Barry Sanders 1994 Replay

Project Overview

The main goal of this project is to recreate the extraordinary season that Barry Sanders put together in 1994. It was the first season that Sanders went above 2000 yards from scrimmage, totaling 2166 yards that year. A the time he did it, it ranked 7th on the all-time list of greatest YFS seasons in NFL history. Sanders would go on to set a new personal best in 1997 and this 1994 campaign now ranks 31st on the all-time list. Sanders did not win MVP. That honor went to Steve Young in 1994. For the Lions, the 9-7 season was good enough for a wildcard berth, but it led to another wildcard loss in the playoffs. In this project, I will be playing the Lions games using Second Season. I will play three other games using Second Season Express, and then use Fast Drive Football for all other games. Games will move 'up the ladder' if they are close. For instance, FDF games will switch to SSX if the score is within 10 points heading into the 4th quarter. Games will switch from SSX to SS if the games are close heading into the final 5 minutes. On this page I will track each of Sanders 16 games, and have links to a full standings.

Season Statistics Tracker

Replay Stats: Games 16. Rushing: 309-1586, 9 TDs. Receiving: 55 for 506, 4 TDs.

Actual Stats: Games 16. Rushing: 331-1883, 7 TDs. Receiving: 44 for 283, 1 TDs.

Total Yards through 16 Games: Actual 2166. Replay 2092. (-74)

Project Recap

I ended up short of Barry's regular season actual total, mostly due to a pair of games where we was injured during the games. Overall, I only came up a little short. I would have still finished with the 10th best season at that point in history, and the 50th best of all-time. My 2092 yards from scrimmage would have just edged out O.J. Simpson's 1973 campaign where he totaled 2073.

I scaled back the scope of this project quite a bit, focusing only on the 16 games for Detroit and opting not to replay any other games.