In an honestly rather sad game, the Cardinals just walked over Omniscia’s Buccaneers, crushing them in a blowout.
A slow first quarter saw two punts and a Cardinal fumble, with a late touchdown from Warner to a fullback. Then, early in the second quarter, the most dangerous cornerback in the game, Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, picks off Jack English and takes it to the house. Interceptions would be a recurring theme.
Some Larry Fitzgerald greatness later, and the Cardinals are up 21-0. Some more Fitz greatness and it’s 28-0. More interceptions lead to a Neil Rackers field goal, resulting in a halftime score of 31-0.
In the third quarter, more interceptions, another Rackers FG, and an Anquan Boldin run for a TD, and the Cardinals are just in the lead at 41-0.
Now the Cards start to get a little cocky, trying things they ain’t used to. 3rd down and 4 to goal, they go with an unfamiliar play. Warner misses an open Fitz, and throws to J.J. Arrington out in the flat. The pass is picked off, with Arrington hauling ass down field, 91 yards, to stop the TD. The Cards would then hold the Bucs off for only a field goal.
Another drive, and Beanie Wells punches in for seven more points. The Cardinals defense then switches to a prevent defense, which promptly prevents them from stopping the now alive Bucs passing game, resulting in the first touchdown from Jack English all day (to offset his five thrown interceptions). The game ended in a ‘meh’ with another failed attempt by the Cardinals to pad Larry’s stats, resulting in an INT in the endzone. End result, 48-10, Cardinals.
I must honestly say, I have never played a team as bad as this. Following along this season, I thought the person behind the Bucs was just a bad player, not taking care of the ball and being just generally poor on defense. Playing Omniscia today, while he can definitely improve in areas, it was apparent that it was mostly his team that was killing him. Good Lord, they were bad. The contrast between the Cardinals and the Buccaneers was staggering. One had players putting in full effort, the other looked like they couldn’t be bothered. I felt bad for delivering the beating.
Even so, some suggestions I could make to Omniscia:
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If I understood it, you had the Madden Suggestions thing popping up. Disable that, and fully open up your playbook. Go into practice mode, and run through one play for each formation, with a randomized formation for the opposing defense. Run through each play about fifteen, twenty times, just to get a feel for it. It’ll help with your timing immensely.
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Verticals are hard. Don’t do verticals. Unless a play is well open, there’s a good chance a corner will turn around and pick it off, or a safety will jump it, and intercept the ball. Stick with slants, flats - quick plays for short chunks. Throw only to players after they make their breaks, and there is no other defender in the area.
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Once again, practice mode. Just get a few plays down, spread out across formations. Add these to your audibles for quick change-ups. Do the same with defense, though from what I saw you did use defensive audibles, with some success.
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Lastly, I hope you have a better draft next season!
