As we get ready for the NFL season. I decided it might be fun to play a little imaginary tournament between all the teams of Baltimore past. There is a website called whatifsports.com. On it you can simulate almost any professional sporting event and some collegiate games. It gives detailed descriptions of the results with full stats.
I decided to seed all the Colts teams from 1953 to 1983 and all the Ravens teams from 1996 to present and let them have at it. I could have done 100 simulations per game, but I decided to do just one. I figured why not have some upsets. This isn’t meant to determine the greatest team in franchise history. That is a bar argument. This was just to have some fun before the season starts.If you enjoy this, next we could do an all-franchise tournament that would pit squads like the 2004 Patriots versus the 1976 Raiders. We’ll see.
As far as this tournament goes, I made the higher seeded team the home team. That was their one advantage. The Colts had 31 squads so only the 1958 Colts got a first round bye. The Ravens had 13 teams, so 2000, 2008, and 2006 all got byes into the second round. I give you fair warning there are some ridiculous upsets, so don’t get mad at me, get mad at the simulator. And as I said. It’s all in good fun. Once I get to the semis, I will give more detailed descriptions of the games.
Colts First Round
#17 1962 Colts over #16 1963 Colts 14-13
MVP: Johnny Unitas 12-18 183 yds 1 TD; Lenny Moore 3 yd TD run in 2nd quarter was the difference in a defensive struggle.
#9 1967 Colts over #24 1955 Colts 30-7
MVP: Tom Matte 150 yds rushing 1 TD; Willie Richardson had 5 catches
#8 1965 Colts over #25 1956 Colts 31-7
MVP: Lenny Moore 81 yds rushing 3 catches and 3 TD’s; Glenn Ressler had two sacks.
#5 1964 Colts over #28 1954 Colts 21-7
MVP: John Mackey 3 catches for 79 yards and 2 TD’s; Unitas threw for 262 yards.
#21 1960 Colts over #12 1966 Colts 28-0
MVP: Johnny Unitas 15-26 270yds 3TD’s; Raymond Berry 7 catches for 125 yards
#20 1957 Colts over #13 1961 Colts 16-14
MVP:Lenny Moore 37 rush yards 47 receiving yards 1 TD; Alan Ameche 2 yd TD run with 1:57 left to win it.
#4 1959 Colts over #29 1953 Colts 38-17
MVP: Alan Ameche 103 rush yds 2 TD’s; Unitas had 267 yards and 3 TD’s
#30 1982 Colts over #3 1970 Colts 17-14
MVP: Mike Pagel 190 yards passing and 2 TD’s; 29 yard Pagel to Bernard Henry pass with 37 seconds left for the shocking upset after two 4th down conversions on last drive.
#19 1980 Colts over #14 1983 Colts 20-15
MVP: Joe Washington 46 rush yards 59 receiving yards 2 TD’s; 8 yd pass from Bert Jones to Washington with 2:07 left for the win.
#22 1979 Colts over #11 1977 Colts 31-17
MVP: Greg Landry 13-17 246 yards 2 TD’s; Sanders Shiver 11 tackles and a sack.
# 27 1973 Colts over #6 1976 Colts 19-18
MVP: Lydell Mitchell 17 carries 117 yards and a TD; Marty Domres 22 yard TD pass to Glenn Doughty on last play of game.
#7 1971 Colts over #26 1974 Colts 22-0
MVP: Norm Bulaich 65 rush yards 68 receiving yards and 1 TD; Jim O’Brien 5 FG’s.
#10 1975 Colts over #23 1978 Colts 24-6
MVP: Stan White 2 sacks and 2 INT’s; Lydell Mitchell had 111 total yards.
#15 1969 Colts over #18 1972 Colts 24-6
MVP: Johnny Unitas 16-18 267 yards 3 TD’s; Tom Matte had 85 rush yards and 25 receiving yards.
#2 1968 Colts over # 31 1981 Colts 48-6
MVP: Earl Morrall 17-25 244 yards 4 TD’s; Jerry Hill 61 rush yards and 2 TD’s.
Colts Second Round
#1 1958 Colts over#17 1962 Colts 21-13
MVP: Andy Nelson 2 INT’s ; Art Donovan 7 solo tackles
#8 1965 Colts over #9 1967 Colts 13-6
MVP: Johnny Unitas 16-23 232 yards 1 TD; 4 yard Unitas to Raymond Berry pass early in the fourth got the lead and the ’65 defense held on first and goal in the final minute.
#5 1964 Colts over #21 1960 Colts 19-10
MVP: Jerry Hill 8 carries for 58 yards and 2 TD’s; Steve Stonebreaker had two sacks.
#20 1957 Colts over #4 1959 Colts 37-28
MVP: LG Dupre 99 rush yards 2 TD’s and4 catches; Raymond Berry had 143 receiving yards.
# 19 1980 Colts over # 30 1982 Colts 31-16
MVP: Bert Jones 185 yards passing and 3 TD’s; Roger Carr had 5 catches.
# 22 1979 Colts over # 27 1973 Colts 34-16
MVP:Joe Washington 20 carries 114 yards 2 TD’s; Lyle Blackwood with a sack and an INT.
#10 1975 Colts over #7 1971 Colts 24-21
MVP: Bert Jones 22-30 234 yards 3 TD’s and 30 rush yards; Jones 11 yd TD pass to Glenn Doughty with 55 sec left for the victory.
#15 1969 Colts over #2 1968 Colts 17-0
MVP: Tom Matte 61 rush yards 100 receiving yards and 2 TD’s; Unitas had 289 passing yards.
Colts Quarterfinals
# 1 1958 Colts over #22 1979 Colts 37-19
MVP: Lenny Moore 100 rush yards and an incredible 5 TD’s; Alan Ameche also gained 135 yards on the ground.
#8 1965 Colts over #15 1969 Colts 20-7
MVP: Jimmy Orr 4 catches for 118 yards; Lenny Moore had 91 rushing yards.
#10 1975 Colts over #20 1957 Colts 28-17
MVP: Lydell Mitchell 120 yards rushing and a TD; Jackie Wallace 8 solo tackles and a sack.
#19 1980 Colts over #5 1964 Colts 30-24
MVP: Curtis Dickey 17 carries for 134 yards 2 TD’s and 73 receiving yards; 6 yd pass from Bert Jones to Roger Burke with 8 seconds left sent this to OT. Where a 14 yd Dickey TD run won it.
NOW IT IS TIME FOR…………………………….
Ravens Opening Round
#8 2002 Ravens over #9 1997 Ravens 32-17
MVP: Jamal Lewis 221 yards rushing; Stover with 6 FG’s, sounds about right.
#12 2007 Ravens over #5 2003 Ravens 17-6
MVP: Willis McGahee 69 rush yards 1 TD and 3 catches; Derrick Mason had 5 receptions.
#13 1996 Ravens over #4 2001 Ravens 20-17
MVP: Vinny Testaverde 18-31 224 yards 2 TD’s; Earnest Byner had 82 rush yards in the upset.
#6 2004 Ravens over #11 1998 Ravens 19-16
MVP: Travis Taylor 91 receiving yards and a TD; Stover had 4 FG’s including a 49 yarder with 50 sec’s left to win the game.
#10 2005 Ravens over #7 1999 Ravens 9-0
MVP: Jamal Lewis 19 carries for 90 yards and 26 receiving yards; Adalius Thomas had a sack and 5 solo tackles.
Ravens Quarterfinals
#13 1996 Ravens over #1 2000 Ravens 31-28
MVP: Eric Turner 2 INT’s; The ’96 team topped the Super Bowl champs by coming from 15 down in the 4th. Carwell Gardner had a 9yd TD run to force OT. Then a younger Matt Stover connected on what had to be a wind-aided 58 yd FG to win it.
#6 2004 Ravens over #8 2002 Ravens 24-10
MVP: Kyle Boller 12-22 224 yards and 2 TD’s; Randy Hymes had 89 yards receiving with a TD.
# 3 2006 Ravens over #12 2007 Ravens 27-7
MVP: Steve McNair 15-29 239 yards 2 TD’s; Ray Lewis had 2 sacks.
#2 2008 Ravens over #10 2005 Ravens 20-3
MVP: LeRon McClain 18 carries for 89 yards and a TD; Derrick Mason snagged 6 catches.
So here are the Semifinal matchups in the all-time Baltimore football simulation tournament. I will post these results on Friday, So check back in two days to see who is in the finals.
SEMI-FINAL Match-ups
1958 Colts (9-3) NFL champs vs. 1980 Colts (7-9)
This one looks like a mismatch
1965 Colts (10-3-1) vs. 1975 Colts (10-4)
A battle of two playoff teams that lost to the eventual champ. It could go either way.
2008 Ravens (11-5) vs. 1996 Ravens (4-12)
The team that could beat everyone but the Steelers, should have no problem with the first ever Raven team.
2006 Ravens (13-3) vs. 2004 Ravens (9-7)
The 2006 team should be heavy favorites.
Don’t forget to check back in on Friday.
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