NFL "what-if" scenarios thread

[7DnBrnc53]

What if the Bears don’t win 1977’s Slush Bowl and miss the playoffs?

Washington instead would have played LA in the Mud Bowl

I actually can see the Redskins pulling off the upset that year in LA before falling in Dallas.

Also, if this leads to George Allen getting an extension, then maybe Bill Walsh gets the HC job in LA, which changes NFL history.

[Brian wolf]

Good scenario 7D ... although if Allen would have stayed in Washington like he should have, I don't think Rosenbloom would have hired Walsh.

Paul Brown did a good job of telling others that Walsh was too emotional to be a HC and it was Al Davis that let Walsh know what was being said. Though Walsh did a great job winning it all in 1981, he basically had an emotional breakdown after the 82 season and replaced his coaching staff, thinking he would resign, which kind of proved Brown's point. A successful 83 season, proved he could handle the grind of the job.

[single wing]

What if the Ref called the missed Don Chandler field goal correctly in the 1965 NFL playoff between Green Bay and Baltimore.
The Colts would have gone to the Championship game against Cleveland. Could Tom Matte and the Colts have pulled off another upset.

[CSKreager]

1988

What if the Bills got the #1 seed instead of Cincinnati?

How differently could a defense driven pre-no Huddle Bills fare in SB 23 against a SF team that at one point started 6-5?

[CSKreager]

What if the Bears don’t win 1977’s Slush Bowl and miss the playoffs?

Washington instead would have played LA in the Mud Bowl

I actually can see the Redskins pulling off the upset that year in LA before falling in Dallas.

I don’t. LA’s Viking jinx was real and they had already beaten Washington in the 74 playoffs.

[7DnBrnc53]

I don’t. LA’s Viking jinx was real and they had already beaten Washington in the 74 playoffs.

Haden played terribly in the mud. I don't see him playing better against Washington's secondary, which was better than Minnesota's (with Joe Lavender, Ken Houston, and Jake Scott).

[Brian wolf]

Had Chandler's kick for GB been ruled no good, the Colts probably would have won and hosted the Browns. Matte would throw better but I think the Browns would have went back-to-back as champions. With Baltimore worried about Collins, maybe Warfield would have shined, coming back from injury?

Even had the Bills gotten the #1 seed over the Bengals in the 88/89 postseason, I am not sure they would have beaten the Bengals in Rich Stadium. Would have been a great game though. Had they prevailed, I still believe the 49ers would have won the SB.
They had too much momentum after beating the Vikings and Bears, I believe ...

[7DnBrnc53]

I got this scenario from this video (at the 1:31 mark): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJmM085mBeg

Apparently, after the 1998 season, the Bears offered their HC job to Cardinal DC Dave McGinnis. However, he didn't like the offer, and he turned it down. If the Bears and McGinnis could have found common ground, Mike Martz (who was with Washington as their OC) would have went to Chicago instead of the Rams (to be their OC).

With Martz in Chicago, that could have had massive implications. It is possible that Trent Green (Martz's QB in Washington the year before) joins him there (since they were in the market for a QB that off-season. They drafted Cade McNown). Also, even though they had Curtis Enis at RB, he tore a knee ligament during his rookie year, and he didn't fit Martz's system as well as Marshall Faulk would have. Also, the Bears did have two receivers in Bobby Engram and Marcus Robinson that would go on and catch over 80 passes that year (they also still had Curtis Conway as well. He missed half the season).

Without Green, do the Rams look to draft a QB like Culpepper with the sixth overall pick? And, if they do, maybe Kurt Warner would be the stopgap starter that year (actually, Warner was put up for the expansion draft, but the Browns didn't take him). How would he do without Martz's system and without Faulk in the backfield?

[Ten Minute Ticker]

Perhaps some variation of this has been discussed, but what if the teams they moved from the NFL to the AFC as part of the merger were the most recently created NFL teams instead of the Browns, Steelers and Colts?

The Saints, Falcons and Vikings go to the AFC instead. New teams vs. old teams.

Vikings would have likely advanced from the AFC in 1970 and several other seasons. Falcons might have made the playoffs a few times in the 70s. Saints? Well, you know.

The NFC gets the Steelers instead of the AFC. Do they still make four Super Bowls coming out of the NFC?

[ChrisBabcock]

The NFC gets the Steelers instead of the AFC. Do they still make four Super Bowls coming out of the NFC?

Probably. I could see them dominating the Cowboys and Rams in the NFC playoffs. Although that may not be the same Super Bowls. I think we definitely would have seen a Raiders vs. Steelers SBXI in 1976.