Conference Championship Weekend

We're only one game away from the Tecmo Bowl, but before we get ahead of ourselves we'll need to dive into the second-most overblown weekend of the season, Conference Championship weekend. Only the Buffalo Bills remain of the final four we predicted in our Preseason Analysis, and we're still quite confident they have what it takes to overpower the Oilers and get to the championship. The only thing Houston has to their advantage is a rare home game in the playoffs being the number 1 seed, which should make this a game that goes down to the last possession. Meanwhile, in the NFC is another game of the top two conference seeds, but between two more unorthodox teams in the Washington Redskins and Minnesota Vikings. The Redskins played one of the more exciting COM-COM games in Tecmo history, knocking out the heavily favored 49ers on the last play of the game behind back-up QB Stan Humphries. They'll face another defensive challenge against the Vikings at the stadium scheduled to hold next weekend's Tecmo Bowl. Will they be sent packing after their fluke win? Or will Washington get to book an extra weekend in Minneapolis? Let's get to the business.

AFC Championship

2 Buffalo Bills (13-3-1) at 1 Houston Oilers (14-3)

Highlight below for an analysis:
After a quarter of no scoring, this game lit up in a hurry. Ultimately, it was a big gain that Buffalo gave up before the half that led to the 3-point win by the Oilers, despite there being plenty of other opportunities for QB Bills and Andre Reed to burn Houston as they've burned other teams all year long. Houston advances to their very first championship game with a relatively healthy team after a quietly dominant season. While they rightfully deserve a spot in the final game, they're the Newt to Buffalo's Mitt, obviously leaving no real winners for the rest of the viewing public.

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NFC Championship

2 Washington Redskins (11-6) at Minnesota Vikings (13-4)

Higlight below for an analysis:
The Vikings couldn't recreate the late-game magic of their opponents, as Herschel Walker's triumphant return fell a yard short of putting Minnesota in a home-field Tecmo Bowl. It was a see-saw battle for the most part, but Stan Humphries' star shone brighter than Wade Wilson's, and the Vikings' time-consuming reverse plays and a costly Walker turnover outdid them in the end. The Redskins are a true Cinderella team, first stealing their division in the last game of the season and then beating two conference juggernauts to get into the Tecmo Bowl; however we must remember that they represent a team that actually went to their season's Super Bowl, although now they'll have to pose a mid-week cage match between Humphries and Mark Rypien, should Rypien miraculously return from what we suspect was a Joe Theismann-level injury.