Season 6, Games 9 & 10: Dreams of perfection dashed but home field advantage is secured

Seattle falls short of historic regular season, splits final series with Cleveland 

One week after appearing invincible, Seattle was proven to be quite mortal. Closing out the sixth regular season of Tecmo Bowl Draft League (TBDL trademark pending) with a home-and-home set with rival Cleveland, Seattle crushed Cleveland in the first game before sputtering on both sides of the field in game 2.

Game one saw the first touchdown surrendered by the Seattle Doomsday Defense. The Cleveland TD made the score 14-7 but BJ "The Pink Demon" Edmonds delivered a spine-buster of a kick return with 0 seconds left in the first half. 

BJ Edmonds ended any hope for Cleveland in game 1 with this monster kick return to end the half

Cleveland would indeed score again in the second half but Seattle rolled to a 35-14 win. Based Phil Simms threw for 3 scores (two to THE

W

R

1

Vance Johnson and one more to Mark Clayton) and ran for a 4th score.

Phil Simms lopes into the endzone. This reporter wonders if the viscious hit he absorbed from Cleveland's Dave Duerson affected his play in the second game of the home-and-home set

Simms folded like a cheap wallet in game 2, this time on the road in front of the hostile unwashed masses in Cleveland. Simms threw an interception and took several sacks due to indecisiveness.

"I don't know WHAT the hell was wrong with that guy," said Coach Don Shula. "He's been reading his own press clippings I'm guessing."

Even with Simms exuding virgin energy, Seattle found itself with the ball and a chance to win following a bizarre special teams gaffe by Cleveland. Instead of simply punting and leaving Seattle 20 seconds to traverse 80 or more yards, the punter held onto the ball in an attempt to drain the clock. He got caught slippin' however and was sacked, turning the ball over near midfield. 

What followed was an intense a drive as has ever been seen: Cleveland's smothering defense forced an improbable 4th and 14 completion to Mark Clayton. This was immediately followed by an even more improbably long bomb back to Clayton, putting Seattle at the 3 yard line with 1 second left.

Shula's attempt at misdirection was sniffed out by Charles Haley and Marcus Allen was stuffed at the line of scrimmage as time expired. 

Marcus Allen gets stuffed at the line of scrimmage, ending Seattle's dreams of a perfect season.

The loss sends Seattle to the postseason on a sour note but they will have the luxury of playing at home. 

Season 6, game 8: Where did the offense go?

 

A steely stand by the Seattle Defensive 9 and a field goal that fluttered just short preserved a win against Chicago, despite the season's worst offensive performance

Based Phil Simms became Cringe Phil Simms against a rugged Chicago defense. He wasted a long kick return to open the second half by panicking in the pocket and throwing a pick, and then took a huge sack when a deep ball to wide open Vance Johnson would have broken the game open in the 4th quarter.

Simms did manage to find Mark Clayton in the endzone for the game's only touchdown. 

Thank God for the Tecmo Bowl lasso, amirite folks

The big story though was the Seattle DOOM defense, which for the second straight week didn't fold at the game's critical moments. Chicago this season hearkens back to Seattle's season 4 squad, with a ton of speed on defense but not much firepower on offense. Like that Seattle team, Chicago is anchored by running back Herschel Walker.

The DOOM defense never let Walker get loose in a meaningful way and kept QB Jim McMahon limited to poor passing options. Perfectly timed blitzes pinned the Chicago offense at the outer limit of kicker Chuck Nelson's range, and his attempt at a game winner came up just short.

Chuck Nelson got damn near all of this, but it still fell short.

Seattle has a two-gamer against rival Cleveland to finish their season.