Card Madness 2022: Pt. 6 (Down to Eight)

Halfway through our Sweet 16 round, we're going to finish the round today to find our Elite 8 NFL teams by cards in my collection.

Here is the current bracket:

Round 2: Detroit Lions vs. Miami Dolphins

2016 Donruss Production Line Hits #7 Ezekial Ansah vs. 1992 Ultra #223 Vestee Jackson

 

I like 1992 Ultra primarily because of the bright, crisp photography in the set. However, this card is not a great example of either of those traits. The photo of Ziggy Ansah sacking Carson Palmer is a great shot, on the other hand.  Ansah had a better overall career than Jackson, too. We have a winner.

Winner: Lions

Round 2: Chicago Bears vs. Seattle Seahawks

2016 Panini Prestige #223 Jordan Howard vs. 1995 SP #196 Rick Mirer

 

I love how apparently college the stadium in the Jordan Howard card is. A brick wall and greenery is classic. I can't pinpoint the stadium, though. Is anybody more familiar with Big 10 stadiums who can recognize it. As much as I like that photo, it's up against an all-time beautiful set design in 1995 SP. Both of these players had good rookie seasons--Howard was a Pro Bowler and Mirer won Rookie of they Year--but didn't fully live up to that promise in subsequent years. In this battle, SP is the deciding factor.

Winner: Seahawks

Round 2: Carolina Panthers vs. Washington Commanders

2019 Donruss #47 Curtis Samuel vs. 1992 Score #536 John Riggins

 

This one is a pretty simple decision for me. John Riggins > Curtis Samuel. 1992 Score subset design  > 2019 Donruss. 

Winner: Commanders

Round 2: Philadelphia Eagles vs. Houston Texans

1989 Topps #189 Terry Hoage vs. 2013 Panini Prizm #29 Arian Foster

 

This one is definitely more difficult than the previous one. Based on the player, Foster had a much better career than Hoage. Foster had an All-Pro season, but Hoage only started 65 games in his career. I was surprised to learn that despite multiple seasons without a start, Hoage managed to stick around in the NFL for 13 years. A bonus here: the most recent year of stats (1988) on Hoage's card records his 8 interceptions on the year. That's a lot of picks! What's interesting is that he never started a game. He was a nickel/dime back in the days when they wouldn't have been on the field all the time. The Foster photo is more interesting, but I've really grown to love 1989 Topps football over the years. In a close matchup . . .

Winner: Eagles

We're headed to the quarterfinals with eight teams still in the hunt. This weekend will reveal the Final Four in the college hoops tourney, but we'll wait until Monday to find out our Final Four semifinal matchups in Card Madness.