Back James Connor coughed up a fumble on a run, handing possession back to Tampa Bay.



That turnover gave the Tampa Bay offense its first series of 2019, and Jameis Winston stepped up to demonstrate confident play on a long drive downfield.


Jameis Winston connects with star WR Mike Evans.

Winston would go 4-7 for 45 passing yards on the ensuing drive, and drove the Bucs to the outer edge of field goal range before running out of steam. Unfortunately for Tampa Bay, Kicker Matt Gay came up short on the attempt, and Big Ben came back in for one more series as a result. In the end, the first quarter concluded with both teams scoreless.

The Steelers drew first blood early in the 2nd quarter with a 29 yard field goal, but the Buccaneers were quick with their own answer. Blaine Gabbert stepped in to lead the rest of the game, and near the midpoint of the second quarter he connected with rookie Wide Receiver Anthony Johnson for a 16 yard touchdown pass.




Blaine Gabbert had to produce the majority of the Buccaneers' offense for most of the game.

From there, the two teams descended into a defensive battle. The Steelers continually shut down Tampa Bay's run game to force Blaine Gabbert to try and lead a one-dimensional offense, and the Buccaneers allowed big plays by the Steelers but were able to clamp down before allowing any points. The Buccaneers led 7-3 at the halftime break, hanging on to the narrowest of leads.


Steelers MLB Mark Barron intercepts Blaine Gabbert at the start of the second half.

Tampa Bay received the kickoff to start the second half, but after the halftime break, the momentum was on Pittsburgh's side. After Gabbert handed over possession with an interception, Steelers Backup QB Mason Rudolph found his rhythm and threw for a touchdown on two consecutive drives while Gabbert struggled to keep up with the pace. By the end of the third quarter, the Steelers had taken a 17-7 lead.


After being shut out for most of the game, Tampa Bay's rushers finally succeeded in attacking the Steelers in the 4th quarter.

After a 28 yard field goal by Matt Gay made it a one-possession game, the fourth quarter saw the Buccaneers finally find momentum on the ground. After having their run game shut down for three quarters, Tampa Bay running backs Ronald Jones II and Dare Ogunbowale broke multiple big runs against the previously stalwart Pittsburgh defense, culminating in a smashmouth, 1-yard goal line run by Ogunbowale to tie the game at 17.

A bungled backwards screen by Rudolph turned into a recovered fumble for Tampa Bay, and the Bucs ground their way back into the goal line in a repeat of their previous drive, making it to the 1 yard line before turning back to Ogunbowale to seal the deal and finish the game at the two minute warning. However, Ogunbowale was stuffed at the line of scrimmage on a 4th and Goal attempt, turning the ball over to the Steelers with under two minutes to play and the game still tied.

Then, the defense came through.



Backed up in his own end zone, Mason Rudolph couldn't find anyone open on a play-action pass play. After evading one sack, Rudolph tried to flee the end zone only to be hit from behind by RE Jeremiah Ledbetter and brought down in the endzone for a safety.


Steelers coach Mike Tomlin watches as Mason Rudolph is sacked for the game-winning safety.

That sack sealed the game, and Buccaneers ran out the final minute and a half on the clock to escape Pittsburgh with a nail-biting victory at 19-17.

In his postgame comments, Bruce Arians praised the play of his team's defensive unit, noting that they were able to force turnovers and apply strong pressure to the opposing Quarterbacks. With a total of six sacks on the day, the Buccaneers joined the Jets, Bengals, and Texans as the only squads to record 5 or more sacks in Week 1. Arians also highlighted the late-game play of his running backs, but said that they will need to be more consistent in their rushing production to prevent their attack from becoming too limited in future games.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Pittsburgh Steelers
Aug 9, 2019	1ST	2ND	3RD	4TH	SCORE
Tampa Bay Buccaneers (0-0-0)	0	7	0	12	19
Pittsburgh Steelers (0-0-0)	0	3	14	0	17

Team Stats Comparison
	TAM	PIT
Total Offense	327	289
Rushing Yards	151	99
Passing Yards	176	190
First Downs	16	14
Punt Return Yards	2	23
Kick Return Yards	93	24
Total Yards	422	336
Turnovers	1	2
3rd Down Conversion	5-11	6-10
4th Down Conversion	0-1	0-0
2-Point Conversion	0-0	0-0
Red Zone Touchdowns/Field Goals	3-4	3-4
Penalties	2-15	0-0
Posession Time	23:31	24:25

Scoring Summary
SECOND QUARTER SCORING		TAM	PIT
11:16	(PIT) C. Boswell 29yd FG	3	0
7:24	(TAM) A. Johnson 16yd pass from B. Gabbert (M.Gay kick)	7	3
THIRD QUARTER SCORING		TAM	PIT
9:43	(PIT) D. Johnson 16yd pass from M. Rudolph (C. Boswell kick)	7	10
3:00	(PIT) E. Rogers 7yd pass from M. Rudolph (C. Boswell kick)	7	17
FOURTH QUARTER SCORING		TAM	PIT
11:47	(TAM) M. Gay 28yd FG	10	17
9:50	(TAM) D. Ogunbowale 1yd run (M. Gay kick)	17	17
1:48	(TAM) Team Safety	19	17

Tampa Bay Buccaneers PASSING C/A YDS TD INT Blaine Gabbert 11-21 138 1 1 Jameis Winston 4-7 45 0 0 RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD Ronald Jones II 12 89 7.4 0 Dare Ogunbowale 7 47 6.7 1 Andre Ellington 3 13 4.3 0 Peyton Barber 2 5 2.5 0 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD Scott Miller 3 39 13.0 0 Justin Watson 3 44 14.6 0 Cameron Brate 2 30 15.0 0 Mike Evans 2 31 15.5 0 Anthony Johnson 2 41 20.5 1 KICKING FG XP PTS LONG Matt Gay 1/2 2/2 5 28

Pittsburgh Steelers PASSING C/A YDS TD INT Mason Rudolph 12-16 142 2 0 Ben Roethlisberger 5-5 79 0 0 RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD Jaylen Samuels 11 51 4.6 0 Benny Snell Jr 8 12 1.5 0 James Connor 5 36 7.2 0 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD Xavier Grimble 5 64 12.8 0 Diontae Johnson 3 42 14.0 1 Eli Rogers 3 25 8.3 1 DEFENSE TACK SACK INT TD Mark Barron 3 0 1 0 KICKING FG XP PTS LONG Chris Boswell 1-1 2-2 5 30

[Tritoch42]

First game is in the books! Also, if anyone has any insight on video embedding, I tried to embed my video highlights both from YouTube and Imgur, and both failed. I direct-linked the videos in the spoilers for now but I'd like to be able to integrate them right into the posts.

[Tritoch42]

Buccaneers Struggle On the Way to 2-2 Preseason Finish

Despite opening their year with a win over the Steelers, the Buccaneers did not have an easy time through the 2019 preseason. New Head Coach Bruce Arians kept the majority of his starters off the field for most of the stint, but while some of his backups showed hints of potential, others fell hard -- sometimes hard enough to lose their spot on the team.

The Good

Jameis Winston saw minimal preseason play, but looked good in each appearance.

With several of his key starters already locked in for the 2019 season, Bruce Arians only left his first team out for a very small portion of the preseason. The backups played almost the entire run, and many of them showed that the team had enough depth to keep things afloat in the case of a critical injury. Backup QB Blaine Gabbert turned in competent performances, and while there is no peer for WR Mike Evans on the team, there is enough talent on the edge to prevent him from being Winston's only target come the regular season.


Dare Ogunbowale rushed for almost 150 yards against the Cowboys in week 4, and led the team in rushing yards during the preseason.

The team also showed great depth in the backfield for their running game. Each week, a rotation of backs moved through the rushing attack, and that phase of the game remained steady regardless of who was taking the handoffs. The biggest standout of the group, however, was backup HB Dare Ogunbowale.

In the Bucs' victory over the Cowboys in Week 4, Ogunbowale produced over 150 yards to continue a strong preseason performance. Ogunbowale routinely posted big plays each week for the offense, and on the heels of a three-figure rushing game and a touchdown against Dallas, he impressed Arians enough to be moved up the depth chart to the #2 running back, displacing Ronald Jones II as the primary backup runner to Peyton Barber.


The Bad

Rookie QB Nick Fitzgerald was demoted to the practice squad after a terrible performance against the Dolphins.

Tampa Bay had very streaky performances through the air -- sometimes dominating, sometimes being unable to find any sense of rhythm. The worst offender among the group was rookie QB Nick Fitzgerald, who played the second half of the team's Week 2 matchup with Miami and completed just two passes while throwing two interceptions in the process. This poor output saw Fitzgerald demoted down to the practice unit, leaving Ryan Griffin to play the #3 role behind Jameis Winston and Blaine Gabbert.


The Dolphins gashed the Buccaneers, particularly on the ground, in a 37-13 beatdown.

Similar inconsistency plagued the team's defense. In week 1, the squad held the Steelers to just 17 points in a difficult win, only to allow 37 points in a blowout loss to the Dolphins a week later. At their best, the Buccaneers showed that they could put heavy pressure on the Quarterback and use creative blitzing to stifle the run game. At their worst, they looked amateurish as other teams' backup units ran wild against theirs, finding big openings downfield and breaking repeat big plays against a unit that sometimes looked lost on the field.

The Final 53
When all was said and done, the Buccaneers had broken even at 2-2 for the preseason, defeating the Steelers in Week 1 and the Cowboys in Week 4, while losing to the Dolphins in Week 2 and the Browns in Week 3. Head Coach Bruce Arians trimmed his roster down to the final 53, as listed below:

Tampa Bay Buccaneers 2019 Roster
#	OFFENSE	POS	AGE	HT	WT	COLLEGE
3	Jameis Winston	QB	25	6'4''	231	Florida State
11	Blaine Gabbert	QB	29	6'4''	235	Missouri
4	Ryan Griffin	QB	29	6'5''	210	Tulane
25	Peyton Barber	HB	25	5'11''	225	Auburn
44	Dara Ogunbowale	HB	25	5'10''	205	Wisconsin
27	Ronald Jones II	HB	22	5'11''	221	USC
13	Mike Evans	WR	26	6'5''	231	Texas A&M
12	Chris Godwin	WR	23	6'1''	205	Penn State
19	Breshad Perriman	WR	25	6'2''	215	UCF
17	Justin Watson	WR	24	6'3''	215	Penn
10	Scott Miller	WR	22	5'9''	174	Bowling Green State
80	O.J. Howard	TE	24	6'6''	250	Alabama
84	Cameron Brate	TE	28	6'5''	245	Harvard
87	Jordan Leggett	TE	24	6'5''	258	Clemson
76	Donovan Smith	LT	26	6'6''	338	Penn State
64	Cole Boozer	LT	24	6'5''	300	Temple
74	Ali Marpet	LG	26	6'4''	307	Hobart
67	Mike Liedtke	LG	27	6'3''	305	Illinois State
61	Zack Bailey	LG	23	6'5''	299	South Carolina
66	Ryan Jensen	C	28	6'4''	319	CSU-Pueblo
62	Evan Smith	C	33	6'2''	308	Idaho State
65	Alex Cappa	RG	24	6'6''	305	Humboldt State
71	Earl Watford	RG	29	6'3''	300	James Madison
69	Demar Dotson	RT	33	6'9''	315	Southern Miss
77	Caleb Benenoch	RT	25	6'5''	305	UCLA
#	DEFENSE	POS	AGE	HT	WT	COLLEGE
92	William Gholston	LE	28	6'6''	281	Michigan State
56	Rakeem Nunez-Roches	LE	26	6'2''	307	Southern Miss
73	Terry Beckner JR	LE	22	6'4''	295	Missouri
93	Ndamukong Suh	RE	32	6'4''	313	Nebraska
91	Beau Allen	RE	27	6'3''	327	Wisconsin
50	Vita Vea	DT	24	6'4''	347	Washington
95	Mitch Unrein	DT	32	6'4''	299	Wyoming
58	Shaquil Barret	LOLB	26	6'2''	250	Colorado State
94	Carl Nassib	LOLB	26	6'7''	275	Penn State
98	Anthony Nelson	LOLB	22	6'7''	271	Iowa
54	Lavonte David	MLB	29	6'1''	233	Nebraska
45	Devin White	MLB	21	6'0''	237	LSU
51	Kendell Beckwith	MLB	24	6'2''	243	LSU
20	Deone Bucannon	MLB	27	6'1''	211	Washington State
48	Jack Cichy	MLB	23	6'2''	234	Wisconsin
90	Jason Pierre-Paul	ROLB	30	6'5''	278	USF
57	Noah Spence	ROLB	25	6'2''	251	Eastern Kentucky
59	Devante Bond	ROLB	26	6'1''	236	Oklahoma
28	Vernon Hargreaves III	CB	24	5'10''	205	Florida
26	Sean Murphy-Bunting	CB	22	6'0''	195	Central Michigan
33	Carlton Davis III	CB	22	6'1''	203	Auburn
29	Ryan Smith	CB	25	5'11''	189	North Carolina Central
35	Jamel Dean	CB	24	6'1''	208	Auburn
21	Justin Evans	FS	24	6'0''	199	Texas A&M
34	Mike Edwards	FS	23	5'11''	200	Kentucky
36	M.J. Stewart Jr	SS	23	5'11''	200	North Carolina
31	Jordan Whitehead	SS	22	5'10''	198	Pittsburgh
30	Orion Stewart	SS	25	6'1''	205	Baylor
#	SPECIAL TEAMS	POS	AGE	HT	WT	COLLEGE
9	Matt Gay	K	25	6'0''	232	Utah
5	Cairo Santos	K	27	5'8''	160	Tulane
8	Bradley Pinion	P	25	6'5''	240	Clemson

The Buccaneers will now head into the regular season, where they will prepare to put their skills and new leadership on display against the 49ers at home.

[Tritoch42]

Doing full game writeups for the preseason just didn't seem great haha, so I glossed over it and hit the highlights. So far, fingers crossed, the team is healthy and we have a few decent offensive weapons lined up. Hoping that translates into a good start against San Francisco!