OK....back to basics night
After being essentially able to abuse toss and stretch plays, I knew something was just wrong. I went back to my old standard with 60/80 autosubs and default sliders (including fatigue). Yes, more warping and so on....but I immediately could tell the difference - the CPU was so much more competitive! So YAY! Using the Bears versus the Texans...while I finished 133 yards rushing, it was on 37 carries (a 3.5 ypc average...inflated by two Cutler scrambles for 26 yards.
The best part, autosub driven rotation across the board (some O-line subbing, but oh well, they don't get injured, so I am OK with that). The best part, it was about a 2:1 split in downs played and rushing attempts (22 for Langford, 12 for Carey, and even 1 for the 3rd stringer Howard on a long drive). The CPU split was less (more 3:1 for the starter, but I think it was partly driven by some big plays versus the abysmal Bears defense
). I lost the game 41-20. So, competitive game...good starting point. It's also the first time I actually managed to finish a game since this came out (and I actually enjoyed it). Completion percentages were at 66% for me and 70% for the CPU...I'm good with that considering I saw badly thrown balls and a variety of passes. Watt was a force too, finishing with 5 tackles, 2 TKL, and a sack (not to mention all the plays he disrupted).
Not going to get into the tweaks, just going to post the updated set....at least we got a challenge back. I'll continue to re-visit some of the other settings as patches come out and as we gather data. Going to stick with this basic setup for a while now that I could see a definite improvement in CPU competitiveness. I expect every game will be different.