Professional Football Researchers Association Forum

That year, the Jets and Chiefs had two games against each other that could have changed NFL history (they both finished last in 1987 in the five-team AFC divisions, so they played each other twice in 88). In both, the Jets blew double-digit leads in the fourth quarter. They tied the first one, and lost the second one late in the year.

If the Jets don't blow those leads, they are 10-6, and make the playoffs as a WC on tie-breaker with the 10-6 Browns & Oilers (they beat both teams that year). I see them beating the Browns at home the next week before losing at Cincy in the divisional round. As a result, I can see them maybe doing better the next year, and Joe Walton isn't fired (maybe that butterflies away the next 11 years of Jet football, with no Kotite or Parcells).

If the Chiefs lose those games, they get the #1 pick with a 2-14 record, and Troy Aikman is Missouri-bound. They probably get to at least one (or maybe two) SB's in the 90's as a result, and maybe Marty stays there for several more years.

Going in to the 1988 season, I remember big things predicted for the Vikings and Eagles. The Vikes had a big postseason run in 87 and ended up being a remarkably tough wild card team in 1988. The Eagles had talent but IIRC went 0-3 in the replacement games (as did Minnesota), so the thought was that their record wasn't all that accurate.

The team that came from nowhere was the Rams. Jim Everett had a big breakout year on a team that never passed the ball, and Kevin Greene went from regular player to one of the best pass rushers in the NFL. John Robinson changed the team's philosophy on both offense and defense, and it paid off.

That was right before I joined the U.S. Navy. The only thing I remember about the 1988 season is that Howie Long missed most (if not all) of it, I think with blood clots (ewwww!). Actually, there are a couple of other things I remember about that season (without having to look anything up): 1) that San Francisco CRUSHED "Da Bears" in the N.F.C. championship game in frigid temperatures at Soldier Field, 2) that I was pulling for Buffalo to make it to the S.B., AND 3) the fantastic finish in that year's S.B. (which overshadowed the horrendous injury suffered by Bengals' NT Tim Krumrie during the game).