Chip's Playoff Picks: Round 2, Part 1

Well after going 2-0 last week (1-1 against the spread), I decided to go back to the TMS Super Simulator 2000 to predict all four of this week's playoff games. Here's a rundown of the games and their spreads.

Indianapolis Colts at Baltimore Ravens(-4)
Philadelphia Eagles at New Orleans Saints(-5)
Seattle Seahawks at Chicago Bears(-8.5)
New England Patriots at San Diego Chargers(-4.5)

So without further ado, let's see what the TMSSS2000 has in store for us this week.

Indianapolis at Baltimore

This was initially tricky, since the original Tecmo Super Bowl came out well before Art Modell stabbed the City of Cleveland in the back and moved his team to Baltimore. This required a little bit more tweaking on my part, but after a few minutes of editing.....voila!







Sorry Cleveland fans. I don't mean to cause you any more psychological harm.











OK so I couldn't get the helmet changed on this initial screen, but it does say Ravens and check out the players' uniforms. Pretty cool huh? Anyway with that out of the way, the TMSSS2000 was ready for action.

Facing an extremely tough Ravens D, Peyton stays cool and nickel and dimes his way down the field on his first drive of the game. Indy eventually stalls and they settle with a 49 yard field goal from Adam Vintieri (3-0 Colts). Not much else happens in the first quarter.

Baltimore is driving at the start of the 2nd quarter when Steve McNair throws an interception to Nick Harper at the Colts 22 yard line. Indy once again drives into Ravens territory and reach the Ravens 2-yard line. Faced with 4th and goal on the 2, 8-bit Tony Dungy plays it safe and calls Vinatieri in for the chip shot field goal, much to the chagrin of Manning (6-0 Colts).

The Ravens start rolling down the field when a sack by Robert Mathis kills their momentum. Matt Stover misses a 53 yard field goal just before the end of the half.





The All-Flute Band played at halftime and will be opening for Prince during the Super Bowl.





Baltimore receives the ball to start the second half and quickly goes three & out. On the ensuing punt, Colts returner Cory Ross runs the ball for an impressive gain. Manning and company start out on the Baltimore 45.

The Ravens D stymies Indy on 3rd and inches forcing them to punt. Baltimore's offensive series is just as lackluster as McNair is sacked again, this time by Gary Brackett. Baltimore punts and Indy maintains possession as the 3rd quarter ends. This marks the first time I've seen the TMSSS2000 not have a score in a single quarter.

The Colts manage another decent drive but once again have to settle for a field goal (9-0 Colts). Facing a 'do or die' situation, the Ravens are finally able to get something going on offense as McNair connects for a 40-yard TD pass to Mark Clayton (9-7 Colts).

Unfortunately for Baltimore, that would be the only score they'd get as the Colts run the clock out and win by the final score of 9-7.

Well this was somewhat surprising. Despite Ravens D playing fairly well and holding the Colts to a mere three field goals, Steve McNair and the Baltimore offense couldn't get anything going at all. If only Stover hadn't missed that field goal in the second quarter.

This game was horribly boring to watch as not much happened and I was more concerned about getting another cup of coffee. Player of the game goes to Adam Vinatieri, who could very well be the driving force that finally pushes Indy into the Super Bowl..............nah, probably not.


Philadelphia at New Orleans

I'm going to spare you the rundown of this game. I was actually excited. I wanted to see what 8-bit Reggie Bush was capable of. Unfortunately it ended up being a horribly lop-sided game, as the Eagles stunned the Saints 31-0 in an absolute shocker. The result was a bit disconcerting and I confronted the TMSSS2000 about it, questioning the accuracy. He pistol-whipped me with the zapper gun from Duck Hunt and/or Hogan's Alley for a solid 20 minutes. It's my fault. He's been going through a tough time at work and I shouldn't have pushed him like that.......

Anyway the three biggest highlights of this game were Brian Westbrook running for three touchdowns, John Carney and David Akers combining for three missed field goals (must've been windy in the Superdome), and the inexplicable rise of linebacker Matt McCoy of the Eagles. This McCoy guy made Drew Brees his bitch, sacking him an astounding 5 times.

These were the two most common graphics seen during this game.

Player of the game could go to Brian Westbrook but I gotta respect the heroics of Matt McCoy on this one.



















I'll be right back with Part 2 shortly....