MADDEN 2/10

for the fourth time in six years, it's time for the SUPER BORE!

the niners finally faced off against arch nemesis new orleans in the divisional playoffs, and ended up winning possibly the craziest game in six years of madden football. the niners came ready to play:


but the saints shut them down for the first quarter and a half, netting three field goals themselves (the niner defense refused to let them into the end zone) to take a 9-0 lead. bunting threw an interception, stewart missed a 36 yard field goal, and things were looking grim. prewett finally broke off on a 66 yard touchdown catch right before halftime to close the lead to 9-7. then things got funky.

the niners scored right out of the gate in the second half on (what else?) a bowes run, and then converted a surprise 2-point try to make it 15-9.

the saints kept coming, but still couldn't get in the end zone. they got another field goal to makeit 15-12. both teams traded possessions, and on the ensuing punt, the niners got trapped at their own 5. the next play was a sack for a safety. 15-14. the niners held the saints on the safety punt, got the ball back and go another field goal to make it 18-14 with nine minutes left. with no choice but to finally get into the end zone, the saints did just that, and with 3:40 left made it 21-18.

never one to be satisfied with a tie, the niners drove back down the field and made up significant yardage quickly, especially on a 4th and 10 prewett catch on the sideline that had to be overturned with a challenge; if it hadn't, the season would've been over. the niners punched it in with just over a minute left to take the lead 25-21.

of course a minute was entirely too much time for aaron brooks, who drove the saints to the fifty with one timeout left, and then with 20 seconds on the clock threw a pass that was caught 49 yards downfield by a diving dante stallworth, who literally rolled to a stop at the one yard line and was, luckily, marked down. with twelve seconds on the clock and the ball on the end zone line, brooks was sacked by mark taylor during a botched handoff attempt. amazingly, brooks managed to no-huddle one last pass play as time expired, but taylor sacked him AGAIN to seal the deal.

by comparison, the NFC championship was lame. it was 17-0 niners at halftime, and while the eagles closed the gap to 17-10 early in the third quarter, it was all niners after that, and in a flurry of scoring prompted by three donovan mcnabb interceptions:


and the absolute failure of the entire eagles team to cover raymond scholl at all:


the final was 41-17. big surprise: we're playing the dolphins again in the super bowl.

my fake NFL has become almost like the real MLB; the AFC either sends the dolphins or the patriots to the super bowl every year, and the NFC always send the niners or the rams. it's actually sort of depressing.