Bob Davis

Wildcard weekend took a couple of weeks to complete. But the results are in. AFC Cleveland at New York - This game was the Earl Campbell show. (Yes, Earl is a Giant in my league after a blockbuster trade three seasons ago). Campbell returned a kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown in the first quarter, rumbled 58 yards for a touchdown in the third quarter, and caught a 53 yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter. Browns QB Brian Sipe played admirably going 9/13/272/2/0. The final score was: Giants 35 Browns 15. The Giants move on to play the Vikings in the Divisional Round. NFC Dallas at Miami - Game ball goes to Tony Dorsett. He had a 93 yard punt return setting up a field goal at the end of the first half. He followed that up with a 47 yard kickoff return to start the third quarter and a 57 yard run for a touchdown in the third quarter. Two straight sacks finished the scrappy Dolphins late in the fourth quarter. The final score: Cowboys 20 Dolphins 7. The Cowboys move on to play the Saints in the Divisional Round. Next up - Divisional Round Matchups: Rams at Denver in the NFC and Steelers at Washington in the AFC.

Same here. I bought the AFC Central and NFC West Division Teams for Christmas 1978 and that is the type of box they came in.

Next level stuff. Amazing and inspirational. I'm gonna try painting 4 teams, home and away for each this off season. Won't be anything close to you guys.

<I can hear Dandy Don, Howard, and Frank calling the game on a Monday night!> He...Could...Go...All...The...Way!

There will be a shuffle once the Bears, Lions, Chargers and Seahawks enter the league. Here's what I'm thinking: AFC Midlands - Steelers, Browns, Bengals (same) Metro - Redskins, Colts, Eagles (same) Colonial North - Giants, Patriots, Bills (same minus the Vikes) Mountain Pacific - Broncos, Chargers, Seahawks NFC West Coast - Rams, 49ers, Raiders (same) Gulf West - Saints, Cowboys, Oilers North Lake - Vikings, Bears, Lions Deep South - Dolphins, Falcons, Bucs

Seahawks, Cardinals, Eagles and Falcons could be the Angry Birds Division!

😄 Love it!

Right now, I'd have to say the favs are the defending SB champion Broncos and the Vikings. The Vikings obliterated the Pats in what to my knowledge was the biggest blowout in my league's history in the final week of the season, 52-10. The next expansion, probably next season, will be the Bears, Lions, Chargers and Seahawks. Not another planned, but if there is one it will definitely include the Pack. I'm thinking Packers, Cardinals, Chiefs, and Jets.

Thanks Terry!

The Saints hosted the Falcons in the final game of the regular season. They've been rivals since the beginning of the league as they are both founding teams. It was a nail biter. Both defenses played solid. Saints K Steve Mike-Meyer missed a 59 yard field goal attempt on the final play of the first half and the game remained scoreless. The Saints broke the tie late in the 3rd Quarter when QB Bobby Scott connected with WR Wes Chandler for a 38 yard TD. The Falcons proceeded on a 10 play drive getting to the Saints 11 yard line. But QB Steve Bartkowski's pass fell incomplete on the final play of the game. The Saints complete an undefeated season and are the number one seed in the NFC playoffs. Final Records NFC Super South - Saints 3-0, Dolphins 2-1, Falcons 1-2, Bucs 0-3 Tex-West - Broncos 2-1, Cowboys 2-1, Oilers 2-1 West Coast - Rams 2-1, 49ers 1-2, Raiders 0-3 AFC Great North - Vikings 3-0, Giants 2-1, Patriots 1-2, Bills 0-3 Midlands - Steelers 2-1, Browns 2-1, Bengals 0-3 Metro - Redskins 3-0, Colts 1-2, Eagles 1-2 Playoffs NFC Wildcard Round - Cowboys at Dolphins Divisional Round - Rams at Broncos and Cowboys/Dolphins at Saints AFC Wildcard Round - Browns at Giants Divisional Round - Steelers at Redskins and Browns/Giants at Vikings

😄 Indeed they do!

The Christmas Spirit Free Safety is going to be very lonely in the locker room after that blown coverage. Quite an exciting ending though!

Incredible job Gerry.

I'll change the set-up on occasion, but the defense always adjusts with the appropriate defense. So it's not an audible in the sense that the offense is adjusting to a weakness in the defense, just me wanting to try a different play at the last minute.

Look forward to seeing your Saints, Daryl. I also appreciate the 70's Bengals uniforms. A while back I lost one of my Haiti Bengals. LB Jim LeClair (55) of all players. So I painted one of the players that came with the board, (pic attached). Of course, I found the missing player a couple days later. 😄

I simply take the base off after the QB fades back to pass. Or, if the QB is in the shotgun, I take his base off right before the play starts. The player may bounce around a bit, but it's a pretty simple solution.

Yes.

Because of this discussion, I've enhanced (in bold) the possible rule change regarding a QB throw away. The QB may throw the ball away when both the following apply: 1. there is not a receiver open, 2. He is not in imminent danger of being sacked. THE OFFENSE WILL THEN INCUR A 5 YARD LOSS OF YARDAGE. I chose 5 yards because I already have a loss limit of 5 yards in place for runners. This along with a once per game 5 yard penalty that may be incurred on the visiting team at any given point in the game of the home team's choosing. This is to simulate false starts due to crowd noise.

I have never allowed the QB to throw away the ball. However, after this season, I will evaluate allowing it for a very specific situation. The specific situation is when all the following apply: 1. there is not a receiver open, 2. the QB has already used his one-time direction change, 3. He is not in imminent danger of being sacked. It seems weird to lose yardage, sometimes BIG yardage just because the QB isn't allowed to change direction and isn't being chased by defenders.

Before this season, I always used the official rule that Terry mentioned; a player is considered tackled when an opposing player's base touches the ball carriers base. As per a discussion on this forum, I changed the rule so that a parallel side to side touch is not a tackle. The thinking was that this would simulate a broken tackle. I have to say that I am very pleased with this change. It has opened up the running game considerably.

My feeling is that division games should mean more and thus I think you have it right. That said, for my current season, I eliminated the division game win percentage as a tiebreaker for making the playoffs and playoff positioning. I had 2 out of the 6 divisions having 4 teams as opposed to 3 teams and those two divisions played all division games of the three-game season. So, it messed up the division win percentages.

Congrats to the Giants!

Thank you, Curt for the explanation of your rules process and the playoff scores and brackets. I notice the games got a lot closer after the first round! Sounds like the defenses are asserting themselves in the Super Bowl so far. Look forward to hearing who won! Enjoy.

By "new rules for review" do you mean that you will try the new rules for a season and then reevaluate whether or not make the rules permanent? Considering new rules has been a fun part of my electric football experience. Could you share the playoff bracket and scores for Season 18? I for one would enjoy seeing that.

Curt, all your suggestions are really thought-provoking ideas! I wonder though if by providing any of the advantages listed for the ENTIRE GAME gives the home team TOO MUCH of an advantage. Perhaps trying it for a season and recording how often the home team wins vs the road team and comparing those stats with actual NFL stats would provide a good indicator as to whether the rule is fair or not. Just some thoughts.