Well, I wrapped up my regular season with the Washington Redskins. I had a tough run down the stretch, losing three in a row before beating the Eagles in dramatic fashion to close out the year with a 12-4 record. Surely I won my division, right? Nope, the Giants also finished 12-4, and since they beat me twice during the regular season, I found myself a 12-4 wildcard (for the record, the 49’s had the other bye, winning the West with a 15-1 record).

My first round opponent: Dallas, who I was 1-1 against during the regular season (one of those losses coming down the stretch). To make a long story short, I kicked their ass, 36-0. The star of the game? Earnest Byner, who ran for 223 yards on 10 carries and scored three touchdowns. To put this in perspective, he ran for 350 yards during the entire regular season. A legendary Tecmo Bowl outing for me.

Then came the Giants. To shorten things up again, I lost 28-14. Just couldn’t get anything going. Even when the Giants didn’t guess my plays I still got swallowed up (and when I’d guess they’re plays they’d still complete passes and run for 20+ yards). Very frustrating.

So who wins the Super Bowl? The unstoppable Giants? The juggernaut 49ers? Nope, the Cincinnati Bengals. They beat the Niners by a touchdown to avenge Super Bowl XIII. Wacky.

Offensive MVP: Art Monk (1800+ receiving yards, 17 touchdowns)
Defensive MVP: Darryl Grant (43 sacks)

Oh well, it was fun. I’m tempted to try the Patriots next, but they were so terrible back in the day I’m not sure. Plus they have their old crappy uniforms in the game, which are pink here for some reason. Steve Grogan, where have you gone?