Best Team in Tecmo

[sangaman]

I looked back through the message board to see if there were any topics on this but I haven't seen any so I figured I'd start off of a discussion. Which team do you think is the best in TSB (for man to man play)?

My college roommate and I disagree on which team is the best so I want to get a few second opinions. I think the 49ers are the best team in the league; they're amazing on both offense and defense. They have the best passing QB in the league, the best receiver in the league (who becomes Barry Sanders-like if you use him at RB), one of the best defenders in the league, and a number of other good players on defense for support. Their O-line is one of the best in the league so blocking is top-notch. The kicker is pretty good and the punter sucks but who cares, so long as you max out the punt you can place the ball within the 20 most of the time.

My roommate thinks the Giants are the best team in the league. Disgusting linebackers make for a great defense and LT is the best run stopper in the league. The two-pronged running attack is brutal at times and the passing attack features a pretty good QB and speedy WRs who will make you pay for calling running plays too much. Plus the special teams unit is pretty good, Landeta is unreal and LT makes kicking FGs so fucking hard.

I think despite all this that the 49ers are a better team, and even think that you could make a case for the Oilers being better. When you put Drew Hill ar RB they become amazing as I'm sure most of you know. I've been winning most of the games with 49ers against the Giants but we've only played a few and he refuses to change his mind.

So anyway, which team do you think is the best? Or is there another team that comes to mind?

[BO FB Offtackle Left]

for mano a mano, it has to be the eagles. you never have to call a running play. if your opponent hangs back, take off. if he blitzes, you have a decent passing game.

on defense you have reggie white, jerome brown, and seth joyner. the secondary sucks, but with those 3 in the front 7 it doesn't really matter.

*Edit* While it's true you don't need to run with the 49ers either, and they have much better receivers than the Eagles, I play better with the Eagles' defense. I never liked having a safety as my best player, and Charles Haley isn't quite as good as Brown or Joyner.

[rockydennis]

for mano a mano, it has to be the eagles. you never have to call a running play. if your opponent hangs back, take off. if he blitzes, you have a decent passing game.

on defense you have reggie white, jerome brown, and seth joyner. the secondary sucks, but with those 3 in the front 7 it doesn't really matter.

I agree with BO. Everyone seems to overlook Joyner, he's one of the better LBs in the game. And Allen as well as Smith (to a lesser degree) can be of use. Oh, and Clyde Simmons.

Although 'the best team' really depends on that player's specific skills, objectives. Some are unstoppable with Houston, others with the Giants.

[Bad Moon Rison]

49ers. No brainer. I think the Giants and Raiders are underrated, Eagles and Oilers overrated.

You also dissed the Bears. Just don't use Harbaugh and you will dominate.

[sangaman]

I think Eagles definitely depend on how well you can use QB Eagles and how well your opponent can adjust to him. Some times the Eagles are unstoppable, but in my experience nothing is unstoppable as a team overwhelmed with talent. Plus although the defense isn't terrible, the secondary does suck and Reggie White/Jerome Brown just aren't the same as the Fulchers and Taylors and Lotts in the league.

As for the Bears, yes sometimes they're very good but come on they seriously don't have a passing game at all. Even if you put in Tomczak, you're only like 50/50 to complete a pass to wide open receivers and a smart opponent will know how to stop you from rushing every time for first downs. I do admit they are a great team, against lesser offenses they will get a shutout and against lesser defenses they will run all over the place. But I can't consider the team to be the BEST team in the league.

PS: Charles Haley is just as strong and faster than Seth Joyner, so I don't see the problem in using him. Why you'd pass up on Ronnie Lott though is beyond me.

[Bad Moon Rison]

You like the Bengals because they have Fulcher, a great safety, while completely gloss over the fact that the Eagles have NO safeties. I'll take a mediocre QB over two awful safeties any day.

[kingsoby1]

rocky dennis i think the COLTS are the best team.

i can beat the 9ers with them.

when i give the 2nd player controller to a monkey, that is.

[t-bob]

There is NO WAY that Philly is the best team in Tecmo. Just not possible. Against a team with a potent passing attack (Oilers, 49ers, Bills, Dolphins, Rams, etc.), you won't be able to get the stops you need to win. You just can't protect against critical deep passes the way you need to. And to top it all off, that weak (horrid!) secondary puts you at a disadvantage against the run. Cause if your MAN Joyner or White gets blown up or locked in a grapple, it's that much more likely that a fast RB can get into the secondary, and the chumps you have back there won't be able to chase him down. Secondaries are so critical in Tecmo and the Eagles just don't have it. They can't make up for that with the rest of their D.

Besides that, your offense is very potent, but QB Eagles is two-thirds of it (and Keith Jackson is the other one-third). Against a consummate defense, you can't expect the two of them to pull through every time you need it. The sneak can and will be stopped by a fierce linebacker or three, Jackson's amazing but stoppable (even at RB or WR) and there isn't enough speed or talent elsewhere on the offense to make up for it. Face it: their receivers and RBs are not great.

The Eagles aren't even in the running for best team.

I think that the 49ers and Giants are the two best teams. You can debate endlessly about which one is better, but I don't think there's any questioning that it's one of the two. There are units where one team is slightly better than the other, so it's just a question of which you think is more important. Like, SF's passing is better, NY's LBs are better, SF's safeties are better, NY's running game is better, etc.

Every other team has at least one significant weakness that prevents them from being a contender for the top slot.

EDIT:

you have a decent passing game.

Well, Jackson is great, and Barnett is adequate, but that's it. And even if it is decent, decent isn't good enough to be relied upon, and not good enough to contend with the likes of a Lott/Waymer or a Haddix or a Fulcher or a Carrier or a... you get the idea.

on defense you have reggie white, jerome brown, and seth joyner. the secondary sucks, but with those 3 in the front 7 it doesn't really matter.

It does matter, in a big BIG way. I mentioned above that secondaries are so critical in Tecmo. There's no way you can be the best team without at least a solid secondary. That's the main thing preventing the Bills from being in contention for best team: there's not enough behind their front seven. And Philly's secondary is even worse than Tuffalo's!

[LouisOliver]

t-bob's said everything I could think of about the Eagles and more. I'll just say that in my experience, QB Eagles, despite his mad skillz, just won't get you in the endzone as much as some other top flight teams (SF, Bills, Oilers, Raiders).

And about linebackers vs. safties, I don't play with linebackers a lot but I understand why a lot of people like them for shutting down the run. What I don't get is how you can really ever defend against the pass playing only with linebackers. I mean, you give such an edge to the quarterback when you control a player that doesn't have great Interceptions on *every* down. I just don't see how that helps win games.

Bad Moon, I'm really not sure that the Oilers are overrated. I guess maybe they are, but they're also the only team that can really run with the 49ers on any given day. The pass attack is so good, you can really only sit back and pray.

Oh yeah, the 49ers are the best team in the game. If it's between them and the Giants, I think Lott and friends stop Megs and Ott more than LT manages to stop Rice.

And why hasn't anybody mentioned the Bills? I mean, I know they're not the best team but Bruce is a top flight defender (despite his position) and the offense is pretty nice.

[operagost]

The Eagles' secondary is not very effective because of Hopkins' slow speed and Waters' all-around stinking. However, Smith and Allen (especially Allen) are MUCH better than what about ten other teams have. Why Tecmo rated so many of the players this defense so low is beyond me. The same personnel rated first overall, against the run, and against the pass in 1991. Yes, this game is based on 1990 but it's BS. Lonnie Young - 'nuff said. It's just another Tecmo mystery. That being said, yeah they're nowhere near the best. They're about number five. They're one great WR and one fast safety (just give Hopkins 50 MS and that would do it) from being great.

[artoose monk]

if you have ever had moon, and at least 2 of the 4 houston receivers in excellent at the same time, then you will know why i think houston is the best team in the game....i have had the best sucess against man opponents with this team, and the defense also has some good points, like dick johnson and childress, fuller, mcdowell, etc.

[t-bob]

The Eagles' secondary is not very effective because of Hopkins' slow speed and Waters' all-around stinking. However, Smith and Allen (especially Allen) are MUCH better than what about ten other teams have. Why Tecmo rated so many of the players this defense so low is beyond me. The same personnel rated first overall, against the run, and against the pass in 1991. Yes, this game is based on 1990 but it's BS. Lonnie Young - 'nuff said. It's just another Tecmo mystery. That being said, yeah they're nowhere near the best. They're about number five. They're one great WR and one fast safety (just give Hopkins 50 MS and that would do it) from being great.

A few teams are like that though. The Bills are one or two DBs and one backup RB away from being arguably the best. The Oilers would only need a 50+ MS RB and a couple more defensive stars to be at least as good as the 49ers, if not better. The Chiefs, the Raiders, oh man--think of the Bears if they had a decent QB and a WR or two! IMO, those teams that are amazing but just lack a few key elements to be tops form the second tier of Tecmo teams. They can win against the Giants and 49ers, but they just aren't quite as good.

[Stadawim]

WOW Some of us here obviously smoke a little of "the Stuff". The Eagles? You do mean the Philadelphia Eagles, right? On Tecmo Super Bowl for the NES (that's Nintendo Entertainment System to get this all straight)? OK, they may be pretty good against the CPU but then again, how many teams are they in company with? 20? Big deal. Now, in vMAN setting which should be where you find the faults the statement is ludicrous. It is so easy to circumvent the defense it isn't funny. With the porous secondary and the biggest and best at the front line, all you got to do is get past them and you can pretty much run what you want with whoever you want. Try a scramble with Krieg or Grogan. Pitch to Bell or Agee. Throw to Heller or Wilson. My point? Put your worst in - if they get past Reggie and the others, you're home free.

The Eagles are NOT the best.

Now the Giants on the other hand... Who are in the same division i'd like to point out. Now THAT'S a team who has it all clicking. I would honestly also vote for the Bills but for when going head to head with said Giants, they lose every time. The 49ers? Defense? Where? They're not a bad bunch of guys, but who does a MAN player typically be? Lott right? OK, so now that MAN feels like his responsibility is to double check every other man on the field; roam the field. I mean, face it. We all do it. That leaves at least one, sometimes two routes uncovered on any pass play since his charge is free because he's gone. But that among other reasons is why i just can't put the 49ers on top.

[long dong chuck long]

I know my best team is the bears, i put bailey and anderson at rb, muster at te, and just destroy people. i think i have played 50-60 games with them and only lost once, but that loss was in the super bowl against my buddy when 6 of us had a season going.

[Airick10]

I had to cast a vote for my Bengals (knowing they aren't the best)

San Francisco is the best team in the game. Philly I think is right up there. QB Eagles can change any game.

[operagost]

Come on guys - you know putting a WR at RB or RB at TE is BS. That's like saying John Stephens is a good RB because "his MS is 44 ... in excellent!"

Shoot, the Eagles' deep ball is unstoppable if I put Byars at WR and bench Williams.

[Polish Rifle]

Everybody has had these super long posts. All I have to say is Niners. Reason: too many weapons

[hpslugga]

if you have ever had moon, and at least 2 of the 4 houston receivers in excellent at the same time, then you will know why i think houston is the best team in the game....i have had the best sucess against man opponents with this team, and the defense also has some good points, like dick johnson and childress, fuller, mcdowell, etc.

I've been once priveleged to have ALL 5 in excellent at the same time (plus I had Childress, Johnson and Kinard excellent as well and my line wasn't any worse than average). I played my roommate with this team and he used nearly every team he could throw at me. I destroyed them all. Houston is very good, but it is absolutely vital to have at least one or two defensive players in excellent to have a chance against anyone.

[BO FB Offtackle Left]

The 49ers are the obvious choice, so i went with the Eagles. Everyone makes some very excellent points against them, however. Thinking more about it, I probably wouldn't be able to stop the 49ers or the Oilers passing game with the Eagles, but then I don't think anyone can effectively stop those passing games. I do think the Oilers are incredibly overrated, because all they are is passing. Their defense is average. If I played MAN against the Oilers or the 49ers as the Eagles the score would probably be very high on both sides.

The thing with these 2 teams, though, is that you are pretty much at the mercy of the CPU. It does not take any kind of skill to sit there and press the B button. It will either be complete or incomplete, or with those teams once in a rare while an interception, and there is nothing much you or your opponent can do to affect the outcome. Yes, with a better secondary you have a better chance of getting an interception, but I don't think it is significant against such stellar passing (I may be wrong about this, I don't know).

I have to admit at this point that this is all theoretical for me, as I don't have anyone to play against. Against a good passing team I would probably go after the QB more often than not, just like against the computer. I don't know if I could be effective doing that. The thing I like about the Eagles, though, is that you have more options on Offense than just tossing bombs to your ace receiver. Like someone said, when you use Lott you can leave receivers open. Cover the receivers, and QB Eagles is the only QB in the game that you can run effectively with against a MAN opponent. Yeah you can run with Moon, but you won't get as far as you can with QB Eagles.

I don't know, maybe I was thinking more about who would be more fun to control. I would love to play against someone who is using Lott and just completely mess with them. You get to do things like appear to take off, then if they come charging after you and you stay behind the line, you can toss it over their heads. If they stay back too long, it's an easy first down.

So technically, yes, the 49ers are a better team. I would still put the Eagles second, though, because even against LT QB Eagles has a chance of picking up a few yards, depending on what your opponent does with LT. The Giants running game is better, but a very talented player can stuff almost every run play if they see it coming. The Giants I would put third, and the Oilers fourth because of the lack of defense and no running game.

[Mike]

Niners/Chiefs if you know howto use em

[bruddog]

Niners are number one for so many reasons:

1. Jerry and Joe. This combo is virtually unstoppable. Only the very best backfields (CHI,PIT or great defenders, Haddix, Fulcher, RJ) will be able to get an int and that is rare. Plus Montana and his 81PC can also hit any of the other Wr's covered by lesser drones.

2. running game with 50ms craig and 94hp Rathman and solid OL is enough to keep the defense honest should the need to run the ball arise. This is hadrly ever due to #1 unless you just want to mix it up for fun.

3. I'd say the Niners defense is one of the best in the game. You could almost argue that they are the best. Two good LB's in Haley and Romo albiet not in great spots at OLB. A solid HP DL that will disrupt weak OL's.

Then you have pretty much the best safety duo in Lott and Waymer.

Philly-lack of int power for DB's serious problem. Fumbles or ball control only way to beat Niners. You might score every time with Randle but the Niners will score virtually every time on you.

Giants- Strong 1-2 rushing attack. Fast Wr's and solid QB. DB int leaves a bit lacking so again ball control your best bet.

Buffalo-A better offense due to Thurman but again weak DB's to match up with SF. Another common shootout type game

Chicago- Best bet in getting a stop against SF but Tomzack/Harbuagh are liabilities. A mistake free passing game is necessary.

The Niners are the team with the least weaknesses.All the above teams and a few others can hold their own but I would give the Niners at least

the slight edge.

[t-bob]

So technically, yes, the 49ers are a better team. I would still put the Eagles second, though, because even against LT QB Eagles has a chance of picking up a few yards, depending on what your opponent does with LT. The Giants running game is better, but a very talented player can stuff almost every run play if they see it coming. The Giants I would put third, and the Oilers fourth because of the lack of defense and no running game.

Let's just do bullet notes here.

- Houston's D is better than Philly's D. And the running game comparison is kind of irrelevant, because Philly doesn't have much of a running game either. The Oilers are better than the Eagles. Period.

- The Giants have a lot more going for them than the run. They have tons of options in the passing game, a steady, accurate QB, good depth, and a solid offensive line. The Eagles simply do not have that diversity of talent. And against a team like the Giants, QB Eagles has a lot more to worry about than just LT. The Giants are just a better team.

I think that the Bills, Chiefs, and Raiders are better than Philly too. The Bengals are about tied with them too, roughly. That matchup can go either way. But still. Philly is #7 or #8 at BEST.

[bruddog]

What makes Philly a top team is purely Randle. I mean you have a RB at qb that can pass. You can ball control to death with him. I've post this before and I'll post again. If you are really trying to waste time you could easily waste more than a quarter with Randle possibly the entire half if you are doing things right. Either that or the other guy forces you to score... a win-win situation.

Stopping Randle from either running or throwing for 5 yards a play is very difficult. Also Randle and his receiving options have enough speed,PCand Rec to do plenty of damage.

The running game is weak but randle can evade blitzes if you are good at dodging.

[ralphie]

I voted the Giants but I do not think we will ever truly know who is best. Every team has those weaknesses, no matter how small they are.

A lot of people say the Eagles but they have too many holes. RBs are terrible, recievers are average, secondary is bad, and if QB Eagles goes down, it gets ugly quick.

I tell you what though, the Bears are a Haywood Jeffries away from being one of the best. I have found Tomczak to be fairly decent, certainly better than Harbaugh. The D is awesome, RBs are awesome, and I have even seen Cap Boso play well. The main weakness are the WRs.

[LakeFly]

not that i think they are the best team in tecmo, but you could make a case for miami. certainly a decent enough defense, very good passing attack, and even if your against moving wr to rb and whatnot, Logan is good enough to get you a few good yards on the ground.