Bleacher Report - Articles by John A

What If: The Greatest Super Bowl Never Played

John A — Mon, 25 May 2009 16:19:56 -0400

In the 1998 season, it seemed like the Vikings and Broncos were destined to meet in Super Bowl 33 in Miami. They were the two best teams in the NFL that year by far.

The Broncos, fresh off their demon-slaying win the year before in San Diego against the defending champion Packers, still had the talent and were poised to repeat. They won their first 13 games before a loss to the Giants at the Meadowlands 20-16 on a late TD pass.

They lost the next week in Miami before closing the season out on a high note at home against Seattle. In that game, Terrell Davis became only the fourth back in NFL history to go over 2,000 yards. They ended the season 14-2, and were ready for the playoffs.

In the Divisional round, they pounded Miami 38-3, setting up a clash with Parcells and the Jets at home for the AFC Championship. The Jets were up 10-0 after a blocked punt and a Curtis Martin TD. That awoke the champs. Elway went to work, hitting McCaffrey for a long bomb, then hit Howard Griffith for a TD to get within three.

The special teams took over after that. The Jets missed a kickoff, Denver recovered, and Elam tied it at 10. After two Elam FG and a Davis 31-yard TD, Denver closed out a 23-10 win and headed off to Miami for a repeat.

The 1998 Vikings were an offensive whirlwind. They scored 556 points during the regular season. What made the difference for this team, who only got to the Divisional Playoffs once in five of six tries under Green, was the drafting of Randy Moss. He gave their offense an added dimension. He had 69 catches for 1,313 yards and 17 TD, which are still rookie records.

QB Randall Cunningham was a big help when he replaced Brad Johnson after his injury. He had his best NFL Season with 3,704 yards passing, 34 TD passes, and a 106.0 rating. He also won the Bert Bell award that year for Player of the Year by the Maxwell Football Club. With those two, Cris Carter, Jake Reed, Robert Smith, and a great O-line featuring Todd Steussie and Jeff Christy, this 15-1 team was ready to make some noise in the playoffs.

Their first playoff game was against the Cardinals. Aeneas Williams was doing some trash talking that week, but it didn't help his team, as you could imagine. Randall Cunningham had a good game, going 17 for 27 with three TD's and an INT, and the Vikings parlayed a 24-7 halftime lead into a 41-21 win.

The only time in the game where the Cards may have had a chance to retaliate was late in the third quarter down 27-14, but a fumbled snap by Jake Plummer was the break the Vikes needed to run away with the game, and meet their date with destiny.

Their next opponent was the Falcons. Nobody in the country gave them a chance. They were 11-point underdogs. During the NFL Greatest Games show, Jamal Anderson said he was walking through the Mall of America, and Vikings' fans were saying things like "thanks for coming" and "you had a great year." Jamal was puzzled because they hadn't even played the game yet.

So, at the beginning of the game, the Falcons got the ball and marched down to take a 7-0 lead on a five-yard TD pass from Chris Chandler to Jamal Anderson. However, the favored Vikes flexed their muscle, and went up 20-7 right before halftime. Chuck Smith then sacked Randall Cunningham and the Falcons recovered a fumble. Chandler hit Terance Mathis for a TD to close the deficit to 20-14, and the Falcons were right in there.

After two Morten Anderson FG's and a Cunningham-to-Hatchette TD in the second half, it was 27-20. However, the Vikes had the ball late in the game and were threatening to put it away. Then, it happened. Gary Anderson, who was perfect all year, missed a FG. The Falcons went down and tied it, and eventually would win it in OT on a Morten Andersen FG, capping off one of the biggest upsets in NFL history.

But, what if the Vikings won? What if Gary didn't miss?

Personally, in my opinion, it would have set the stage for the greatest SB of all-time. The Vikings and Broncos were great that year. It would have been one for the ages. It may have went to OT. What do you think would have happened?

What If Dan Marino Was a Steeler?

John A — Wed, 20 May 2009 21:38:17 -0400

I am big into "what if's". I get on a site called alternatehistory.com pretty often. It is a site where people discuss "what if's" about everything, sports included. Also, I have been seeing a lot of "what if" discussions on here recently and may do several of my own.

I have decided to start with this: What if the Steelers drafted Dan Marino in the First Round of the 1983 Draft?

In 1983, the Steelers were coming off of a playoff defeat to the Chargers in which they were up, 28-17 in the fourth quarter, and probably should have won. Chuck Noll thought about taking Marino, and he liked him a lot. But Noll decided to start re-building the Steelers like he built them in 1969: With a defensive tackle.

From what I heard, John Clayton (the guy with the glasses on ESPN) was working with the Steelers, and he suggested that they take Marino, and then trade back into the first round to get DT Gabe Rivera from Texas Tech, the guy they drafted ahead of Marino.

It was a good idea, but they didn't like the messenger, so they dismissed it. They decided on Sen'or Sack, who was showing promise until he got in a wreck after leaving a bar and was paralyzed for good.

However, what if they had taken Marino?

Here is my guess: Under Noll, Marino would have had to use the run, so his offense wouldn't have been as one-dimensional as it was in Miami.

In his second year, he would have taken Pittsburgh to the SB, where they upset the 49ers. After struggling for a few years while the defense is re-built with people like Woodson, Lloyd, and Hardy Nickerson, he goes back to more SB's in the 90's and wins at least one more.

What are your opinions on this topic?

How the Jay Cutler Era Began: The 2005 AFC Championship

John A — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 15:00:15 -0400

With everything that is going on right now with the Jay Cutler situation, I would like to remind people where this all started. It started with Denver's loss in the 2005 AFC Championship to the Steelers.

Little did I know, when I watched my team go down in defeat that day, I was a witness to a major turning point in Bronco history.

It all started, allegedly, with Shanahan going to the Pro Bowl to coach and seeing Peyton Manning. Right there, he realized that he needed a big-time QB like he had with Elway if he was going to get the Broncos where we wanted them to go.

When the 2006 Draft was upon us, I wasn't sure what direction the Broncos were going. I thought that they may take a RB or WR in the first round. But when I saw their pick come up and Cutler answering the phone. I was stunned. I didn't think they were going to do anything like that. I liked Plummer.

I thought he would be Denver's man for the next few years, and then they would draft a rookie in three years (we may still do that). I wasn't as hard on Plummer as others because I remember watching the Steeler QB's (namely Malone and Stoudt) stink it up in the '80s. Plummer was a lot better than those turkeys.

But, apparently, he wasn't going to be Shanahan's man anymore. He was pulled late in '06, Cutler took over, and that was that for the Plummer era. He retired after he was traded to the Bucs the next spring.

All in all, I felt that Cutler has played well the last two and a quarter seasons as Denver's starter. They had a bevy of injuries last year, and the defense was horrible the last two years. He even went to the Pro Bowl last year.

But, it looks like we could have a change with this new coach. I know that McDaniels made Cassel into a good QB, but why fix what isn't broke?

Now, I am not comparing Cutler to Michael Jordan, but, what if Phil Jackson would have wanted to trade Jordan 20 years ago when he took over the Bulls because he didn't fit into his triangle offense?

You have to find ways of taking advantage of the talents of the stars you have, not banishing them because they apparently don't fit some stupid scheme.

In conclusion, I don't know what will come of all this. It looks like Jay is gone, but you never know. If he does go, however, McDaniels better do a really good job. If the Broncos struggle, and Cutler leads his new team to the playoffs or SB in the next few years, he may be out of a job.

And to think, this all started because of one playoff loss. I hope that I am not looking back with regret 10-15 years later and asking "What If" about that game.

Ten Significant "What If's" in NFL History

John A — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 21:22:45 -0500

I found an article on this site about great "what if's" in NBA history, so I decided to do one about "what if's" that shaped the history of the NFL.

10. What if Joe Roth didn't die of Cancer in February 1977?

There might be some of you that have never heard of Joe Roth, so, just to fill you in, Roth was a star QB who played at Cal in 1975 and '76. His ex-teammates have said that he was like Joe Montana because of the coolness with which he operated.

NFL scouts had him rated as one of the top players in the 77 draft. But then, fate intervened. The Cancer that he thought he had beaten came back during the 1976 season. He played through the season and in the Japan Bowl in January, and then died a month later, not being able to realize his potential as, quite possibly, one of the best QB's in NFL History.

9. What if Brett Favre never plays in Green Bay?

People know Brett Favre as a Packer icon today, but what if he never played there? In the '91 Draft, Chuck Knox, the Seahawk Coach, wanted him instead of Dan McGwire. Tom Flores, the GM, asked Ken Behring, the owner, whom he wanted, and he wanted McGwire, so that is who Flores selected.

Then, Ron Wolf wanted him for the Jets, but the Falcons beat them to him in the second round. Favre parties too hard his rookie year, gets demoted to third string, and ends up getting traded to Green Bay for their second first rounder in '92. The rest, as they say, is history, but it could have been different.

8. What if Jimmy Johnson and Jerry Jones could have worked out their differences and stayed together?

In January 1994, the Dallas Cowboys won their second straight Super Bowl over the Bills. The Cowboys seemed poised to dominate the rest of the '90's. Then, Johnson walked away as coach because Jerry Jones wanted more control in personnel decisions. After that, they won one more SB, then went into a slow decline throughout the rest of the '90's that lasted into the first few years of this decade.

7. What if John Elway and the Colts could have ironed out their differences?

Elway was the first pick in the '83 draft, but he refused to play for the Colts, as a lot of you know. The reason was that he didn't like their authoritarian Bobby Knight-like coach, Frank Kush.

I heard something about how Ernie Accorsi, the Colt GM at the time, was trying to get it worked out, and that team owner Robert Irsay traded John behind his back. Whatever happened, it was one of the worst chapters in the Colts history, culminating with the Mayflower episode the next year.

6. What if Drew Pearson broke away from Eric Wright in the 81 NFC Championship Game?

All of you remember "The Catch" or the TD by Dwight Clark in the '81 NFC Championship game that started the Niners' dynasty in the '80s. But, a lot of people forget about the play after.

Danny White hit Drew Pearson with a deep post play after two defenders dived but missed the ball. Pearson got in Dallas territory around the 40-yard line, but Eric Wright grabbed him by a finger and prevented him from breaking it further.

The 'Niners sacked White on the next play, forced and recovered a fumble, and won the game which catapulted the Niners and led to Dallas's slow decline in the 80's.

5. What if Monday Night Football wasn't carried by ABC?

For negotiations of a new TV contract with the NFL that would start in 1970, Pete Rozelle wanted to get a Monday night game deal with one of the three major TV Networks. CBS and NBC weren't in favor of the Monday night deal, so he talked with ABC. They had reservations about it as well, but, when Rozelle used the threat of billionaire Howard Hughes and his Hughes Sports Network, they decided to give it a chance.

4. What if the Jets didn't win Super Bowl III?

As many of you know, the Jets were big underdogs in this game. There was talk, if the Jets did lose by the predicted spread, of postponing the Super Bowl until the AFL got on better ground with the NFL. We all know what happened, but things could have been very different if the Jets lost.

3. What if Lamar Hunt was able to buy the Cardinals and move them to Dallas in the late '50s?

In the '50s, the Cardinals struggled in the shadow of the Bears and played to crowds of less than 20,000 a game. Lamar Hunt was one of the owners who wanted to buy the Cardinals and move them, but to no avail. The current ownership ended up moving the team to St. Louis, and Hunt ended up forming the AFL.

2. What if the Colts blew out the Giants in the 58 NFL Championship game?

It is called "The Greatest Game Ever Played." But, it could have been different. The Colts led 14-3 at halftime, and had the ball at the New York one in the third quarter, but were stopped on downs. The Giants came back and took the lead, the Colts tied it, and the rest was history. This game vastly increased NFL popularity. Who knows what would have happened if the Colts won decisively.

1. What if Paul Brown went back to Ohio State after WWII?

In 1942, Paul Brown coached the Buckeyes to the National Title. After the 43 season, however, Brown was drafted into the Navy, and Carroll Widdoes took over the Buckeye program. He wanted his old job back, but Ohio St. was happy with the job Widdoes was doing, so he took the job with the Cleveland team in the new AAFC.

He would go on to have an enormous impact on the course of Pro Football history and influence many coaches that would go on to have huge success, like Chuck Noll, Don Shula, and Bill Walsh. The NFL would look very different today without him.