NFL "what-if" scenarios thread

[Todd Pence]

What if Dallas is not upset by Cleveland in the 1968 Divisional Playoffs? Tom Landry later called the '68 squad the best he ever assembled in Dallas. How do they match up against the Colt juggernaut of that year and who wins that NFL title game?

[sheajets]

Curious what becomes of the 80's Packers and 80's Jets...and long term what do there franchises accomplish if they decide to hire Bill Walsh.

Walsh interviewed with both Green Bay and the Jets in the late 70's. Maybe 77?

[sheajets]

The Vikings 1971 defense was good enough that Alan Page was NFL MVP and allowed 10 points or less in nine games. Numbers like that would make any team a winner. Hell, they could have won the playoff game at Dallas with a real QB or a decent running attack. They only gave up 183 yards for the game, but Cuozzo and Lee each threw two picks and Clint Jones was the only RB with more than 15 yards for the game with 52.

The playoff game against Dallas was actually in Minnesota.

The Vikings actually gave up less than 10 points per game over the three year stretch from 1969-71; 133, 143 and 139 for a total of 415 points in 42 games. Add to that the points they scored on interception and fumble returns plus the turnovers that set the mediocre offences up for easy points and you have a defence that was probably the most dominant of all time over a multi-year stretch. Regrettably, it’s vastly underrated and largely forgotten because they didn’t win a SB.

That's probably true but I also think that is only part of the story for why they aren't remembered say as much as the '90's Bills who went through a similar situation. And that is because the '70's Vikings really weren't a very fun team to watch. They were one of those ground and pound teams that expected to win at the hands of their defense and not at the hands of their offense lead by a Hall of Fame quarterback and set of wide receivers.

The '70's Vikings and Rams were really poster boys of the style of play of that era and why the league needed to make some changes toward the end of the decade in order to open things up.

And some of those games were played in an extreme arctic tundra out in Minnesota where the football was pretty much a rock. Metropolitan Stadium outdoors from mid November onwards...it was sometimes absolutely impossible to do anything offensively

[7DnBrnc53]

Curious what becomes of the 80's Packers and 80's Jets...and long term what do there franchises accomplish if they decide to hire Bill Walsh.

Walsh interviewed with both Green Bay and the Jets in the late 70's. Maybe 77?

If Walsh gets the GB HC job, he wouldn't have passed on Montana like like Starr did when Red Cochrane (GB scout at the time) was throwing a fit about him.

Cochrane watched Joe at ND for four years, and he had a man crush on him as a player. He basically said that the kid just wins, and was upset when Starr passed on him in the third round.

Another GB coaching WI: If they don't have the 8-7-1 season in 1978, while still having a poor season in 79, does Starr even make it to 1980?

[JameisLoseston]

Curious what becomes of the 80's Packers and 80's Jets...and long term what do there franchises accomplish if they decide to hire Bill Walsh.

Walsh interviewed with both Green Bay and the Jets in the late 70's. Maybe 77?

If Walsh gets the GB HC job, he wouldn't have passed on Montana like like Starr did when Red Cochrane (GB scout at the time) was throwing a fit about him.

Cochrane watched Joe at ND for four years, and he had a man crush on him as a player. He basically said that the kid just wins, and was upset when Starr passed on him in the third round.

Another GB coaching WI: If they don't have the 8-7-1 season in 1978, while still having a poor season in 79, does Starr even make it to 1980?

If Montana ends up in Green Bay, what becomes of Brett Favre? Does he end up staying in Atlanta? Or a Steve Young situation where he comes in anyways and backs up a few years? Speaking of Young, how does Montana not being in SF affect his career arc?

[74_75_78_79_]

How about a modern-what-if...Antonio Brown doesn’t get injured by Burfict in that 1st-rounder in 2015. Do Steelers get past Denver then play at NE for the right to face Cam’s 15-1 Panthers instead? Then how does SBL (no, I’m going with the Romans; not lame ‘50’) turn out? As much as I respect that Denver team and feel they deserved the Lombardi...irl (great that Wade got a Ring, great that Peyton got another), the ’Burgh was close to surpassing Denver without #84! And, of course, they beat them during the regular season. Likely the furthest they get is to Foxboro being the Pats’ ever-long-winded history of getting their way with them; and Belichick likely comes up with an answer for Cam as well as Brady doing enough vs the Carolina D.

Curious what becomes of the 80's Packers and 80's Jets...and long term what do there franchises accomplish if they decide to hire Bill Walsh.

Walsh interviewed with both Green Bay and the Jets in the late 70's. Maybe 77?

If Walsh gets the GB HC job, he wouldn't have passed on Montana like like Starr did when Red Cochrane (GB scout at the time) was throwing a fit about him.

Cochrane watched Joe at ND for four years, and he had a man crush on him as a player. He basically said that the kid just wins, and was upset when Starr passed on him in the third round.

Another GB coaching WI: If they don't have the 8-7-1 season in 1978, while still having a poor season in 79, does Starr even make it to 1980?

If the Pack hires a no-name or a relative-no-name instead of Bart Starr in ’75 and they have the same exact results the next three seasons (4-10, 5-9, 4-10), it’s heavily likely that HC doesn’t make it to ’78 if even ’77.

[7DnBrnc53]

What if Dallas is not upset by Cleveland in the 1968 Divisional Playoffs? Tom Landry later called the '68 squad the best he ever assembled in Dallas. How do they match up against the Colt juggernaut of that year and who wins that NFL title game?

That's a good one, but for those Cowboy teams, you have to go back to the Ice Bowl. It seems to me that the loss in GB set that team back for a few years.

If they win the Ice Bowl, it may have been the start of a dynasty. Dandy Don probably plays until 1972 or 73 (and makes the HOF with a few SB rings). Craig Morton is probably traded (maybe to Denver or the Bears or something), and Staubach may have to wait until 1973 to take over (and he ends up playing until he's 41 or so as a result).

[JohnH19]

What if Dallas is not upset by Cleveland in the 1968 Divisional Playoffs? Tom Landry later called the '68 squad the best he ever assembled in Dallas. How do they match up against the Colt juggernaut of that year and who wins that NFL title game?

That's a good one, but for those Cowboy teams, you have to go back to the Ice Bowl. It seems to me that the loss in GB set that team back for a few years.

If they win the Ice Bowl, it may have been the start of a dynasty. Dandy Don probably plays until 1972 or 73 (and makes the HOF with a few SB rings). Craig Morton is probably traded (maybe to Denver or the Bears or something), and Staubach may have to wait until 1973 to take over (and he ends up playing until he's 41 or so as a result).

I don't think the Ice Bowl set the Cowboys back at all. They were a dominant 12-2 in '68, 11-2-1 in '69, lost in the SB in '70 and then won it. Sure they lost badly to Cleveland in the '68 and '69 playoffs but those two games can't be "blamed" on the Ice Bowl. If anything, it would have had an effect on their '68 regular season, just as the shocking loss in SB 3 seemed to negatively affect the 8-5-1 '69 Colts.

[RyanChristiansen]

What if Jim Kelly and Steve Young had gone straight to the NFL and Dan Marino had started in the USFL?

[JuggernautJ]

What if Jim Kelly and Steve Young had gone straight to the NFL and Dan Marino had started in the USFL?

Or, same vane but more extreme....
What if Joe Namath signs with the Cardinals in 1965??
(Namath was drafted #12 by St Louis)

How different are the Cardinals?
What happens to the AFL without it's bonus baby?
And... SBIII?