Gameplay Challenge: Defense + Special Teams Season
This takes guts, glory and lots of patience. Can you do it?
Even our favorite things in life can benefit from an image redux, and the same is true with classic video games. By setting certain stipulations on our Tecmo Super Bowl gameplay, one can add a healthy depth of enjoyment to an already substantial experience.
What is a Defense + Special Teams season?
A “D+ST” season generally follows these rules:
1) You may not select one offensive play! The whole point is that you can never progress the ball while on offense. When your offense is in possession of the ball you only have two options, both which involve kicking: 1) Punt, or 2) Kick a field goal.
2) You may score any other way known to man: defensive safeties are commonplace when facing teams with poor playbooks, while interceptions returned for touchdowns are a rare treat. Fumbles can be recovered for touchdowns on defense, or special teams during kick return/coverage and punt return/coverage. If you manage to return a blocked field goal for a touchdown, then good for you!
3) You may not lurch! The D+ST challenge derives its enjoyment from being difficult. Don’t try to get ahead by using cheap tricks. When playing as a team with a good defense, I will sometimes not use any of my d-linemen.
Note:
Playbooks can be left alone or adapted for added challenge (e.g. giving passing teams a run-and-shoot playbook). However, don’t give the other team crappy plays, because that’s just silly.
This sounds borderline masochistic. How is it even fun?
There are quite a few reasons why D+ST seasons can be extremely fun, even addicting:
Tick up the Difficulty.
I loathe to admit it, but Tecmo Super Bowl does have one weakness: a lack of difficulty for seasoned gamers in single player mode. Since it’s way too easy to blow your way through to the Super Bowl, D+ST negates this limitation by restructuring the rules. Voilà: the challenge of winning in this magnificent game is magnified by ten.
Transform your team identity.
Have things gotten stale when playing with your favorite team? This is the perfect way to liven things up. Teams that traditionally rely on airing it out or pounding the rock must now defer to production from their defense. If you like playing as the Jets, Buccaneers, Dolphins or Chargers, you may be pleasantly surprised to find you have a top-5 kicker to boot.
Discover unlikely heroes.
More than likely you know the MS (max speed) of your star running back, but how about the MS of your right tackle or strong safety? These attributes become incredibly significant in a D+ST season thanks to their importance in the special teams return game. The Saints’ Stan Brock‘s 44 MS makes 94 HP (hitting power) fullback Craig Heyward the best kick returner in the game thanks to his 94 HP (hitting power) while Tunch Ilkin‘s 44 MS gives superstar abilities to a slew of skill position Steelers.
It’s a similar story for punt returners. Dave Waymer’s 63 MS makes 49ers fullback Tom Rathman a force when returning punts. Thanks to David Fulcher‘s 69 MS, the Bengals are one of the most fun teams to play with. Just as in standard Tecmo, each team has unique strengths and weaknesses under these new D+ST stipulations. It can be a blast to take familiar players and equip them with unfamiliar responsibilities.
Practice:
D+ST seasons are perfect for practicing — you guessed it — your defense and special teams skills. You’ll increase defensive discipline as you seek to keep your opponent off the scoreboard. You’ll learn to maximize your personnel in creative (and sometimes desperate) efforts to do the same. You’ll learn to knock down critical, high-pressure field goals, and discover how to handle the effects of watching them clang off and away from the uprights. Last, you’ll get to practice game-changing kick returns, and late in the season picking up twelve yards on a punt return will feel like a higher achievement than throwing twelve passing touchdowns in one game. No matter your record at season’s end, a D+ST season is never a waste thanks to the invaluable practice it offers.
Gain a sense of accomplishment:
Can you take a poor defensive team to the Super Bowl? Unless you choose a team with a top-ten defense, just qualifying for the playoffs is an achievement worth being proud of. Winning a single game requires focus and execution because nothing is guaranteed. A small mistake can put you in an insurmountable hole. Can you dig it?
What does it take to be competitive in a D+ST season?
Each stage under your control is important. Here is some measure to strive for in an effort to stay competitive in this difficult challenge.
Consistency on defense. The number of quick stops you make on defense directly correlates to punt return opportunities. On the other hand, regularly allowing your opponent to approach midfield before forcing a punt will more than likely lead to a field position contest in which your own punter makes more appearances than you’d like to see him.
Concentration in the return game. Most teams’ kickers have the power to knock down just about anything on their opponent’s side of the field. This makes the kick and punt returner’s goals pretty straightforward: 1) if at all possible, get to midfield, and 2) if that’s not possible, don’t you dare fumble. There’s nothing more efficiently damning than a punt return’s fumble deep in your own territory.
Especially late in the season, you may just get one return past half field per game. You’ll likely find yourself fielding upwards of ten punts in a given game, so you’ve got to make sure the one pays off. Be conservative, but even if it’s just one good shot, make sure that it is the one that pays off.
Clutch in the kicking game
The best way to honor on your punt returner’s hard and dangerous efforts is to follow them with success during field goal attempts. In fact, your kicker is one of the most important players on your team during a D+ST season. Even respectable Tecmoers are sometimes unpolished when it comes to knocking down clutch field goals, but this won’t stand in a D+ST season. Even if you are equipped with a below-average kicker, he will be held to a rigid standard: everything kicked from your opponents’ side of the field ought to fall through.
Punters play a much less significant role since they can’t produce points, but they are still crucial in the field position game. There’s no such thing as a “coffin corner” punt since punts can’t be sent out of bounds, but dropping a boot within the ten-yard line becomes critical in giving your opponent the most disadvantageous field position possible, not to mention a chance to fumble the ball for your own scoop-six.
OK, I’m in. Now who do I pick?
Any team is fair game when it comes to D+ST seasons — your favorite Tecmo Super Bowl team will offer plenty of reward and challenge. But if there is something specific that intrigues you about this concept, then one of the following teams will provide one heck of a ride.
Strong all-around
Steelers: Smother offenses with this star-studded Steeler defense. After safeties and infrequent defensive scoring drives, taste the fruits of a platoon of elite kick returners. Punts are fielded by an above-average squad while Gary Anderson’s strong and highly accurate foot provides a reliable scoring threat.
49ers: Don’t be fooled by Tecmo Super Bowl’s best passing squad — the 49ers are a force to be reckoned with even without the likes of Joe Montana, Jim Rice or John Taylor heading the show. Virtually no weakness exists on this Niner defense. Tom Rathman is an elite punt returner and not a bad kick returner either though you may want to let Mr. Rice takes some kicks so the Hall of Famer can feel included. Mike Cofer has above average kicking services while only Barry Helton offers some mortality with his league-lowest punting power.
Shameful all-around
Browns: These poor Brownies. There are no punt returners of note while only Kevin Mack is an above average kick returner. Have fun flipping the field with league-worst punter Bobby Wagner! With QB Browns relegated to holding field goals for below average Jerry Kauric, Mike Johnson and company bear a burden on a defense that is not equipped to compensate for the team’s many shortcomings.
Packers: No Majik-to-Sharpe magic on this rodeo. Chris Jacke’s average kicking skills will be pushed to the max as Michael Haddix struggles to return punts to midfield, and it’s all downhill from there: Packer kick returners are manacled by a default 19 ms, and Don Bracken doesn’t contribute much to the field position game with his paltry 25 KA. This is a challenge for Bob Nelson lovers to prove their mettle, as they hope the Packers nose tackle can rack up enough safeties (without lurching, please) to keep the lowly Packers in the hunt.
Stifling defenses
Bears: Next to the Steelers, there is no defense I love playing with more than these Bears. Take your choice: dominate with the godlike LB3 Mike Singletary, shoot for pick-sixes with Mark Carrier, or go buck-wild with an elite defensive line. The Bears also boast an incredible punt coverage squad, as C Jay Hilgenberg and LG Mark Bortz are eager to force, scoop up and rumble with fumbles. Last, the Bears contribute two excellent kick returners in Brad Muster or Neal Andreson — or even Johnny Bailey if you swing that way. The Bears are a perfect pick if you have no allegiance to the punting or kicking game.
Giants: Pick your all-star linebacker from this defense, including the legendary “LT,” or gobble up some INTs with CB1 Everson Walls. Then let Pro Bowl punter Sean Landeta pin back opposing defenses. Kick and punt returners, as well as your kicker, are at or slightly above average, so the Giants’ strength truly lies in their suffocating defense.
Steller returners
Saints: Want to know how if feels to rack up over a dozen kick return touchdowns in a season? Make Gil Fennerty or Rueben Mayes feel like Devin Hester, or stick with your old faithful Craig Heyward. Here’s a fun D+ST challenge: can you earn a kick return touchdown with each of the ten Saints skill position players? TE John Tice to the house!
Bengals: Ickey Woods is the game’s best punt returner on paper, but the other Bengals skill position players have a leg up on the rest of the league. Returning punts for touchdowns is a rather rare accomplishment in Tecmo, but given enough practice, against a poor punt coverage squad you just may be able to make Eric Kattus or Mike Barber dance like Ickey.
Straight-shooters
Chiefs: Nick Lowery has such gaudy kicking stats that it’s criminal. He gives the Chiefs an additional five-yard leeway than most teams get, as anything closer than his own 45-yard line will have a chance at falling through. What’s more — even if Lowery decides to miss from his own side of the field, here comes LB1 Derrick Thomas blasting through the line to get a piece of his opponent’s field goal attempt.
Jets: When it comes to the kicking game the Jets are best equipped overall. Pat Leahy’s 75 KA is a league second best while his AKB is just two notches below that of Lowery. SS Brian Washinton and LBs Dennis Byrd and Kyle Clifton will produce turnovers to give Leahy plenty of points on the board.
Shank-shooters
Rams — Wide receivers Henry Ellard and Flipper Anderson will do their darndest to set their kicker up with chip-shots, but more than likely the janky foot of Mike Lansford will break your heart and sink your D+ST season. As if a quickly spinning arrow isn’t enough, Landsford’s league-worst 25 AKB (avoiding blocked kicks) means you have to get the kickoff, like, now.
Cardinals — Al Del Greco won’t have his field goals knocked back into his face as frequently as magic Mike, but his arrow spins just as fast thanks to his 19 KA. The Cardinals don’t get a lot of help from their kick or punt returners making them a perfect choice if you love pursuing perfection with the Cardinals ‘D.’ It’s also an opportunity to reward punter Rich Camarillo for having such a delicious name by giving him a hundred punts and a ‘D+ST’ MVP award.
Now go get defensive
Hopefully, I’ve made it clear that there are many ways to have a great time playing Tecmo Super Bowl. “Defense + Special Teams” happens to be one of my favorites.
So pick your team and name your mission. Will you be able to make the playoffs? How about rack up more than fifty sacks with one player? Can you break a thousand return yards? Indeed, can you take a kickoff to the house with every damn Saints running back, wide receiver and tight end? I want to see you try! And so does Saints tight end John Tice.
The post Gameplay Challenge: Defense + Special Teams Season appeared first on TECMO BOWLERS.