Tecmo Bowl Predicts Close Patriots Win In Sblii
Fans, analysts, bettors and bookies can’t make up their mind on a consensus pick for the outcome of Super Bowl 52 between the Patriots and the Eagles. Thus they’ve collectively turned over the handicapping to a notoriously unbalance video game released 30 years ago.
Yes, you read that right: the most learned minds in the sporting world (and some sharp fans thrown in there too) can’t decide who to pick, so they’re going to let the simulation mode of the infamous “Tecmo Bowl” do it for them. This isn’t as far-fetched a model for success as one might expect, as it’s become something of an annual tradition to let Tecmo Bowl crunch the numbers and observe – strictly for ironic purposes, of course.
The general consensus among sports fans is that the 1987 release of “Tecmo Bowl” in American arcades marked the date that video games got football right. The landmark hit was even more influential after its 1989 port to the Nintendo Entertainment System, which meant that nerds could feel like jocks and jocks could nerd out all from the comfort of their own respective homes without having to be seen together in public at the mall.
Anyway, Tecmo Bowl, far from disappointing in its latest foray at predicting the outcome of the Big Game, has called for a tightly played and, frankly, low-scoring final between the Pats and Eagles. Not that such a thing is unheard of for the Patriots, whose average margin of victory in Super Bowls played under head coach Bill Belichick is only 3.8 points.
Some of the standout moments in the simulated game included an early Eagles lead, followed by a 14-0 score after Lane Johnson scooped a fumble and plowed his way to paydirt. The Pats didn’t get on the scoreboard until the second quarter thanks to an Eric Rowe fumble return after Eagles QB Nick Foles dropped a pass. The score was 14-7 Philly after a first half in which Tom Brady doesn’t have a single passing yard to his credit.
The third quarter was even more exciting, with the Pats executing a brilliant drive that gets stopped short of a touchdown but did result in a field goal from Stephen Gostkowski. The Eagles went up 16-10 Fletcher Cox turns a fourth quarter INT into a safety, but Brady redeemed himself late in the game. With just 1:16 to go, a second Foles interception sets Brady up to make a clutch pass into the endzone for a 17-16 Patriots win as time expires.
Needless to say, a real-life outcome like this would be sensational fun to watch in sports betting states, even if you hate the Pats or love the Eagles. And what’s to say life can’t imitate art this time around? The Super Bowl is, after all, perhaps the biggest window into the American psyche of any sporting event, and we love nothing more than to be entertained.
The Giants would be incredibly lucky to get him. If they will or not remains to be seen.