2020 Tampa Bay Vipers season

The 2020 Tampa Bay Vipers season was the only season for the Tampa Bay Vipers as a professional American football franchise. They played as charter members of the XFL, one of eight teams to compete in the league for the 2020 season. The Vipers played their home games at Raymond James Stadium and were led by head coach Marc Trestman.

2020 Tampa Bay Vipers season
OwnerAlpha Entertainment, LLC
General managerMarc Trestman
Head coachMarc Trestman
Home fieldRaymond James Stadium
Results
Record1–4
League place4th XFL East

Their inaugural season was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the XFL officially suspended operations for the remainder of the season on March 20, 2020.[1]

Standings

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East Division[2]
Team W L PCT TD+/- TD+ TD- DIV PF PA DIFF STK
DC Defenders 3 2 .600 -3 9 12 2–1 82 89 -7 W1
St. Louis Battlehawks 3 2 .600 3 11 8 1–1 97 77 20 L1
New York Guardians 3 2 .600 -1 8 9 1–2 79 85 -6 W2
Tampa Bay Vipers 1 4 .200 -4 11 15 1–1 98 115 -17 L1
West Division[2]
Team W L PCT TD+/- TD+ TD- DIV PF PA DIFF STK
Houston Roughnecks 5 0 1.000 7 21 14 3–0 158 111 47 W5
Dallas Renegades 2 3 .400 -3 9 12 2–1 90 102 -12 L2
Los Angeles Wildcats 2 3 .400 4 18 14 0–2 129 122 7 W1
Seattle Dragons 1 4 .200 -3 12 15 0–2 87 119 -32 L3
(x)–clinched playoff berth; (y)–clinched conference; (e)–eliminated from playoff contention


Schedule

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All times Eastern

Week Day Date Kickoff TV Opponent Results Location
Score Record
1 Sunday February 9 2:00 p.m. Fox at New York Guardians L 3–23 0–1 MetLife Stadium
2 Saturday February 15 5:00 p.m. Fox at Seattle Dragons L 9–17 0–2 CenturyLink Field
3 Saturday February 22 2:00 p.m. ABC Houston Roughnecks L 27–34 0–3 Raymond James Stadium
4 Sunday March 1 7:00 p.m. ESPN2 DC Defenders W 25–0 1–3 Raymond James Stadium
5 Sunday March 8 9:00 p.m. ESPN at Los Angeles Wildcats L 34–41 1–4 Dignity Health Sports Park
6 Saturday March 14 5:00 p.m. FS2 St. Louis BattleHawks Not played Raymond James Stadium
7 Saturday March 21 2:00 p.m. ABC Dallas Renegades Raymond James Stadium
8 Saturday March 28 2:00 p.m. ABC at DC Defenders Audi Field
9 Sunday April 5 Noon ESPN at St. Louis BattleHawks The Dome at America's Center
10 Sunday April 12 TBA New York Guardians Raymond James Stadium

[3]

Final roster

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2020 Tampa Bay Vipers final roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

Reserve lists


55 active, 4 inactive

Staff

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2020 Tampa Bay Vipers staff

Front office

Head coaches

Offensive coaches

Defensive coaches

Special teams coaches



Season summary

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In the first week of the season, the Vipers took a loss to the New York Guardians, only scoring a field goal in the 3rd quarter. They then lost to the Seattle Dragons in the second week of the season, losing 17–9 in Seattle. Even after the two losses, they put up a fight against the then 2-0 Houston Roughnecks, only losing by a mere 7 points at home. They got their first win of the XFL season against the DC Defenders, shutting them out 25–0 to advance to 1–3. In week 5, they blew an 18-point lead and lost to the Los Angeles Wildcats on the road 41–34.

Game summaries

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Week 1: at New York Guardians

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Week 1 — Tampa Bay at New York
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Vipers 0 0 303
Guardians 7 10 0623

at MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey

  • Date: Sunday, February 9
  • Game time: 2:00 p.m. EST
  • Game weather: Cloudy • Temperature: 42 °F (6 °C) • Wind: E 6 mph
  • Game attendance: 17,634
  • Referee: Jeff Heaser[4]
  • TV announcers (Fox): Kevin Burkhardt (play-by-play), Greg Olsen (analyst), Jenny Taft (sideline)
Game information

Tampa Bay entered the game as a 3½ point favorite,[5] but went on to suffer a 20-point blowout loss on the road. The Vipers suffered 4 turnovers and gave up 3 touchdowns while only getting 1 field goal, despite getting inside the 5-yard line multiple times.

Week 2: at Seattle Dragons

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Week 2 — Tampa Bay at Seattle
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Vipers 0 3 609
Dragons 0 0 14317

at CenturyLink Field, Seattle, Washington

  • Date: Saturday, February 15
  • Game time: 5:00 p.m. EST
  • Game weather: Rain • Temperature: 46 °F (8 °C) • Wind: S 12 mph
  • Game attendance: 29,172
  • Referee: Tra Blake[6]
  • TV announcers (Fox): Curt Menefee (play-by-play), Joel Klatt (analyst)
Game information

Week 3: Houston Roughnecks

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Week 3 — Houston at Tampa Bay
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Roughnecks 9 9 8834
Vipers 3 15 6327

at Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, Florida

  • Date: Saturday, February 22
  • Game time: 2:00 p.m. EST
  • Game weather: Cloudy • Temperature: 69 °F (21 °C) • Wind: ENE 13 mph
  • Game attendance: 18,117
  • Referee: James Carter[7]
  • TV announcers (ABC): Steve Levy (play-by-play), Greg McElroy (analyst), Tom Luginbill and Dianna Russini (sideline)
Game information

Week 4: DC Defenders

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Week 4 — DC at Tampa Bay
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Defenders 0 0 000
Vipers 7 9 6325

at Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, Florida

  • Date: Sunday, March 1
  • Game time: 7:00 p.m. EST
  • Game weather: Mostly cloudy • Temperature: 60 °F (16 °C) • Wind: NNE 3 mph
  • Referee: Jeff Heaser[8]
  • TV announcers (ESPN2): Tom Hart (play-by-play), Joey Galloway (analyst), Pat McAfee (sideline)
Game information

Week 5: at Los Angeles Wildcats

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Week 5 — Tampa Bay at Los Angeles
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Vipers 10 14 01034
Wildcats 0 20 71441

at Dignity Health Sports Park, Los Angeles, California

Game information

References

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  1. ^ "A THANK YOU TO OUR FANS". Retrieved March 23, 2020.
  2. ^ a b "XFL Standings". XFL.com. February 9, 2020. Retrieved February 11, 2020.
  3. ^ "XFL 2020 Schedule Released, First Game Dragons @ Defenders". Retrieved October 22, 2019.
  4. ^ Filipe, Cameron (6 February 2020). "XFL Week 1 referee assignments". Football Zebras. Retrieved February 8, 2020.
  5. ^ "Tampa Bay Vipers at New York Guardians XFL odds, picks and best bets". Sportsbook Wire.
  6. ^ Filipe, Cameron (13 February 2020). "XFL Week 2 referee assignments". Football Zebras. Retrieved February 15, 2020.
  7. ^ Filipe, Cameron (20 February 2020). "XFL Week 3 referee assignments". Football Zebras. Retrieved February 22, 2020.
  8. ^ Filipe, Cameron (27 February 2020). "XFL Week 4 referee assignments". Football Zebras. Retrieved February 29, 2020.
  9. ^ Filipe, Cameron (5 March 2020). "XFL Week 5 referee assignments". Football Zebras. Retrieved March 7, 2020.