[2022] The Most Exciting Finishes of the 2022 SimNFL Season

[Piercewise1]

There’s a lot to be excited for in the upcoming year. New bells & whistles are being added to the sim, existing features are getting tweaked, and optimism abounds as new croots have been added to SimCFB rosters. While we patiently wait for updates, let’s look back at some of the most exciting finishes from the 2022 SimNFL season.

 

I spot-checked all 272 pro games and grabbed as many candidates as I thought would make for interesting media based on the following criteria:

 

+ Final margin

+ Number of lead changes, particularly in the 4th quarter

+ Time remaining after final score

+ Comebacks of 10+ points

 

Note that team quality and week number are not considered, so there is no “greatness” factor elevating playoff games or games between teams with better records – I tried to focus purely on the action from the field.

 

I ended up with 32 “candidate” games which I used to determine the most exciting teams (below), then sorted them all and grabbed the top half for detailed write-ups. The bottom half are included in the spoiler tag in case you want to look them up yourself.

 

The Year’s Most Exciting Teams

 

4. Jacksonville – It wasn’t always smooth sailing for the Jaguars, especially where the Titans were concerned

 

3. NY Giants – No lead was safe when the Giants were playing, including their own

 

2. Las Vegas – The Raiders found new and exciting ways to lose every week, and are featured in the most write-ups (four)

 

1. LA Rams – When considering all candidate games, no team appears in more than the Rams (six)

 

The Year’s Most Exciting Games

 

 

Week 11 (CBS): New England 17, Indianapolis 10

 

Divisional (NBC): LA Rams 37, Arizona 34

 

Week 18 (NBC): Cincinnati 21, Cleveland 17

 

Week 16 (NFL): New England 14, Cleveland 10

 

Week 16 (FOX): LA Rams 28, Atlanta 21

 

Week 15 (FOX): Cleveland 14, Chicago 13

 

Week 10 (CBS): Tennessee 27, Jacksonville 21 (OT)

 

Week 13 (FOX): Dallas 21, Minnesota 20

 

Week 9 (FOX): New Orleans 16, Philadelphia 14

 

Week 13 (ESPN): Washington 13, New England 10

 

Week 14 (FOX): Cincinnati 48, Minnesota 35

 

Week 16 (CBS): Seattle 14, Carolina 10

 

Week 17 (NFL): NY Giants 16, New England 13

 

Week 18 (NFL): San Francisco 17, Seattle 10 (OT)

 

Week 13 (NBC): LA Rams 20, New Orleans 17

 

Week 17 (CBS): Indianapolis 14, Carolina 7

 

 

16. Week 16 (CBS): Detroit 10, Baltimore 7

 

Sometimes it only takes one play to create an amazing finish. Down 7-3 in an otherwise forgettable game, Randall Hansen’s desperation heave on the final play found RB Ted Booth for a 28-yard touchdown to win the game.

 

15. Wild Card (CBS): Jacksonville 58, Las Vegas 46

 

Don’t be fooled by the final score; the Jaguars were down 13 late in the 3rd before scoring 5 TDs in the game’s final 20 minutes, only gaining a “safe” lead with 2:05 to go. And the Raiders were well on their way to another touchdown when the clock ran out. Not the most dramatic final moments, but certainly an entertaining finish.

 

14. Week 4 (CBS): Pittsburgh 24, Green Bay 17 (OT)

 

Trailing by 7, the Packers’ Joseph Garibay found George Boone for a 22-yard conversion on 3rd and 12 with 1:37 to go. Two plays later they connected again on a 51-yard TD bomb to tie the game and force overtime. Unfortunately for them, their one OT possession went nowhere and gave Pittsburgh great field position to set them up for a game-winning touchdown drive.

 

13. Week 11 (NFL): LA Rams 18, Las Vegas 17

 

After scoring 17 straight points to take a 2nd-half lead, the Raiders allowed the Rams to hang around long enough for Philip Avila to find Scott Baldwin on completions of 14, 45, and 16 yards before capping the drive with a 2-yard touchdown. James Hixon made some completions of his own in the final minute, but time ran out with the ball on the Rams’ 35-yard line.

 

12. Week 5 (ESPN): Tampa Bay 24, LA Rams 21

 

Luis Wong reversed the Buccaneers’ fortunes with a 4th quarter interception that he returned to the 3-yard line, and Tampa scored on the next play to take a 3-point lead. Philip Avila tried to make up for his mistake with one final drive, but it stalled at the Tampa Bay 26 and Ramon Veloz missed a 44-yard field goal that would have tied the game. The Buccaneers ran out the final two minutes to clinch the win.

 

11. Week 2 (FOX): San Francisco 35, Las Vegas 26

 

The Raiders built a 23-0 lead in less than two quarters, but the wheels came off in the second half. Up 26-21 late in the 4th, a costly DPI call on 3rd and 3 gave the 49ers a 1st down in the red zone, and Russell Latimer ran for a touchdown three plays later. On the first play of the next drive James Hixon threw a pick that led to another 49ers score, and then he took a 15-yard sack to end the next possession and the game.

 

10. Week 2 (CBS): Cincinnati 30, Pittsburgh 28

 

Ronnie Jefferson gave the Bengals the lead on a 2-yard plunge with 9:00 left, and Dario Tamayo responded with a 53-yard scamper to take it back. Jameill Lopez then kicked a 45-yard field goal for the final margin, and the Bengals defense held for one final drive.

 

9. Week 1 (FOX): NY Jets 17, New England 13

 

With points at a premium, the Patriots had to feel good when they took a 13-10 4th quarter lead on Gary Freitag’s 3-yard run. But after exchanging punts, the Jets pushed their ran to the Patriot 7-yard line as the clock ticked down. On the final play, they surprised everyone with a draw to rookie FB Danny Kipnis, who raced for the game-winning touchdown as time expired.

 

8. Week 11 (CBS): Pittsburgh 23, Buffalo 21

 

The Steelers were down 18 at one point, and still hadn’t scored a touchdown when they got the ball with 6:26 to go. But two big completions to James Berendes led to a Robert Morris touchdown run, and then ILB Jon Saksena nabbed an ill-advised pass from Asencio and turned it into a pick-six. In less than a minute of game time the Steelers went from 0.01% win odds to taking the lead, and they stopped the Bills on one final desperation drive to steal the win.

 

7. Week 14 (NFL): NY Giants 24, Philadelphia 17

 

Aaron Pool ran for a 37-yard score to tie the game at 17 with under 5:00 to go, but Joseph Cale gained 72 yards on only 5 touches as the Giants responded with a drive of their own. Jose Padilla threw for the final 5 yards on a TD strike to Damien Boone. Pool still had time to respond, but his first pass was intercepted by Brian Rowland to end the game.

 

6. Week 14 (CBS): Buffalo 14, Kansas City 10

 

The Bills’ defense did their job, holding the Chiefs to 10 points while waiting for their offense to finally show up. After Yusei Asencio threw a touchdown to cut the lead to 3, Alvin Annan picked off Erik Burns to set up a short field. It took recovering their own fumble and four tries from the 6-yard line, but the Bills finally scored the go-ahead touchdown with 12 seconds remaining on a pass from Asencio to Richard Martin.

 

5. Week 15 (FOX): NY Giants 21, LA Rams 20

 

Trailing 20-7 with 8:32 to go, Jose Padilla threw a 51-yard bomb to Mark Spencer to set up a Joseph Cale touchdown run. On the ensuing possession, George Kent intercepted Philip Avila and returned it to the Rams’ 7-yard line, leading to another Cale TD and a 1-point lead. The teams then took turns trying to give the game away: Ramon Velez missed a 33-yard field goal for the Rams, Paul McGuire lost a fumble for the Giants, and Avila threw another interception from the Giant’s 10-yard line with 1:15 to go. New York ran out the clock and escaped with the victory.

 

4. Divisional (FOX): Cincinnati 20, Jacksonville 17

 

In a gutsy performance, the Bengals knocked the favored Jaguars out of the playoffs by twice stealing the lead away in the 4th quarter. After a rare Steven Connolly interception, Ronnie Jefferson scored from 2 yards out to make the score 13-10. Jacksonville responded with a 75-yard drive to retake the lead, and the Bengals missed a field goal. But then the Jags went 3 and out, and the Bengals fed Ronnie Jefferson 9 times on an 11-play drive that ran off most of the remaining clock and ended with Antonio Campoverde standing in the end zone with the winning score.

 

3. Week 9 (CBS): Minnesota 33, NY Giants 27

 

Down 27-13 near the end of the 3rd quarter, the Vikings’ Christian Sinnock connected with Mathew Madden for a 53-yard bomb and then found him again for a 7-yard touchdown. The defense managed a stop, and on the ensuring possession Cooper McGough broke free for a 42-yard score to tie the game. He scored again with 5:13 to go, but a missed extra point gave the Giants hope. The Giants spent 12 plays driving down to the Vikings’ 22-yard line, but with 10 seconds to go Jose Padilla’s pass was intercepted by Marcos Maldonado and the Vikings held on to win.

 

2. Week 1 (NFL): Jacksonville 34, Tennessee 27 (OT)

 

It must be a good omen when the first game of the year is one of the best. The Titans looked defeated when, down 20-13 with 6:27 to go, Chad Williams’ pass was intercepted by Fausto Harrison to kill a promising drive. But the Jaguars went 3-and-out, and two plays later John Knighten raced over and through the defense to a 58-yard touchdown. The Jaguars again failed to achieve a first down, and again the Titans needed only two plays to score, this time with Williams passing to Randy Wright for 43 yards. But they would lose without ever getting the ball back. Somehow Richard Roshell came down with Connolly’s Hail Mary on the final play of regulation, and in overtime Jacksonville would win the toss and go on an 11-play, 78-yard drive. Charles Brown caught the game-winner, and the Jaguars won in overtime.

 

1. Week 16 (FOX): Arizona 38, Las Vegas 31 (OT)

 

This game had everything! Arizona built a 21-3 halftime lead that the Raiders erased in 16 minutes, capping off their comeback with a 50-yard touchdown pass from James Hixon to Terrence Hoffman. The Cardinals then drove straight down the field in 8 plays, and Patrick Johnson threw a touchdown to Michael Vega to make the score 28-24. The Raiders responded in kind, converting on a 3rd and 17 and a 4th and 2 before Hixon found Andrew Richards for an 11-yard score to make it 31-28. Arizona managed a field goal to tie the game, and both teams’ final drives stalled. The Raiders got the ball first in overtime, but Hixon was intercepted by Taylor Selby who managed a good return. On the next play, Thomas Gesick raced into the end zone from 21 yards out to cap off the best game of 2022.

 

What do you think of my rankings? Feel free to share your opinions in the comments, and I’ll see you in the new year!

[Sarge]

Most exciting tanking job:

 

Week 1

Carolina

 

Week 2

Carolina

 

Week 3

Carolina

 

Week 4

Carolina

 

Week 5

Carolina

 

Week 6

Carolina

 

Week 7

Carolina

 

Week 8

Carolina

 

Week 9

Carolina

 

Week 10

Carolina

 

Week 11

Carolina

 

Week 12

Carolina

 

Week 13

Carolina

 

Week 14

Carolina

 

Week 15

Carolina

 

Week 16

Carolina

 

Week 17

Carolina

 

Week 18

Carolina

[cultur3]

@Jieret PAIN

[Minnow]

Really surprised the Bills kicking off Tampa wasnt on this list.