Tecmo Bowl blog: Evolutiuon of the game. What's left to learn?

Houston, we have a problem.  We're 2 decades and some change into this, and our Tecmo Bowl schemes and strategies are still changing.  Game-plans are still being perfected.  Defenses are starting to play some serious catch-up against a couple offenses that are usually near the top of the league. 

This first became apparent to me when Denver and Miami began to lose steam in season 4.  Not just in the win column, but on the scoreboard as well.  The Broncos and Dolphins have been the standard middle tier squads I lead to a slug of wins, and do so by scoring lots of points.  As we have reached the mid point of season 4, I feel there's significant change on the horizon........   

Perhaps its an aberration.  Perhaps its just their time to not exceed expectations.  Perhaps its just the luck of the draft and the opponents they are facing.  Regardless of that speculation, the bend but do not break defense is getting closer and closer to winning the battle against Elway and Marino.  Those 2 teams no longer have their way with the opponents defense. 

Over a 4 year span, I exchanged emails with the creator of a Tecmo Bowl site in Canada.  Those emails eventually lead to the first ever International Tecmo Bowl Championship, which took place in May of 2008 in Indiana.  2 Americans and 2 Canadians.  We utilize slightly different rules in game-play, so a agreement was reached on international rules, which limits the amount of QB running during the International competition.  

This seemingly minor change really altered the game more than we could have expected.  Reducing the amount of QB running really showed us just how important the computer controlled defender coverage aspect is.  As Tecmo Bowl progressed on American soil the last couple years, game plans slowly moved further and further away from the "pick your opponents play" style.  The strategy has shifted gears to taking away the opponents big play potential and merely letting them nickle and dime you.  Patience is very necessary with this style.  With the odds in your favor, you make the opponent slowly drive the length of the field and merely need an occasional 3rd down stop to force a punt or a field goal attempt. 

As we have gotten more experienced over the years, the game of Tecmo Bowl has become much more cerebral.  Especially when a game is staged between two talented and knowledgeable players.  These latest defensive developments point towards this being a fact.  We're far removed from the days of the playbook guessing game and have become quite astute in gameplan study, yet still find some new wrinkles to throw into the fray.

Touch downs are not a thing of the past by any means.  Furthermore this seems to have opened the door for the more dominant teams to be take over for good in the standings.  The wildcard factor for Denver and Miami appears to be withering away.  We shall see what the test of wills holds for the future and these high flying offensive attacks, that could be grounded for good..