alternatehistory.com

The job situation has been such that I again had time on my hands (though I had more ministry stuff going on, nobody wanted to see someone about wills and estates last year, as they feared they wouldn’t have any money left, anyway :(). I didn’t play all the teams, but I replayed top teams (and then some others if some club was ding really well in a division) using Sim matchup over on whatifsports.com. This led to the following little timeline I call Heidi Scrambles the Teams, as most of the same clubs that won in the playoffs won here, but some were earlier, some later, some a bit more and some a bit less.

And, while the game itself was a little different in the sim Matchup, if converted over to the real life Heidi Game (where NBC switched over to an airing of “Heidi” in 1967) it makes a very logical POD. Other things which would spring from that are listed, because they’re needed to explain various things:

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Super Bowl II: Green Bay 23, New York Jets 17:

Season recap: The Packers had a lot more problems than one expected with the Jets, whos se Joe Namath passed for 4000 yards this year. He boldly guaranteed victory, and while it didn’t pan out, it wasn’t till a late Bart Starr TD toss that the win was sealed. It would be Vince Lombardi’s last game in Green Bay. Joe Namath tossed 2 TDs, but also threw 2 INTs, while the Packers were helped to 10 points off of turnovers (the Jets had 3).

The Packers had earlier barely gotten to the Super Bowl, who won their division over the Rams by the slimmest of margins. Meanwhile, the Jets had been energized by a comeback that most never saw, because the raiders scored to take the lead on the Jets after NBC switched over to an airing of “Heidi.” Joe Namath led a famous drive that – coupled with this Super Bowl and his general celebrity – wound up getting him into the Hall of Fame in the early 2000s as a Veterans Committee candidate. Had he won, some said he’d have gone in a lot earlier.

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Super Bowl III: Kansas City 28, Baltimore 13

Season recap: the amount of victory was a surprise, but Johnny Unitas’ backup hadn’t played that well at times during the regular season, despite a 13-1 record. Neither he nor Unitas was particularly good, but the Chiefs had trailed only 14-10 at the half to the Packers in Super Bowl I, and the Jets’ close loss to the Packers meant some people were actually picking the Chiefs to beat the Colts.

Still, it was only a division win the following year that saved Don Shula’s job.

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Super Bowl IV: Dallas 20, Oakland 17

Season recap: The Vikings were 14-0 when the beat the Colts, so as noted, Shula’s job was safe. George Allen, meanwhile, was let go after a 2nd straight disappointing season with the Rams, replaced by a nobody who would be replaced by Chuck Knox several years later. Allen would up being hired quickly by the Redskins in 1970.

Miami, meanwhile, had gone a surprising 8-6 in the AFL, as an old college coach (Note: Not sure who, but someone is needed here for a few years to explain this) decided to try his hand at the pros once before retiring for good. His intensely run-oriented game had the Dolphins challenging for the playoffs. The Jets, meanwhile, were outplayed in a very close game by the raiders in the playoffs, as both QBs threw for over 350 yards, in what an announcer called, “The last reminder of what made the old AFL so popular, high octane offense that allowed them to force the merger with the NFL.” The Chiefs beat the Oilers before playing the Raiders, who finally beat them in Oakland. “Len Dawon was hurt early, or they probably would have had the home field, and they’d have won their 2nd straight Super Bowl,” one announcer said.

The Vikings only allowed a little over 100 points, or 8 per game, but Roger Staubach, who had started the last half of the regular season, gave a stellar performance against them that wound up as a Cowboy win. Calvin Hill was another of the big reasons for the Cowboys’ success, as he ran for 1450 yards that season.

The Vikings’ QB just couldn’t throw, but the problem wans’t solved till a few years later, when Fran Tarkenton was brought back. Staubach, meanwhile, had established his legacy earlier than he might have otherwise.

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Super Bowl V: Baltimore 38, Washington 23

Season recap: Don Shula had been given an ultimatum, and boy, did his team respond. His club went 17-0, and Johnny Unitas led the way to an impressive Super Bowl win, with a point total that wouldn’t be passed for 15 years. This greatly frustrated Allen, whose teams were built on great defense.

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Super Bowl VI: Dallas 20, Miami 7

Season recap: The Dolphins’ coach retired after the season, having reach the Super Bowl but falling to a Cowboys’ team that had Calvin Hill again racking up a 1200-1400 yard season; though Hill would be injured badly in 1975, missing the season and never again the same, he’d be inducted into the Hall of Fame in the early 2000s, a few years before “Bullet” Bob Hayes.

Don Shula, meanwhile, had his Colts contending again. In fact, Johnny Unitas led a potential game-tying drive that resulted in a TD with just under a minute left. However, a missed extra point denied the Colts the right to their 3rd Super Bowl in 4 years, 20-19.

One of the most popular sports what-ifs concerns the Colts making that point and winning in overtime. However, the trade of teams between the Colts’ and Rams’ owners would have come in 1972 anyway, which means that Bob Irsay would have brought ina new GM who wanted a new look. Don Shula clashed with the man quite a bit in early 1972, and then, on the eve of the draft, with Miami needing a new coach, the Colts decided to trade Shula to the Dolphins for a first round pick.

(Note: it’s possible, anyway; another thought is that the Colts make it to the Super Bowl, the coach stays on one more year and leads the Dolphins to the title while the Colts fall flast, and Shula is with the dolphins by the time they make their return trip after a year away from the Super Bowl.)

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Super Bowl VII: Miami 27, Green Bay 6

Season recap:The Packers ended up with home field advantage, and used that to beat a surprise wild card team, while the 49ers beat the Redskins. “The team got soft after winning the conference in 1970,” some fans complained. The Packers rode a surprisingly weak conference to the Super Bowl, with john Brockington running for 1250 yards, but once there, the Dolphins dominated.

The Dolphins couldn’t repeat Shula’s 17-0 – they lost once in the regular season – or his 22 straight regular season wins with Baltimore from 1969 into 1971. However, they’d won their second straight conference title, and looked ready to emerge as

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Super Bowl VIII: Oakland 27, Dallas 17

Season recap: Hill hadn’t quite been as good in the Coboys’ 2nd Super Bowl win, and now he was slipping a little further; it was clearly Staubach’s team. However, was happened instead was the 2nd of 5 straight times when teams “finally won the big one.” This time, it was Oakland, in a rematch between two very proud, powerful franchises.

The story, though, was the regular season, where Terry Bradshaw’s ineffectiveness had suddenly led to his being replaced by Jim Gilliam in quite a few games, Gilliam was only 3-3-1 as a starter, though, as the Steelers went 7-6-1. With Bradshaw leading a comeback in the last game Gilliam started to get the Steelers the win, and playing well in the final game, he was again given the starting nod in 1974. The Steelers – who lost the division crown to the Bengals this year – would beat them (barely) the next year.

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Super Bowl IX: Minnesota 16, Miami 10

Season recap: This was a testimony to Don Shula’s coaching, as some of his better players left for the World Football League. They still beat the Bengals, after losing to them in last year’s playoffs, and then won the AFC title game. The Vikings, meanwhile, had another really good defense, as Bud Grant finally got back to the Super Bowl. In a defensive struggle, the Vikings emerged victorious.

The Rams, meanwhile, had lost the division to the Falcons the year before – Atlanta lost in the NFC title game. The surprising Falcons were the wild card team this time, but lost to Minnesota. James Harris had taken over as QB, and the Rams were finally starting to look like potential contenders again. Harris was given the starting job next year, the first black QB to start every game for his club.

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Super Bowl X: Pittsburgh 20, Minnesota 8

In one of the most highly rated Super Bowls ever, the nation’s imagination was captured like nothing else could. Two teams had marched throught he regular season with incredible defenses and close wins. Each was undefeated. Each won their playoff games, and now, two teams would both compete to be 17-0 alongside the 1970 Colts.

(Note: I couldn’t believe it as I was running these simulations. These were good teams, and the schedule helped, I’m sure. But, to imagine this happening in real life…wow! Then again, this year’s Super Bowl teams were each 13-0 at one point, and the Colts got to 14. Plus, Super Bowl XIX matched the 15-1 49ers (a field goal away from going into overtime in their only loss) and the Dolphins (14-2 despite a mediocre defense).)

An NFL historian said later, “The merger was a good thing, but the NFL had won 3 of the 4 NFL-AFL Super Bowls. The Chiefs were considered to be on par with the NFL, but really, the Colts’ run and then this Super Bowl were the two things that really catapulted the NFL into almost larger than life prominence. Add to that the Steelers’ woefulness from before, hwo they’d never won a payoff game till 1972, and only one other since, and the Vikings’ attempt to repeat, it was incredible!”

With the score 10-8 early in the 4th, a turnover led to a Steeler TD that iced it; they added a field goal later for a game every said they were “just lucky to be a part of.”

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Super Bowl XI: Los Angeles Rams 24, Oakland 22

Except for a missed field goal by Oakland, some considered it the “perfect game” – and even that hadn’t influenced things in the long run. The Raiders, who had beaten the Cowboys 2 years earlier, played the Rams in a seesaw battle. Then, with just over 6 minutes left, James Harris and the rams got the ball back trailing 22-17. With a mix of runs and passes, Harris led them to a McCutcheon (who was the MVP with his 2 rushing and one receiving TD) touchdown with 3 minutes left. The Rams held, and they were Super Bowl champs.

Harris’ success led a couple teams to consider drafting Warren Moon as a QB, but others argued that it was just the perfect system, with the “Ground Chuck” offense, and that Harris wouldn’t work in any other system. So, Moon wasn’t taken as a PB, and he wound up going to the CFL.

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This is where the sims stopped after a couple months. I did the Bears a few times – Walter Payton had a 1000-yard rushing season in 1979 – to see how Payton did, but otherwise, I figured this was enough, and besides, it was a pretty interesting POD in itself, though now just a butterfly that could cause a larger one.

I think, given racial attitudes at the time, things wouldn’t have been that different for Moon. Had Harris been ina different system, and won a couple Super Bowls, maybe, but as it is, things would have been about the same. Harris was, after all, starting as it was, and had led the rams to the playoffs earlier.

With him having won the Super Bowl, though, the Rams don’t make the disastrous trade for Namath. Instead, Pat Haden backs him up for a couple more years, till his skills diminish, and Namath goes to Tampa, where he tries to help draw fans to the young franchise, since they would remember him from his days at Alabama. It, too, would be a disaster, as Namath couldn’t play as well anymore, and he’s replaced by Doug Williams.

Super Bowls II and XIII are the same, then; it makes sense, anyway, with Dorsett coming to the Cowboys and the Steelers dominant. I did play a few teams in ’70 just to see if the 7-9 Rams would be a Super Bowl team, and got a bit of a surprise, so since the rams then won in 1980, I’d use the following (Harris isn’t with the Rams, obviously, in the Sim Matchup, but it’s plausible from the Harris win):

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Super Bowl XIV: Pittsburgh 31, Philadelphia 24:

The Eagles give the 15-1 Steelers (only loss to the Browns) a real run for their money, but ultimately come up short. Philadelphia is 13-3 itself, and beats the Bucs while the Cowboys beat the Rams. After a number of years of very good play, james Harris had injuries pile up, and eventually wound up replaced by Pat Haden late in the year. It took a while for the team to mesh behind Haden, but they would next year.

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Super Bowl XV: Oakland 27, Los Angeles 13

The 2nd Super Bowl rematch, both involving the Raiders. This time, the Rams are clearly an aging team, trying for one last shot at glory. The Rams, under 2nd year coach Tom Flores, are a powerhouse that will be really distracted, and not make another Super Bowl for a little over 20 years.

(Note: I replayed 1983 a few years ago, and 1982 because of the strike. I’ll record those results here, from what I remember, but they’re not written down. However, Super Bowl XVI should be the same in this TL.)

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Super Bowl XVII: Washington 30, San Diego 10

The Chargers had no defense, but their offense was enough to get them to the Super Bowl. However, once there, John Riggins ran for 202 yards, and the Redskins ran roughshod ove the entire team.

Freeman McNeil of the Jets ran for 1882 yards in 16 games.

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Super Bowl XVIII: Cleveland 23, Washington 20

The Browns are the Super Bowl Champs! In an amazing upset, the Kardiac Kids II (note – they could still be in 1980, also) go 11-5 in the regular season (Note: 9-7 in OTL0, then upset the Raiders when Jim Plunkett throws a couple picks. The wild card Bengals lose a close one in Cleveland, and the Browns, behind Mike Pruitt, go on to upset the Redskins, who showed some holes int heir run defense.


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And, here it stops. How would Sam Rutigliano handle the Browns of the mid-1980s, with Bernie Kosar? He would stick around for at least the 2nd half of 1984 after having won a Super Bowl in 1983, and probably 1985, too. It’s quite possible that the Browns – recalling the Paul Brown fiasco – don’t let him go till maybe part-way through 1986, after which time Kosar must get used to a new coach and system. So, while the Browns might well wint he division, they would be hard pressed to with the Benals 10-6. In 1985, it’s not certain – they won at 8-8, and that’s why Rutigliano might get a year’s reprieve after a poor 1984. Either way, the Browns are b bit different.

With the Colts not the only “perfect team,” pressure on the NFL to try to keep them there – or at least keep the name – probably isn’t as great when they move, but it’s possible that there could be some demand to keep the Colts’ name and record. Perhaps this can lead to one someone else posted in a thread of NFL what-ifs – little things with the Browns after their Super Bowl win mean that, when Modell starts thinking of moving the team (he had to be doing so before he did), he realizes he’d need to take the Colts’ name, so works a deal with Bob Irsay to take the team back to Baltimore. Then, someone else takes over the Browns.

Which, indeed, makes for a pretty good cap to this little replay/simulation experiment. More if I have time for antoher baseball one, but I thought NFL fans would enjoy this one.
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