Leif Powers (Cin.) Tecmo MAN Season 1 Opponent(s): Michael Christen (K.C.) Last updated 07 March 2002 The copyright and allowable usage of this document is described at http://www.leifpowers.com/legal.htm Among other things, it says that this document may be distributed for FREE, in many mediums, but in a WHOLE (not excerpted) form. Go to the website (http://www.leifpowers.com/) if you want to do something else with this document. The plays are some the same, some improved. It depends on the team. Bengals' plays: R&S Sweep L T Offtackle R R&S Sweep R Pro T Dive R&S Flare C Pro T Flare D (later changed to Shotgun X Curl) Pro T Flare C Redgun Z Slant (later changed to Shotgun Z S-In) Chiefs' plays: R&S Sweep L T Offtackle R (later changed to T Sweep Strong) R&S Sweep R Pro T Dive R&S Flare C Pro T Flare D Pro T Flare C Shotgun Z S-In GAME SUMMARIES: WEEK 1 Cin. vs. Den. - Elway had a flashback to 1983 in this game. 4 INTs, thrown short into single coverage, doomed the Broncos, but the Bengals added insult to injury by running all over them with James Brooks and lofting deep TD passes over their heads. Even Ickey Woods saw a few carries in this game, spelling the Bengals' all-time greatest rusher (besides Ki-Jana Carter of course). K.C. vs. Atl. - This was an ugly, ugly game. Atlanta pulled out a victory as Steve DeBerg's mental lapses kept putting KC into a hole. The swarming Atlanta defense gave big back Okoye no chance to carry this team to an Opening-Day win. At times, it seemed as though reviled Barry Word was running better than the feared "Nigerian Nightmare". Mike Gann came up with the biggest play of the game. As DeBerg, confused and hurting, dropped back from inside his own five, the Falcons defense swooped in and Gann laid a huge hit on the aging quarterback, knocking him down in the end zone. Ironically enough (I know this one is an anachronism, but it did happen in my real life) the speakers were playing "The Safety Dance" by Men Without Hats. After the game, Gann was quoted as saying, "That wuddn't no safety for old man Stevie, cause he lost a lot more than two points on that play." The crazy things Falcons say when they win. WEEK 2 Cin. vs. Hou. - This game was one of the worst of Warren Moon's illustrious career. 4 INTs and not even 100 yards. Lo White couldn't find any magic to help him get to the end zone, and the Bengals were cooking with Butter as they forced two fumbles from the turnover-prone back. Cincinatti once again dominated the streaky Houston defense with James Brooks running right by the secondary. Ickey continued to struggle for carries and time on the field as his performance was still abysmal, and Brooks was hotter than ever, both in the rushing and the passing game. K.C. vs. N.O. - Sadly, this was my first loss this season. Humiliated by the Falcons on Opening Day, the Chiefs took out their anger on the hapless New Orleans offense. Steve Walsh was on his back all day long as Dan Saleaumua burned Joel Hilgenberg for more than ten sacks in the game. Walsh hardly stood a chance at throwing a ball until the fourth quarter arrived and he tried to lead his team to victory, but he was too late. The New Orleans offense, trying to get a passing game going, did not feature the run until the third quarter, and even that was ineffective, as Kansas City's tough linebackers pounded Ironhead Heyward into a bowling ball. The lone bright spot in this game for the Ain'ts was the continued strong play of their defense against an offense that always seemed to be on the field, thanks to New Orleans' incapacity to convert on 3rd down. Even promising back Dalton Hilliard could not pick up the yardage, as he only ran five plays the entire game. The Chiefs came away from this game exulting, feeling that they had proven they could be Super Bowl Champions... WEEK 3 Cin. vs. Cle. - The Bengals owned this game except on the return coverage, as Eric Metcalf and Brian Brennan teamed up to give Sam Wyche headaches all day long. The Bengals' powerful offensive line mangled the Browns' front seven, with only star LILB Mike Johnson showing any signs of life. Brooks had another Hall-of-Fame day as Boomer began to settle into a slump, throwing two picks into the victory. On defense, the Browns' "Truck" crashed into the wall of Kevin Walker and David Fulcher. Metcalf could hardly get his feet moving before Walker had him wrapped up. QB Browns was another face on the Browns' sideline this game, except for the Browns' lone touchdown drive: QB Browns, under heat and facing great coverage, challenged the league's best safety deep, throwing to star WR Webster Slaughter right through David Fulcher, once for 25 yards to the 30, and for 30 yards all the way into the back of the end zone for the touchdown pass. Fulcher was not pleased, but he showed class and accepted his defeat honorably, instead of trying to strip the ball and get rid of Slaughter's stats. Ickey Woods finally got benched as Harold Green rushed for more than five yards a carry in his place. Hou. vs. K.C. - This game was a 44-0 blowout that showed it in every way. From the beginning, Houston started deep in its own territory, but threw numerous passes to its cadre of star WRs and burned the KC secondary for countless big plays. Moreover, Lorenzo White held onto the ball the entire game, denying the Chiefs the opportunity to strike back. DeBerg threw more picks in this game, but Okoye managed to put some yards on the board with big breakouts against the Oilers' inconsistent defense. The play that broke the Chiefs' backs was late in the third quarter, when the Chiefs' secondary had finally caught one of Moon's deep passes, the Oilers, never ones to loaf and whine, ran right for the three Chiefs who had mobbed the ball and forced a fumble that they then returned for an Oilers touchdown. Owner M. Christen was so distraught after this disaster that he considered selling the team then and there, handing over the reins to a mysterious figure named "J" for a brief time. WEEK 4 Cin. vs. Was. - Another defensive slaughterfest by the Bengals, but Boomer Esaison's interceptions kept the 'Skins in the game. Earnest Byner hardly saw the daylight as Cincinnati's overachieving linebackers closed off the running lanes, and funneled him into the sure hands of David Fulcher. Even though James Brooks had another customary day mauling the Redskins, Boomer kept throwing the ball to the Redskins' talented corners. Eric Wilhelm was seen warming up on the sidelines as Boomer threw his second pick of the day. Mark Rypien saw open receivers, but could not get the ball to them as he was being sacked or pressured into overthrowing his targets. K.C. vs. Sea. - Another agonizing loss for the Chiefs. The Chiefs, stung again by their pathetic performance, charged into this game like angry bulls, slamming into Dave Krieg, John L. Williams, and Derrick Fenner like freight trains. The "Ground Chuck" offense became the "Ground Chuck-up" offense as the vicious Chiefs forced a fumble deep in Seattle territory. They managed to move the ball down the field against an overmatched, but hard-playing, Seattle defense. Krieg delivered two passes in the first half for one very short gain and one incompletion, while Williams and Fenner could not even make it back to the line of scrimmage. With a safety of Krieg and four three-and-outs, the Seattle team went into the locker room, searching for answers. They came back out with a new team: Kelly Stouffer, James "Earl" Jones, and Chris Warren would lead the charge this time. Little by little, the Seahawks began to move the football, with 3, 4, 5 yard gains. They scored a touchdown on a 38 yard pass from Stouffer to Tommy Kane, and stuffed the Chiefs, who then gave it back to them. The Chiefs forced Seattle to punt, but then Kansas City fumbled the punt return, and Seattle recovered it for a touchdown!! The crowd was a mess as the Chiefs went back on offense. It got ugly the rest of the game, but the Seahawks pulled out a close win as the Chiefs despaired of ever winning games. WEEK 5 K.C. vs. S.D. - So let down by the loss they had suffered the week before, Kansas City didn't bring their best game to San Diego. Their defense played hard, but they could not stop the powerful San Diego rushing attack led by Marion Butts, and heavily complemented in this game by Anthony Miller. BJ Tolliver then completed a 41 yard pass to Miller to put the game away. The Chiefs felt as though they were on a slide, but they weren't giving up. WEEK 6 Buf. vs. K.C. - Owner M. Christen, screaming bloody murder after the loss, devised a new game plan. The Chiefs came out into Buffalo and dropped QB Bills on nearly every play he attempted under center. Thurman Thomas initially had some success, but he too was stopped in his tracks by Dan Saleaumua and Kansas City's front seven. Regrettably, the Chiefs could not find the end zone, settling for a field goal in the first half. Marv Levy devised a cockamamie scheme: go out with only three plays and try to win with Shotgun Draw, Shotgun X Fly, and Shotgun XY Bomb. He first drew it into the two minute offense as a means of keeping QB Bills from becoming yet another name on the injury list, and to give him some more time to throw. At the end of the first half, it happened: the Bills came alive. QB Bills had both James Lofton and Keith McKeller wide open deep. His offensive line giving him tons of time, Bills first faked to Lofton, then lofted a perfect 67 yard pass to McKeller on the 18, and the trusty tight end took it all the way with 37 seconds remaining in the half. The Chiefs came into the locker room, their momentum drained. As the second half progressed, the Bills led by a touchdown, 10-3. Then the Bills' defense broke down and allowed Steve DeBerg's biggest play of the year, a 75 yard pass to Robb Thomas for a touchdown. Now it was 10-10, but neither team could find the endzone and the game went into overtime. The Bills won the toss and Kansas City set up to kick, but Lowery shanked the ball and the Bills recovered it on the Chiefs' 48. Coming out of the draw, "Thermal" Thomas burned Kansas City right up the middle for a 45 yard gain. Not even KC's special teams which had blocked extra points earlier in the season could stop this field goal from going through the uprights to give the Bills a 13-10 victory. Cin. vs. Sea. - Nothing much to say here. Seahawks got torn by Brooks. WEEK 7 Don't remember any of these games except for a game which shouldn't be on the schedule (according to Paul's FAQ). It was Miami vs. K.C. and I got torn by the Chiefs' tough pass defense. I could run, but I didn't run enough and Okoye ran well (more than 100 yards) to give the Chiefs the win. Marino threw a pick late on a throw he shouldn't have forced. WEEK 8 Buf. vs. Cin. - Coming off that Miami loss, I was ready for some blood. I was NOT going to give up on my rushing game with only 11 or 12 carries. I was going to stick with it till the final gun, and not let a top-three rusher, James Brooks, go unused. Came into the game salivating - Buffalo and their unmodified playbook (some teams had it (Cin., K.C., Cle., Hou.)), was going to crash and burn - or so I thought. Kicked off to Buffalo and stopped their return at the BUF 10. Buffalo goes out of the shotgun, with Jamie Mueller in the backfield. With excellent coverage downfield, QB Bills tries to find a receiver, but as he slides up to his left to take a deep bomb to reliable James Lofton, he is taken down by a swarm of Cincinnati rushers in the endzone for a safety! On my first drive I meet with little success rushing and am forced to punt the ball away - a booming 73 yarder returned by Al Edwards for a 27 yard gain. I shut down their early runs out of the T, but my friend went with the Onesetback. "Mmmm", I said, "I smell sacked QB Bills in the air." I think it was just the old stadium in Buffalo. He snaps the ball. I use my dirty "left end dive" to break up the exchange. But wait! Howard Ballard blows Skip McClendon from here to Pittsburgh with a massive block!! QB Bills moves back and fires a pass to James Lofton for a twenty-yard gain. "All right," I said, "flukes do happen." So he lined up in the Onesetback, and I became that mediocre Skip McClendon, shaken by my recent slip. Hut hut hut hut hut hut BOOM!!! John Davis and Howard Ballard sweep me off my feet like a second honeymoon, QB Bills sees Thurman Thomas wide open and the Bills get a thirty yard gain. Something was not right. QB Bills got hot quickly, as he drove his team into my endzone with more than a third of the quarter remaining. I took the ball back and got to my fifteen. Here comes James Brooks. Five-yard gain. Here comes James Brooks on T Offtackle L. Three-yard gain. Here comes James Brooks on R&S Sweep L. First down Cincinnati. Now comes the "change of pace" back Harold Green. Nothing doing. Here comes Brooks again, running wide. Doesn't get far. A big third down - Boomer finds Brooks short and Brooks picks up the first down. I'm now close to midfield. First down run - called my play. Second down run - short gain. 3rd and 10. R&S Flare C once again. Esiason steps back, then rolls to his left to fake out the defense, as his target is James Brooks five yards from the line. But Esiason forgets to plant his feet and his cross-field pass sails WAY in front of Brooks. Miscommunication? - no, but Buffalo picks it off!!! What a horrible way to start the game. The Cincinnati defense makes adjustments and Buffalo is forced to kick a 55 yard field goal. 10-2. Not good. Cincinnati gets the ball back and races down the field to put the ball into the end zone before the half closes and the sky diver lands into the stadium. Second half. Buffalo blasts the ball into the back of the end zone and Stanford Jennings can only make it down to the CIN 10 before a fierce Buffalo coverage team smacks him to the ground. From here, it was time to show Buffalo, and my friend, who was boss. Boomer, wary of his three picks on the season, slowly guided his team down the field. He gave the ball to Brooks for five yard gains, then threw pivotal first down passes to Green, who had 3 catches for 43 yards on the drive. The Buffalo defense bent and bent and bent and finally, with 3rd and GOAL on the BUF 8, Blondie tossed it with a soft touch to Green once more for the score. However, Buffalo wasn't done yet. With only a few minutes left in the third quarter, QB Bills felt the heat. 10-16 - he knew his team needed the go-ahead score. Time after time, the crowd gasped as the reclusive quarterback tossed it up for grabs, as though it were the end of the game and he needed one last score. Cincinnati's secondary was on top of every receiver, but Lofton, Reed, and big-play TE Keith McKeller hauled it in every time, and after each catch, the stunned Bengals defenders stared at the Bill on the ground, wondering by what divine force that grab was made. QB Bills' hot hand only got hotter, as he reached 6 and 7 consecutive completions on the drive, capping it with that same crossing route to James Lofton to reach the end zone with less than three minutes remaining in the game. James Francis was frustrated all day by the Buffalo special teams, who once again held him back from the kick and made the game 17-16. Do or die. The final drive of the game. The drive that will decide the Bengals' undefeated season. The drive that will make the world know - is the Cincinnati offensive juggernaut really invincible? Can they do it one more time? Esiason stepped out onto the field, ready to make this a game to remember. Starting with a pass, Boomer saw everything on the field. He took what the defense gave him - ten yard passes. Brooks' and Green's rushes played a secondary role, but drove the ball upfield once more against the Bills, who never said die in their overtime win against Kansas City. With 16 seconds left, R&S Sweep L brought Brooks around the Bills' front seven and deep into the secondary. He ran out of bounds just short of the twenty yard line with six seconds on the clock. The moment of truth is now come. Jim Breech steps onto the field to try a medium field goal. Sam Wyche and the Bengals know that Breech is reliable - but can he pull out this crucial victory? The Bills are waiting, silently, knowing that THIS IS THE GAME. Bruce Kozerski snaps it to Esiason, and it's a perfect hold. Breech has the right footing, the right angle, the right twist...but out of the corner of his left eye Breech sees Shane Conlan with madness in his eyes!! Breech hears a BOOM.....and then another BOOM as Conlan BLOCKS THE KICK!!! The crowd shrieks as Breech picks up the loose ball and tries to take it down the field for a touchdown, but he doesn't get far when Bruce Smith and the Bills gang tackle him down as the clock runs out. Owner L. Powers was seen in the booth smiling like future NFL head coach Tony Dungy and looking at the ceiling... Quotes from the players: Boomer Esiason: "If I hadn't tried to get it over to the other side of the field...that interception was my fault." James Brooks: "Nine carries for 74 yards? What is this??? Just give me the flappin' ball! Can't you see that Boomer throws one pick a game??" Harold Green: "We gave it a good effort, but it just wasn't enough. Hats off to the Bills - we'll see you in the playoffs." Stanford Jennings: "I need some help on the special teams blocking. I know this is a down year for kickoff returners, but still...starting on your own ten is pathetic." Tim McGee and Eddie Brown, sullen after once again getting jacked on the receptions, stormed out of the locker room and didn't even attend the press conference. After Sam Wyche fined them $10,000 apiece for their insubordination, they issued a joint statement: "We, the starting wide receivers of the Bengals, feel that, because of our non-existent role in the offense, the team has become too reliant on James Brooks to win games for us. Take a look at those stats! 9 for 74 - our grandmas could rush for more than that! But we don't only speak for ourselves, we also speak for Kendal Smith and Mike Barber. If you guys don't throw us the ball, we will hold out and demand a trade (or $1 million dollars added to our contracts) so that we can make some other team a Super Bowl winner. We have talent. Give us the ball. End of storie. TM and ED" Kendal Smith: "Hey, if TM and ED don't feel like playing here, I would be more than happy to get a starting job in this league. Those guys don't know what it means to be a team player, and how hard it is to make it in this game. They mean a lot to us, but they have to be patient. When defenses stack up against us to stop our run, they'll get the ball. Quit complaining about our game when we have seven wins out of eight games. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to watch some Houston game film." Mike Barber: "I hate everyone on this team. I have NO carries, NO receptions, and NO returns of any kind. Can you people get MEE the ball for once? Even Eddie has 3 catches. Whatever happened to the spread offense? Huh, Sam? Are you listening? You pay me a pittance and all I do is sit on the sideline and dance to "YMCA". I have talent and I want the ball. I could have run in that touchdown on our last offensive play! I could have returned that ball for a TD! WHY DON'T YOU USE MEEEE!!!" Rodney Holman: "I like blocking, but I also like catching, and winning is best of all. We didn't do two of those three things today. Heed a Pro Bowler's advice: good things come in threes." Offensive Line: The WRs took up so much time, they didn't get any chance to force their way to the podium. Jim Breech: "You know, Shane made a nice play there. Everything was going perfectly, the game was won - and then THUMP. Man, at least it doesn't count against my stats." Lee Johnson: "I think the reason that I kicked it so hard was because I haven't kicked many punts at all this season. It helps to have a fresh leg. Being backed up near the end zone doesn't hurt your stats either." Skip McClendon: "Coach said I was fat and didn't help anything. I can play...just give me one more chance." James Francis: "That was hard playing out there. They really took it to us. I have to say that that was one of the hardest games I have ever played in my career. Congratulations Bills." David Fulcher: "No matter what we did, they got the ball to their guys deep. The gods just weren't smiling on us today. Maybe our karma ran out...might have something to do with our wide receivers. James Brooks goes to the Gold Club...you know that the Tecmo Gods frown upon RBs getting..." QB Bills: "..." Thurman Thomas: "They quit on me early this game. But at least we won and it didn't hurt my average too badly." James Lofton: "I don't like going over the middle, but it was worth it today." Keith McKeller: "You know what they say - just throw it up there and I'll get it." Howard Ballard: "Yeah, that Skip McClendon fool never had a chance. We sealed up the gaps and made the Bengals pay for their trash talkin'." Bruce Smith: "I had a bad day, but we did pressure Boomer into throwing that one pick. He had us at the end, but thank goodness I play on the same team as Shane Conlan." Shane Conlan: "I just said to myself, 'hey, why don't I try the LILB trick and see if it works.' I was amazed that I got in there that quickly. Quotes from the coaches: Sam Wyche: "We gave 'em our best, but it wasn't good enough today." Marv Levy: "I told QB Bills, just be patient and throw it long to covered receivers and we'll win this game. After all, the Bengals were undefeated so we knew we would get a stat boost." Final Score Bills 17 Bengals 16 Rushing Passing First Downs 5 0 210 7 14 117 107 11 Leading Rushers Att. Yds. Thurman Thomas 1 0 James Brooks 9 74 Leading Passers Comp. Yds. INT Q. Bills 85% 210 0 B. Esiason 70% 107 1 Leading Receivers Rec. Yds. James Lofton 3 110 Harold Green 4 47 The final stats are approximate. Also, I was the one who won with the Bills in overtime earlier, not my friend. It was a good game defensively for my friend, but not for me (but since my friend was always throwing into coverage, it was not my fault). Den. vs. K.C. - I come out with R&S QB Run three times on the first drive, which ends in a touchdown. Bobby Humphrey ran all over the Chiefs, with 10 attempts for 167 yards. Likewise, Okoye ran for 115 yards on 11 carries. He kept running T Offtackle L at me and I couldn't use the LOLB shutdown dive to stop it because I kept getting hit by the LT. Elway was 100% on the day for 79 yards and one (maybe two) TDs. I clobbered him, but it was closer than you might think. WEEK 9 Cin. vs. Hou. - James Brooks, only the NFL's third leading rusher (behind Bobby Humphrey with 898 and Christian Okoye with 886) was not happy about the fact that in the loss to the Bills, he was held to only 74 yards, the lowest total on the season and the first time he had gone under 100 yards the entire season. He made up for it against an Oilers defense that could not catch him no matter what they tried. He finished the day with 9 carries for 176 yards. Boomer had a great day, and the defense held the Oilers to two touchdowns. Green got some quality carries as well. It looks like Ickey has lost his starting job for good. Final Score: Cincinnati 44 Houston 14 Brooks is still third in the league, even after that big day in Week 9, and Humphrey and Okoye have yet to play (at least Okoye anyway). Our current stats go something like this. Boomer Esiason 63 att. (don't know) 43 comp.(don't know) 17 TD 3 INT QB Rating 210.1 He doesn't even show up on the leader board because he doesn't throw enough balls. He also has a few insignificant rushes. James Brooks Rushing: 89 carries 868 yards 13 TDs rushing Receiving (guesses): 17 Rec. 210 Yds. 5 TD Ickey Woods: nothing much. Something like 8 for 25 rushing. Don't know Green's (cartridge is not with me). Tim McGee 6 Rec. 210 Yds. 3 TD Eddie Brown 3 Rec. 84 Yds. 1 TD Don't know about Holman. Kendal Smith leads the league in punt return yardage per carry. Almost had a TD. Jim Breech did not kick any field goals this season other than the one that was blocked. That did not show up on the stats screen - like a fumble. Lee Johnson 1 Kick - 73 Yards - 73.0 AVG No one on defense has more than one or two sacks, or more than one pick except for David Fulcher, who is tied for first with two other players in the league with 6 INTs for 74 yards. I don't know much about K.C.'s stats, but here goes: Steve DeBerg 6 TDs 7 INT 73.0 QB Rating (2nd lowest in the league among ranked passers) Christian Okoye 83 Att. 886 Yds. 5 TDs (approx.) Barry Word has been the "laughing" back this season. He has never gotten consistent yardage in any game. I think Robb Thomas has some good stats but I haven't checked him lately. Record: Cincinnati 7-1 Kansas City 2-6 Team Rankings: Total Offense: Both teams are in the gutter on total offense. However, we both are at the top of the league in rushing. Total Defense: I'm #1 in total yards. He's #13 or something. I have only allowed 170 yards rushing against all opponents so far this season. Think that's about it...for now. WEEK 9 continued.... K.C. vs. Rai. - This was the first of two nail-biters in the same day. The Raiders won the toss and elected to return. But, on the first T Power Sweep R of the game, Bo Jackson's leg twisted horribly...you could even tell it with the pixellated graphics. So much for that idea. Tim Brown got a chance to come off the bench as a replacement for Bo. However, neither he nor Marcus Allen got much of anywhere in this game, as the Raiders were held below 50 yards rushing in the game, most coming from Brown on four carries. The reason? A Kansas City defense with their ears peeled back, that called the first two plays of the game to put the Raiders inside their own five. Needless to say, Jeff Gossett got some leg into the ball in this game. Kansas City didn't have much more success with running the football, either. Even though owner M. Christen had publicly stressed the importance of Christian Okoye to the team and its offense, nothing much seemed to happen the Chiefs' way. Okoye finished the day with 47 yards rushing on 15 attempts. The reason? Again, called plays kept Okoye in the cage all day long, and hard-hitter Eddie Anderson forced Okoye into places he never should have gone. Guess where the action happened in this game? The deep pass was the way this game unfolded. Stephone Paige, making a move to split end from flanker, made a huge catch in coverage to move the Chiefs back into Raiders territory. On ensuing possessions, the Raiders' Jay Schroeder answered with short passes to Marcus Allen that turned into 60-yard touchdown passes, amongst other things. In addition, he hurled downfield to Willie Gault when no one thought that the speedy WR could beat the Chiefs' deep zone, and came up with a 30-yard reception. No team ever gained a decisive advantage in this game, but the Raiders eventually became the beneficiary of turnovers by Steve DeBerg and Okoye that became points on the board, and the Raiders managed to escape with a victory. WEEK 10 BYE week for the Chiefs. Marty Schottenheimer pledged to work harder to make the defense go and to help DeBerg make smarter decisions. Meanwhile, owner M. Christen wondered whether his purchase of the Chiefs franchise was such a wise decision... Cin. vs. Cle. This game started out close, but ended with the unraveling of the Browns' offensive attack. Cleveland came out early with a huge 30-yard pass to Webster Slaughter, then drove 30 more yards to set up a Jerry Kauric field goal. Stunned by the quick strike of the Browns, the Bengals' offense stalled inside their own territory and Lee Johnson blasted it away. Again, the Browns came out and smashed the Bengals, this time with runs, and then a deep pass to Webster Slaughter for a 60 yard TD play. This time the Bengals did even worse on offense. Pressured by a strong Browns rush, Boomer tossed the ball into the hands of the Browns linebackers when attempting to connect with Harold Green, his favorite target of late. However, the Browns failed to move the ball on this possession and were forced to punt it back to the Bengals. This time, the Bengals rammed ahead with James Brooks and came up with an eight-yard touchdown run. Another Browns possession revealed the magic of Bengals SS David Fulcher, who singlehandedly covered three receivers at once and came up with an INT before halftime. When the Bengals came back out, they gave it everything they had. The Bengals pushed Cleveland and star LILB Mike Johnson back to their 40, then Boomer Esiason completed a 40-yard strike to Eddie Brown on the outside for a TD. No word yet on whether this will temper some of the animosity that prevailed in the Bengals locker room after the loss to Buffalo. However, Brown only caught two passes on the day for 60 yards. Tim McGee did not get any balls thrown his way. QB Browns came out again, hoping to recapture some of the magic that had been lost at halftime. He ended up throwing the ball back to David Fulcher as he overthrew his intended receiver Reggie Langhorne. After the Bengals kicked a field goal off that turnover, QB Browns had a near-miss when he overthrew Eric Metcalf and nearly gave Fulcher yet another game ball. No matter what the Browns tried to do on offense, they could not put together another long drive for the rest of the game, as Cincinnati stopped Kevin Mack and his partner Metcalf from going far across the line of scrimmage. As the game wound down, the Bengals scored another touchdown, and QB Browns came out for one last gasp at victory. On that final drive, Eric Metcalf suffered an injury that put Leroy Hoard into the game, but only for a few seconds. Another Bengals triumph concluded with Tecmo Sports News... Final Score Bengals 24 Browns 10 First Downs Bengals - 5 Browns - 3 WEEK 11 K.C. vs. Rams - This game ended only with the final gun - neither team could gain a decisive advantage over the other. The Rams won the toss and chose to receive, thinking that their offense could drive 90 yards down the field and score. How foolish they were. Their first offensive possession ended only in a punt as Cleveland Gary and Curt Warner, together with key passes from Jim Everett, were not enough to cross into Kansas City territory. On the Chiefs' first drive of the game, Okoye led them down the field and deep into Rams territory, where the Arrowhead Stadium natives kicked a medium field goal. The Rams again could not muster enough yardage to penetrate and try a field goal, so they punted it out of the back of the end zone, only to watch on the sideline as Steve Deberg, coming off the bye, threw a laser down the field to Stephone Paige that put the Chiefs once again past the 50. With a few more plays, the Chiefs kicked a long field goal and made the score 6-0. This time, the Rams decided that they needed to take the ball down the field and threw it at Flipper Anderson for a 30-yard gain. Runs by Gary and Warner took the Rams into the Chiefs' end zone for the first time in the game. After halftime, the Chiefs continued their slow chipping away at the Rams defense. Another deep bomb by DeBerg to Robb Thomas put the Chiefs across the dividing line. Yet, the Chiefs' offensive momentum had slowed. Kevin Greene had begun to take over the game, bringing down Okoye from behind and getting penetration inside, as well as dropping deep into coverage to stop DeBerg's attempts and making key tackles all over the field. The Chiefs were again thwarted in their attempts to find the end zone and were forced to take the lead by a score of 9-7. The fourth quarter was well underway when the Rams once again took the field. The team looked to their running backs to gain initial yardage and for Everett to bring them across the first-down marker, and their execution of this strategy drove the tough Chiefs defense 88 yards down the field, to be capped by an Everett QB sneak from 3 yards out. Now the burden was on Kansas City to take the game and the victory. Marty Schottenheimer went with his best back. Okoye pounded the soft Rams schemes with ruthless power. But it seemed that as the game went on, he lost focus and control of the ball. The fumbling had started in the third quarter, but it continued into the fourth, and, when Okoye fumbled for the third time in the game, the Rams swarmed around the ball to gain possession with less than two minutes to play. The Chiefs were down, but not out. They first attacked the run, smashing into Cleveland Gary. Derrick Thomas followed Everett as he completed his play-action fake and came up with a huge sack. As Curt Warner took the last handoff, he was met by a mob of angry Chiefs. 4th and 33 loomed for the Rams, but Keith English's punt into the end zone ran out the final seconds of the clock to secure a Rams victory. Final Score Kansas City 9 Los Angeles 14 Leading Rushers Att. Yds. Christian Okoye 11 127 Cleveland Gary 9 87 Cin. vs. Pit. - This game ended up as a horrible memory for the Steelers, as Bubby Brister had no chance against the Bengals' coverage schemes, and RBs Merril Hoge and Warren Williams hardly ever ran for more than 7 yards. On defense, the talented Steelers unit contained the Bengals' quick-strike offense for much of the game, but they had too much work to do, as the Steelers never made it into the end zone. James Brooks had a good day, but Boomer threw yet another pick when trying to hit Brooks on the run; once again, Boomer's arm strength proved to be his best friend and greatest enemy as the pass sailed over Brooks into the waiting hands of the Pittsburgh linebackers. Harold Green has emerged as an alternative to Rodney Holman, who, though being a Pro Bowler, has almost vanished this season as Brooks and Green have taken the fore. With key catches to secure first downs, Green has become a Cris Carter/Ricky Proehl style option in the Bengals' attack. The victory was not without cost, however, as Kendal Smith, the Bengals' star punt returner, went down after another solid return. He was replaced by Mike Barber, who was more than thrilled to finally get some playing time. WEEK 12 Cin. vs. Phi. - QB Eagles, though he may be the greatest star on the Eagles' offense, proved to be the downfall of his team today, throwing five picks in the game; four went to David Fulcher, and one for James Francis (who coughed up the ball when he was hit on the return). Again, the Bengals dropped deep to stop the big play, but they also took out the running game early, and QB Eagles was forced to win the game with his arm. At the outset of the game, the Eagles' coach, Buddy Ryan, made some changes to the starting offensive lineup. He pulled Calvin Williams and replaced him with sure-handed RB Keith Byars, then put in Keith Jackson at RB for Byars, and finally took Anthony Toney off the bench to play at the tight end position. Ryan's reasoning was that with the personnel that Cincinnati had on defense, they would be soft in the middle with the exception of James Francis, and Ryan gambled that with Keith Jackson at RB, he could get more yards per rush than could Keith Byars before Cincinnati's superb SS David Fulcher and quality FS Barney Bussey could pull up and smack down the ballcarrier. Ryan also felt that Keith Jackson could fight off James Francis if he should get penetration through the offensive line. Early on, when QB Eagles threw picks deep in Eagles territory, Ryan went to Keith Jackson to move the ball. Jackson had initial success, beating off Francis in the backfield, then burning David Fulcher to pick up a fifty yard gain, which the Eagles converted into a field goal. However, on subsequent attempts, he was forced down by an angry Francis, and the Eagles' rushing attack never got going again. QB Eagles, the heart and soul of the Eagles' offense, could never be consistent enough to put together effective drives. With his five picks, four of which were deep in Eagles territory, QB Eagles gave the Bengals huge unanswered points. With his team deep in the hole from the beginning, QB Eagles tried to make plays, but only mustered a moderate amount of yards on the ground and could never get his team deep into Bengals territory. Roger Ruzek was trotted out for 60 yard field goals that he had no chance of making as the Bengals neither bent nor broke when hit with the Eagles' laughable offensive attack. However, this game would not be a total blowout. Loose QB Boomer Esiason threw another errant pass when the Eagles blitzed him, and QB Eagles threw a touchdown pass to Keith Byars through the good coverage. Moreover, Harold Green took a big hit as the Eagles' Jerome Brown and Seth Joyner smashed into him after another clutch catch to pick up a first down. Stanford Jennings replaced him in the game. On punt returns, Mike Barber is making a case for more playing time with his solid returns. He's no Kendal Smith, but he can pick up crucial yards for the offense to build on. In other news, Eddie Brown is more satisfied with his role in the offense after picking up 3 catches (a season high) for 89 yards. Tim McGee, however, is even worse than before since he has been on a pass-catching drought for quite a while. Quotes from the game: Boomer Esiason: "Man, I don't know what it is with my arm." QB Eagles: "..." Mike Barber: "I knew that if I got the chance, I could make plays in this league, and that's what happened today." Keith Jackson: "That's what happens when you put your TE at RB." Kendal Smith: "I'm glad that Mike has been having success in my absence." Harold Green: "Why is it that Buddy Ryan is playing a 300-pound lineman at LILB? He was trying to kill me there!" David Fulcher: "As a defensive back, sometimes you're going to have good days and sometimes you're going to have bad days. This was a good day for me. I had to fight for the ball on almost every throw, but it was worth it." James Francis: "I wasn't going to let that Jackson punk throw me again. What's that you say? No, no, not Kenny Jackson, _Keith_ Jackson." Reggie White: "We got to Boomer a few times, but it wasn't enough with the short field." Jerome Brown: "Being a stand-up lineman is really really tiring. I'm mad. Why is Clyde Simmons getting to sit down while I go sideline to sideline? I'M the star here! I had to take the aggression I feel inside out on someone, and I couldn't catch QB Eagles, so that RB took a big shot." Sam Wyche: "We're going to work with Boomer on those mechanics. We can't keep giving away the ball like this." Cincinnati 44 Philadelphia 10 QB Eagles (rushing): 4/47 Den. vs. K.C. - This game featured a matchup of two of the top three rushers in the league. It was billed as the "Smash-mouth Smackdown" and it sold out quickly. However, most of the fans left early as the game proved to be much less than advertised. Steve DeBerg was nearly useless in the game as his few big plays were offset by his three interceptions; two went Steve Atwater's way, and one got picked off by Simon Fletcher. However, DeBerg had few options, as Christian Okoye never got started. Marty Schottenheimer, wanting to take it to the hot-and-cold Denver defense early and often, called R&S Sweep R a few times, but each time, Okoye was taken down hard by Denver's all-out blitz. The hardened coach, shaken out of his wits, then gave up on the run and went to a deep aerial game. He had no success there either as Denver dropped deep to forestall the bomb, and Kansas City was left to rely on its defense to win the game. On defense, the Chiefs had more success, but ultimately, Bobby Humphrey, the league leader in rushing, made the Chiefs bleed. The Denver offense started with Elway running and passing. However, the Chiefs, burned badly by the Elway sweep before, stuffed him nearly every time he kept the ball. The Broncos, feeling that the element of surprise had been lost, turned to Humphrey, and he delivered, turning in 12 rushes for 127 yards. Later in the game, the Chiefs wrapped up that fast back, but it was by then far too late to save the Chiefs game. Rushing Leaders Att. Yds. Bobby Humphrey 12 127 Christian Okoye 5 0 Passing Leaders Comp% Yds. Int. J. Elway 20 38 0 S. DeBerg 20 87 3 The rest of the season's games will mostly be summarized in brief. WEEK 13 Cin. vs. Rai. - Jay Schroeder had an awful game as the Bengals stomped the Raiders. Cle. vs. K.C. - ??? WEEK 14 Cin. vs. Gia - This was a well played game, but the Bengals got the edge in the end. K.C. vs. Sea. - This game brought back awful memories for the Chiefs. Hands-on owner M. Christen, having fired the slipping, bad-luck coach Marty Schottenheimer, pumped up the team by playing the back-breaking plays of that game over and over and over again. Finally Dan Saleaumua jumped up on Thursday's film session and said, "That's it!!! YOU GOIN' DOWN KELLLLYYY!!!" When the Chiefs stepped onto the field for some warmups before kickoff, they saw the same players who had denied them victory in the amazing second-half comeback: Kelly Stouffer throwing balls to Tommy Kane; James "Earl" Jones taking handoffs from Dave Krieg, the deposed starter; and Chris Warren fielding punts near the end zone. Even though these men had played well enough to earn starting jobs, the team as a whole had done poorly in this season, and the spirit in the Seattle locker room was not enthusiastic. Kickoff. The Seahawks got the ball, and Saleaumua began his rampage. Stouffer dropped back, and he took a colossal shot as Saleaumua burned C Grant Feasel for a big sack. Again, Stouffer looked to pick up some yards, and his legs gave out as Saleaumua's helmet smashed into his knees. Finally, the Seahawks gave the ball to Chris Warren on third-and-long, and he only picked up a few before Rick Donelly was trotted out to punt. This was the story of the game. Okoye moved the ball upfield and DeBerg tossed it deep as time after time, the Chiefs advanced into Seattle territory. Jacob Green was a nonfactor, and safeties Eugene Robinson and Nesby Glasgow could hardly contain the Chiefs' offensive attack. When the Seahawks got the ball back, no one managed to advance past midfield. Chris Warren got more yards returning punts than he gained running the football against a tough Kansas City front seven. At halftime, the Seahawks again changed their quarterback to Dave Krieg, hopeful that maybe he could give them a chance. Seattle, panicking, tried to throw it deep on every down, but the oft-maligned Kansas City secondary stepped up and made big plays, batting Krieg's balls down. Even though Krieg connected with Blades and Kane deep on a few plays, Seattle never found the end zone as Kansas City's ruthless run defense kept the RBs from the first down, and Dan Saleaumua kept Krieg on his back. After the game, Saleaumua passed out cold. The trainers said that it was no more than simple overexertion, but rumors around the league pointed to performance-enhancing drugs as the culprit. Quotes from the game: Dan Saleaumua: "Uhhhhh....uhhhhh." Kelly Stouffer: "Uhhhhl.....ohhhhh." Dave Krieg: "Ahhh...they played good again...ooooffff...." Grant Feasel: "Every time I looked up, he was gone." Chris Warren: "I want to play for a winner. I am tired of struggling with this team. They're at the bottom of the league and we're losing to them? I want a trade." Eugene Robinson: "Christian Okoye... thank goodness I don't have to play against him anymore this season." Christian Okoye: "You bet I played well. M. Christen is a good guy to play for. I couldn't stand Marty after the way he kept giving it to DeBerg so he could throw it to the other team. Just give me the damn ball." WEEK 15 Mia. vs. Cin. - Everyone thought that Cincinnati would take this one home for sure. But John Offerdahl, the leader of the Miami defense, guaranteed a victory, saying, "We'll be taking that ball, thank you Blondie, and pitch you a shutout with it." It was the talk of the press all week long, but the Bengals players shrugged it off. No one believed that Miami, the team that had lost to Kansas City despite its incredible talent, could really pull off such a big upset of the dominant Bengals, who were favored to return to the Super Bowl after only two seasons away from the big game. The game started horribly for the Bengals. John Offerdahl turned it on and ran sideline to sideline as James Brooks could hardly stretch past the first down marker on third and five. Harold Green met Offerdahl many times as the two collided in the middle of the line and in the middle of the field. Coach Don Shula, believing his team needed a spark to make the playoffs, brought Offerdahl on run blitzes and pass blitzes, running him all over the field. Confused and aching, Boomer threw a pick, and Miami took full advantage, putting up seven points off that turnover. Brooks, exhausted by having been used so much in the Bengals' offense, let the ball slip and it fell into the hands of the hungry Miami defense. The Bengals' explosive offense never got started as Offerdahl danced in front of Boomer's eyes on every pass. Everywhere he looked, he thought he saw Offerdahl, and he never got the ball away in time to convert on third downs. Dan Marino, despite the efforts of an inspired Bengals defense screaming "Turnovers!!" on every down, managed to get the ball to WRs Mark Clayton and Mark Duper deep down the field. And James Brooks - even that stalwart of the Bengals' attack - he finished runs poorly and almost seemed to give up at times, tired of pounding against the Miami defensive wall. When the final gun sounded, the Bengals came into the locker room. Not a word was sounded as the Bengals took in their second defeat of their season, and the first time they had been dominated the entire year. K.C. vs. S.D. - This game began with Marion Butts exploding into the Kansas City secondary and rushing for a huge touchdown. Owner M. Christen, seeing that the Chiefs were overpursuing, told them to settle down and not overplay the run. Unfortunately, Billy Joe Tolliver was on fire, throwing deep on what seemed every down, as Anthony Miller burned his coverage to a crisp, and nearly broke 200 yards and 3 TD passes on the day. Butts did not have any great plays from the second quarter onward, but he stabbed the Chiefs' front seven severely, and bloodied them on nearly every run, finishing with 14 rushes for 108 yards. The Chiefs, still fearing Butts, failed to get any kind of a pass rush as Tolliver completed pass after pass. Christian Okoye again was stopped in his tracks, this time by the San Diego linebackers, and DeBerg threw another INT as the Chargers handed the Chiefs yet another loss. WEEK 16 Cin. vs. Pit. - The Bengals, sore from the loss the week before, resolved to finish the year strong and enter the playoffs on a roll. They lined up to stop the run, and they put the smack down on Merril Hoge and Warren Williams, who combined for less than 60 yards. Forced to win by throwing, the Steelers couldn't the job done, as both Louis Lipps and Derek Hill were blanketed by the Cincinnati secondary. When Brister attempted to check down, Hoge dropped two passes and stalled the Steelers' offensive progress. When it seemed that hope was lost, the Steelers completed a deep pass to Derek Hill, only to have him crushed between David Fulcher and Carl Carter. He exited the game and did not return. On offense, the Bengals offense was hardly contained by the speed of the Steelers, as James Brooks found the end zone many times, and Boomer Esiason went deep over the heads of Dwayne Woodruff, Thomas Everett, and Carnell Lake to find Tim McGee and Eddie Brown. Thus, the Bengals silenced the doubters and came away with a huge victory. K.C. vs. S.F. - Kansas City, with owner M. Christen coaching, played a tough game, as Dan Saleaumua once again played his heart out (perhaps literally) for the Chiefs, sacking Joe Montana nearly every time he dropped. He also blew up Roger Craig and Tom Rathman, grabbing them deep in the backfield every time Montana handed off. Derrick Thomas contributed a few sacks to the effort. The Chiefs offense played decently well and moved the ball down the field despite the efforts of Ronnie Lott to put Okoye on the grass. However, Saleaumua and the offense could not stave off the big plays of the 49ers' high-flying offense. Three times, he was blocked or slipped, and Joe Montana looked deep to Jerry Rice and John Taylor. Three times, he threw bombs. Three times, the 49ers found the end zone. Three times, three plays, three scores - that was all that San Francisco needed to win this game. Kansas City 17 San Francisco 21 Christian Okoye: 15 rushes, 121 yards Joe Montana: 63%, 233 Yds, 1 INT Jerry Rice: 2 catches, 171 yards, 2 TD John Taylor: 1 catch, 62 yards, 1 TD WEEK 17 N.E. vs. Cin. - This game was almost guaranteed to be a blowout, according to the oddsmakers in Las Vegas. No one but the huge contingent of Cincinnati fans showed up. As it turned out, neither did the New England Patriots. Their rushing game was nonexistent and their passing game went nowhere thanks to Steve Grogan. Early in the game, Grogan threw a floater to a receiver in the flat, and Barney Bussey first made a leap to pick it off, then strolled into the endzone. Later in the game, Grogan fumbled when the Bengals' blitz got to him, and Leon White came up with the ball, waltzing in for another touchdown. However, the Bengals offense did not have a spectacular day. With this win, the Bengals finished the season 14-2. K.C. vs. Rai. - These two teams both wanted a win: the Raiders to advance their position in the playoffs, and the Chiefs just to prove that they had some pride left. M. Christen once again worked magic with his team, and the Chiefs played hard. Early on, Derrick Thomas took down Jay Schroeder in the end zone as he tried to roll out, and the Chiefs never let the Raiders find the endzone the entire game. Dan Saleaumua showed why he was elected to the Pro Bowl as he turned it up another notch, shutting down six of the Raiders' plays from scrimmage. Jay Schroeder hardly saw straight after the second quarter, Marcus Allen had tough running all day, getting plowed over by Kansas City blitzes, and Bo Jackson rushed for nearly -20 yards from scrimmage. However, the Chiefs' offense never got going and Howie Long came up with a big sack, pancaking RG David Lutz and flattening Steve Deberg for a safety. In the third quarter, the Raiders switched to a play-action scheme involving Schroeder and Marcus Allen to pick up yards. They kicked a few late field goals, and kept the Chiefs' anemic offense from scoring more than two field goals. The game went into overtime. Unfortunately for the Chiefs, the Raiders won the toss, and, on the third play of overtime, Marcus Allen turned the corner on T Cross Run L and streaked down the sideline on the third play of overtime, eventually going down deep inside Raiders territory. A Jeff Jaeger field goal sealed the deal for the Raiders, and the Chiefs fell to 3-13. FINAL SEASON STATS NFL STANDINGS AFC Central: W L T PCT PTS OP * 1 Cin 14 2 0 .875 459 149 2 Cle 7 9 0 .437 318 344 3 Hou 6 10 0 .375 375 431 4 Pit 5 11 0 .312 274 323 AFC West: * 1 Den 12 3 1 .800 390 356 @ 2 S.D 10 6 0 .625 346 280 3 Rai 8 8 0 .500 329 304 4 Sea 6 8 2 .428 299 384 5 K.C 3 13 0 .187 171 324 NFC East: * 1 Was 10 6 0 @ 2 Phx 10 6 0 3 Dal 9 7 0 4 Phi 5 11 0 5 Gia 4 12 0 NFC Central: * 1 G.B 13 3 0 @ 2 Chi 13 3 0 3 T.B 7 9 0 4 Det 4 12 0 5 Min 1 15 0 TEAM RANKINGS Total Offense: Team Total Pass Rush 1 Packers 5297 4355 (1st) 942 (27th) 12 Broncos 4408 2020 (26th) 2388 (1st) 23 Bengals 3990 1926 (27th) 2064 (2nd) 27 Vikings 3648 2332 (21st) 1316 (22nd) 28 Chiefs 2917 1519 (28th) 1398 (19th) Total Defense Team Total Pass Rush 1 Bengals 2354 1799 (1st) 555 (1st) 2 Chiefs 3690 2225 (3rd) 1465 (10th) 3 Chargers 3808 2439 (4th) 1369 (6th) 28 Buccaneers 5158 3146 (25th) 2012 (28th) INDIVIDUAL LEADERS Passing 1 Joe Montana 172.1 RAT 2 QB Bills 164.1 RAT 3 Boomer Esiason 162.4 RAT (1st comp %) 28 Steve DeBerg 69.5 RAT Rushing 1 Bobby Humphrey - 175 ATT, 1999 YDS, 11.4 AVG, 26 TD 2 James Brooks - 163 ATT, 1635 YDS, 10.0 AVG, 30 TD 5 Christian Okoye - 185 ATT, 1397 YDS, 7.5 AVG, 10 TD Receiving Robb Thomas - 38.2 AVG (1st) Stephone Paige - 33.7 AVG (2nd) Harold Green - 8 TD (24th) Punting 1 Johnson - 10 PUNTS 697 YDS 69.7 AVG 2 Barker - 18 PUNTS 1091 YDS 60.6 AVG Scoring 1 Brooks 33 TD, 198 PTS Interceptions 1 Murphy 12 INT 57 YDS 4.7 AVG 1 Fulcher 12 INT 147 YDS (1st) 12.2 AVG Maxie, Griffin 2 TD Bussey 1 TD Sacks # 1. Haley 30 2. Saleaumua 22 Punt Returns 1 Smith 17 RET (8th) 297 YDS (1st) 17.4 AVG 4 Birden 13 RET (17th) 148 YDS (12th) 11.3 AVG Kickoff Returns 27 Jennings 39 RET (28th) 539 YDS (28th) 13.8 AVG 29 McNair 63 RET (14th) 770 YDS (26th) 12.2 AVG CINCINNATI BENGALS Boomer Esiason: 90 ATT, 128 COMP, 25 TD, 8 INT, 1926 YDS, 15.0 AVG, 70.3% Comp, 162.4 RAT 19 RUSH, 124 YDS, 6.5 AVG, 0 TD Erik Wilhelm: 2 ATT, 0.0 RAT James Brooks: 163 RUSH, 1635 YDS, 10.0 AVG, 30 TD 163 REC, 423 YDS, 20.1 AVG, 3 TD Ickey Woods: 7 RUSH, 52 YDS, 7.4 AVG, 2 TD 1 REC, 16 YDS, 16.0 AVG, 0 TD Harold Green 38 RUSH, 189 YDS, 4.9 AVG, 0 TD 27 REC, 450 YDS, 16.6 AVG, 8 TD (24th) S. Jennings: 11 RUSH, 64 YDS, 5.8 AVG, 1 TD (Stanford) 39 KR, 539 YDS, 13.8 AVG, 0 TD Tim McGee: 18 REC, 452 YDS, 25.1 AVG, 3 TD Eddie Brown: 13 REC, 346 YDS, 26.6 AVG, 7 TD Kendal Smith: 17 PR, 297 YDS, 17.4 AVG, 0 TD Mike Barber: 4 PR, 31 YDS, 7.7 AVG, 0 TD Rodney Holman: 10 REC, 239 YDS, 23.9 AVG, 4 TD Eric Kattus: Nothing; subbed in one game in garbage time Jim Breech: 62/62 XP, 3/3 FG, 71 PTS Lee Johnson: 10 PUNTS 697 YDS 69.7 AVG Jason Buck: Nothing. Tim Krumrie: 8 SCK; 1 INT, 0 YDS Skip McClendon: 2 SCK; 1 INT, 15 YDS James Francis: 4 SCK; 2 INT, 4 YDS Kevin Walker: 3 SCK; 1 INT, 0 YDS Carl Zander: 7 SCK Leon White: 2 SCK, 2 FUM REC for TD Carl Carter: 1 INT Lewis Billups: 1 SCK Barney Bussey: 2 INT, 2 YDS, 1 TD David Fulcher: 12 INT, 147 YDS, 12.2 AVG, 0 TD KANSAS CITY CHIEFS Steve DeBerg: 61 COMP, 137 ATT, 6 TD, 10 INT 1597 YDS, 11.0 AVG, 44.5% Comp, 69.5 RAT 3 RUSH, 1 YD, 0.3 AVG, 0 TD Mike Elkins: Nothing. Did not play any downs. Christian Okoye: 185 RUSH 1397 YDS 7.5 AVG 10 TD 16 REC 163 YDS 10.1 AVG 0 TD Barry Word: 13 RUSH, 0 YDS, 1 TD 5 REC, 51 YDS, 10.2 AVG Todd McNair: 63 KR, 770 YDS, 12.2 AVG Bill Jones: Nothing. Did not play any downs. Robb Thomas: 16 REC, 612 YDS, 38.2 AVG, 2 TD Stephone Paige: 16 REC, 540 YDS, 33.7 AVG, 3 TD J.J. Birden: 13 PR, 148 YDS, 11.3 AVG Emile Harry: Nothing. Did not play any downs. Alfredo Roberts: 8 REC, 153 YDS, 19.1 AVG, 1 TD Jonathan Hayes: Nothing. Did not play any downs. Nick Lowery: 18/18 XP, 11/13 FG, 51 PTS Bryan Barker: 18 PUNTS, 1091 YDS, 60.6 AVG Bill Maas: Nothing. Dan Saleaumua: 22 SCK Neil Smith: 1 SCK Derrick Thomas: 5 SCK Dino Hackett: 3 SCK Percy Snow: 4 SCK Chris Martin: 1 INT, 8 YDS Kevin Ross: 1 SCK; 4 INT, 3 YDS, 0.7 AVG Albert Lewis: Nothing. De'Ron Cherry: Nothing. Kevin Porter: Nothing. PLAYOFFS The Cincinnati Bengals ended up in the divisional round, playing against Buffalo. Cin. vs. Buf. - This game had blowout written all over it. The Bills offense sputtered early on and QB Bills was on his back all day long, thanks to a fierce Bengals rush. Boomer Esiason played a nearly perfect game until the fourth quarter, but James Brooks, newly released from the hospital, was not able to gain many yards on the ground, as he finished with yet again another subpar performance. The Bengals scored 20 unanswered points in the first half, including a booming 63 yard field goal by Jim Breech before halftime. By the time the Bills finally caught their wits, the game was out of reach. Scott Norwood began the scoring with a 65 yard field goal to put the game at 34-3. Suddenly, a tragedy happened on the Bengals sideline. When exuberant players dumped the very cold contents of a Gatorade dispenser onto Cincinnati head coach Sam Wyche, the coach went into shock as a result of the combined winter weather in Cincinnati and the frigid sports beverage lowering his body temperature by what was rumored to be eight degrees. Owner L. Powers ran out of the skybox to check on his winning head coach's condition, and the rest of the game was left up to the assistants and the remaining individuals in the skybox. Once out of the watchful eyes of Wyche, Boomer threw two horrid closing series of passes to end the game, with one pass intercepted that eventually led to a Bills rushing touchdown by Thurman Thomas. Thomas began to light up the game, but by then it was far too late. David Fulcher picked up his 13th pick of the season in this game on an overthrown pass down the sideline. Cincinnati 34 Buffalo 10 Rushing Leaders Att. Yds. James Brooks 12 67 Thurman Thomas 14 102 Passing Leaders Comp %. Yds. Int. B. Esiason 86 199 1 Q. Bills 34 63 1 Tim McGee: 2 receptions for 101 yards Kendal Smith: 4 returns for 64 yards Cin. vs. Rai. - This game seemed to be a worthy matchup. However, coming into the game, several key problems quickly sunk the Raiders' chances of returning to the Super Bowl after nearly a decade. Jay Schroeder, still shaken after his Week 17 beating at the hands of the Kansas City Chiefs, threw wildly errant passes and two interceptions. Bo Jackson never got started in the game, and even experienced RB Marcus Allen barely got past the line of scrimmage on most plays, if even that much, thanks to the career game of Kevin Walker, who sliced through the Raiders' line over and over again to bring down Allen and Jackson, or pursue them relentlessly as they ran for their lives into the Bengals' David Fulcher and Barney Bussey. The immense speed of the Raiders' passing game was a non-factor as Schroeder missed receiver after receiver, and the rushers never picked up enough first downs. The Bengals' defense once again let up somewhat at the end of the game, but not as much as the AFC Divisional Round. They continued to turn in a solid performance even at the end of regulation. The priorities set by Wyche at the beginning of the game - stopping the run and using James Brooks more efficiently - were both executed to perfection. The Bengals kept the Raiders from cracking 100 yards of total offense in the game, and they ran Brooks 14 times for 120 yards. Boomer Esiason, though at times confused by the Raiders' pass rush, managed to play well enough not to lose the game, and the Bengals came out of the game with the victory. Fumbles early in the game seemed to foreshadow a defensive battle, but eventually Cincinnati pulled far ahead in turnovers and points. The Bengals thus laid the goose egg on the Raiders, and clinched a berth in Super Bowl XXVI. Los Angeles 0 Cincinnati 28 Leading Rushers Att. Yds. Marcus Allen 9 54 James Brooks 14 120 Leading Passers Comp% Yds. Int. J. Schroeder 42 23 2 B. Esiason 66 63 1 Kendal Smith: 5 returns, 106 yards SUPER BOWL Cin. vs. Chi. - This game began poorly for the Bears, who had advanced from the wild-card round to make it here. The Cincinnati blitz came for Neal Anderson, and he never got started, with his longest rush in the game for thirty yards, and his poorest ending with a ten yard loss. Each time the Bears went on offense, the Bengals stacked up in the box to beat the rushing attack, and Mike Ditka's unit could not push the football past the 50 yard line. The swarming Bengals stop unit forced a fumble from Anderson, and turned the turnover into a touchdown. The Bengals, on the other hand, could do no wrong on offense. Boomer Esiason threw nearly perfect passes as Harold Green hauled in 7 balls for 113 yards. Tim McGee, the long-forgotten receiver on the Cincinnati squad, grabbed a 20 yard pass and turned it into a 38 yard gain. James Brooks also had one reception in the game. Whenever the play broke down or the Bears' pass rush got too fierce, Esiason ran for short gains to keep the chains moving. With star RB Anderson doing nothing, Ditka gave the ball to Brad Muster once, then told young Jim Harbaugh to "take this ball, and put it into the end zone." His quarterback failed to rise to the challenge, throwing a pick to Barney Bussey as his receiver hardly turned to face the ball. The Bengals turned this one into a touchdown once more, and the Bears were down 21-0 with two minutes left into the half. Three-and-out and the Bears punted deep to Kendal Smith. On the final play of the half, James Brooks ripped off a 63 yard run out of a sweep play, but was caught from behind by intense LILB Mike Singletary. Coming out into the second half, the Bears had no better luck. Singletary could not repair the botched Bears coverages, and he ended up chasing Harold Green all over the field. Meanwhile, Kendal Smith returned the Bears' booming punts (which outpaced the coverage team) for twenty yards at a time. The Bears did stop the Bengals' offense - once. Then Singletary exploded through the line to pressure kicker Jim Breech, but the trusty leg split the uprights with a 37 yard field goal. When the Bears' Anderson finally broke free into the open and moved Chicago past the 50 yard line, the Bears' offense stalled again, and Anderson was taken down far behind the line on 4th and 11. The Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome began to clear out as it became more and more apparent that the dominant Bengals would lay a goose egg on the Bears. Ditka flailed on the sidelines, trying to rally his beaten troops for one more effort to save their dignity. Nothing seemed to help as the Bears just could not escape from the vise that the AFC Champions had cinched around their necks. The players felt so betrayed and so despondent that they ripped out the gas tank of the injury cart and poured its contents on Ditka's head. On the other sideline, the Bengals rejoiced, emptying every fluid container in sight on their coaches. Even the X-ray machine was trotted out on the field as the players celebrated the victory. As the clock expired, the fireworks exploded and the Vince Lombardi trophy was presented to owner L. Powers (that's me) and Powers gave a speech: "Early in this season, I knew that our guys could do it. Even though we sometimes stumbled and fell and made mistakes, we worked through everything, and when the time came, we gave it everything we had and more. I cannot express in words my admiration and gratitude for the players on this team, and I want everyone to know that neither I nor the coaching staff nor the trainers and crew, and especially not the players, will ever forget this moment, and this honor. I am proud to accept the Vince Lombardi trophy for the Cincinnati Bengals, the 1991 Tecmo Super Champions." Quotes from the Bengals: Boomer Esiason: "We did it right this time. What a day." Erik Wilhelm: "I was glad to be contributing to this team's success." James Brooks: "I had a good year this year. God has been good to me this year. Thank God for this win, and God Bless America." Ickey Woods: "It's too bad I couldn't play a bigger role on this team. But then we have next year." Harold Green: "Ouch, my hands are sore. So is my head. I need a break." Tim McGee: "Finally!! Maybe I won't ditch this team after all. These guys really are the best." Eddie Brown: "I got here, and we won. God Bless America, and may I be re-signed to a new contract." Kendal Smith: "I'm proud. Thanks Mom and Dad!!!" Mike Barber: "It's the end of the road for this season...and maybe for my career here. I had some fun, but I need to make a name for myself." Rodney Holman: "Tight ends are supposed to catch balls, too. But I guess my role here is to block and help this team win, and as long as I can contribute, I'll pave the way." Eric Kattus: "At least I got a ring out of this gig." Bruce Kozerski: "Didn't run through the middle much this season." Bruce Reimers: "I didn't see much action either." Brian Blados: "I took out some punks this year. Next I'll take out my cousin....oh wait, I forgot I'm Brian BLADOS." Anthony Munoz: "This certainly helps my chances of getting into the Hall." Joe Walter: "Dup dup dup, that's gone and over with." Jim Breech: "I knew it would be good. This game was charmed." Lee Johnson: "I did nothing in this game. Nothing at all. Screw you guys. We could have made it 55-10 if you had just given me the damn ball. I demand a trade." Jason Buck: "This was a team effort, in a team game, and this team is now SUPER BOWL CHAMPIONS!! WOOHOO!!" Tim Krumrie: "What I remember most is that one pick. How sweet they are. Fulcher's got cavities the way he gets them." Skip McClendon: "I can still play." James Francis: "I got severely outdone in the playoffs by Kevin. Good job Kevin." Kevin Walker: "It just turned on for me in these big games. God Bless America." Carl Zander: "White guys can still play defense." Leon White: "I didn't get the loose ball today. But I don't have to be the hero every time." Carl Carter: "I may be a weak corner, but I'm now a weak corner with A RING!! God Bless America!!" Lewis Billups: "I've never felt so good in my life - it's almost like I got an INT or something." Barney Bussey: "The good soft pigskin. Do I love that ball or what. Ronnie Lott once said, 'I knew we were great, but not that great.' I didn't know it, but here we are all the same, and DAMN, does it feel kickin'!!!" David Fulcher: "They made it all the way here. We made it all the way here. Only one team could be Tecmo Super Champions. Thanks to guys like Boomer Esiason, James Brooks, Anthony Munoz, James Francis, Kevin Walker, and Barney Bussey could we have made it to where we are today. We played a great game and I'm already looking forward to next year." Sam Wyche: "I'm proud of the effort this team made to get this far and to do the things that they did. I hope we'll be back next year. With the character and talent of this team, I think we can be." Quotes from the Bears: Jim Harbaugh: "I missed some open guys. I did not play a good game today. But I know now what it means to lose in a big game, and I won't do it again." Neal Anderson: "....Please, leave me alone... (sob, sob)..... Brad Muster: "Ditka...why didn't he give me the ball today? I had a eight-yard average!!" Wendell Davis: "Wasted..." Ron Morris: "I could not get separation." William Perry: "I dived for him, but every time, there was nothing in my arms when I fell to the ground. Thank goodness for my soft belly." Dan Hampton: "Sometimes great quarterbacks will do that to you. Will he be in the Hall of Fame? I don't know, but he took a step in that direction today." Mike Singletary: "I just did not have enough to stop them. It was a tough game for us." They did not crack under our pressure, and handled our blitz packages. I don't know what to say about this humiliation any more." Lemuel Stinson: "Sure, I dumped that gas on Dickta's head. Me and 11 other guys, including our entire offensive line. He deserved it for trading Jim McMahon, not to mention today's game." Mark Carrier: "Hey, what do you have against me playing catch with some kids in the stadium parking lot after the game? That was the only bright spot on this miserable day. Better than dunking Coach in gasoline!!" Mike Ditka was not available for comment, as he was in the hospital being treated for poisoning as a result of his gas dunking. Tecmo Sports News Bengals 38 Bears 0 Runs Pass 1st Down No. Yds Yds Cin. 13 186 173 9 Chi. 12 29 28 2 Runs No. Yds. James Brooks 9 174 Neal Anderson 11 21 Pass Comp% Yds. INT B. Esiason 100 173 0 J. Harbaugh 20 28 1 Receive Comp Yds. Harold Green 7 113 Ron Morris 1 19 Additional Info: Boomer Esiason 3 Rush 12 Yds Tim McGee 1 Rec 38 Yds James Brooks 1 Rec, 1 Rushing TD Harold Green 1 Rush 0 Yds, 4 Rec TDs Kendal Smith 5 Ret, 75 Yds Jim Harbaugh 2 Comp 10 Att Brad Muster 1 Rush 8 Yds Barney Bussey 1 INT PLAYOFF BRACKETS AFC Broncos-----------------------| 20 | | Raiders-------| Chargers--------| | 0 | 28 | 28 | | Raiders--------| | 31 | | Raiders---------| | | Bengals-------Bears | 38 0 Dolphins--------| | 28 | | Bills--------| | 31 | 10 | | Bills-----------| | 28 | Bengals-----------| | 34 | Bengals-------------------- | NFC Packers-----------------------| 24 | | Bears---------| Bears-----------| | 28 | 28 | 35 | | Bears----------| | 23 | | Rams------------| | | Bears-------Bengals | 0 38 Cardinals-------| | 20 | | Redskins-----| | 31 | 23 | | Redskins--------| | 27 | 49ers-------------| | 28 | Bengals-------------------- | EPILOGUE Boomer Esiason later was traded to the Jets when his hairspray fumes gave Sam Wyche his second hospital stay in two years. James Brooks continued in his career for a few years and then retired, content. Ickey Woods was cut the following season because he failed his physical, being overweight and slower than Bob Chandler with a torn ACL. Harold Green was re-signed to a long contract, and, on the retirement of James Brooks, himself became the man in Cincinnati. After this cursed season, Stanford Jennings was able to pick up the pieces and move on with his career and his life. Tim McGee and Eddie Brown never made good on their threats to leave. Kendal Smith never repeated his brilliant performance on punt returns. Mike Barber faded from the scene, his vocal tirades never to be heard again. It is rumored that he now sells pre-paid legal services. Rodney Holman ended up in the Hall of Fame, even though he blocked for most of the rest of his career. Eventually his famed receiving skills dwindled from lack of use, and he retired. Eric Kattus went into the pool services business. He was an unindicted co-conspirator in the Bill Clinton pardons-for-sale scandal as a result of overzealous attempts to become the contractor for the water systems of all the presidential libraries. The offensive linemen stayed on because they wished to give more quotes to the media. Jason Buck, Skip McClendon, Carl Carter, and Lewis Billups vanished from the league as their poor performance continued. Tim Krumrie made an astounding nickel back when he was converted in an attempt to make more turnovers for Cincinnati. Of course, with the departure of the entire defensive line, the air went out of the rushing defense. The core of the Cincinnati defense stayed on until their playing days were over. Jim Breech's perfect streak came to an end the following season. Lee Johnson, invigorated by the year of near-rest afforded him by the explosive Bengals offense, booted the ball everywhere on the field the next year. He apologized for his harsh remarks later that season, saying that God had opened his eyes to the way he should treat people. Dan Saleaumua's final drug test of the season turned up positive and he was suspended for four games. Steve DeBerg ended up in owner M. Christen's doghouse and was eventually let go when "QB Chiefs" landed on the scene. Christian Okoye was re-signed to a large contract, but later retired because of knee problems. Barry Word quit the NFL in disgust, and became a spokesman for Trojan condoms. "If you're Trojan, you won't have a 0 yard average!" Stephone Paige was more than happy to finally get some balls thrown his way from QB Chiefs. Robb Thomas got even slower, and did not last much longer in the NFL. Nick Lowery was re-signed to a massive contract after the huge field goals he blasted during the season. He also became a construction worker during the offseason to make some extra money, banging in nails with his incredible leg. In the offseason, M. Christen worked the Hades out of his players, in everything from tackling to wind sprints to run blocking. His training regimen was so successful that Alfredo Roberts caught two passes in next year's first preseason game. Mike Ditka was incapacitated and could not coach the Bears any longer. Dave Wannstedt was tabbed to replace him. Ditka later made a miraculous recovery and returned to football to coach the Saints. Apparently, his senses were still stunted, as he traded away the entire Saints draft for the right to draft Ricky Williams. THOUGHTS FROM THE SEASON ~ WEEK 5 He's KC and I'm the Bengals. I'm 4-0 and have the league's leading rusher in James Brooks (50-60 carries, 670 yards), but Boomer hasn't done too well this season, just a 180 QB rating. I think I'm sensing a mental lapse in myself there, I haven't been throwing it smart. I've tried to make too many plays and avoid sacks when I should have just played conservatively and let Lee Johnson blast it away. I don't even know if Blondie has a rushing TD. Brooks has really carried my offense this season, getting those extra yards on 3rd and 3 to get a big gain of 25 or 30. My defense has been all right, with 3 and 4 INTs a game on some occassions, but there have been some letdowns too: Fulcher got scorched in the third game for 50 yards on 2 receptions & 1 TD where he was standing in front of the receiver and the guy reached over him and got the ball.Ickey hasn't had any big games, but Tim Krumrie did get that one big pick deep. He got Gatoraded after that game was over. Fulcher did make a nice sliding INT, coming over from his zone at the first-down marker to steal the ball. I am very disappointed in Ickey. XFL here you come... But anyway, now to speak of how the Chiefs have been doing. They are 1-5 (I had the bye week early I think) and have done miserably stopping the run and containing the deep pass. They started out horribly, throwing picks everywhere, but have leveled the ship after Marty Schottenheimer, under the direction of hands-on owner M. Christen, has refocused the offense to feature Christian Okoye (who is 2nd in the league in rushing) and use more conservative passes that get many yards after the catch. Combined with a reinvigorated defense that can play "lights-out" games, the Chiefs are fighting for their playoff lives even before half the season has passed.