Defense Wins Championships Challenge (FOF 2K1)

[The Mike]

Challenge Rules & Description

Well guys, I finally made it to the dynasty board, with what I think will be a difficult and interesting challenge.

The "Defense Wins Championships" Challenge will be performed on Wall Street difficulty level, fire GM option ON, and my players will be distributed in an allocation draft. No other options will be selected. I will sign all of my players, including draftees if I choose.

The rules are simple, yet the challenge is not. I will start with the Cincinnati Bengals (due to the fact that they are my favorite team, but I also enjoy the irony that they in this challenge should have a good defense). The allocation draft slides will be changed so that Kickers, Defensive Line, Linebackers and Secondary are all set to the maximum level. All offensive sliders are set to minimum (obviously). All other slides remain in the middle.

Also, my first-round pick in every amateur draft MUST be a defensive player. If I have multiple 1st round picks, only the 1st of the picks must be a defensive player.

I am not allowed to trade defensive players for offense. My offense will be built in the draft (post-1st round)and free agency alone.

So those are the ground rules (unless I think of something I missed). We'll see if defense truly can win championships.

[This message has been edited by The Mike (edited 11-05-2000).]

[The Mike]

Allocation

Here's the team, along with some comments:

Position/Player Current Est Future Est Exp Sgnd
QB Tim Couch 6 13 2 2002
QB Stoney Case 6 7 6 2002
QB Jay Fiedler 6 7 5 2002
RB Frank Murphy 9 11 1 2002
RB Dan Braden 8 11 1 2001
RB Derek Loville 11 11 10 2001
RB Andy Whitcomb 6 7 1 2001
FB Brock Olivo 7 9 3 2000
FB Mack Strong 6 6 7 2002
TE Jackie Harris 10 10 11 2002
TE Johnny McWilliams 8 8 5 2001
TE Mike Lucky 6 6 2 2000
WR Joe Jurevicius 8 9 3 2001
WR Louie Borrego 6 7 1 2001
WR Laveranues Coles 5 7 1 2002
WR Mac Cody 7 7 2 2000
WR Dennis Northcutt 6 7 1 2002
C Derek Engler 9 10 4 2001
C Brad Meester 3 6 1 2001
G Bob Hallen 7 8 3 2001
G Mike Rosenthal 5 7 2 2000
G Jorge Diaz 6 6 5 2001
G Corbin Lacina 4 5 8 2001
T Todd Wade 5 11 1 2002
T Travis Claridge 3 6 1 2002
T Marcus Spears 5 5 7 2002
T Scott Curry 3 5 2 2001
P Craig Hentrich 13 13 8 2001
K Brett Conway 7 7 4 2001
DE Jevon Kearse 12 16 2 2002
DE Grant Wistrom 8 15 3 2002
DE Maa Tanuvasa 12 12 7 2003
DE Clyde Simmons 9 9 15 2002
DT Warren Sapp 17 18 6 2004
DT Leon Lett 12 12 10 2004
DT Wayne Martin 11 11 12 2003
DT Austin Robbins 7 8 7 2001
LB Dwayne Rudd 12 14 4 2002
LB Takeo Spikes 10 14 3 2002
LB Brian Urlacher 7 13 1 2001
LB Michael Barrow 12 12 8 2001
LB Mark Fields 12 12 6 2001
LB London Fletcher 7 11 3 2002
LB John McLaughlin 7 7 2 2002
CB Shawn Springs 13 14 4 2004
CB Antwan Edwards 8 13 2 2002
CB Dewayne Washington 13 13 7 2004
CB Chris McAlister 7 11 2 2003
CB Andre Dixon 6 8 2 2001
S Lance Schulters 15 17 3 2002
S Lethon Flowers 16 16 6 2002
S Carnell Lake 13 13 12 2004
S Chris Hudson 11 11 6 2002

Well, the sliders sure gave be a better defense than offense, some observations:

Quarterback

Honestly, I wasn't expecting anything much on offense, but I have to say I'm pleased with the Couch allocation. We actually might put up some points with the offense! Well, probably not. He DOES need someone to throw to.

Defensive Line

Wow. Kearse, Tanuvasa and Wistrom, I like my rotation at DE. These guys had better put some SERIOUS pressure on the QB. Warren Sapp will be one hell of a compliment to The Freak. I'll have to use Lett as a backup DT, since I have to run 3-4 until I get to Training Camp.

Linebackers

Nice, solid group here. In the 3-4 for this year, my linebacking starters will be Fields, Urlacher, Spikes and Rudd.

Secondary

This is my favorite part of the team (at least before I've played a game). Washington and Springs are the cover men, with Edwards and McAlister as my backups. Not too shabby. Flowers and Schulters make one of the best S combos I've seen.

Nothing's out there in free agency, so we'll go with what we have and see what damage we can do.

I've renegotiated some contracts, opened up a little cap room, and re-signed the 2000 expirees that weren't asking too much.

[The Mike]

2000 Season, 1st Leg

After a 2-2 pre-season (I won't bore you with the details), we stay mostly injury free (exception Warren Sapp, who should be probable for the 1st game).

Week 2 (Bye in 1) - Cincinnati 34, Cleveland 8
And I was worried about offense. My troops jumped out to a 31-0 lead in the 3rd quarter, and held for a 34-8 trouncing of the Clowns. This will surely be a heated rivalry. The D had 5 sacks and 2 INTs.

Week 3 - Cincinnati 45, Jacksonville 17
The big Cincy "O" put up a damned nice 45 points in another big win. 2 sacks and 2 INTs (both by S Schulters) for the "D". RB Dan Braden came out of nowhere for 93 yards and 3 TDs. Nice.

Week 4 - Baltimore 24, Cincinnati 10

What am I paying these guys for? 24 points? Youch. We held them to 103 passing yards, which was obviously not enough. Stephen Davis found some holes in the "D" and went for 126 yards. Hopefully he just got lucky.

Week 5 - Cincinnati 24, Miami 17

This time Braden rushed for 137 yards. Not bad for a 3rd string RB. 4 sacks and an INT (again by Schulters) kept the Bengals ahead.

Week 6 - Cincinnati 55, Tennessee 28

Even in a shootout, the opposition only managed 28 points. I have no clue where 55 points came from, sufficed to say I am exceptionally pleased with QB Tim Couch's 6 TD tosses. Loville rushed for 94 yards and a TD as our RB of the week, and the "D" again performed well with 3 sacks and an INT. On a bad note, my CBs are dropping like flies, with Edwards possibly out for the year. Good thing I'm deep.

Week 7 - Cincinnati 31, Pittsburgh 10

Another big offensive showing (maybe these guys aren't too bad after all). This week RB Frank Murphy was running back du jour with 117 yards and a TD. Talk about RB by committee. Freak led the way again with 2.5 of 5 sacks, and the secondary, not to be outdone, claimed 3 INTs. Sapp is down, however, for 3-5 weeks. Damn, gotta switch to Lett.

Week 8 - Denver 10, Cincinnati 7

This is more the type of game I've been expecting. The "D" played tough, just not tough enough. Urlacher had a good game with 13 tackles and a sack.

Week 9 - Cincinnati 9, Cleveland 5

9-5, what a way to make a living (sorry, had to). Another big defensive game, another Clowns loss (the Clowns, btw, were right with me at the top of the division). The Bengals are at 6-2 mid-season, things are looking good.

Stats of note at the halfway point

QB Tim Couch - 55.6%, 1785 yards, 17/7, 87.0 rating. Very pleasantly surprised here.

Combine RBs Derek Loville and Dan Braden, and I have one fine RB. Combined they have 699 yards and 6 TDs.

3 receivers, Northcutt, Jurevicious and Cody, have over 400 yards each, and 4, 5 and 4 TDs respectively. Way to spread it around, Tim!

DE Jevon Kearse - 9 sacks at mid-season. I like the pace.

Secondary - 8 INTs, led by Schulters with 4. Again, a solid unit even though injury-plagued.

Needless to say, I'm ecstatic about the team's performance so far. Let's hope we keep the pace in the 2nd half of the season.

[The Mike]

2000 Season, 2nd Leg

We'll see if we can continue our defensive tear through the league...

Week 10 - Cincinnati 13, Baltimore 10

This time the "D" held Stephen Davis to 20 yards, and more importantly held Baltimore to only 165 total. Leon Lett had 3 sacks filling in for Sapp, The Freak had yet another. Things are looking up in Cincy!

Week 11 - Cincinnati 21, Dallas 14

On the strength of a 144 yard, 2 TD effort by Loville, we took it to Marshall Faulk and the Cowboys. 5 more sacks and an INT... Lett and Simmons leading the charge. Up next, my FOF arch-enemy - New England. These guys beat me almost every time I play them. Let's see if my fortune turns.

Week 12 - New England 17, Cincinnati 13

Man I hate these guys. I can NEVER beat them! Leon Lett is out 3-5, but Sapp is healthy just in time to fill in. I held them to 25 rushing yards, but Couch did not help my cause with 3 INTs. 4 sacks and an INT. The "D" did their job, as one of the 2 TDs for NE was on an INT return. Ironic.

Week 13 - Pittsburgh 20, Cincinnati 6

Things are coming apart, and losing Couch until the playoffs does NOT help. 2 sacks and 1 INT makes for my weakest defensive outing yet. Let's hope we can regroup and make a playoff run.

Week 14 - Cincinnati 20, Arizona 16

Finally. Sometimes 2-game skids seem like a lot longer. S Shulters got 3 more picks (and 10 tackles), and took one 55 yards to the house. Loville took it for 116 and a TD, and Jay Fiedler, well, let's just say he didn't lose it for us. I can't wait until Couch is back. 9 wins should get us into the playoffs, but we have 3 games left. Time to hope for a bye, and to hope NE doesn't bite me again.

Week 15 - Cincinnati 15, Tennessee 3

This is why I drafted defense (well, this and the challenge rules ). I knocked my biggest competition for a division title back a game. In a game of field goals, the Bengals held Tennessee to only 141 total yards, which is good because we only gained 171. Schulters had another pick, this guy is unbelievable.

Week 16 - Cincinnati 37, Jacksonville 13

Fiedler actually made himself useful, with 1 TD vs. 0 INTs. RB Murphy again came out of the woodwork for 81 yards and 2 TDs on just 8 carries. The Freak had the lone sack, but the "D" stepped up with 2 INTs (surprisingly none for Schulters).

Week 17 - Philadelphia 20, Cincinnati 7

Not only did I lose the game, I lost Lett, Martin and Urlacher for the year. It's good that I'm deep, but I only have so many players. Let's see if this playoff bye helps me any.

The regular season is done, and the mighty defense of the Bengals (lol, sounds weird, doesn't it?) has helped the team to an impressive 11-5 record. Time to regroup and get healthy. The good news is New England did NOT make the playoffs!!!!

[The Mike]

2000 Playoffs

Wild Card Round

Baltimore 20, Seattle 17
Carolina 30, New Orleans 10
Chicago 20, NY Giants 19
Denver 24, NY Jets 17

Tough round for NY fans.

I, of course, pull Denver, who took me 10-7 in the regular season. Let's see what kind of character this team has. Couch is back, probable, but will play.

Divisional Playoffs

Cincinnati 13, Denver 10

Another 3-point game, this one going my way. Couch led the Bengals to a 4th-quarter comeback, throwing a 21-yard TD strike, and leading the team back into FG range, where Brett Conway sealed the game with no time left in the 4th. What a game.

Buffalo 24, Baltimore 10
San Francisco 16, Carolina 0
Dallas 40, Chicago 7

Conference Championships

Buffalo 22, Cincinnati 14

A frusterating way to go, but I'm quite pleased with an AFC Championship appearance. Couch threw 3 INTs, which killed our 14-3 halftime lead. Maybe I'll look for a QB in the draft, if only I could use a 1st round pick on one.

San Francisco 40, Dallas 6

Super Bowl

San Francisco 31, Buffalo 17

SF takes the title with a 13-3 regular season record, and a nice run through the playoffs.

Time to deal with cap problems and draft decisions, maybe the Bengals will get 'em in 2001.

Stats and Awards

G Bob Hallen (don't ask me...) and S Lance Shulters both took 2nd team All-Pro honors. I'm kind of surprised my "D" didn't produce more awards.

QB Couch ended the season mostly injured, and his final #s were 53.5%, 2364 yards, 18/12, 76.5 rating. Unacceptable.

RB Loville ran for a solid 909 yards and 7 TDs, not bad behind a terrible line.

All WRs (Northcutt, Jurevicious and Cody) did a very solid job, I may try to keep the unit intact, depending on cost.

Flowers and Urlacher led the team in tackles, with 75 and 72, respectively. The Freak ended with 13.5 sacks, Mark Fields had 7 from the LOLB spot. Schulters ended the year with 8 INTs, and a PDQ of 47.0, which must be good, since the next best is a lowly 25.5 for Springs.

Herb gives the following scores for 2000 -

Performance - 83/100
Franchise Value - 67/100
Profit/Loss - 70/100
Difficulty - 75/100
Year-End Score - 72

Not bad for year one.

[This message has been edited by The Mike (edited 11-05-2000).]

[The Mike]

2001 Preseason

I wanted to hire new staff for the season, maybe a little more defensive-minded. I have signed two young, promising staff. 42 year-old scout Ryan Wells, and 46 year-old Percy Metzler. Metzler brings some better defensive play calling to the team, which is what the challenge is all about. We took him from last-season pseudo-rival Denver, who in turn signed our previous coach. Interesting.

DE Clyde Simmons retired after a solid year. Looks like that will be the target of my 1st pick in the amateur draft.

Facing some heavy cap issues, I stayed away from FAs, though I could have used the help on offense. It'll be tough to improve an offense when I have to use my 1st round pick on defense, but those are the rules.

2001 Amateur Draft Results

Rnd 1 - Sam McDonald, DE, Massachusetts
Rnd 2 - Will Powell, G, Oregon State
Rnd 3 - Roy Sturgeon, WR, Minnesota
Rnd 4 - Donnie Moore, TE, Charleston Southern
Rnd 5 - Sherman Tucker, FB, Norfolk State
Rnd 6 - Percy Middleton, LB, Florida
Rnd 7 - Ted Micalles, C, Maryland

With the 3rd to last selection in each round, I'm pleased with the talent available to me. We'll run through training camp and see how good the new scout is.

DE Sam McDonald was a solid late-1st round pick, with a post-TC rating of 72/85/65 potential. We'll see if he fits into the solid DE rotation.

WR Roy Sturgeon looks like a 3rd-round steal, and is an immediate upgrade at the WR position. Maybe Couch won't ruin my season again if he has the talent to throw to.

My best pick is LB Percy Middleton in round 6, with potential ratings of 79/54/35/75/48. Nice find, Mr. Wells.

After quite a bit of renegotiation and releases, the details of which I will not bore you, we signed MOST of our core defense back, with the notable exception of LB Barrow (Middleton should fill in nicely, however). We're still about 3 million under the cap, not bad for the 2nd year of an allocation career on Wall Street. Urlacher was asking too much for a 1-year deal, so we may have to tag him next year. He is absolutely part of this team's future.

[The Mike]

The roster for the 2001 season is as follows, and actually looks stronger overall that last year:

Position/Player Current Est Future Est Exp Sgnd
QB Tim Couch 10 13 3 2002
QB Stoney Case 7 9 7 2002
QB Jay Fiedler 6 9 6 2002
RB Winston Perot 6 12 1 2007
RB Neal Battistone 6 11 1 2007
RB Derek Loville 10 10 11 2001
RB Frank Murphy 8 8 2 2002
FB Mack Strong 6 6 8 2002
FB Sherman Tucker 5 6 1 2003
TE Les Russell 7 12 1 2007
TE Donnie Moore 8 10 1 2002
TE Jackie Harris 9 9 12 2002
WR Dennis Northcutt 9 12 2 2002
WR Roy Sturgeon 8 12 1 2003
WR Dana Perez 7 11 1 2007
WR Laveranues Coles 9 10 2 2002
WR Joe Jurevicius 8 8 4 2001
C Mo Sherman 3 11 1 2007
C Ted Micalles 2 11 1 2002
G Will Powell 3 13 1 2004
G Bob Hallen 10 11 4 2001
G Dean Carrion 3 9 1 2007
G Kendall Givens 2 9 1 2007
T Glen Severson 3 11 1 2007
T Travis Claridge 6 10 2 2002
T Marcus Spears 4 6 8 2002
T Todd Wade 6 6 2 2002
P Craig Hentrich 14 14 9 2003
K Brett Conway 7 10 5 2002
DE Jevon Kearse 17 19 3 2002
DE Sam McDonald 8 14 1 2004
DE Maa Tanuvasa 12 14 8 2003
DE Grant Wistrom 8 10 4 2002
DT Warren Sapp 18 19 7 2004
DT Jerry Burnett 3 10 1 2007
DT Leon Lett 9 9 11 2004
DT Wayne Martin 8 8 13 2003
LB Brian Urlacher 11 16 2 2001
LB Mark Fields 12 13 7 2003
LB Dwayne Rudd 13 13 5 2002
LB Percy Middleton 8 13 1 2003
LB London Fletcher 10 12 4 2002
LB Takeo Spikes 12 12 4 2002
LB John McLaughlin 7 11 3 2002
CB Shawn Springs 14 16 5 2004
CB Dewayne Washington 14 14 8 2004
CB Omar Fisher 5 9 1 2007
CB Chris McAlister 8 8 3 2003
CB Antwan Edwards 7 8 3 2002
S Lance Schulters 14 15 4 2002
S Lethon Flowers 14 14 7 2002
S Carnell Lake 14 14 13 2004
S Chris Hudson 10 10 7 2002

1st leg of 2001 season to follow.

[The Mike]

2001 Season, 1st Leg

3-1 in pre-season, and mostly injury free. I really wish pre-season was optional - in this new game, there just isn't the depth that was there in FOF2, and injuries really hurt.

Week 1 - Cincinnati 31, Chicago 14

The "D" set the pace for the year with their best effort yet, 6 sacks and 3 INTs. With no rushing or passing game to speak of, it's a good thing they did.

Week 2 - Cincinnati 20, Minnesota 14

In this 4th quarter comeback, I have now seen the funniest injury ever. WR Joe Jurevicious is out for the year with post-combat stress syndrome. I didn't even know he was in the military. 5 more sacks paved the way to a win.

Week 3 - Cincinnati 30, Cleveland 14

Some rivalry. We own the Clowns so far with a 3-0 all time record. WR Dennis Northcutt picked up for combat-boy with nearly 150 yards receiving. 3 INTs again kept me out of trouble in a game where my offense didn't put many yards up.

Week 4 - Baltimore 10, Cincinnati 6

Baltimore is rising to the top of the division this year, and this loss didn't help me any. They are currently 4-0, and bumped me to 3-1. No sacks or INTs, and that could explain my lack of production here. I guess we'll give the "D" one bad game. Too bad it was against my biggest competition this year.

Week 5 - Cincinnati 20, Pittsburgh 7

Finally some nice offensive output, with rookie WR Sturgeon going for 90 yards. The Freak took game MVP honors with 3 of the team's 7 sacks.

Week 6 - Jacksonville 21, Cincinnati 16

The conference doormat from last year took it to me in this game. 3 sacks but no INTs, and the "D" played much softer than usual. Let's hope we get 'em the 2nd time around.

Week 8 (Bye in 7) - Cincinnati 20, Tennessee 7

Solid game across the board, with 4 sacks, 2 INTs, and Couch and RB Murphy (this guy comes out of nowhere) having nice games. 1 more game until midpoint, we're 5-2 now.

Week 9 - Cincinnati 33, Baltimore 24

On the strength of a 19 point 4th quarter, the troops pulled out a big win, and put us at 6-2, right behind Baltimore (7-2). We outplayed them across the board, a very good sign should we meet in the playoffs.

Stats of note at the halfway point

QB Couch is again looking very good at mid-season. Lets hope an injury doesn't get us again. 52.2%, 2175 yards, 12/7, 80.9 rating.

RB has dropped off considerably from last year, with Loville and Murphy splitting time to combine for just 444 yards and 2 TDs. Looks like we need a RB next year.

WR Northcutt is leading the way with 573 yards and 4 TDs, very solid.

S Flowers and LB Urlacher lead the team in tackles with 39 and 37 respectively. Sack totals are more even this year with Kearse (6.5), Sapp (6.0) and Tanuvasa (5.5). Urlacher has added 3 from the MLB slot.

S Lance Shulters and S Lethon Flowers lead the INT category with 4 and 3. Like I said earlier, I really like this S combination.

For the 2nd straight year, we're 6-2 at the midpoint. Another playoff run looks probable. Denver's up next, should be an interesting game.

[huve]

Wow I did the same thing in FOF 2 but it was alot more strict.But anyway i surpised to see that you haven't posted a shut out yet.I mean you have a top rated defense that should atleast have opps averaging 6.3 points a game.

------------------
you smoke weed
with no seeds
i smoke weed
for my needs
whatever we
smoke the
same weed.

[wbonnell]

give us some yards/game and ppg and compare with the rest of the league

[The Mike]

Ran into some game problems and had to reinstall. In the process, I lost my save files.

I will start another challenge soon - any ideas for extra rules?

wbonnell - I will start including those stats as well.

[DamonH]

where are you getting the current estimate and the future estimate from? you are showing current estimate for couch as 10 and future of 13 my scout has like current of 60 and future in the 80's where are you seeing those lower numbers or am I looking in wrong place?

[JoeReymann]

Those are the numbers you see when you print out your scout's ratings. For some reason, when you print them out you get a scale of 20.

Joe

[DamonH]

Printout? whenever you printout the scout overview?

[The Mike]

Yes, whenever you use the print options the #s convert to a 1-20 scale.

So 17 would be approximately 85, etc...