2014 NFL Tournament of Champions: Semifinals

It's been about a month since I started this project, and it's been significantly less work than the first Tournament of Champions I did. But I also haven't been trying to keep track of stats to the same degree I did. Even so, we've done a good job narrowing down the tournament field.

One of the old Steel Curtain teams remains intact, and the other three are all from the '90s, including our top seed of the tournament in the '91 Redskins.

There is one note I have from the quarterfinals last weekend. I made mention of Scott Bentley as the kicker on the '97 Broncos, which is what WhatIfSports has on the roster. This is a problem, as one reader pointed out to me on Facebook, in that Bentley played in one game for Denver in 1997 while Jason Elam was the main kicker. I've looked; there is absolutely nothing I can do about this. It's a mistake on the part of the simulator. Which is weird, considering WhatIfSports has a player entry for '97 Jason Elam. Let's just call it a quirk of the tournament and say virtual Jason Elam is out with a bruised code or something.

You can see the matchups that we have set up to the right here. We're doing this how we've done the first 44: a best-of-three simulation, with the "clinching" game being the official result. Weather forecasts will be taken into account. And despite the whole Jason Elam thing, all simulations are provided by WhatIfSports.com. Let's set up a title game.

(XII) '99 St. Louis Rams @ (I) '91 Washington Redskins
Game 1: '99 STL 24, '91 WAS 14
Game 2: '99 STL 41, '91 WAS 19

It was a good run by the top seed. Washington actually gave the Rams a run for their money for much of the game, staying within a couple scores. They trailed 10-6 at halftime, 17-13 in the middle of the third, and 24-19 after a touchdown with a failed conversion about a minute into the fourth. Then Az-zahir Hakim ran the ensuing kickoff back 83 yards for a touchdown and that was the end of that. In addition to that, Hakim caught three passes for 67 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Kurt Warner completed 14 of his 18 attempts for 173 yards and three total scores. Marshall Faulk ran 18 times for 158 yards, including a 33-yard touchdown. Mark Rypien did a decent job keeping his team in the game, but threw three costly interceptions, including a pair in the third that led to Ram touchdowns.


(XVIII) '97 Denver Broncos @ (XI) '79 Pittsburgh Steelers
Game 1: '79 PIT 17, '97 DEN 0
Game 2: '97 DEN 23, '79 PIT 10
Game 3: '97 DEN 16, '79 PIT 14

It wasn't an outstanding contest, but the Broncos forced three turnovers and sacked Terry Bradshaw thrice (including a pair by Neil Smith) to contain the Steeler attack. Bradshaw only completed 11 of 24 passes for 108 yards and was picked twice, though he did manage a fourth quarter touchdown to Bennie Cunningham. Sidney Thornton ran for 57 yards on 6 carries, including a 35 yard touchdown to outpace Franco Harris, who only had 58 yards on 15 carries. Terrell Davis had 121 yards on 26 carries for Denver, but 50 of those yards came on one touch. John Elway went 19 of 31 for 206 yards and a touchdown to Rod Smith.


To see the updated bracket, click here.

So with that, the title game is set. '99 St. Louis. '97 Denver. Next week, probably on Monday as I don't want to mess with the best four day period on the sports calendar. As I don't want weather to mess with this game, I'm going to set the title game up in Arlington, Texas at JerryWorld, because why not put the biggest (simulated) game in NFL history at a fancy venue? Also, it's March so we hopefully won't have weather craziness.

One more game to go. Check back next week to see who will be crowned the greatest team of all time!