Card Madness 2022: Pt. 7 (The Elite Eight Round)

It's the quarterfinal round. We have eight teams still alive for the Bump and Run Card Madness title. After this post, we will know the 2022 Final Four. Here is the progress of our bracket up to this point.

Round 3: Los Angeles Rams vs. Buffalo Bills

1997 Finest #306 Orlando Pace vs. 2019 Absolute Green #9 Tre'Davious White

I like the 2019 Absolute design with football laces on the side. You can't see it in the scan, but the green foil looks pretty good in-hand. Tre'Davious White has been a shut-down corner for the Bills for a few years now. But none of that matches up with a stunning late-90s Finest card featuring a rare #1 overall draft pick that went on to a dominant, Hall of Fame career. Even the back of the Finest is better, with a good picture of Pace and some interesting tidbits.

Winner: Rams

Round 3: Minnesota Vikings vs. Cleveland Browns

1999 Upper Deck HoloGrFX #31 Randy Moss vs. 2019 Donruss #69 David Njoku

It's crazy to think that this Randy Moss is not an insert. No, it's the base set of Upper Deck's short-lived HoloGrFX line. It's pretty cool set, and I have already completed it along with one of the insert sets it included. It beats 2019 Donruss. Moss beats Njoku too. Minnesota advances.

Winner: Vikings

Round 3: Detroit Lions vs. Seattle Seahawks

2019 Prizm #276 Calvin Johnson vs. 2017 Absolute #83 Doug Baldwin

Once again, we have a matchup of a better player on a better-looking card advancing easily. I actually really like 2017 Absolute and it's shiny, colored background. It's unique to me. But on this particular Prizm card, Megatron looks like he's about to pop off the card.

Winner: Lions

Round 3: Washington Commanders vs. Philadelphia Eagles

2016 Donruss #47 Josh Norman vs. 1997 Upper Deck #152 Charlie Garner

I like the team color borders on 2016 Donruss, but not much else. I like the the foil square on 1997 Upper Deck, the full-bleed photography, and the well-put-together backs with a large photo, stats, a write-up, and season highlights. The picture on this particular Upper Deck card is pretty great. Charlie Garner is busting through a whole you could drive a truck through. Nothing against Ted Washington, but I think his being pancaked in the background is a nice detail. This card just works.

Winner: Eagles

So there we have it, our Final Four:

• Los Angeles Rams
• Minnesota Vikings
• Detroit Lions
• Philadelphia Eagles

If this weren't based on cards, these teams wouldn't approach my top four. But they've had the right stuff in the card face-offs so far. We'll see which of these Cinderellas can outlast the rest.