An Alternate NFL: Peyton Manning as a Jet, and a Dynasty.

Took a little bit, but here's the next update. I will be trying to continue to update on a more regular basis, I promise.

Here’s the ATL Jets staff:

2000 New York Jets staff

Front Office
• Owner – Woody Johnson
• Director of Football Operations/General Manager – Bill Parcells
• Director of Pro Player Development/Contract Negotiations – Mike Tannenbaum

Head Coaches
• Head Coach – Bill Belichick
• Assistant Head Coach/Offensive Line – Dante Scarnecchia

Offensive Coaches
• Offensive Coordinator/Running Backs – Charlie Weis
• Quarterbacks – Dick Rehbein
• Tight Ends – Ken Whisenhunt
• Offensive Line Assistant – Jeff Davidson
• Wide Receivers – Todd Haley

Defensive Coaches
• Defensive Coordinator – Romeo Crennel
• Defensive Line – Randy Melvin
• Linebackers – Rob Ryan
• Defensive Backs – Eric Mangini
• Assistant Linebackers – Pepper Johnson

Special Teams Coaches
• Special Teams – Brad Seely

Strength and Conditioning
• Strength and Conditioning – John Lott.



2000 Regular Season:

The Jets would open the season at home, facing the Green Bay Packers on September the 4th, a Monday Night game and the last time that the NFL season would start on Labor Day Weekend. The Meadowlands was packed with Jet green, with sprinkles of Packer green amongst the crowd, and fairly rocked with noise as the Jets ran out onto the field under the banner that read “
Super Bowl XXXIV Champions.”

The main feature of this matchup was Brett Favre versus Peyton Manning, the established star against the rising one. Neither Favre nor Manning would play their best-Both threw an interception-But the Jets would pull out a victory. A winning streak would result, and the Jets would go into the bye with 4 wins, but after the bye, they would lose to Pittsburgh.

Following the Pittsburgh loss, the Jets would take on the Miami Dolphins on Monday Night. The two teams held the lead in the AFC East, and though Miami was still dealing with the loss of Dan Marino, replacement Jay Fiedler was looking up to snuff. It would not begin well for the Jets, as the Dolphins took an early lead, and battered Manning, sacking him twice, forcing a fumble and causing him to throw an interception. Belichick was beginning to be concerned for his QB, and as the 3rd quarter rolled around, with the Dolphins leading 30-7, and the Meadowlands emptying, the Head Coach ordered Manning’s backup to begin warming up. But there was one man who believed in the Jets, for at halftime, actor Arnold Schwarzenegger had made a prediction from the booth of the ABC broadcast team:
“Wayne Chrebet is going to pull it off. I think as usual the Jets are going to come from behind, you will see….I think the Dolphins have to be terminated.”
If so, Arnie was the only one at the time. But Manning was not yet convinced of the impending end of the Jets’, and argued for Belichick to leave him in. Belichick agreed for one series, contingent on Manning scoring. True to Schwarzenegger’s prediction, Chrebet would indeed play a huge part, as Manning hit him with the first three passes from scrimmage, gaining 34 yards. A quick handoff to Martin for 8, and the Jets were at the 30 yard-line. Manning dropped back, and pump-faked to Ward, before letting fly with a long pass to rookie receiver Laveranues Coles. Disaster loomed, as cornerback Sam Madison snagged what looked like a sure interception, and in that moment, it seemed as if the Jets would be done. But small moments often conform to the “what if” principle, as in that moment, Madison bobbled the ball right from his hands, and into Coles’ for a TD, but the Jets missed the two-point conversion, making the score 30-13. This was still within the Miami side’s favor for a win, but enough for the stirrings of hope. The D would force a Miami 3-and-out, and Manning would get the ball back at his own 37. A masterful series of fakes got the Jets to their own 5-yard line, where Manning hit Keyshawn Johnson with a 5-yard out to bump the score to 30-20.
The Dolphins would put together a drive of 77 yards and aging running back Thurman Thomas, who had made his name with the Buffalo Bills’ team of the early ‘90’s, would score to raise the lead to 37-20. The Jets would quickly score, a field goal cutting the lead to 37-23. Strangely, the stadium had seemingly spontaneously repopulated, and the echoes of the JETS! cry went far into the night. The Dolphins were reeling, but panic hadn’t sunk in yet.


Panic would occur when Fielder, having driven the Dolphins to the 50, decided to put in the dagger, throwing deep to Leslie Shepperd. The ball was smoothly plucked out of the air by Al Harris, who was immediately tackled, but the momentum had clearly swung back to New York. Manning threw 8 passes, and aside from an incompletion, a swing pass to Martin and a brief out to Ward, essentially played pitch and catch with Chrebet, hitting him 5 times, including the touchdown that put the Jets within a score.
There were 10 minutes left, and the Meadowlands was suddenly green again, and the Dolphins were panicking. Jay Fielder did not help the matter, as after receiving the punt, he was immediately hit for a sack by rookie Shaun Ellis, who almost caused the Dolphins QB to fumble. The Dolphins did manage to get a drive going, but with 5 minutes left, were forced to punt. The Jets ran Martin four times, gaining 35, and a pass each to Johnson, Ward and Martin, with the final touchdown going to Chrebet for the tie. Inevitably, after 4 minutes of overtime, kicker John Hall nailed a 41-yard field goal, giving the Jets a 40-37 win. The win would be known as the Monday Night Miracle, though some historians often gave it the name of Manning’s Monday Miracle. Whatever the name, the game itself would become a strong part of NFL lore.
The Jets’ season would take a strong up-and-down approach from then on-A loss against the Broncos in overtime was followed by a defeat of the Buffalo Bills, 27-23, but then came a humiliating defeat at the hands of the Colts, 23-21, as Belichick had gambled the win on a 2-point conversation. Three straight wins against the Dolphins, Bears and Colts in a rematch (A game the Jets won in dominating fashion, as Belichick ran up the score, 42-17), gave the Jets 10 wins. But three losses to end the season killed much of the Jets momentum, giving them a 10-6 record for the season, as well as the 6th seed (Due to tiebreakers over the Broncos). The AFC East would send a trio of representatives to the playoffs in the Jets, Colts and Dolphins as the two Wild Cards and the Division winner respectively. The Dolphins would play the Colts first, while the Jets would face the fearsome defense of the Baltimore Ravens.
The Dolphins-Colts game would be competitive, surprisingly so, as Vinny Testaverde would throw a trio of interceptions, but a pair of scores from rookie Edgerrin James would keep the Colts engaged. OT would prove to be the Colts’ downfall, as the Dolphins won, 23-17.
The Jets, meanwhile, were expected to at least make the game between themselves and the Ravens competitive.
This turned out not to be the case.
The Ravens vaunted defense lived up to its’ reputation, easily shutting down the Jet offense, shackling Martin and the running game. Meanwhile, the Ravens’ fearsome corps of linebackers, led by superstar Ray Lewis, wreaked havoc on Manning and the passing game, sacking him 6 times, in addition to batting down a pass, forcing a fumble, and relentlessly attacking the quarterback. Manning looked obviously frustrated, and the image of he and Belichick trading words on the sideline was one that would endure. Meanwhile, the Jet defense, even though the Ravens offense was not the strongest, proved unable to provide a stop, as tight end Shannon Sharpe and running back Jamal Lewis combined to give the Ravens a 21-point lead. Though Manning would end up hitting Hines Ward for a TD, and a field goal would also be scored, it would prove for naught, as the Jets would lose in the playoffs for the first time since the 1997 AFC Championship Game.
Afterwards, Manning met with Ray Lewis in a brief moment at midfield before parting, a touchstone of two leaders who would face off again. Belichick would face the press with what would become his trademark stoicism and imperturbability, stating, “We just didn’t do enough to win, and they did, and that’s that.”
While for most teams, a playoff berth would be a sign of progress, for the Jets it seemed to be a sign of recession-After all, this was a team that had won back to back Super Bowls! Questions began to circulate as to whether or not Belichick was the right choice for the position, or even if Parcells could be persuaded to return, though the fact that it was Belichick’s first year tempered some of the criticism and speculation.
The Ravens would go on to storm through the playoffs, easily defeating the Titans and Raiders on their way to a Super Bowl victory over the New York Giants, their defense providing the margin of victory every time. Ray Lewis would be named Super Bowl MVP, and Marshall Faulk of the St. Louis Rams would be the league’s MVP, as Manning came in 3rd in the voting.
 
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FDW

Banned
You know, taking a second read through this, I kind of feel that it's a bit too convergent.
 

FDW

Banned
What do you mean? Too similar to RL?

Yeah, especially with the way you have Baltimore and The Giants meeting the Superbowl nearly four years after the POD. Also, given the fast-paced nature sports, you'd think that the butterflies would cause more divergence than what you've done.
 
Yeah, especially with the way you have Baltimore and The Giants meeting the Superbowl nearly four years after the POD. Also, given the fast-paced nature sports, you'd think that the butterflies would cause more divergence than what you've done.

I do have some stuff in mind, it's just taking a little bit to set up, and the fact that I work on this less often than I should affects the story. If you have any suggestions, please feel free to PM me with them, as I'm always open to new ideas.
 

Vince

Monthly Donor
Something about having Ryan and Mangini as Jets assistants under Belichick makes me laugh. Nice update!
 

FDW

Banned
Actually, the Jets took him in the 6th, but he won't be staying with them long term, I can guarantee you that.


Thanks-I'm hoping that the comedy factor for that one will be good later on.

The Jets are about to explode spectacularly aren't they?
 
As a Colts fan, today was sad for me. I will be continuing this thread, but with a heavy heart.

As a reminder though......

G.O.A.T.

peyton-manning.jpg
 
Bill Belichik and Peyton Manning on the same team? The Patriots aren't going to win the division for the rest of the decade. :cool:

By the way, could Tom Brady be traded to the Bears? Chicago had an unbelievable defense from 2000-2008, it just never managed to get a good enough QB to win a Super Bowl. Tom Brady could be just what they need to establish a Chicago dynasty.
 
As an Indianapolis native I felt compelled to comment on some other ramifications of the lack of Peyton in the Colts, at least for Indianapolis.


1. Culturally: Without a winning Football team, Indianapolis would likely remain a basketball town, most local football fans would remain Bears fans and the next generation of fans would likely turn to the Pacers. Considering the lows the Pacers in OTL reached, local sports is about to take a big hit.

2. Economic: A good portion of the economic revitalization of the cities core was driven by Colts success and the need to support it (Hotels, expanded convention space, massive parking increases)
A decrease in convention space (the eyesore that was the RCA dome freed up a lot of room with its demise) could see the city loosing a number of conventions (Gencon springs to mind) a major economic driver for Indianapolis.

With the improvements that have attracted business and people back to Indianapolis now a gleam in some city planners eye, Indianapolis is a poorer, grayer, boring place. The coming economic downturn just might turn Indy into "A slightly warmer Detroit"

3. Political: There is the potential, with Indianapolis doing terrible economically and not being the pull to business for the state that it was in OTL, of a far bluer Indiana. With 11 electoral collage votes this has the potential for some national ramifications if Indiana goes blue (not likely but possible) or at least bluer.

4. Sports: Without Lucas oil Stadium, without the draw that was a Peyton game, with a city and a state even less likely to spend the funds to update their facilities and with fans more likely to need to save their money rather than buy tickets or merchandise, The Colts are not long for Indy. LA is warmer, nicer (at least in this timeline) and is full of room for potential growth
 
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