Tecmo Cup: The preseason competition
Season 5 of Tecmo Bowl kicked off by playing a world cup styled preseason competition. The teams are separated into 2 pools with only 3 games. Despite only playing 3 games, the intrigue is high as any slip up or upset can cost a good team a playoff spot. 7 games of playoffs will then determine the preseason champion.
Tecmo Cup I
Set up: Brad’s teams are red. Nate’s teams are black. Each team plays a 3 game schedule inside the pool against the other player’s teams.
Scheduling: With only 3 games, home(player 1) and road(player 2) are unable to be distributed evenly. This will be key in the competition.
Playoff positioning:Top 4 based on record & tiebreakers advance to the playoffs.
Pool 1 Analysis: The Bears are easily the odds on favorite to finish 1st. Outside of that, there’s a lot of mystery with most of the teams being fairly evenly matched. Nate’s teams have an uphill battle as they all face Chicago. In theory the Broncos and Raiders have an easier road.
Pool 2 Analysis: The 49ers or Giants should win the pool. The 49ers have a more favorable schedule than the Giants overall. Cleveland and Miami are legit contenders as well to make the playoffs. Indianapolis faces 3 difficult opponents, and will have to pull off an upset or two. Washington will be lucky to win 1 game.
Scheduling: With only 3 games, home(player 1) and road(player 2) are unable to be distributed evenly. This will be key in the competition.
Playoff positioning:Top 4 based on record & tiebreakers advance to the playoffs.
Pool 1 Analysis: The Bears are easily the odds on favorite to finish 1st. Outside of that, there’s a lot of mystery with most of the teams being fairly evenly matched. Nate’s teams have an uphill battle as they all face Chicago. In theory the Broncos and Raiders have an easier road.
Pool 2 Analysis: The 49ers or Giants should win the pool. The 49ers have a more favorable schedule than the Giants overall. Cleveland and Miami are legit contenders as well to make the playoffs. Indianapolis faces 3 difficult opponents, and will have to pull off an upset or two. Washington will be lucky to win 1 game.
Schedule
With only 3 weeks, every game is absolutely critical. Based on rankings the schedules Seattle and Indy have the most difficult. The 49ers schedule laid out nicely getting the Giants at home, and Redskins on the road.
Results
Indy and Seattle were 2 teams I felt needed to win their opening game more than anyone else. Neither did, but Indy was still able to make the playoffs. Dallas threw their pool on its ear as they upset LA in week 2. That caused some shake up in terms of what we thought would happen. Miami had to gut it out with a couple close games but got the 2 seed.
Standings
Standings for the 1st Tecmo Cup are finalized. Chicago and New York were dominant as expected. Dallas came out of nowhere beating LA, and demolishing Denver. The Raiders looked very impressive in their 2 wins, and nearly beat Dallas.
San Francisco was the other surprise team dropping both of their home games. Indianapolis won the last 2 games to earn a playoff spot. Miami took care of business to earn the 2 seed.
San Francisco was the other surprise team dropping both of their home games. Indianapolis won the last 2 games to earn a playoff spot. Miami took care of business to earn the 2 seed.
Playoff Results
Pool 1
LA(#3) @ DAL(#2)
LA leads 7-0 early in the 4th when a swing pass to Allen turns into a juke with complimentary wall hitting and some huge yardage. LA adds in a FG and wins 10-0.
DEN(#4) @ CHI(#1)
2 monsterly methodical drives to open the game result in TDs for Chicago All this is sandwiched around a Denver 3 and out. 14-0 at the half. The Broncos open the 3rd and drive down to the 5 yard line facing 4th down, but Elway gets picked in the endzone on a desperation pass. McMahon toss a few 2nd half INTs but Chicago wins 14-0.
Pool 2
IND(#3) @ MIA(#2)
A close battle for most of the game has Ind take a 6-3 lead in the 3rd thanks to 2 pretty big Albert Bentley kick returns. The Colts finally get a big drive and score a TD on pass to Beach that puts them ahead for good 13-3. Miami scores a late TD to narrow the gap, but its too late. Indy wins 13-10.
CLE(#4) @ NYG(#1)
The Giants defensive playcalls get in a serious groove and a couple turnovers prove costly for the browns. Giants easily roll 16-0.
Pool championship games
LA(#3) @ CHI(#1)
Gentry takes the opening kick off into LA territory resulting in 3. LA has 4 turovers in their own territory and Chicago rolls 26-0. Chicago took a 13-0 lead without taking a single snap in their own territory.
IND(#3) @ NYG(#1)
The Giants defense strangles the life out of Indy and the offense muster a couple FG's. Bickett did get a Fg block in the 2nd qtr that at the time looked like it could be costly. A masterful gameplan executed all game long against the colts. New York wins 6-0.
Tecmo Cup championship game
CHI(#1) @ NYG(#1)
A back and forth defensive struggle that was actually dominated by Chicago in terms of field position. The Chicago punter had an amazing day dropping punts inside the 5 over and over. The Bears D was not allowing 1st downs in early in the game. The Bears kept the Giants ofense pinned back inside its own 20 for a good portion of the game.
In the 4th qtr the New York offense was finally able to solve the riddle that was the Bears defense and get a field goal late in the 4th to take a 3-0 lead. Kick return champion of the galaxy, Dennis Gentry got one shot to win the game on a kick off as time expired. He took it near mid field and had a small group of blockers that made it interesting between the 30 and 40 but the Giants finally tackled him. The Giants win the 1st ever Tecmo Cup 3-0.
LA(#3) @ DAL(#2)
LA leads 7-0 early in the 4th when a swing pass to Allen turns into a juke with complimentary wall hitting and some huge yardage. LA adds in a FG and wins 10-0.
DEN(#4) @ CHI(#1)
2 monsterly methodical drives to open the game result in TDs for Chicago All this is sandwiched around a Denver 3 and out. 14-0 at the half. The Broncos open the 3rd and drive down to the 5 yard line facing 4th down, but Elway gets picked in the endzone on a desperation pass. McMahon toss a few 2nd half INTs but Chicago wins 14-0.
Pool 2
IND(#3) @ MIA(#2)
A close battle for most of the game has Ind take a 6-3 lead in the 3rd thanks to 2 pretty big Albert Bentley kick returns. The Colts finally get a big drive and score a TD on pass to Beach that puts them ahead for good 13-3. Miami scores a late TD to narrow the gap, but its too late. Indy wins 13-10.
CLE(#4) @ NYG(#1)
The Giants defensive playcalls get in a serious groove and a couple turnovers prove costly for the browns. Giants easily roll 16-0.
Pool championship games
LA(#3) @ CHI(#1)
Gentry takes the opening kick off into LA territory resulting in 3. LA has 4 turovers in their own territory and Chicago rolls 26-0. Chicago took a 13-0 lead without taking a single snap in their own territory.
IND(#3) @ NYG(#1)
The Giants defense strangles the life out of Indy and the offense muster a couple FG's. Bickett did get a Fg block in the 2nd qtr that at the time looked like it could be costly. A masterful gameplan executed all game long against the colts. New York wins 6-0.
Tecmo Cup championship game
CHI(#1) @ NYG(#1)
A back and forth defensive struggle that was actually dominated by Chicago in terms of field position. The Chicago punter had an amazing day dropping punts inside the 5 over and over. The Bears D was not allowing 1st downs in early in the game. The Bears kept the Giants ofense pinned back inside its own 20 for a good portion of the game.
In the 4th qtr the New York offense was finally able to solve the riddle that was the Bears defense and get a field goal late in the 4th to take a 3-0 lead. Kick return champion of the galaxy, Dennis Gentry got one shot to win the game on a kick off as time expired. He took it near mid field and had a small group of blockers that made it interesting between the 30 and 40 but the Giants finally tackled him. The Giants win the 1st ever Tecmo Cup 3-0.
