Bob Davis

The two Wildcard games were played this week. Interceptions thrown by veteran Quarterbacks were the deciding factor in both games. Cincinnati Bengals at Philadelphia Eagles This was a rematch of last year's Wildcard game that the Eagles won. The Bengals get the ball first. After a modest kick return, the Bengals come out throwing. QB Art Schlichter finds rookie WR Steve Krieder on a deep seam route producing 43 yards. After a 12 yard scramble, Schlichter again finds Krieder on a deep flag pattern. Krieder takes it into the endzone for the first score of the game. Bahr knuckleballs the extra point through the uprights and it's 7-0 Bengals. RB Louie Giamona returns the kickoff to the Eagle 39 yard line. Giamona follows up with runs of 15 yards and 5 yards. RB Wilbert Montgomery gains only 1 yard on 2nd down. QB Ron Jaworski then throws an incomplete pass bringing up 4th down. The Eagle offense stays on the field on 4th and 4. QB Ron Jaworski is sacked for a 9 yard loss giving the Bengals a golden opportunity to go up by two scores. Schlichter completes to RB Archie Griffin for 11 yards . Schlichter throws two incomplete passes and is then sacked for a 15 yard loss on 3rd down. K Chris Bahr boots a 56 yard field goal to give the Bengals a 10-0 lead with 3 plays left in the first half. WR Wally Henry fumbles the ensuing kickoff. The ball eventually rolls out of bounds at the Eagle's 11 yard line. After an incompletion, Jaworski completes to Giamona over the middle for 36 yards. He follows that up with a completion to RB Wilbert Montgomery for 13 yards. K Nick Mike-Meyer boots a 49 yard field goal as the first half comes to a close. Bengals 10, Eagles 3. The Eagles open up the second half with Giamona gaining 9 yards on 2 plays. On 3rd and 1, Jaworski fades back to pass. He throws a pass intended for Henry, who tips it toward S Dick Jauron who tips it again. The pass is eventually picked off by CB Louis Breeden who returns it 43 yards to the Eagle's 18 yard line. 4 plays later, RB Boobie Clark takes the ball 6 yards for the touchdown. Bahr adds the extra point giving the Bengals a 17-3 lead. The Eagles start their next drive at their own 38 yard line. With time running low, Jaworski fades back to pass. His pass intended for Montgomery is intercepted again by Breeden. This time Breeden returns the ball all the way to the 8 yard line of Philadelphia. 4 plays later, Boobie Clark plunges into the endzone once again. Bahr's extra point make the score 24-3 with only 2 plays left in the game. The Eagles give the ball to Montgomery two straight times and the game comes to an end. The Bengals will travel to Baltimore next week to face the mighty Colts in the divisional round. Bengals 24 Eagles 3 New Orleans Saints at Minnesota Vikings WR Guido Merkins returns the kickoff to the 31 yard line. QB Bobby Scott starts the drive with a completion to Merkins yielding 25 yards. Scott is then sacked for a 16 yard loss, but completes a pass to RB Tony Galbreath for 24 yards on 2nd down. The drive stalls and K Steve Mike-Meyer boots a 49 yard field goal to open the scoring. RB Bob Miller returns the ensuing kickoff 62 yards setting up the Vikings offense. RB Chuck Foreman opens up with a 16 yard burst up the middle to start the drive. He follows it up with an 8 yard scamper over the right side. From there, the Saints defense stiffens and K Jan Stenerud knocks home a 25 yard field goal to tie the game. The Saints next drive begins with a Vikings sack of Bobby Scott for a loss of 14 yards. From there Scott was flawless completing passes to Merkins for 37 yards, RB Chuck Muncie for 13 yards and back to Merkins for another 12 yards. With the first half coming to a close, Meyer boots another 49 yard field goal, and the Saints go into halftime with a 6-3 lead. Miller returns the opening kickoff of the second half 50 yards setting up the Vikings offense. QB Fran Tarkenton is sacked for a 16 yard loss on 1st down and is harassed into incompletions on 2nd and 3rd down. The Saints start their opening drive of the second half after the Vikings punt with runs by Muncie of 5 yards and 39 yards. The drive stalls, and Meyer boots a 42 yard field goal increasing the Saints lead to 9-3. The Vikings start what might be the final drive of the game as time is running down. After an incompletion, Tarkenton completes to WR Sammy White for 16 yards. But then, under heavy pressure, Tarkenton’s next pass is intercepted by S Tom Meyers who returns it 50 yards for a pick 6. Muncie splashes into the endzone for the 2 point conversion and the game is all but over with the Saints leading 17-3. Tarkenton completes a pass to open up the next drive, but then is intercepted to end the game. The Saints move on to Oakland to face the top seeded Raiders. This will be the third straight year these two teams have met in the playoffs. The Saints beat the Raiders last year in the divisional round, and the Raiders beat the Saints two seasons ago in the Championship game.

My teams don't have their own bases. I randomly allot bases to each team before every game. I've kicked around the idea of each team having their own bases, but haven't pulled the trigger, yet.

Season 15 - Another fun-filled regular season is in the books. Fun facts about this season: Both participants from Superbowl 14 (Pittsburgh Steelers and Los Angeles Rams) failed to make the playoffs this season. The New England Patriots will play in their first playoff game ever, ending their seven-season playoff drought. The Houston Oilers also get to the playoffs for the first time in seven seasons. The Cleveland Browns go from winless to undefeated and worst to first in their division. The Baltimore Colts have both the number one ranked offense and the number one ranked defense this season. The Houston Oilers and New Orleans Saints played to a tie, only the second tie in league history. This year's AFC wildcard game is a rematch of last year's wildcard game. The Season 15 regular season MVP is RB Mike Rozier of the Houston Oilers. Standings are below: AFC Metro Division - Baltimore Colts 3-0**, Philadelphia Eagles* 2-1, Washington Redskins 1-2 Midlands Division - Cleveland Browns 3-0**, Cincinnati Bengals 1-2*, Pittsburgh Steelers 1-2 North Division - New England Patriots 3-0**, New York Giants 1-2, Buffalo Bills 0-3 NFC Central Division - Denver Broncos 2-1**, Minnesota Vikings 2-1*, Dallas Cowboys 1-2 West Coast Division - Oakland Raiders 2-1**, San Francisco 49ers 1-2, Los Angeles Rams 0-3 Deep South Division - Houston Oilers 1-1-1**, New Orleans Saints 1-1-1*, Atlanta Falcons 1-2 ** Division Winner * Wildcard Seeding for the Playoffs AFC 1. Baltimore Colts, 2. New England Patriots, 3. Cleveland Browns, 4. Philadelphia Eagles, 5. Cincinnati Bengals NFC 1. Oakland Raiders, 2. Denver Broncos, 3. Houston Oilers, 4. Minnesota Vikings, 5. New Orleans Saints Wildcard Weekend AFC - Cincinnati Bengals at Philadelphia Eagles NFC - New Orleans Saints at Minnesota Vikings

Wow, you really put a lot of thought into this league. Is it a solitaire league? I like how you've chosen the color schemes based on the name and location of the team, ie: coral color for KCR. BTW, where exactly does KCR play it's home games? For LOM, I wonder if you could incorporate silver into their uniforms since a lot of silver is mined in Mexico. Look forward to seeing the finished product!

They look about perfect to me. If I'm not mistaken, the Dolphins have changed their jersey color over the years. It's been aqua blue and also teal. I have the teal version, hand painted.

I predict a Cardinals vs Chiefs final.

The Houston Oilers One on the right is Hong Kong 1978. Overall acceptable. One on the left is China 2020. The uniform color and the striping on the paints, socks and jerseys is quite nice. However, the oil well symbol on the helmet is literally a round bullseye. The Hong Kong 1978 helmet symbol isn't great but at least they got the shape fairly right.

Great tourney! The Brown's roster is a reminder of good the Browns of that era were. Looking forward to hearing about the next tourney.

Hello all, Season 15 of my solitaire league is into the final round. There are a number of surprises in terms of the standings. I'll update the standings in another post. For Season 16, I had planned several months ago to add two teams to the league, the Miami Dolphins and the Tampa Bay Bucs. Then I went ahead and bought two pre-painted teams that I was going to finish painting and make them the Sandiego Chargers and the Chicago Bears. I was planning on adding them in season 17. I recently bought two additional pre-painted teams with the intention of finishing painting them as the Detroit Lions and the Seattle Seahawks and adding them in Season 18. I also came up with a 24 team league structure which would incorporate the six additional teams. Now I'm thinking about just adding all six new teams in Season 16. So, the question for my electric football brothers is: Do I add the teams gradually or all at once?

Mid/Late 70's Redskins home jerseys.

Both games will be barnburners. Real game score: 24-20 Rams. Electric baller score 17-16 Rams.

This has given me something to think about. That's why I appreciate this forum. In my league, the pass is caught by the last player that the ball contacts BEFORE HITTING THE GROUND. However, if the last player the ball touches before hitting the ground is a receiver who was not the intended target it is incomplete. This might seem inconsistent, but the offense must declare which receiver it is targeting so that the defense can place its free safeties closest to the intended receiver if they have not already been placed in play. I must admit that it is difficult to judge this, and one reason I will consider changing to the first player the ball hits, but still before it hits the ground. It is still fun to imagine the ball being deflected by one player and then caught by another player though. I'll have to call a meeting of my solitaire league's rules committee in the off-season to discuss this. 😁

Just got done with the most exciting game of the young season. Washington Redskins at Philadelphia Eagles This was a division match-up and the first game of the season for both these teams. The Redskins get the ball to start the game. After successful runs by RB's John Riggins and Clarence Harmon the Eagles defense stuffs Harmon for a 5 yard loss. Then QB Joe Theismann is sacked on 2nd and 3rd down bringing up a 4th and 29 and a Redskins punt. The Eagles are successful running the ball with RBs Larry Giamona and Wilbert Montgomery but are eventually stopped on 4th down turning the ball over to the Redskins. Again, the Eagle defense is able to sack Theismann on 2nd and 3rd down bringing up another 4th and long, and another Redskins punt. With only two plays remaining until halftime, QB Ron Jaworski completes a pass to RB Louie Giamona for 32 yards setting up Nick Mike-Myer's 48 yard field goal to end the half. Eagles 3 Redskins 0. The Eagles get the ball to start the second half and the Redskins stuff the Eagle running game on first and second down. Jaworski is sacked on 3rd down by LB Lavar Arrington forcing an Eagles punt. The Redskins go on a 10 play drive, all runs. The Redskins face a 4th and goal at the Eagle 4 yard line. Mark Mosely trots out to attempt a 19 yard chip shot field goal. During last year's game between these two teams, Mosely missed an extra point that turned out to be the difference maker in the Redskins loss. Mosely however handles the pressure and boots home the tying field goal. The Eagles now only have 3 plays left in regulation to try and win the game. After a 4 yard scramble and an incomplete pass, the Eagles are still 3 yards out of field goal range. Jaworski then completes a check down pass to Montgomery that yields 5 yards. Meyer comes out to attempt the game winner of 58 yards. The kick is wide to the left and the game goes into OT. The Eagles win the coin toss and will get the ball first. My OT rules are simple: Whichever team is leading after the extra quarter (8 plays) wins. If the teams are tied at the end of the quarter, the game is declared a tie. In the playoffs, another quarter would be played to decide the winner. Still tied, then another and so on. Giamona gets a good return to the 37 yard line. Giamona follows up the KO return with a 31 yard run from scrimmage. From there the Skins defense prevents a first down and the Eagles attempt the go ahead field goal. Meyers 41 yard attempt is good, and the Eagles take a 6-3 lead with 4 plays left in the OT period. WR Danny Buggs is only able to return the KO to the 12 yard line. Theismann fades back and has plenty of time to survey the field. He heaves it 50 yards in the air toward WR Art Monk who has managed to streak passed the Eagle's free safeties. Monk hauls in the bomb and proceeds to the endzone for the go ahead score. A successful extra point gives the Redskins a 10-6 lead with 3 plays remaining in the OT period. Giamona returns the ball to the 41 yard line. After an incomplete pass, Jaworski completes to Giamona on a wheel route. Giamona manages to go 58 yards to the 1 yard line of Washington. So this is it. One play, one yard. Jaws hands off to Giamona and he barely breaks the plane as time runs out giving the Eagles a hard earned victory. I actually needed to measure to determine where exactly "the plane" is on the goal line as I wasn't sure what part of the goal line represented the plane. It turns out that each yard is a quarter of an inch on my board. So, I determined that the plane is at the beginning of the goal line which is what Giamona's base was able to barely get past. Wow, what a game! I love electric football!

What year is that board from? How many teams are in the tourney?

Congrats to the Lancers!

Miami 41, LSU 34. Miami run game nearly unstoppable with Portis and Davenport each over 100 yards on the ground. Joe Burrow's pinpoint passing keeps LSU in the game. LSU driving in the final seconds toward a tying TD when Vince Wilfork hits Edwards-Helaire on a draw causing a fumble. Miami recovers, and their offense assumes the victory formation.

I find several of your concepts intriquing. The one that I'm particularly interested in is the tackling. I've always maintained that if the defensive player's base contacts the ball carrier's base no matter where or how slight, the offensive player is considered tackled. But there is no situation where a ball carrier breaks a tackle. I'm going to consider adopting an iteration of your rule into my league. Thanks for sharing!

Superbowl 14 – Los Angeles Rams vs Pittsburgh Steelers This is the fourth Superbowl meeting between these two teams. They are by far the two most successful teams in league history. 10 out the 13 previous Superbowls featured one or both of these teams. They have won 8 Superbowls between them. The Steelers are the defending champions having beat the Oakland Raiders in last year’s Superbowl. The Rams win the coin toss and elect to defer to the second half. Steeler WR Anthony Carter, a dangerous return man returns the kickoff only to the 17 yard line. The Steeler offense uncharacteristically starts with a running play. RB Franco Harris is only able to eake out one yard. Harris gets another try, and this time gets great blocking, going up the middle for a 73 yard gain to the Ram’s 9 yard line. Carter attempts a jet-sweep around left end but is stuffed for a 5 yard loss. Bradshaw fakes to Harris and throws toward the endzone to WR John Stallworth. Rams Safety Fred Dryer intercepts the pass at the goal line and returns it to the Rams 14 yard line. What a turn of events! Rams QB Doug Williams goes straight to the air completing a pass to TE Charlie Young that yields 48 yards. The Rams try the ground game, as RB Wendell Tyler takes the handoff. The ball pops loose and is recovered by Steeler CB Ron Johnson at the Rams 49 yard line. The Steeler offense goes back to work. Bradshaw fades back to pass and is sacked by LB Bob Brudzinski for a 13 yard loss. After an incomplete pass on 2nd down, Bradshaw completes to TE Benny Cunningham for 32 yards and a first down. Harris is stuffed for a 5 yard loss. Bradshaw then connects with WR Calvin Sweeney in the endzone for the game’s first score. K Matt Bahr misses the extra point and the Steelers settle for a 6 point lead. The Rams start their next drive with a Williams to Young completion of 34 yards. Williams then finds WR Preston Dennard for a 30 yard TD tying the game. K Frank Corral breaks the tie with the extra point. RB Greg Hawthorne returns the kickoff to the 47 yard line giving the Steelers good field position to start their next drive. Bradshaw scrambles and is ultimately sacked for a two yard loss by Brudzinski. Bradshaw then throws over the middle and is picked off again by Dryer. The Rams take over with good field position and a chance to increase their lead before halftime. Williams is sacked for a 10 yard loss on first down. After a second down incompletion, Tyler breaks a run for 15 yards bringing up a 4th and 5. With time running out, the Rams go for it. Williams is stopped 2 yards short. The Steelers take over with only one play before the half. Bradshaw throws another incompletion and the Rams take a 7-6 lead into halftime. Rams WR Ron Jessie returns the second half kickoff only to the 12 yard line. With their offense backed up, the Rams try rushing the ball. FB Cullen Bryant is stuffed for a 5 yard loss. Williams fades back to pass on second down. During the play his base barely but definitively touches the out of bounds line and the call is a safety. **In solitaire as you all know, it is difficult to follow all the action. I was busy watching for open receivers and neglected the QB** In a bizarre twist, the Rams go from leading by one point to trailing by one point. Bahr’s missed extra point suddenly doesn’t loom quite so large. Carter takes the short kickoff and looks like he might break a big return. He reaches midfield and the ball pops out of his arm! Fortunately for the Steelers, no one is able to recover before it rolls out of bounds at the Ram’s 48 yard line. Bradshaw is sacked for 12 yard loss. On second down Bradshaw throws his 3rd interception of the day. Again it is Fred Dryer chalking up another interception. The Rams start the drive at their own 42 yard line. Bryant breaks a 25 yard run up the middle setting up the Rams in Steeler territory. Bryant and Tyler are both stuffed for loss on consecutive downs and Williams is sacked for an 8 yard loss on third down. Just out of field goal range at the Steeler 48 yard line, the Rams are forced to punt. **In my league, the offense must be at least to the 45 yard line of the opposing team to attempt a field goal**. Carter returns the punt to the Steeler 28 yard line. After an incomplete pass by Bradshaw on first down, Harris breaks another big run, this time for 32 yards. Both Carter and Harris are stuffed on 1st and 2nd down. Bradshaw fades back to pass and is sacked for a 14 yard loss. The Steelers punt and the Rams down it in the endzone. Still trailing by one with 7 plays remaining in the game, the Rams start this definitive drive at their own 20 yard line. After a short scramble and an incomplete pass, Williams completes to Bryant on a wheel route yielding 33 yards and a first down. Williams is then sacked for a 15 yard loss. Another two incomplete passes and the Rams are facing 4th and 25 with one play remaining. William’s pass is intercepted by Johnson and the game ends. The Steelers hang on to win by the score of 8-7. CB Ron Johnson is named the MVP because of his fumble recovery and interception. For the Steelers, it is their second straight Superbowl victory, and 4th overall. Ironically, this is the Rams 4th loss in a Superbowl. Superbowl 14 is also the lowest scoring Superbowl in history beating Superbowl 13 by one point.

Wow! A lot of exciting games! You may have already answered this, but how long does it typically take to play a game?

This is what I follow as well. And fumbles do happen more often than you would think particularly when the football you're using is older and "roughed up". In my league, fumbles can also occur on kickoffs and punts. If the ball hits the return man, it is considered a fumble. There is one other time a fumble can occur, and that is during a lateral which is very rare.

Wow, what an exciting game! Particularly that 2nd quarter. So the Jets got a bonus point for scoring 5 TDs. Are there other ways that teams can earn bonus points?

Great start! You mentioned a "holding penalty". I'm curious, what constitutes a holding penalty? What I think you're referring to is when two opposing players lock arms and change each others direction. Is that correct? I've thought about instituting that in my league, but I couldn't get passed the question of; who is holding who? Would the penalty always be called on the defense? This may be in the official rules or the toe-pro rules. If so, I apologize for my intellectual laziness. 😄

The Miami Dolphins and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will be joining my league eventually. Scored home and away old school Bucs teams on Ebay!

Championship Games NFC - The Rams will take on the Saints for the NFC Championship. This is a rematch of the divisional round playoff game from last season where the Saints shut out the Rams. It will also be the 3rd time these two teams have met in the Championship game, the Rams winning the previous two. RB Wendell Tyler fumbles the opening kickoff but is able to recover only reaching the 7 yard line. QB Doug Williams completes a pass to Tyler for 13 yards giving the Rams some breathing room. Williams is sacked on the very next play for a 12 yard loss. From there, the Rams continue what would be a 10 play drive featuring completions to WR Ron Jessie for 36 yards, Tyler for 9 yards and a 31 yard scamper by FB Cullen Bryant. But the drive ends in disaster when Bryant fumbles and the Saints recover and return the ball 54 yards setting up the Saints offense at the Rams 39 yard line. The Ram defense steps up, stuffing RB Chuck Muncie for a 5 yard loss and sacking QB Bobby Scott. On third down Scott is tripped and falls awkwardly for a 12 yard loss. He is injured and likely will not return. The Saints are forced to punt. Bryant gets a 27 yard return and Williams goes back to work completing passes to TE Charlie Young for 17 yards and WR Preston Dennard for 14 yards. With almost no time left on the clock, K Frank Corral boots a 59 yard field goal as time runs out in the first half. The Rams lead 3-0 at the half. QB Archie Manning is in for the injured Bobby Scott. It has been several seasons since Manning has seen live action. After Muncie is stuffed for no gain, Manning completes a pass to WR Ike Harris yielding 27 yards. On the next play, Manning is intercepted. The return sets up the Rams offense in Saints territory. Williams wastes no time as he airs it out to Bryant running a deep wheel route. Bryant takes it into the endzone for a 41 yard TD. Muncie returns the ensuing kickoff 69 yards setting up the Saints at the 37 yard line of Los Angeles. A sack and two incompletions later, K Nick Mike Myer attempts a 53 yard field goal that hooks left and no good. The Rams take over. The Rams rushing game only yields 3 yards on the first two downs, but Williams is able to complete to Young over the middle yielding 37 yards and a first down. Bryant is stuffed on first down, so Williams goes back to the air. He is intercepted by rookie LB Reggie Mathis. Manning completes a pass to Muncie for 40 yards setting up Myers 43 yard field goal. The Saints attempt an onside kick which is recovered by the Rams. The Rams run two running plays and assume the victory formation. The game ends sending the Rams back to Superbowl, their 9th appearance in 14 seasons. The Saints are now 0-6 in Championship games. AFC – The Pittsburgh Steelers go to Baltimore to face the Colts in the AFC Championship Game. These two teams are winners of the last two Superbowls with the Steelers being the defending Champions. There are 9 AFC Championships and 5 Superbowl wins between these two teams. Steelers WR Anthony Carter takes the opening kickoff to midfield, giving the Steelers excellent starting field position. Bradshaw goes right to work completing passes to WR John Stallworth of 16 and 20 yards. The drive stalls and K Chris Bahr boots a 25 yard field goal to open the scoring. The Colts opening drive starts with a bang with RB Rob Carpenter rushing for 24 yards. The drive stalls after the running game is contained and an incomplete pass by QB Bert Jones. The Colts go for it on 4th and 6 and Bert Jones completes the pass to RB Joe Washington for 18 yards. Jones is sacked on first down, and then is picked off by S Mike Wagner who returns the ball 41 yards. After an incomplete pass, Bradshaw completes a screen pass to WR Jim Smith for 17 yards. With time running out, Bahr knocks home a 37 yard field goal giving the Steelers a 6-0 lead at the half. The Colts first drive of the second half stalls as the running game is stuffed and Jones throws two incomplete passes. Carter returns the punt 40 yards. The Steelers go on a 9 play drive including a 4th down and 2 conversion. The drive stalls, and Bahr boots his third field goal of the day giving the Steelers a 9-0 lead. WR John Jefferson sets up to take the kickoff. Jefferson fumbles and the Steelers recover sinking the Colts Superbowl hopes. The Steelers run out the clock and will go to their 5th Superbowl. They will compete for their 4th Superbowl Championship. SUPERBOWL 14 Los Angeles Rams vs Pittsburgh Steelers

Sounds fun! Look forward to following.