Why the Buccaneers?

[MrNFL_FanIQ]

This game has make me scratch my head many times, but perhaps more than anything else, why are the Buccaneers so god-like? The season before the game in reality, they were a low rung playoff time. But every season with any team they seem like they are always 13-3 to 16-0 and deep in the playoffs.

I wonder what made the producers of HC heart the Buccaneers so much? And why do they hate the Panthers so much, the Panthers are usually consistently average in reality, on the game they seem to always be a bottom 5 team.

[USCstreets]

Re: Why the Buccaneers?

I think it is a combination of the power of the system in this game and that they overvalued the rise of the Buccaneers.

In this game the coaches of the Buccaneers with their playbooks are very good, disproportionately to the real NFL giving the team 6 wins from the get go.

Next the head coach guys gambled alot on their projection of the future. For example that Vernon Gholston is a bust, while its obvious now many felt he could be great in the NFL. That one was a very easy pick but some would be harder like being able to see what Chris Johnson could be come. Like how good teams will be in the following years, for the most part i would say they did pretty good, but they took a risk thinking that the Buccaneers defense was going to become an elite caliber unit, they were very young before this.

Neither of these alone would make the Buccaneers as unfair as they are in this game. But together they compounded each other turning a talented unit of young players into an all time legendary defense. And caused an offense that lacked in elite players to play well beyond their abilities.

Really they never shouldve made this team that much better just one season afterwards however it was a good guess that the team would have been better going into the future but never an undefeated squad.

[cutter73]

Re: Why the Buccaneers?

I think someone was a Gruden fan. I took over the Bucs, then simmed the first season of my current franchise just to get rid of Gruden. After that season, I left and went to Washington, and the Bucs fell apart the following year.

They don't look to get much better anytime soon either. With Gruden went his playbook, and now any coach coming into TB has to deal with implementing a new playbook. They may come back in a couple years, but right now, they really aren't much.

I think that may be one reason the Panthers have so much trouble as well. They tend to fire coaches a lot, and it's kind of hard for a team to build up much playbook knowledge when they keep switching. Add to that that Carlolina's RB's tend to get injured a lot, and they usually make stupid deals like cuitting Pepper or Delhomme just to resign them in the offseason, and they just seem self destructive to me.

[MrNFL_FanIQ]

Re: Why the Buccaneers?

I think someone was a Gruden fan. I took over the Bucs, then simmed the first season of my current franchise just to get rid of Gruden. After that season, I left and went to Washington, and the Bucs fell apart the following year.

They don't look to get much better anytime soon either. With Gruden went his playbook, and now any coach coming into TB has to deal with implementing a new playbook. They may come back in a couple years, but right now, they really aren't much.

I think that may be one reason the Panthers have so much trouble as well. They tend to fire coaches a lot, and it's kind of hard for a team to build up much playbook knowledge when they keep switching. Add to that that Carlolina's RB's tend to get injured a lot, and they usually make stupid deals like cuitting Pepper or Delhomme just to resign them in the offseason, and they just seem self destructive to me.

It was different on mine, once Gruden left, they promoted from within with Kiffin and Muir and kept it going.

The Panthers kept Fox for like 6 or 7 years on mine too even though they were consistently 5-11 or worse.

[Lieutenant Dan]

Re: Why the Buccaneers?

I almost sprayed my drink all over my keyboard when I read this, magnificent!

I haven't played since last season, but I do remember the first few seasons especially in my HC career that the Bucs were just amazing, and beat me almost anytime I played them, no matter how buff my team might be. LOL Great memories....HC is an amazing game.

[ebongreen]

Re: Why the Buccaneers?

Actually, I think that it's as much Monte Kiffin as it is Gruden and his playbook. I was overjoyed - overjoyed, I tell you! - when Gruden quit and Kiffin retired from the Bucs at the end of the 2012-13 season of my current franchise. I was tired of meeting them in the NFC Championship game every year, and I think virtual-Chucky was disgusted at getting his butt kicked every year by my/McCarthy's Packers squad.

I haven't looked, but I'll bet Kiffin comes with pretty much every special ability known to man as a DC, as well as a high performance rating. Even with relatively average players, he makes'em something special. In addition, the Tampa-2 playbook is made to shut down the outside run and take away your WR, i.e. take away the big play. If you don't know how to attack it, it's gonna be a long day of slogging your way down the field.

The Tampa offensive playbook is still a very good one, and Gruden's a very good coach in HC, but I don't think Monte gets enough credit for Tampa's long-term success.

[patsfan4life]

Re: Why the Buccaneers?

One too many producers at EA Sports had a man crush on Gruden LOLZ!

[gr18]

Re: Why the Buccaneers?

I think much of their success was based on EA's tendencies to keep great veteran players at a very high level too long.They had a mix of vets that in reality were declining and rookies like Gaines Adams that didn't get near the level that they were projected.

On offense,Jeff Garcia was good but we know how long he stays with a team,Cadillac Williams,who had major injuries,and again vets like Joey Galloway that didn't decline much in-game.

So,if everything would've worked out perfectly for the Bucs they could've been very good for several years but the opposite happened.Realistically,they probably should've been somewhere around the middle of the two scenarios.

[redbird294]

Re: Why the Buccaneers?

Actually, I think that it's as much Monte Kiffin as it is Gruden and his playbook. I was overjoyed - overjoyed, I tell you! - when Gruden quit and Kiffin retired from the Bucs at the end of the 2012-13 season of my current franchise. I was tired of meeting them in the NFC Championship game every year, and I think virtual-Chucky was disgusted at getting his butt kicked every year by my/McCarthy's Packers squad.

I haven't looked, but I'll bet Kiffin comes with pretty much every special ability known to man as a DC, as well as a high performance rating. Even with relatively average players, he makes'em something special. In addition, the Tampa-2 playbook is made to shut down the outside run and take away your WR, i.e. take away the big play. If you don't know how to attack it, it's gonna be a long day of slogging your way down the field.

The Tampa offensive playbook is still a very good one, and Gruden's a very good coach in HC, but I don't think Monte gets enough credit for Tampa's long-term success.

You're right. Kiffin is amazing in this game. He's as good a DC as Tom Moore is as an OC. At times I've done what cutter73 did and be Tampa in year 1 just to get rid of Gruden and that Tampa 2 defense. I hold on to Kiffin though because of all the special skills he has. The Tampa 2 is ridiculously effective in this game, but you all know that. In fact, it doesn't really matter what offense I've run; pair it with a Tampa 2 or Dungy 2 defense, and the team becomes an instant title contender. The Colts and Bucs are consistently good every.....single.....year. I put a WR at QB for the Bucs just to see if they'd go 15-1 again. They didn't. They went 14-2.

It didn't matter what team I had, if I wanted to go to the Super Bowl, I had to go through either the Colts or the Bucs. I'd always blow right through the other teams, but either the Colts or the Bucs would always be there waiting for me in the conference championship. I don't know how many times those two squads played each other for the championship in my career mode.

[TheNextMVP]

Re: Why the Buccaneers?

It's funny because I took over the Bucs because I'm like in love with the Tampa 2 defense in real life and I wanted to play with it on NFL Head Coach. I had no idea it would be so effective. Tampa 2 turned guys like Jordan Dixon, Geno Hayes, and Landon Johnson into perennial pro bowlers because they picked off so many passes. I signed Adalius Thomas from free agency in my first year (it's updated rosters) and I never would've thought that Adalius would turn into a 3-time defensive player of the year because of the Tampa 2 defense. My offense...is another story.

[RockDatBeat]

Re: Why the Buccaneers?

Lol the Tampa 2 owns the league in this game pretty much. The Panthers don't stand a chance when they play Tampa Bay. I look at the scores and when Carolina meets Tampa Bay, they only score like 3-10 points on them! But I guess it's OK because you can literally ANNIHILATE the Cover 2 teams when you play them just with a few simple plays.

No complaints here

[CommonBeatz]

Re: Why the Buccaneers?

Eh, is it just me or is the Tampa 2 defense easily exposed in this game? I mean, I tried to take over the Bucs and run that defense with Monte Kiffin but I got really turned off by the following things:

• Apparently, CPU offenses aren't stupid. They found the holes present in the Tampa 2 scheme and exploited them pretty often...something I wasn't too fond of.

• Run defense was almost nonexistent. Sometimes, I'd have those miraculous stops and stuffs but most of the time, my linebackers would idiotically react to run plays like they were lost and didn't know what to do. Too many up-the-gut runs that resulted in 10+ yard gains.
• No pass rush. I am a hardcore, "light 'em up" kind of person. I love the idea of scaring QBs silly, sending half my team to get at him! I NEED a pass rush to be happy! And Tampa 2 did not offer that at all.

Bucs obviously are not from me and I enjoy picking them apart in my dynasties

[HalfBlessed_BC]

Re: Why the Buccaneers?

Eh, is it just me or is the Tampa 2 defense easily exposed in this game? I mean, I tried to take over the Bucs and run that defense with Monte Kiffin but I got really turned off by the following things:

• Apparently, CPU offenses aren't stupid. They found the holes present in the Tampa 2 scheme and exploited them pretty often...something I wasn't too fond of.

• Run defense was almost nonexistent. Sometimes, I'd have those miraculous stops and stuffs but most of the time, my linebackers would idiotically react to run plays like they were lost and didn't know what to do. Too many up-the-gut runs that resulted in 10+ yard gains.
• No pass rush. I am a hardcore, "light 'em up" kind of person. I love the idea of scaring QBs silly, sending half my team to get at him! I NEED a pass rush to be happy! And Tampa 2 did not offer that at all.

Bucs obviously are not from me and I enjoy picking them apart in my dynasties

OMFG, THIS! The CPU feeds on Ronde Barber like a leech in this game!