January 21, 2005 - The final four.
New England, Pittsburgh, Atlanta, and Philadelphia.
You have a defending camp trying to achieve dynasty status, two teams that never seem to make it out of the conference championships, and a division champ who is really a wild card because you never know which team is going to show up.
You have some of the most clutch players in the game, a rookie quarterback, the most exciting player in the league, and a wide receiver who is guaranteeing a win even though he's not playing in the game.
Sounds like a day of football not to missed. A day of football that in a way is showing the real Super Bowl as the best two teams in the NFL battle for the AFC title and the NFC teams are playing to see who is going to get run over in Jacksonville.
But that's just how I see things. I'm looking at a New England/Philadelphia Super Bowl with New England winning it all. The way I look at it, if they made Peyton Manning look that bad, what are they going to do to a rookie?
Besides, Belichick is going to be all Obi-Wanned out on the sidelines with his big hood, and I just know he's got some Jedi mind tricks ready for any team that stands in his way to grab three Super Bowls titles in the last four years.
Anyway, I updated the rosters on both ESPN NFL 2K5 and Madden NFL 2005 and simulated each game to see what would happen.
A wild weekend indeed…
Madden NFL 2005
New England at Pittsburgh
Tom Brady said it best this week: "Everyone starts at the bottom, and what we did last year, you can't take that away. We're not really defending anything, because it's not our title this year. We're just like everyone else, fighting to try to attain that goal. It's been a fun year, and I think hopefully everything we've done this year has built up for this moment and this game and all the practices and all the preparation, the mini camps and the workouts in the weight room have really got us ready and prepared for this week."
And in Madden, Brady took his own words to heart as he passed for two touchdowns and led the Patriots over the upstart Steelers 24-21. Corey Dillon also played big, rumbling for 133 yards and a score. Big Ben threw two interceptions even if I couldn't simulate his injured thumb, and the Patriots blitzed him from every angle, sacking the rookie six times and delivering his first NFL loss.
Atlanta at Philadelphia
Atlanta might be the best team to play as in Madden, but in the simulation, the Eagles were able to control run DVD and win the game 27-14. The Eagles jumped out to an early lead and never relented, finally getting over the NFC Championship hump.
And when Donovan McNabb met with the media this week, he sounded excited to finally get past this round: "If we go out and we play our style of football and we do what we're expected to do and the way we practiced and we come out with a win, obviously people will be trying to find questions of why we won and what the Falcons didn't do right instead of just saying, you know, we just played well. So I think just what we have to do is just continue to get better each week and just practice on knowing what we're supposed to do, eliminating mistakes and everything should take care of itself."
ESPN NFL 2K5
New England at Pittsburgh
Big Ben wins another one and the Steelers are headed to the Super Bowl…if you believe ESPN NFL 2K5, that is. The Steelers blitz "Mr. Cool" Tom Brady into making some mistakes he usually doesn't make in real life, throwing three interceptions, while Corey Dillon fumbles twice and watches as the crowd goes wild for a 24-10 Steeler victory.
I think Big Ben might be the next Mr. Cool, though, as he's handled the pressures of playing the rookie quarterback role better than anyone I've ever seen. Earlier this week, he talked about it: "I feel pretty calm. Maybe I should try to be a little more nervous or something. It's been like a regular week. I think a lot of credit goes to the veteran players on the team. They've helped me out and given me a sense of what it feels like to be in this situation. On Sunday it's just play Steeler football and execute the plan."
Atlanta at Philadelphia
The most exciting simulation of the day: 45 seconds left in the fourth, the Eagles are down by three and driving when Donovan McNabb tries to hit Freddie Mitchell (did he really thank his hands?) but is picked off by Deangelo Hall who brings it back to the house for the Atlanta win. Falcons 31, Eagles 21.
Michael Vick can't wait for his opportunity to shine: "I probably have some butterflies. I'll be excited. This is a moment that I've been waiting for for my entire career, I remember when I was younger, and sitting in a room and watching Steve Young battle Troy Aikman in the NFC Championship game and always sitting there wondering, whether I would have the opportunity and the opportunity has come. So I would be so excited and ready to take advantage of the moment and at the same time enjoy it."
Check back to IGN Sports next week to see which game simulation was the most accurate. Funny how each game has two completely different teams in the Super Bowl.
Welcome to the age of parity.
Welcome to the NFL.
You have a defending camp trying to achieve dynasty status, two teams that never seem to make it out of the conference championships, and a division champ who is really a wild card because you never know which team is going to show up.
You have some of the most clutch players in the game, a rookie quarterback, the most exciting player in the league, and a wide receiver who is guaranteeing a win even though he's not playing in the game.
Sounds like a day of football not to missed. A day of football that in a way is showing the real Super Bowl as the best two teams in the NFL battle for the AFC title and the NFC teams are playing to see who is going to get run over in Jacksonville.
But that's just how I see things. I'm looking at a New England/Philadelphia Super Bowl with New England winning it all. The way I look at it, if they made Peyton Manning look that bad, what are they going to do to a rookie?
Besides, Belichick is going to be all Obi-Wanned out on the sidelines with his big hood, and I just know he's got some Jedi mind tricks ready for any team that stands in his way to grab three Super Bowls titles in the last four years.
Anyway, I updated the rosters on both ESPN NFL 2K5 and Madden NFL 2005 and simulated each game to see what would happen.
A wild weekend indeed…
Madden NFL 2005
New England at Pittsburgh
Tom Brady said it best this week: "Everyone starts at the bottom, and what we did last year, you can't take that away. We're not really defending anything, because it's not our title this year. We're just like everyone else, fighting to try to attain that goal. It's been a fun year, and I think hopefully everything we've done this year has built up for this moment and this game and all the practices and all the preparation, the mini camps and the workouts in the weight room have really got us ready and prepared for this week."
And in Madden, Brady took his own words to heart as he passed for two touchdowns and led the Patriots over the upstart Steelers 24-21. Corey Dillon also played big, rumbling for 133 yards and a score. Big Ben threw two interceptions even if I couldn't simulate his injured thumb, and the Patriots blitzed him from every angle, sacking the rookie six times and delivering his first NFL loss.
Atlanta at Philadelphia
Atlanta might be the best team to play as in Madden, but in the simulation, the Eagles were able to control run DVD and win the game 27-14. The Eagles jumped out to an early lead and never relented, finally getting over the NFC Championship hump.
And when Donovan McNabb met with the media this week, he sounded excited to finally get past this round: "If we go out and we play our style of football and we do what we're expected to do and the way we practiced and we come out with a win, obviously people will be trying to find questions of why we won and what the Falcons didn't do right instead of just saying, you know, we just played well. So I think just what we have to do is just continue to get better each week and just practice on knowing what we're supposed to do, eliminating mistakes and everything should take care of itself."
ESPN NFL 2K5
New England at Pittsburgh
Big Ben wins another one and the Steelers are headed to the Super Bowl…if you believe ESPN NFL 2K5, that is. The Steelers blitz "Mr. Cool" Tom Brady into making some mistakes he usually doesn't make in real life, throwing three interceptions, while Corey Dillon fumbles twice and watches as the crowd goes wild for a 24-10 Steeler victory.
I think Big Ben might be the next Mr. Cool, though, as he's handled the pressures of playing the rookie quarterback role better than anyone I've ever seen. Earlier this week, he talked about it: "I feel pretty calm. Maybe I should try to be a little more nervous or something. It's been like a regular week. I think a lot of credit goes to the veteran players on the team. They've helped me out and given me a sense of what it feels like to be in this situation. On Sunday it's just play Steeler football and execute the plan."
Atlanta at Philadelphia
The most exciting simulation of the day: 45 seconds left in the fourth, the Eagles are down by three and driving when Donovan McNabb tries to hit Freddie Mitchell (did he really thank his hands?) but is picked off by Deangelo Hall who brings it back to the house for the Atlanta win. Falcons 31, Eagles 21.
Michael Vick can't wait for his opportunity to shine: "I probably have some butterflies. I'll be excited. This is a moment that I've been waiting for for my entire career, I remember when I was younger, and sitting in a room and watching Steve Young battle Troy Aikman in the NFC Championship game and always sitting there wondering, whether I would have the opportunity and the opportunity has come. So I would be so excited and ready to take advantage of the moment and at the same time enjoy it."
Check back to IGN Sports next week to see which game simulation was the most accurate. Funny how each game has two completely different teams in the Super Bowl.
Welcome to the age of parity.
Welcome to the NFL.
