Hey guys I am loving this forum. Hoping to sign up to be in the PFRA later this year and get into the Coffin Corner. I post on another old outdated pro wrestling forum that is about dying. I'm like the token old school football guy there, the only person there that really gets into the old stuff. So finding this place where it was an entire forum of old school(mostly) I'm pretty stoked. I've been digging through the archives I hope yall don't mind if I necrobump some of the older threads that I am interested in.
But we have been throwing around the idea of not doing the 2002 realignment in the other thread. I'm starting to obsess over what the NFL would have looked like in the 2000's under the original format(just putting the Texans in the NFC somewhere, I like them in the West, 74-75-78-79 likes them in the East).
The big thing I come across was that we instantly missed out on 2 potentially killer Brady vs Manning showdowns in 2002. They didn't play each other at all. Their first meeting was 2001 in a blowout loss for Indy, who had Jim Mora still and worst defense in the NFL(they finished 6-10). The Colts were much better with Tony Dungy in 2002, finished 10-6 and got back in the playoffs. Patriots in 2002 were defending champs, started off strong but lost the East to the Jets and missed the playoffs at 9-7.
So my question is how do these 2 Patriots vs Colts games go in 2002 if there is no division realignment? I feel like these 2 hypothetical games would reshape the 2002 AFC playoffs depending on how they go. In a hypothetical 2002 with the original 5-6-5 alignment I don't think the Browns go 9-7 that year. They would have played the Titans and Jaguars twice, I see them losing at least 2 of those 4 if not 3. They finish 7-9 or 8-8.
So I think in this hypothetical universe these 2 Patriots vs Colts games in 2002 are for the final Wild Card spots in the AFC playoffs. Who takes these 2 games? And then how would they effect the hypothetical alternate timeline AFC playoffs that year?
Brady vs Manning in 2002
Re: Brady vs Manning in 2002
I think they split their 2 games. NE had trouble stopping the run all year and facing Edgerrin James wouldn't have gone any better than it did for them vs Priest/Tomlinson/Ricky Williams etc. But the Pats could cover up their disguises at home and for whatever reason NE could do no wrong vs Indy at Foxboro until 2005.