CheapCatch

I wouldn't exactly call DEN a trendy pick. Most people, I don't think would pick DEN as their #1 choice. Only DF and myself, on this thread anyway,have given our seal of approval (granted that is like 2/5 people or so for this thread, but still, DEN is a team that is not often talked about as being one of the best teams in the game). I'd guess most people would choose DAL.

It's impossible to deny SFs talent. I agree with what you say in terms of Young and Rice. Also, in that SF has tremendous options at KR. First Offense: Overall, DEN has a more balanced passing attack than SF, but that might not matter b/c Rice is the best WR in the game, at least if one simply considers his insane 81 RE. When combined with Young, this is an apparent lethal combination, and perhaps all you need. This is just from personal experience, but I've always found SFs run game a bit weak (and again I admit I have not played w this team a lot). Bernstein for whatever reason has 56 RP and this seems to tip the scales in his favor, as far as speed goes. Miller isn't all that far behind Rice, as 69 RE is elite, as it follows is 81. 81 is insane, but 69 RE with the speed Miller has will get the job done at a high level. SF has the better OL. Defensively: I just noticed that SFs overall INT numbers are lacking, save for Hanks, but he can be a one man wrecking crew. I'd give DEN the slight nod at LB (Fletcher and Jones v Norton), and the nod in the secondary, as Atwater and Hanks are comparable (although Hanks has way better INT). SFs second best DB has 44 INT, but McDonald is elite in terms of speed and HP. The secondary for each team is close in talent. 49ers have more MAN options in the secondary, in Hanks and McDonald. DENs INT numbers aren't great, with three guys at 50 being the tops. Two other players have 44 INT, so depending on condition this can be a solid unit. I guess the same can be said of SF. In AVG, though, DEN has a slight advantage. However, a good defensive MAN player with Hanks, McDonald, Atwater, Fletcher, etc. can turn the tide. The DL: SF gets the nod, in spite of DENs MDP, as you mention, who is the best DL from either team. Overall: Close call. Each team has elite players at key positions. I really think for the TOP 4: DEN, DAL, SF, PIT (whichever way you slice it), the margin of talent is narrow. I'd suspect a lot of competitive games between these teams. I have a hard time believing any one of these teams would absolutely dominate any other, say if you played a seven game series.

DEN is solid everywhere. They have the Tecmo Frankenstein monster in Rod 'the Lesser God' Bernstein (they made this guy insanely good for whatever reason. I guess if your name is Rod the Tecmo creators will likely offer you some extra voltage). Cheap catch Anthony Miller seems to come down with everything, and Shannon Sharpe is also a great secondary receiving option. Elway can run and has a bit of HP, and is also equipped with a cannon. On defense they have two exceptional MAN options in LB Simon Fletcher and S Steve Atwater. It took me a long time to realize how good this team actually is. But they have proven it over the long haul (to me at least).

I'd say DEN #1, and probably PIT or DAL #2. MIA I am not sure belongs there. Definitely good players on the team, but they don't seem to live up to expectations. SF I actually haven't played with a lot, but I'll assume they are Top 5. I'd seriously put PHI or ATL over MIA. PHI to round out the top 5?

While SF is a good team, I respectfully disagree that they are the best team in the OG game, although they do have insane stars at WR and QB. I understand the desire to trim that team down, but the question is to what degree.... Going from Young to Brown is a huge drop off, to the point as I said, that SF probably has the worst QB of all of the teams in the NFTGL league now. And then they lost like three other players.... With the goal line, and Brown at the helm, the Niners are not the second best team. That is just a side observation, anyway....the question was how would we rank these teams. I'd rank SF lower than most of those teams, namely b/c they have the worst (or one of the worst) QB, and the rest of their talent is at best on par with most of the other teams, with certain teams being better at certain positions than the Niners. How would you rank the teams Ray?

After compiling a bevy of scientific data (not really), and considering the NFTGLs penchant for using the goal line glitch (really), but not taking into consideration default playbooks (that might alter my list a bit), here is my off the cuff list: 1) Atlanta 2) Minnesota 3) New Orleans 4) Chicago 5) Tampa Bay 6) Carolina 7) San Francisco Detroit 9) St. Louis 10) Green Bay A caveat is that I haven't played the OG ROM in so long that I don't have a "feel" for these teams. Just an observation: San Francisco seems to get unnecessarily "nerfed" to an extensive degree, which is another way of saying, it seems their default value is overestimated. I get them losing Rice, and maybe Young (see comment later), but why for instance, Norton? It's like all of their best players get traded out, while other teams, featuring players of similar caliber, get to keep their guys. The drop off from Young to Dave Brown is immense (causing SF to perhaps have THE WORST QB of all of the teams), and its not like SF is so much better than the rest of these teams, especially if we include all of the trade-outs, that they should get such a terrible QB. Meanwhile, just as one example, a team like the Vikings gets to keep Moon, who is 56/75/69.

If one does play it straight, I'd put this record in the realm of damn near impossible.

Good point on the returning kicks aspect. I've never actually set out to try and break the 5,000 yard mark, but minimizing return yardage would be key.

That is one of the TSB III default records that I have never broken. Good luck in your quest....

Five of the TLL's playoff games rolled into one thread. Check out the videos if you please....

TLL re-airs Super Bowl '78.

Sure, DF raises awareness for two games in which I might not score 10 points combined.... for the whole world (or not) to watch

you're trippin' foo....Mirer is the weak link of Seattle. But still glad Mirer is getting love. He held a special place in our collective hearts back in the day in our leagues

Nailed it! I agree STL has a great run game.

Dallas. Emmitt is the best running back in the game, and when you combine that w/ the 75 HP Moose, it is a tough combo to train your sights on. GB is one of the worst at rushing IMO. Again, I am talking in terms of MAN v MAN. CAR is awesome if you allow Stone at RB. The combination of Stone and Foster is great. DEN is to be dealt with due to the excessive love Tecmo extends to Rod 'the Lesser Tecmo God' Bernstein. TAM is decent at running with Rhett and Rudy Harris, who incidentally ran the ball a total of 9 times in his career and didn't play a down in the NFL in 1995, or thereafter. Some of Tecmo's player ratings are spot on, but at other times you wonder how they decided on certain player ATTs. Foster also never played for CAR, and Bernstein ran for 91 yards in 1994, the year before TSB III came out. In 1995 Bernstein ran for 76 yards.

I agree, Dusto. There are fast guys, and quick guys. I think Meggett and Metcalf (also Mel Gray for instance) were all shifty, quick guys. I actually applaud Tecmo programmers for making a diverse range (in terms of mold) of players, even if it didn't always come off with flying colors.

I have to be honest, when I INT a pass that doesn't put me in scoring position, especially one deep in my territory, I am momentarily excited, and then I remember.....I have to punt and do it all over again with the CPU in great field position. For some reason I constantly forget, momentarily, that I have to punt it right back. I play "When the Levee Breaks" while doing this challenge b/c thematically it fits. It's only a matter of time before the floodgates are overwhelmed.... I still haven't hit that opportunistic stride enough (i.e.- being in scoring position) to be successful in this challenge....

I think I get what Tecmo was trying to do with players like Metcalf and Meggett, making them into the scat backs they were, but their build render them almost useless against MAN players....

Noooooooooo! You can't get burnt out on TSB III. Come back home DeBerg....

Yeah, I don't know. I'd say I get the punt block screen, where the guy is diving at the punter, about 90% of the time? It's a high percentage either way. I've only tackled the punter twice in the same game on back to back punts in the 4th quarter. Not sure, overall: I feel like I get to the punter pretty quickly. As far as winning the first three quarters I think of Han Solo saying to Obi-Wan about avoiding imperial entanglements, "Well, that's the real trick, isn't it?" Glad to see you are getting set up for online play.

The "Vicious Cycle" is a great way to put it. Any kind of score given up due to the kick off is tough to crawl out of field position wise. I just use Nickerson, except for on occasion I use Everett. I have that many sacks mainly from DLmen busting in there, and called plays. There are plenty of opportunities. Most series the CPU goes three and out. All it takes is one play, as you know, to have the levee break. My main flaw is not finding ways to score game in and game out. I don't always choose run b/c really I can stop the run with no problem most games. If there is a run that is a PITA then I'll choose it. I really mix up my calls on defense depending on the playbook, and who I am playing. At this point I am far from getting even a winning record. Great job getting those undefeated records and 15-1 seasons. Obviously playing good defense doesn't matter much to the challenge (see: vicious cycle), since in most games I hardly give up anything, and still lose. It's all about those timely turnovers. I am really missing the boat on getting big defensive plays. I have blocked a lot of punts this season (namely with Nickerson and Sapp), so that is cool, but do not have many fumble recoveries. I have a decent number of INTs but not many have placed me in scoring position. Most INTs I have I get tackled right away with no chance of a return. Good to know on the punt return yardage. That is probably the most frustrating part b/c it's hard to pin the other team back when every punt return goes for 17-20. I tried another game with MIN and lost 14-3 against CHI. Del Rio had 9 sacks, and Randle was a beast, but I just can't get the points.

true dat. At this point I have no idea how he does it....The main ways to score are off of INT, blocked punt, and fumble returns. INT and fumbles are somewhat lucky. I've blocked a ton of kicks this year, but few have resulted in points. I think he might have even gone undefeated with TAM. Eric, which teams have you gone undefeated with, or had the most success with, in the defense only challenge?

Wk 9 v HOU Despite causing six turnovers, I still lose 7-6. No scoring was had until the 4th Q. It started midway through when Chandler tossed up a duck to Jeffires, who jump caught it in the EZ. The first half saw me cause 3 INTs and 1 forced fumble, but only one put me in a scoring position, and that resulted in a Husted miss. Late in the 4th Q I apparently located the weakness in the Oiler punting unit, as I actually tackled the punter on back to back attempts. Husted made good on both attps, but by then it was late in the game, and HOU was able to just run out the clock. TAMs punt coverage continues to be horrific, and a huge factor in these games. Little Mel Gray broke so many tackles on returns I lost count. Consistently the first two-three guys to reach the returner are terrible. The first is usually some white guy who just gets blasted, followed by two slower guys. TAM easily has the worst punt coverage I have ever seen in TSB III. I am feeling like you just have to get extraordinarily lucky to even score in the defense only challenge.

Wk 8 v ATL ATL scores TDs on first 2/3 drives, including a ridiculous covered bomb to Heyward, where he dives for the pass and then explodes everyone. Game settles down for awhile, but still zero oppts to score through three quarters. I got no love with the blocked punt screens, as I got the screen just about every time, but never blocked a punt. I gathered 1 INT in the 2Q but that was in my end so I just had to punt it away. ATL scores a 4th Q TD. I INT George, but again it doesn't matter b/c I just have to punt it away. Norm "From Cheers" Johnson adds a late, late FG. Exactly zero times was I in position to score here. 24-0 loss. Roby is averaging about 53 yards per kick, but again, I'd say 17-20 yards per kick are getting erased off of that, so his net is much lower. That's right, the season has come down to talking about the punter....

Wk 7 v MIN I began the game undisciplined, and it cost me, as MIN goes deep and scores. 6-0 (as I blocked the XPT). It thus took me about 1Q to flip the field position in my favor, but still through 3Q I had zero scoring oppts. Nickerson blocked a punt in the 2Q, but it was at around midfield and MIN recovered, so I had to punt it back. MIN scores again in the 4th quarter. In the last minute of the game I add a safety and FG to lose 13-5. Good defense by the Bucs in this one. The main issue conts. to be punt coverage. Even when I boom a nice punt inside the five, say, it most often gets returned out near the 20. The average PR has to be about 17 yards. Bucs now 2-5. Hardy Har's stats on the season: 143 tackles; 21 sacks; 3 FF; 1 INT. The Bucs as a team have 56 sacks.