With the 2023 NFL Schedule officially being released, a lot of games stood out for us. This year, instead of being forced to watch the middling Broncos in prime time, we were spoiled with some fantastic Sunday and Monday night games, and even some matchups outside of prime time. These are our picks for the best week-by-week games.

Week 1: Bills at Jets (MNF)

Ending the first week of the season on a strong note, we get to see Rodger’s first game in Gotham Green. Josh Allen against Sauce Gardner against the rest of the Jets underrated secondary already has us salivating.

Week 2: Chiefs at Jaguars

With Trevor Lawrence’s sudden emergence last season, this is looking to be an aerial circus. The Jaguars have proven over the past two seasons that they can get the upset whenever they feel like it. Will the Chiefs be their next victim?

Weeks 3: Giants at 49ers (SNF)

The Giants surprised everyone by making a serious run the playoffs, even upsetting the Minnesota Vikings, by building a strong run game complimented by Daniel Jones balling out. The Niners have been rough to pound the ball against, but suddenly have a question mark at QB. Can New York’s improved pass rush make *insert name here*’s life hard?

Week 4: Chiefs at NYJ (SNF)

Mecole Hardman’s reunion against his former team makes this game must see TV. Just kidding, we have possibly the two best Quarterbacks of our generation facing off in a game that’ll affect possible playoff seeding later in the season.

Week 5: Cowboys at 49ers (SNF)

A rematch of last year’s NFC Divisional matchup has the revenge minded Cowboys traveling to Santa Clara. Can the 49ers hold them off to keep recent rivalry supremacy afloat, or will the Cowboys get the last laugh? Y’know, until they meet again in January.

Week 6: Ravens at Titans (LDN)

Recent playoff success for both teams have rekindled this old AFC Central rivalry into one of the most heated in the AFC. With this being possibly Derrick Henry’s last ride in Tennessee, this could be the final serious matchup between these two.

Week 7: Dolphins at Eagles (SNF)

If Tua can stay healthy through the season, I expect this matchup to be fueled by fireworks. Both big play offenses and stingy Defenses make for a fun matchup.

Week 8: Texans at Panthers

Battle of the first two picks! Bryce Young and CJ Stroud look toward their first head to head in their (hopefully) long careers. I don’t think playoff implications will play into this matchup, but both Quarterbacks will be hungry to prove they belong in this league.

Week 9: Bills at Bengals (SNF)

Considering both of the games between these two were tense, I don’t expect much to change between these two. This could possibly be a preview for the AFC Championship. Expect Damar Hamlin to be in attendance!

Week 10: 49ers at Jaguars

An underrated matchup in Duval, I expect another great game from these two, trading punches. Depending on who’s at Quarterback for the Niners, the total score could reach the 80s and 90s here.

Week 11: Eagles at Chiefs (MNF)

The Super Bowl rematch we’ve waited for. The Chiefs look to prove they had Philly’s number, while Hurts and company look to avenge their loss right in front of the rambunctious crowd at Arrowhead. Bring your popcorn.

Week 12: 49ers at Seahawks (TNF)

This Thanksgiving game airs a once heated rivalry, reminiscent of the old Sherman-Crabtree and Kaepernick-Wilson days when this matchup was must-see TV. With these two playoff teams meeting up, expect to be late to the Black Friday sales.

Week 13: Bengals at Jaguars (MNF)

Five years ago, this matchup would’ve been an ignored Thursday Night Football game, with America preferring to tune into Family Guy reruns. Now, it’s a viable Prime time game that I’m personally excited for. Prepare to hear Burrow v. Lawrence for years to come.

Week 14: Bills at Chiefs

Two heavyweights in the AFC race clash late in the season with the first round bye on the line, this could possibly turn into the game of the year. Expect this game to come down to whoever has the ball at the very end.

Week 15: Cowboys at Bills

The much hated Cowboys fly into Orchard Park for what will most likely be Snow Bowl ll. With it being so late in the season, I’m expecting a winter wonderland and whoever runs the ball best to take this game.

Week 16: Ravens at 49ers (Xmas)

The rematch of Harbowl, these two’s last matchup came down to the wire. Of all the Christmas games, this looks to be the barn burner of them all. Strictly defense all four quarters.

Week 17: Bengals at Chiefs

Speaking of rematches, the Bengals-Chiefs rivalry adds another chapter, this one possibly being a playoff spot clincher for either team. Both games last year were dogfights and I don’t expect this one to be any different. This is a 4:15 game, but I expect it to be flexed.

Week 18: Steelers at Ravens

Ending the season on a strong note as well, Week 17/18 games between the Steelers and Ravens tends to mean one of these teams’ seasons. This rivalry never disappoints and will definitely be one to tune into.

That’s our list of the Games of the Year. What game are you most looking forward to? Let us know in the comments!

Hello PFD fans! For this weeks What If?, we’re going back in time. Quite a bit in time actually. We’re taking a look at the Cleveland Rams, one of Cleveland’s original NFL teams. Of course, before we explore what could have been, we’ll start first on what was.

(Note: Thanks to loyal PFD reader Chris Canatella for the idea! Don’t be afraid to post your ideas, guys! We may just use them!) 90’s

The Original Rams

The Los Angeles Rams, the team we know today, originally started in the American Football League. No, not the AFL that held the Dolphins, Patriots, and such. The second version of the American Football League held teams like the Cleveland Rams, Boston Shamrocks, Brooklyn Tigers, New York Yankees, Pittsburgh Americans, Syracuse Braves, Cincinnati Bengals (No, not those Bengals), and the Los Angeles Bulldogs. The league was originally started to compete with the NFL, but came nowhere close. However, the success the league did see led to multiple staples we see now in the NFL: The Shamrocks success led to George Preston Marshall moving his Boston Redskins to Washington, The Bengals name was revived when Paul Brown founded his franchise, and the West Coast was first introduced to Professional Football with the LA Bulldogs (God, I love this name for an LA Team).

In 1936, the Cleveland Rams were founded by Ohio attorney Homer Marshman and player-coach Damon Wetzel. Wetzel chose the Rams nickname due to his favorite College team being the Fordham Rams. In their first season in the AFL, the Rams finished 5-2-2, good enough for second in the league behind the 8-3 Boston Shamrocks. On February 12th, 1937, after their lone season in the AFL, they joined the NFL and were placed in the Western Division. They joined the Green Bay Packers, Detroit Lions, Chicago Bears, and Chicago Cardinals. The team was marred with unsuccessful seasons and multiple stadium changes, jumping from Cleveland Stadium, League Park, and Shaw Stadium multiple times in their time in Cleveland.

In June 1941, the team was sold to Dan and Fred Levy Jr Reeves, heirs of the Daniel Reeves Stores (Now a subsidiary of Safeway). The team continued to struggle until 1944, when they shut down for a season due to World War 2. They resumed play, however, in 1945.

1945 was their most successful season in their young history. Rookie QB from UCLA, Bob Waterfield, won League MVP and led the team to a 9-1 record and an appearance in the NFL Championship Game against the Washington Redskins, which they won 15-14. In a close game, the margin of victory for the Rams came from a Safety, which was scored after Redskins QB and great, Sammy Baugh, threw a pass that hit the uprights in the endzone. The rule was changed the very next season.

However, the 1945 season was the last one for the Rams in Cleveland. Owner Dan Reeves put in a request to relocate the Rams to the then-103,000 seat Los Angeles Coliseum and was denied on January 12th, 1946. Reeves then threatened to break off his relationship with the NFL and leave Professional Football altogether. A settlement was reached and the Rams left for sunny California. The move made for two big milestones for sports and the NFL. The relocation led to the Rams being the first, and only, sports franchise to relocate directly after winning a title. The move also made the NFL the first sports league to reach both coasts, Atlantic and Pacific.

What if the Rams stayed?

Hypothetically, let’s say the NFL calls Reeves bluff. Instead of leaving the league, Dan chooses to accept his lost pride and keeps the team in Cleveland. What would happen across the NFL landscape? First off, the Browns can’t survive with another team in town. Originally, the Browns left the fledgling All-American Football Conference (or AAFC) after it closed its doors in 1949. With Cleveland rooting for the Rams, the Browns decide to relocate to survive, but move down south to Cincinnati, creating the Cincinnati Browns. Cincinnati is ecstatic for the arrival of the Browns, being they had legends such as Otto Graham and Marion Motley. In 1950, the Browns and Rams play for the 1950 Championship in the first Battle of Ohio, with the Browns beating the Rams, as what happened in 1950. They meet again in 1951, but the Rams avenge their loss. They would meet again in 1955 and beat the Browns.

Skipping ahead to the 1968 season, the third iteration of the AFL is getting ready to merge with the NFL in two seasons. The NFL wanted an even number of teams admitted to the league in the merger. Originally, the Bengals became that team in 1968, but Cincinnati already has the Browns. As a result, the AFL must look to another city to join the league. One city would immediately come to mind, as it was already a relocation candidate. In fact, Ralph Wilson threatened to relocate to this city to get the city of Buffalo to replace War Memorial Stadium. Enter the Seattle Kings.

Yes, the Seattle KIngs. The city had already shown interest in the Pacific Northwest, Ralph Wilson threatened to relocate the Bills to Seattle, and an ownership group was ready in Seattle, even with a name picked out; The Seattle Kings. The name was chosen in honor of the area Seattle resided in, King County. Don’t forget the city of Seattle had also approved the construction of the Kingdome for the incoming Seattle Pilots of the MLB. So, the Kings and Pilots are sharing Sick’s Stadium, which was a whole other story itself, until the Kingdome opens. However, with the Kings and Pilots both incoming, the new Kingdome is built at the original site, Seattle Center, rather than its real life location. The Pilots still relocate to Seattle, due to the team being doomed from the start, but the Kings hold on longer at Sick’s until the Kingdome is finished in 1972, rather than 1976.

With Seattle joining the NFL in 1970, rather than 1976, who joins the NFL in 1976 with the Buccaneers? While Seattle won the bid in 1974, three other cities were considered for expansion; Phoenix, Memphis, and Honolulu. While Hawaii was a huge outsider, the debate was heavy for Phoenix and Memphis. While Phoenix currently has a team in the Arizona Cardinals, Memphis was the favorite, due to their support of the World Football League’s (or WFL) Memphis Southmen. The Southmen had four huge things going for them. First, as stated above, the Southmen were well respected and attended. Secondly, they were funded by owner John Bassett, well known millionaire and football fan. Third, they already had NFL talent on the roster, with Larry Csonka, Jim Kiick, Paul Warfield, and Danny White all being Southmen at the time. Fourth, Elvis Presley was a well known fan of the Southmen, regularly attending games. With fans in attendance, a rich and dedicated owner (Think 1970’s Jerry Jones), a plethora of legitimate NFL talent, and the King of Rock and Roll in attendance (You think Taylor Swift brought fans to the NFL, just imagine what Elvis would have done), the NFL can’t resist. In 1976, the Memphis Southmen join the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the expansion draft.

Jumping ahead to the 1990’s (Sorry, I don’t want to cover nearly 100 years of Football, just the exciting and directly affected things here.), the relocation boom in the NFL looks a lot different. The Colts still relocate to Indianapolis in 84’ and the Cardinals still relocate to Arizona in ‘87, but that leaves 4 teams to discuss: The Rams, Browns, Raiders, and Oilers.

The Rams

With the Rams experiencing the same woes of playing at Cleveland Stadium, they still look to relocate. Owner Georgia Frontiere chooses to forgo upgrading or replacing their stadium whatsoever, they still take the deal in St Louis. Come 2016, owner Stan Kroenke is less enticed by relocating the team to Los Angeles, as the Rams never played in LA and the city already has an NFL team (more on that later), so here, he only has two cities to consider; Cleveland or St Louis. In a shocker to Missouri fans, Stan relocates the Rams back to Cleveland, choosing a dome on the banks of Lake Erie in the old footprint of Cleveland Stadium. The NFL world rejoices as the NFL returns to Northeast Ohio.

The Browns

As did the Bengals in the ‘90s, The Browns are fed up with Riverfront Coliseum. As they did, they threaten to relocate to Baltimore, and as what happened in real life, the Bengals get the stadium deal done, building Paul Brown Stadium (funny how this is still a serious possibility in this what if) on the banks of the Ohio River. However, the Browns history doesn’t change much, Paul Brown takes over ownership of the Browns since Art Modell was only involved in Cleveland. The Browns are still relatively bad, but don’t relocate. Somehow, the “Mistake on the Lake” is now the “Quitter on the River” or the “Blanks on the Banks”. Heck, maybe the “Awful C**ts on the Riverfront”? Man, the possibilities seem endless.

The Raiders

With the Rams over in Cleveland, this leaves the Raiders in an interesting spot. Being in LA in the early 90’s, the city is more adamant on the Raiders staying, being the only professional football team in the city. Instead of being forced to relocate back to Oakland, Al Davis gets a deal for a stadium at the location of Hollywood Park (Where present day Sofi Stadium is). Los Angeles builds a giant, state of the art (at least in 1990’s terms) stadium and Al Davis are the toast of the town. However, come 2016, the stadium is replaced when Mark Davis threatens to relocate to Las Vegas. The torture of the 2000’s Raiders football leaves more to be desired in Los Angeles, yet the Raiders survive on the love of Los Angeles alone.

The Oilers

The Oilers are left in a tough spot. With the Southmen in Memphis, he can’t relocate the team to Memphis. He tries to work on a deal with Houston throughout the 90’s and finally settles on relocation in 2001. With a threat to relocate to Baltimore and a recent Super Bowl visit for the Oilers, Houston jumps at the opportunity to save their franchise, building Reliant Stadium to house the Oilers. So, the Oilers never relocate to Nashville, saving themselves from needing an expansion team to return football to Houston.

The last two teams

Without needing replacement teams in Cleveland and Houston, the NFL looks elsewhere to expand. With Baltimore being a definite after losing the Colts in ‘84 and missing out on the ‘94 expansion, the NFL has to search for their 32nd team. The NFL narrows the search down to four cities: San Antonio, Oklahoma City, Salt Lake City, and Portland. Not wanting to impede on any current territories, they remove San Antonio and Oklahoma City. The NFL finally decides, the two teams that’ll join in the 2002 NFL Expansion will be the Baltimore Ravens and the Portland Pioneers.

Wrapup

So, what has changed in the NFL with the Rams staying in Cleveland? Quite a bit, actually. With almost 100 years of changes, we’ve seen:

Browns relocated to CincinnatiSeattle joins the NFL in 1970, rather than 1972Memphis joins Tampa in the 1976 ExpansionRams relocate to St Louis, then back to ClevelandRaiders stay in Los Angeles, Oilers stay in HoustonBaltimore and Portland join via 2002 Expansion

That’s quite a bit just from one team deciding to stay home, rather than Vacation. So, what do you think? Should the Rams have stayed in Cleveland? Are the Browns a better fit in Cleveland? Let us know in the comments!

Resources:

Pro Football Resource

https://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/cle/

New York Times

Photo Credits:

Pinteresthttps://www.pinterest.com/pin/cleveland-browns-vintage-football-poster–512566001337719208/

https://id.pinterest.com/pin/1945-nfl-championship-game-cleveland-rams-v-redskis-ultra-rare-print-4-sizes–493284965445205348

Cleveland Historicalhttps://clevelandhistorical.org/items/show/781

Sports Press NW

Wayback Machine: Hugh McElhenny & the Kings

Everybody knows Bo, and Bo knows everything: Football, Baseball, Tennis, Golf, Luge, Auto Racing, Hockey, even the Blues. Everybody knows that Bo Jackson was famously a dual-sport athlete, playing for the NFL’s Los Angeles Raiders and MLB’s Kansas City Royals, respectively. Anyone who knows Bo also knows about his hip injury against the Bengals that ended his career in both sports. Before we get into any What If’s, let’s learn more about Vincent “Bo” Jackson.

The Boarhog

Born in Bessemer, Alabama on November 30th, 1962, Vincent was the 8th of 10 kids and was named after his mother’s favorite actor, Vince Edwards, best known as Dr. Ben Casey in the drama sitcom Ben Casey. Growing up in a poor family, Vincent was a troubled child, known for stealing lunch money from other kids to fund his own lunch. His mom described him as “a Wild Boar Hog”, which was eventually shortened to “Bo”.

Bo attended McAdory High School in McCalla, Alabama where he was a three sport athlete: Football, Baseball, and Track and Field. During his Senior year for the McAdory Yellow Jackets, He ran for 1,175 yards in football, hit 25 Home Runs, and was a state champion for the Decathlon, also setting state school records for the High Jump (6 ft, 9 in) and the Triple Jump (48ft, 4 in). He was so renowned in Baseball, the Yankee’s selected him in the 2nd round of the 1982 MLB Draft, but Jackson chose to forego his draft position to accept a scholarship to attend Auburn University.

Bo over the top

As a Freshman for the Auburn Tigers, Bo had an impact almost immediately, rushing for 829 yards and 9 TDs as a True Freshman. In the 1982 Tangerine Bowl against Boston College, Bo officially showed the world what he was made of, rushing for 64 yards and 2 TDs in a 33-26 win for the Tigers. Famously, in the 1982 Iron Bowl, Bo made a huge 4th down leap into the endzone, winning the game for Auburn 23-22 and snapping a 9 game Alabama win streak in the game.

In 1983, his Sophomore season, he exploded, rushing for 1,213 yards on 158 carries, good for an average of 7.7 yards, which was the 2nd best in SEC history. In a monster Iron Bowl, which ended in a 23-20 victory for the Tigers, Jackson ran for 256 yards on 20 rushes, for an average of 12.8 yards per carry. Those numbers were good enough for 6th most rushing yards and 2nd best yards per carry in an SEC game. Sadly, Bo spent most of his Junior year injured, but ended the year strong with an 88 yard, 2 TD performance in the Liberty Bowl, good enough for MVP of the game.

In 1985, his Senior season, Bo finished the season with 1,786 yards, 2nd best in SEC history. For his work, Bo was awarded the 1985 Heisman Trophy, which he still considers his greatest accomplishment. He left Auburn with 4,575 all purpose yards and 45 total touchdowns.

Bo knows Baseball?

Bo also played Collegiate Baseball with the Tigers. In 1983, his first year on Auburn’s diamond, he finished with 14 runs, 13 RBIs, 4 Home runs, and a Batting Average of .279. He sat out the 1984 season with an injury, but returned in 1985 in a big way; 55 runs, 43 RBIs, 17 Home runs, and a Batting Average of .401. In comparison, Babe Ruth’s best season, 1921, his Batting Average was .378. So, Bo was a known commodity in the Baseball world as well. In an April 1985 scouting report, a major league scout stated that Jackson’s only weakness was his lack of experience. He was reported as a “Do it all type player” and was “the best pure athlete in America today”. His Senior year was cut short, but not because of injury, but due to ineligibility.

Bo knows NCAA Eligibility rules?

After his 1985 Senior season on the gridiron, The Tampa Bay Buccaneers held the first overall pick in the draft. Buc’s owner Hugh Culverhouse was hugely interested in the “Boar Hog” and made it well known publicly. A month before the 1986 NFL Draft, Culverhouse had flown Bo into Tampa on his private jet for a private physical with the team, right before his Senior Baseball season. Jackson was told by the Buccaneers that the trip was cleared and OK’d by the NCAA. In truth, it was not. Near the end of his Senior season, Bo was declared ineligible by the NCAA, due to Bo being a Professional Football player, yet an Amateur Baseball player. In short, this pissed Bo off. Later, in an ESPN Interview, he believed Culverhouse and the Buccaneers sabotaged his Baseball career due to “The season I was having”. Before the 1986 draft, he went on to tell Culverhouse, “You draft me if you want. You’re going to waste a Draft Pick. I can promise you that.” Despite the threat, the Buccaneers drafted Jackson first overall anyway.

Bo knows Football?

Even with a record $7.6 million, 5 year contract offer from the Bucs, Bo chose to sign a $1.07 million, 3 year contract with the MLB’s Kansas City Royals. The Bucs chose to forfeit Bo’s rights in the 1987 NFL Draft, where the Los Angeles Raiders selected him in the 7th round. The selection was a surprise to Bo, who actually slept during the draft. Originally, he wasn’t interested, choosing to focus on his true love; Baseball. Al Davis, however, loved the idea of Bo being a Dual-Sport athlete and wanted him to pursue Baseball, but join the Raiders during the MLB Offseason. Bo signed a $7.4 Million, 5 year contract with the Raiders, choosing to miss some NFL games and join the Raiders once the MLB season was over.

Jackson went on to join the Raiders in Week 8 of the 1987 season. In his first game against the New England Patriots, he rushed for 37 yards on 8 carries. In a Week 12 matchup against the Seattle Seahawks, fellow Rookie Brian Bosworth promised to contain Bo. Instead, to Bosworth’s dismay, Bo had the best game of his season. Rushing for 221 yards, a Raiders single game record, he made swiss cheese of the Seahawks Defense, including bowling over Bosworth and dragging him into the endzone. In his Rookie season, Bo finished with 554 yards on 80 carries, good for 6.8 yards per carry, and 6 TDs. In 1988, Bo started in 9 games for the Raiders, finishing with 580 yards and 3 TDs.

In 1989, Jackson had the best season in his football career, finishing with 950 yards and 4 TDs. In 1990, He ran for 698 yards and 5 TDs, being selected to his first Pro Bowl, which he wouldn’t attend. In a Playoff game against the Bengals on January 13th, 1991, Bo would be brought down on what appeared to be a routine tackle. However, a condition, now known as Avascular Necrosis, would lead to the deterioration of his left hip joint.

Bo knows Baseball?

After being drafted by them in the 4th round of the 1986 MLB Draft, Bo signed a $1.07 million, 3 year contract with the reigning MLB champions, the Kansas City Royals. He spent 53 games in the AA with the Royals affiliate, the Memphis Chicks. He was called up to the Show in September 1986, finishing his Major League debut against the Chicago White Sox 1-3. In 1987, he made the Royals roster as a left fielder. In 116 games, Bo finished the season batting .235, with 22 Home Runs, 53 RBIs and 10 stolen bases. In 1988, Bo began to flourish, improving on his numbers and finishing the season batting .246, with 25 Home Runs, 68 RBIs, and a career high 27 stolen bases.

In 1989, Bo was an American League All-Star (His Pro Bowl appearance would make him the only player to ever make an All Star Game and Pro Bowl). In his first bat appearance for the 1989 All Star Game, he immediately hit a huge 448 home run, showing the League he was ready for stardom. He wound up winning the game’s MVP award. He finished the season batting .256 with 32 Home Runs and 105 RBIs. He continued his greatness into the 1990 season, finishing the season batting .272 with 28 Home Runs and 78 RBIs. His most famous play on the Diamond came on July 11th against the Orioles, when he performed his famous “Wall Run”. After catching an out near the wall, he chose to run along the wall to avoid injury. During the season, he also tied the MLB record for hitting 4 Home Runs on 4 consecutive at bats, the 4th being off of Pitching Legend Randy “The Big Unit” Johnson.

Sadly, his historic run ended there. After his injury with the Raiders during the offseason, the Royals chose to release the promising Jackson, refusing to pay him his $2.375 Million contract while he rehabbed his hip. Bo has stints with the Chicago White Sox and California Angels, combining for an average BA of .245 and a total of 32 Home Runs and 102 RBIs. He chose to retire after the 1994 season, stating that “I got to know my family, that looks better to me than a $10 million contract.”

Bo knows What Ifs?

So, know that we know what happened to Bo in real life, what if Bo’s hip injury never happened? Well, I’m going to start off with what I think would most likely happen; Bo chooses Baseball over Football.

After a scare against the Bengals in 1991, Bo comes back to the Raiders. With a shortened 1991 season due to a hip injury (not as serious as the career ender), Bo doesn’t resign with the Raiders, choosing to commit full time to Baseball. With a better batting average in his time with the Royals, Bo continues to be a household name. However, with the Royals struggling, even with Bo Jackson, they decide to trade the All-Star to the Dodgers in 1995. He has a respectable career in his return to Los Angeles, but not to the numbers he put up in KC. He’s a decent bat, but spends quite a bit of time on the Disabled List. In 1997, he is released and spends some time in Pittsburgh before retiring in 1999.

However, what would happen if he chose Football over Baseball? Well, after Bo retired from Baseball in the 1991 offseason, the Raiders signed former great Roger Craig, who somewhat struggled in Los Angeles. Here, Bo Jackson is the head back in LA. After retiring from Baseball to focus on Football, Bo is available for all 16 games in the season. Here, I say Bo finishes with 900 yards and 5 TDs, netting him another Pro Bowl appearance. The Raiders beat KC in the Wildcard, which the media hails as “The last middle finger to Kansas City from Bo” as he rushes for 110 yards and a TD in a close 13-10, but they fall to the eventual AFC Champs in Buffalo. However, the next few seasons, we see less and less of Bo as the hip issue continues to arise. Al Davis gives Bo 3 more seasons in LA as he refuses to give up on his prized back. However, with Free Agency starting in 1993, Al chooses to let Bo test the market in 1994, where he signs with Washington. After a 2 year stint in the Nation’s Capital, he chooses to play closer to home, signing a one year contract with the New Orleans Saints. After a season behind Ray Zellars in the Big Easy, he retires.

Bo knows aftermaths?

Sadly, this isn’t an easy (or fun) prediction to make. With freak career ending injuries, such as Terrell Davis and Johnny Knox, it’s a little easier to predict what would happen if the injury never happened. However, in Bo’s case, his hip wasn’t a freak accident, rather a health issue that would bother him regardless. While the tackle against the Bengals never happening gives Bo more time and success in the MLB and NFL, he mainly just buys him time. Everyday, we see Athletes succumb to permanent health issues that end their careers, whether hereditary or freak accidents. Bo Jackson was a star in the late 80’s, but nothing much could’ve changed his hip health, especially at the time. Bo Jackson is definitely a cautionary tale about keeping our eyes on our bodies before they start to fall apart. In short, I think Bo’s injury somewhat benefited him. Nowadays, we remember Bo as a “What If”, A sneaker spokesman, or a helluva player in Tecmo Bowl that cost us friendships. However, if he had continued his career, I think we’d remember him more as a player that “Could’ve been” and it would hurt how we remember him.

Sources:

ESPNhttps://www.espn.com/classic/jackson_bo.html

Baseball ReferenceMultiple Pages

Football ReferenceMultiple Pages

Picture Sources:

SB Nationhttps://www.collegeandmagnolia.com/2016/4/28/11526478/biggest-nfl-draft-bust-of-all-time-bo-jackson-biggest-steal

BigCat Sportshttps://bigcatsports.wordpress.com/2018/06/13/sports-bo-jackson-the-all-time-best-athlete-we-hardly-got-to-see

HubPageshttps://discover.hubpages.com/sports/Was-Bo-Jackson-a-better-Football-or-Baseball-Player

Auburn Wire, via USA Today

Yet another awesome Bo Jackson story to add to the legend

ESPN ranks Bo Jackson as the No. 8 college running back in last 60 years

The War Eagle Reader

https://www.thewareaglereader.com/2020/06/bo-jacksons-baseball-scouting-report/amp

Pewter Report

Bucs Throwback Thursday: What If Bo Jackson Played For The Bucs?

Raiders.com

https://www.raiders.com/history/all-time-roster/bios-j/bo-jackson

Royals Reporter

Bo Jackson: Man, Myth, Royal, and 1989

The New England Patriots of today have received a lot of nicknames: The Greatest Dynasty of NFL History, The Evil Empire, The Patsies. Today, they’re known for a lot of things: Winning, Championships, Tom Brady, Bill Belichick, spoiled fans (Admit it Pats fans, y’all have seen more success than most of our favorite team’s entire history), and beautifully designed Gillette Stadium. It may be hard to imagine, but they were once one of the League’s worst teams, historically. The Patriots of the 90’s were in danger of leaving the Northeast. Relocation attempts arose not once, but twice. Funny enough, the attempts didn’t include any of the popular cities back then, namely Baltimore and Los Angeles. The cities that almost stole the Patriots from Massachusetts? St Louis and Hartford.

Before we get into that, a quick history lesson of the Patriots. Founded in 1960 as part of the American Football League, or AFL, by local sportswriter Billy Sullivan, who petitioned the NFL to bring a team to Boston. Thus, The Boston Patriots were founded. The team found some success in the AFL, reaching the 1963 AFL Championship, which they lost to the San Diego Chargers 51-10. They didn’t make the playoffs for the rest of their time in the AFL.

In 1970, they finally found a permanent home, using Boston University Field, Harvard Stadium, Boston College’s Alumni Field, and shared Fenway Park with the Red Sox during their time in Boston. Schaefer Stadium was built in Foxborough, Massachusetts to be the full-time home of the Patriots. With the move to the Boston suburbs, owner Billy Sullivan wanted to rebrand the team to attract more than just the Boston fans. Originally, they rebranded as the Bay State Patriots, but the NFL turned it down. Mainly, due to the abbreviation for the team being “BS”. No, that’s not a pun, they literally would’ve be abbreviated as “BS”. For obvious reasons, the NFL said no and Sullivan changed the name to the “New England Patriots”, taking advantage of being the only NFL team east of New York.

The Patriot’s went on to make the playoffs twice in the 70’s (‘76 and ‘78. How Patriotic?). The 80’s were a mixed bag of losing seasons, occasional success, and a Super Bowl berth. After firing Ron Meyer, known for his success at Southern Methodist, they brought in Colt’s Hall of Famer Raymond Berry to right the ship. In his first season in 1985, Berry led the Pats to an upset of the reigning AFC Champ Miami Dolphins to reach Super Bowl XX in New Orleans. The game was a disaster, finalizing in a 46-10 blowout loss to the Shuffling Chicago Bears. They made the playoffs in 1986, but that was the end of the success for the Patriots, as Berry was let go in 1989, which brings us to the decade of trouble for Patriots fans.

What led to the Relocation rumors?

The Stadium

Schaefer Stadium (renamed Sullivan Stadium in 1983, then Foxboro Stadium in 1989) was built in 1970, and was one of the only stadium’s in the NFL that was privately funded. Named after nearby Schaefer Brewery, the stadium was as basic as basic gets. The land was donated to the Patriots by nearby Bay State Raceway, a horse-racing track (Currently demolished and replaced by Gillette Stadium.). Needless to say, Schaefer Stadium wasn’t the class of the NFL. It had great sightlines throughout the stadium and was known for one thing; Football. The uncovered stands made for snow covered benches, filled with shirtless Pats fans in the cold Northeastern falls. Up until the mid-90’s, the stadium was relatively untouched, spare a few small upgrades here or there. By the 90’s, It had become a negative towards the Patriots, especially when Free Agency started. New England needed a new stadium, bad.

The Success

The 90’s Patriots were absolutely pitiful, including a 1-15 record to start the decade. Their only win that season was against the Indianapolis Colts, who would finish the season 7-9, by a score of 16-14. After starting the season 1-1, they went on to lose 14 straight. The 1990 Patriots would go on to be known as one of the worst teams in NFL History. The team joined the 1981 Baltimore Colts as the 2nd team to lose 11 games in a season and not hold a lead. They were outscored 181-446, for a point differential of -265, good for 3rd worst in NFL history (Only the ‘81 Colts and ‘76 Buccaneers were worse.). Between 1990 and 1994, the Pats had an overall record of 14-50. At the time, they were a laughing stock of the NFL.

The Ownership

Ownership of the Patriots bounced around quite a bit in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s. Founder Billy Sullivan sold the team in 1988 to Victor Kiam. Kiam is often considered for one of the worst ownership tenures in NFL history, with the team having a record of 21-43 during his ownership. In fact, Kiam was often mocked, including on ESPN, with Chris Berman referring to Schaefer Stadium as “Shaver Stadium” due to Kiam’s ownership of Remington Shavers. He was mostly known for his Remington commercials, saying “When my wife bought me a Remington Trimmer, I was impressed. So impressed, in fact, I bought the company.” He sold the Patriots to James Orthwein in 1992.

First Relocation threat

After James Orthwein bought the team, he immediately tried to relocate the team to St Louis. Being from the city and making his money as the Great Grandson of Adolphus Busch, one of the founders of Anheuser-Busch, the move was expected. After all, Orthwein bought the team with the intent of relocating them to St Louis and rebranding the St Louis Stallions (Remember them, I covered the Stallions in last weeks “What If” Here ). The Problem? The lease for Schaefer Stadium wasn’t up until 2001. Owner of the Stadium Robert Kraft (More on him later) refused to let Orthwein break the lease. Plans were drawn up, a logo designed, a stadium in St Louis ready, and intent known the NFL all ready, but Kraft still refused to let go. Being aggravated over the situation, Orthwein sold the team to Kraft in 1994.

Robert Kraft, savior of New England?

Under Robert Kraft’s ownership, the team improved dramatically. Drafting Drew Bledsoe in 1993, the Patriots turned a new leaf. In 1994, New England made the playoffs, losing to the Browns 13-20 in the last playoff game in Cleveland Municipal Stadium (and the last original Browns playoff win before the move to Baltimore). Bill Parcells was awarded Coach of the Year. In 1996, after a down 6-10 year in 1995, the Patriots made the playoffs again, beating the Steelers and Jaguars on their way to Super Bowl XXXl, but falling again, this time to the Green Bay Packers, 21-35. After firing Parcells, they hired Pete Carroll, and made the playoffs in both 1997 and 1998, losing to the Steelers 6-7, and Jaguars 10-25. Carroll was fired after an 8-8 season in 1999, paving way for the future coaching GOAT Bill Belichick.

Robert Kraft, Hero of Hartford?

Not long after the end of the 1997 season, Kraft was eyeing ways to replace the 30 year old Schaefer Stadium. He had already funneled several million into upgrades for the stadium, but it was already showing its age. Kraft eyed a stadium site in South Boston, trying to bring the team back into the city as part of the planned “Boston Sports Megaplex”, but the plan as a whole fell through. After the plan fell through, he decided to just build a stadium on the land in Foxborough. The only downside was Kraft couldn’t afford the stadium, requesting the State of Massachusetts pitch in $72 million for the stadium. The house wouldn’t approve the money, so Kraft would have to look elsewhere.

Connecticut Governor John Rowland had heard of Kraft’s misfortunes and offered a deal; Come to Hartford and we’ll build you a start of the art stadium. At the time, Hartford was planning a revitalization of their waterfront. The plan aimed to tear down the city’s old steam plant and replace it with a convention center, a hotel, shops, and a brand new stadium as the centerpiece. After week’s of discussion, on November 18th, 1998, Governor Rowland announced in front of the media that the Patriots were coming to Hartford.

Desperate after losing their team, the NHL’s Hartford Whalers, the city was desperate to bring another team into town. Hartford was known as a pitstop of sorts between New York and Boston. Rowland had offered for the State of Connecticut to fund the entirety of the $374 Million it would’ve cost to build the stadium, but problems were arising for Hartford. The Steam Plant site still hadn’t been cleared. During excavation, Coal Tar was found. It would’ve cost the city $100 million to clear the land and bring it up to environmental codes and Kraft didn’t want to play for 4 more years in a stadium where everyone knew he was leaving town. Hartford offered Kraft another stadium site in Hartford, but he wasn’t interested. For him, it was either the Waterfront site or Foxbourough. A source close to the Kraft-Rowland discussions was quoted as saying “If they had decided to build this stadium across the river (in East Hartford, where the UConn Huskies Football team currently plays), I think the Patriots would be playing there right now. They could’ve got a bulldozer and started plowing dirt on day one, but the political will was to put it in Hartford. Not East Hartford. So people were bending over backwards to find a way to make the Stadium fit in Hartford.”

On April 26th, 1999, six days before Kraft’s opt-out deadline on the deal made with Hartford, Massachusetts House President Tom Birmingham reached out to Kraft to strike a deal and keep the Patriots in Foxborough. Birmingham had run into Johnathan Kraft, Robert’s son, at a Coffee shop. After discussing the deal, it became clear to him that the Kraft’s preferred to stay in Massachusetts. Birmingham then gathered with several political powers, including Tom Finneran, House speaker and noted opposition to the stadium deal in Foxborough. After a heated discussion, everyone came to the same means; We have got to get this stadium done. Later in the night, Birmingham struck a deal with Kraft and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell to have Kraft build the stadium in Foxborough, with $70 million from the state. After Kraft opted-out on the deal, Connecticut Governor John Rowland responded by threatening to sue the NFL and Robert Kraft. In a later press conference, Rowland told reporters “It’s now official: I am a New York Jets fan, now and probably forever.

St Louis Stallions, AFC East champs?

So, what if the Patriots relocated to St Louis? Well, we’d be talking about the 6 time Super Bowl champ, the St Louis Stallions. The groundwork was all there from the beginning. Tom Brady would have still been drafted into the Stallions and eventually took over for Drew Bledsoe. Drew still gets injured as the Stallions would’ve still played against the Jets in the AFC East. However, they would’ve moved to the newly formed AFC South, with the Colts taking their place in the AFC East. The Stallions would’ve naturally formed a rivalry with the nearby Tennessee Titans, and would’ve dominated the AFC South. In 2001, St Louis would go on to celebrate their first ever Football championship with a narrow 20-17 Super Bowl XXXVI championship over the favored Baltimore Rams. Wait, Baltimore Rams?

That’s right, with the Patriot’s move to St Louis, the Rams no longer have a deal in place with St Louis, so they look towards another city that desperately wants an NFL team; Baltimore. They still sign Kurt Warner and have success, however “The Greatest Show on 33rd Street” doesn’t roll off the tongue as well. They still have their Super Bowl win over the Tennessee Titans, but in 2002, are shifted to the NFC South, with the Buccaneers, Panthers, and Falcons, which is more of a Southeast Division.

In 1995, with the Patriots gone, Massachusetts is desperate for football and builds the South Side Stadium, but convinces Art Modell to move the Browns to Boston, recreating the Boston Patriots. The new Patriots struggle without Bill Belichick (Who stays in New York to coach the Jets) and Tom Brady. Without the Ravens in the way, the Titans win Super Bowl XXXV over the Giants, and the St Louis Stallions lose Super Bowl XLVII to the 49ers.

So, to wrap up, what did the Patriots move to St Louis change?

Tom Brady is the GOAT in St LouisThe Rams are in BaltimoreBill Belichick is a JetBrowns relocate to BostonTitans have a ring49ers have 6 rings, tied with the Stallions and Cowboys for most

I won’t go over the Patriots move to Hartford, as it wouldn’t have changed much. I just wanted to cover both, as it’s crazy to think the Patriots nearly left Massachusetts twice in 5 years. All we’d have is a pretty new stadium in Hartford and a heartbroken fanbase in Boston. I seriously don’t think the NFL would’ve gave them an expansion team with Hartford so close to Boston.

So, what do you all think? Do you think the Patriots relocation would’ve gone any differently? Let us know!

Resources:

NBC Sportshttps://www.nbcsports.com/nfl/profootballtalk/rumor-mill/news/new-england-patriots-nearly-became-the-st-louis-stallions

Sports Illustratedhttps://www.si.com/nfl/2017/01/23/nfl-new-england-patriots-abandoned-move-hartford-connecticut

Image Credits:

https://www.patspulpit.com/2015/7/9/8916939/new-england-patriots-history-the-first-win-new-york-jets-titans

https://www.patriots.com/press-room/super-bowl-xx

https://www.patriots.com/photos/photos-best-of-foxboro-stadium

New England Patriots: 1990

https://jsportsblogger.wordpress.com/tag/victor-kiam/

https://www.boston.com/sports/new-england-patriots/2016/01/13/st-louis-needed-its-own-robert-kraft-to-keep-the-rams-from-moving/?amp=1

https://www.patspulpit.com/2015/7/8/8909681/new-england-patriots-history-the-st-louis-stallions

https://www.si.com/nfl/2017/01/23/nfl-new-england-patriots-abandoned-move-hartford-connecticut

https://www.patriots.com/news/the-staying-home-team-288306

Today, the winners of the 1995 NFL expansion, the Jacksonville Jaguars and Carolina Panthers have notably struggled on the field, with the Jaguars and Panthers having an overall winning percentage of .423 and .474, respectively. With both teams having decent attendance averages (Jaguars with 62,506 and Carolina with 72,940. Sample size includes average attendance from the past 16 years, excluding the 2020 Covid season.), the fan support has been there, but not much success has come from these teams. With a combination of 2 Super Bowl trips (Panthers), 1 MVP (2011: Cam Newton) and a combined playoff record of 17-16 (Car: 9-8, Jax 8-8). So, what would have changed if the 1995 expansion went differently?

The Expansion

In 1995, the NFL came down to 5 finalist cities for a team in the expansion:

Jacksonville, FloridaCharlotte, North CarolinaBaltimore, MarylandMemphis, TennesseeSt Louis, Missouri

Between these five teams, the ownership groups from Jacksonville (Touchdown Jacksonville!, led by Wayne Weaver, owner of Shoe Carnival) and Charlotte (Jerry Richardson, owner of Denny’s) were selected based on financial records and that the cities on NFL stadiums ready for planning. While these two were selected, what happened to the other proposed NFL expansion teams: The Baltimore Bombers, the St Louis Stallions, and the Memphis Hound Dogs?

Baltimore Bombers

The Baltimore Bombers was the proposed name for the 1995 expansion team for Baltimore. With potential owners Leonard “Boogie” Weinglass (owner of retail chain Merry-Go-Round) and Malcolm Glazer (current owner of the Buccaneers), the Bombers were seen as a “sure fire” expansion team, with the Colts leaving town for Indianapolis in 1984. However, with no immediate planned ownership group, no guaranteed plans for a Stadium (only one went into early stages of planning, the Inner Harbor Stadium, today M&T Bank Stadium), they were passed up controversially in favor of Jacksonville and Charlotte.

A rumor was started that the NFL was in cahoots with then Redskins owner, Jack Kent Cooke, who didn’t want another NFL impeaching on his territory. When asked about the funds that Baltimore had set back for a stadium project, then NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue told Baltimore to “Build a Museum” with the money. When then Maryland Governor William Donald Schaefer (Who was the Mayor of Baltimore in 1984, when the Colts left, was asked about the matter, he said “There were two sets of rules–one for Baltimore and one for everyone else. I just wish they would have been honest and told us we didn’t have a chance right from the beginning, instead of having us work really hard for nothing.”

Thankfully, Baltimore didn’t have to wait much longer for the NFL, with the Cleveland Browns relocating to Baltimore for the 1996 season and rebranding as the Ravens.

St Louis Stallions

Of the 3 expansion teams left out in the cold, St Louis appeared to be the closest to actually happening. Jerry Clinton, a well known figure in St Louis and the owner of Grey Eagle Distributors Inc, a wholesaler of Anheuser-Busch in the area, fought to bring the NFL back to St Louis. He worked with the city to build The Dome at America’s Center, or aka; The Edward Jones Dome. As a part owner of the NHL’s St Louis Blues and the MISL’s (Major Indoor Soccer League) St Louis Steamers, Clinton appeared to be the obvious option to own St Louis’ new NFL team. Time and care was put into the new franchise, dubbed the “St Louis Stallions”, including the name, colors, and even a fight song penned by local news broadcaster John Auble, titled “Go, go, go you purple Stallions”. After a meeting with the NFL in Chicago, Clinton was told he was short on funds needed by the League. With an unsuccessful attempt to recruit an investor, Clinton was turned down and replaced by another well known St Louis figure: Stan Kronke. Ironic, right?

What made matters for the Stallions worse, while Kronke had the funds, he needed a stadium. While the Dome was ready, it was still owned by Jerry Clinton. Wanting to avoid a political mess, the NFL awarded Charlotte the first expansion team and told Kronke that he had 30 days to figure out the stadium situation. The situation went unresolved and the NFL awarded Jacksonville the 2nd expansion team.

Eventually, the NFL would return to the NFL just later that year, with Los Angeles Rams owner Georgia Frontiere moving the team to the newly built Dome in St Louis. Ironically, the team would be sold to Stan Kronke on May 31st, 2009. He would eventually go back on his word to “keep the team in St Louis”, relocating the Rams back to Los Angeles immediately after the 2015 season, leaving St Louis, once again, without an NFL team.

Memphis Hound Dogs

Memphis was considered a long shot for the NFL, especially behind former NFL cities; Baltimore and St Louis. The Hound Dogs had possibly the coolest ownership group, composed of Fred Smith, founder of FedEx, William Dunavant, the former owner of the USFL’s Memphis Showboats, Paul Tudor Jones, owner of the Tudor Investment Corporation, and Elvis Presley Enterprises, the owner of Elvis’ estate. Yes, the Memphis Hound Dogs, named after Memphis native Elvis Presley, would be owned by Elvis’ family. How cool is that?

Anyways, the Hound Dogs were a long shot from the beginning. The NFL disliked Memphis the most of all of the expansion city finalists for two factors

Stadium. The only stadium in Memphis capable of holding an NFL team was the Liberty Bowl. While the stadium, at the time, had a capacity of 62,380, the NFL eyed it only as a temporary stadium and wanted a full time and more modern stadium built. While the stadium could’ve held as many people as current day Soldiers Field, it simply wasn’t enough

Market. At the time, there weren’t any major sports in Tennessee whatsoever. The biggest sports team in Memphis was the Memphis Chicks, a Double-A farm team for the Kansas City Royals. The NFL wanted a city with a major sports market, despite both the Jacksonville and Charlotte markets only having the Charlotte Hornets between the two.

As expected by most Memphanites, the bid was turned down in favor of Jacksonville and Charlotte. The city would eventually see two professional football teams, the Memphis Mad Dogs of the CFL, and the Tennessee Oilers, come and go. The city would eventually convince the NBA’s Vancouver Grizzlies to relocate to Memphis.

The What ifs?

Now to the what ifs, I’ll be covering what I believe would happen to each franchise. I’ll choose not to go into detail right now, unless it’s requested.

Baltimore Bombers

Baltimore becomes the 2nd expansion team, along with Charlotte, in favor of Jacksonville. Just as the Ravens did, they are put into the Central Division in the AFC, along with the Steelers, Bengals, Browns, and Oilers. Speaking of the Browns, now the Baltimore has a team, I believe Art Modell works harder with the city of Cleveland and keeps the Browns in Baltimore. They have the typical expansion woes, but make the playoffs before the end of the millennium. Come to 2001 and the tragedy that was 9/11. As the Washington Bullets chose to rename themselves the Wizards, the Bombers choose to rename themselves to remove any negative connotations of violence. This team becomes the Baltimore Ravens, as the name won the fan vote in real life, so Ravens sticks. In 2002, the NFL expands to add the Houston Texans, as the Oilers still relocate, and the divisions are reconfigured. That year, the NFL needed a team to switch conferences to even them out. Originally, Art Model offered to relocate the Ravens in real life to the NFC and play in the NFC West. Of course it was shut down, to keep rivalries with the Browns and Steelers alive and the Seahawks were moved. Here, I see the Ravens still offering to relocate, but are moved to the NFC South with the Buccaneers, Falcons, and expansion mate Panthers, with New Orleans staying in the NFC West. Doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, but neither does the Indianapolis Colts playing in the AFC South.

With the new Ravens not having the leadership of Ozzie Newsome, they definitely struggle, as did the Jaguars, but they did luck into a generational talent in the 1998 draft by selecting Peyton Manning, who doesn’t see as much success as with Indianapolis. He eventually leads them to a AFC Championship or two, but no Super Bowls in Baltimore. Come the 2024 season, the actual expansion Ravens are still seeking their first ring.

St Louis Stallions

In this expansion, I see the NFL going with the old heads of the NFL and choose both the Bombers and the Stallions, both seen as no-brainers in the expansion. Since the Stallions are in St Louis, the Rams ignore the Gateway to the West as an option. Georgia Frontiere is sick and tired of Anaheim Stadium and decides to sell the team to an ownership group based out of San Antonio. The Rams relocate to San Antonio in 1997 to become the San Antonio Rams, playing in the Alamodome. The Oilers still relocate to Tennessee, but with their being two teams in Texas, the NFL ignores Houston’s pleas for an NFL team. In 2002, the NFL chooses to expand to Los Angeles instead of Houston, bringing back the Los Angeles Dons from the AAFL (but with a less racist logo. You think the Redskins logo was bad? sheesh.) With the Rams unable to get a new stadium in San Antonio, they finally bring the NFL back to Houston in 2014 with the “Houston Rams”.

Back to the Stallions, in the 2002 realignment, they stay in the AFC West, with the Seahawks moving to the NFC West and the Bombers moving to the NFC South and the Saints staying in the South with them. They immediately start an in-division rivalry with the Kansas City Chiefs. After flying high, as did the late-90’s Jaguars, they hit hard times in the 2000’s, eventually getting the number one pick in the 2003 NFL draft and select Carson Palmer, who leads them back to the promised land. The trio of Palmer, Julius Peppers (whom they net in the 2002 draft), and Steven Jackson (2005 Draft), gets them into Super Bowl XLIII, which they lose to the Cardinals 26-17 in a game that causes all of St Louis to be at each other’s throats; The new squad, or the old regime in the desert? However, they reach the Superbowl again in 2012, winning Super Bowl XLVI over The New York Giants. Carson Palmer retires after his first and only ring, and the Stallions make it to 2024 without another appearance.

Memphis Hound Dogs

This one gets interesting. With the NFL awarding the last expansion team to Memphis, the NFL world explodes, figuratively. St Louis and Baltimore, pissed that they were spurned for Memphis, build their new stadiums in hopes that they can convince a team to locate. St Louis successfully convinces the Rams to come to the Arch City. Meanwhile, Baltimore is courting three franchises; The Houston Oilers, The Cleveland Browns, and the Cincinnati Bengals (another team that threatened to relocate to Baltimore in 1994). With Tennessee being off the board, they put in a request to move to Baltimore. However, Cincinnati beats them to the punch, relocating to Baltimore to become the Baltimore Bengals. Cleveland, pissed that Cincy beat them as well, choose to find a sweetheart deal in Columbus, becoming the only NFL team in Ohio, becoming the Columbus Capitals. They tried to bring back the old Columbus Tigers name, but was blocked by the Bengals. The Oilers, however, choose to bring Football back to Los Angeles, playing in the Los Angeles Coliseum until Farmers Field (a stadium idea next to the Staples Center that was toyed with) is built, becoming the Los Angeles Oilers. 2002 expansion is awarded to Houston, adding the Texans.

Now that the Hound Dogs have a grip on Tennessee Football, they attempt to trade up with the Colts to get local product Peyton Manning, but are declined and trade up with Arizona to get Ryan Leaf. Leaf of course struggles, playing in a party city and is still out of the NFL by 2001. However, after trading their 2 first rounders in 1999 and 2000, they’re bad enough in 2001 to land the top selection and take Virginia Tech’s Michael Vick. With Vick in town, interest is reinvigorated in Memphis Football. The team gets a new stadium just down the river from Pyramid Arena, right on the banks. Vick still gets into trouble in 2007, leading to the Hound Dogs signing David Carr, hoping to develop the Texans bust. Giving up on Carr in 2009, they draft Florida’s Tim Tebow. Again, giving up on another QB and a terrible 3-13 season in 2011, they net the 2nd overall pick behind Indianapolis and draft Baylor’s Robert Griffin lll. Unlike how he was ruined in Washington, Griffin blossoms in Memphis, playing on actual grass. RG3 wins Rookie of the Year and leads them to an AFC Title appearance against the Patriots, losing 32-27 on a dropped catch by Running Back Mark Ingram at the 7. They continue to be competitive until they break through in 2015, making Super Bowl 50 against Carson Palmer and the Arizona Cardinals (he isn’t injured in this scenario). Griffin takes home Super Bowl MVP as his Hound Dogs beat the Cardinals 27-25 for their first title.

Wrap Up

So, how would the NFL change with these teams coming into the league via expansion?

The Baltimore Bombers/Ravens struggle with different leadershipThe St Louis Stallions and Memphis Hound Dogs have a ringRelocation fires up, with San Antonio and Los Angeles getting teamsCarson Palmer and RG3 win a ring

What do you think about the 1995 expansion? Were the right cities chosen? Did Baltimore and St Louis get screwed? Did Memphis deserve a team moreover Nashville? Let us know in the comments!

Sources:

Russell Street Reporthttps://russellstreetreport.com/2015/07/31/flashbackfridays/tagliabue-couldnt-stop-baltimore/

101ESPNhttps://www.101espn.com/news/the-nfl-team-we-almost-had/

Missouri Sports Hall of Famehttps://mosportshalloffame.com/inductees/jerry-clinton/

Sports Kinghttps://www.sports-king.com/memphis-mad-dogs-nfl-expansion-3647/

Upsets galore in Week 2! Of the 16 games in Week 2, 7 ended in upsets surely had to make Vegas feel something in their shorts. After a crazy week and a lot of movement on our board, where did everyone stack up?

1. Chiefs (0)

Man, how do the Chief’s keep getting this lucky? Surviving both the Ravens and Bengals on controversial plays, the Chiefs are 2-0. While I think Kansas City got a little help on a bad penalty (Yes, I know hitting from the back before the ball arrives is a flag, but how often do you see it called?), there’s still a reason they’re the reigning Super Bowl champs. Patrick Mahomes (18-25, 151 yards, 2 TDs, 2 INT) had a rough night against a solid Bengals Defense, but should bounce back. They’ve played some close games (Survived the Ravens on a last second failed TD, Beat the Bengals by a point) and have had success and luck, but luck can turn at anytime. Chiefs have got to put away these opponents. Also, on a personal note, why wasn’t Rashee Rice suspended? Antonio Brown received a suspension. The NFL can be so confusing at times.

2. Texans (+3)

The NFL has got to start focusing on the refs. Against the Bears, Joe MIxon (25 yards) left the game after a hip drop tackle, a move the NFL illegalized just this past offseason. Moving on, the Texans got the win against Caleb Williams and the Bears, moving up to 2-0. CJ Stroud (23-36, 260 yards, 1 TD) was great against a resurging Bears team. With every other team in the AFC South at 0-2, the Texans have plenty of breathing room. Nico Collins (135 yards, 1 TD) also had a big day. This Texans team is fun.

3. Bills (+3)

Quite honestly, the Bills were outplayed on paper, but it didn’t stop Josh Allen (13-19, 139 yards, 1 TD) and crew from getting a 31-10 win in front of the Miami crowd. With Bills Mafia in attendance, Bills HC Sean McDermott was asked if it was a home game. Yeesh. Taking advantage of an off night from the Dolphins, the Bills are cruising with a 2-0 record and control of the AFC East. Josh Allen did fumble the ball, but was able to recover it, so it won’t count against him on the counter.

JAT: 1

4. Niners (-2)

Of all the upsets this week, this is the one that speaks the loudest to me. A 23-17 loss to the Vikings is astounding for the reigning NFC Champs. Brock Purdy (28-36, 319 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT) was his usual self, and backup back Jordan Mason (100 yards, 1 TD) impressed again this week, but they still fell flat in Minnesota. Although this is just a speed bump for San Fran, it’s a speed bump that you’ll hit on the way to work and think to yourself, “That sounded expensive”. Expect them to bounce back, but keep this game in the back of your mind.

5. Lions (-2)

Detroit looked rough in their 20-16 loss to the visiting Buccaneers. Jared Goff (34-55, 307 yards, 2 INT) looked off in the loss, and the Defense couldn’t seem to stop an underrated Bucs Offense. Their 3 last drives in the game all ended in disaster, and all on the Bucs side of the field: Interception, Turnover on Downs, Turnover on Downs. Head Coach (and new Assistant Manager at Applebee’s, good on him) Dan Campbell has gotta cook up better playcalls. That, and for god sakes, KICK A FIELD GOAL. No Detroit, this isn’t the “same old Lions”, there’s still way too much hope.

6. Packers (+4)

Yet another upset (Doesn’t seem like it, but ESPN had Indianapolis favored here) in Week 2, with new acquisition Malik Willis (12-14, 122 yards, 1 TD) getting the win in his first start in Green Bay. While his numbers weren’t astounding, he played a great game. New Running Back Josh Jacobs (151 yards) also had a great day. With all this new in Wisconsin, the Pack seemed to come in comfortably, despite Center Josh Myers vomiting and then snapping to Willis. What does this mean?

7. Steelers (+4)

Justin Fields (13-20, 117 yards, 1 TD) is fitting in quite well in the Steel City. In backup duty for Russell Wilson, he has the Steelers at the top of the AFC North and a 2-0 record. While the Steelers are hot right not, there’s still a few worries. The Offense still isn’t fully clicking, and the Steelers have only played the Falcons and Broncos, two teams who were expected to be at the bottom of their respective divisions. While Pittsburgh hasn’t played a strong team yet, I can’t take away from what they’ve done so far. They do have to keep in mind that they also play in the most competitive division in Football, and the Ravens and Bengals won’t stay down long. If they want their first Division Crown since 2020, they gotta keep it up.

8. Buccaneers (+5)

Another upset this week goes in favor of Tampa Bay! Man, Baker Mayfield (12-19, 185 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT) looks to be the perfect choice in Tampa. Recently, he has been a godsend for the Bay Area and looks to improve on a Division Title and Wildcard win from last season. An upset of the NFC Runner up Lions (Still feels weird to say that) should open eyes all over the NFL landscape and finally have some respect for the Bucs. It appears their only worry right now is the Saints, who also have been impressing.

9. Ravens (-5)

This was a game I wasn’t looking forward to covering. Walking into Week 2 after a controversial loss to the Chiefs, this should’ve been a warm up game to kick off another successful season, yet fell to 0-2 for the first time since 2015. Lamar Jackson (21-34, 247 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT) continues to be the focal point of the Offense, while Derrick Henry (84 yards, 1 TD) and Zay Flowers (91 yards, 1 TD) are at least lending a hand. Yet again, the O-line, once a strong suit in Baltimore, continues to be the issue. Blown blocks and flags galore aren’t helping Baltimore whatsoever. With John Harbaugh being the 2nd oldest and longest tenured coach in the NFL (Andy Reid is older, and Mike Tomlin is longer tenured), the Ravens could be looking at replacing him with a young, fresher face. As a Ravens fan and big fan of John, I hope the Ravens can clean up their act.

10. Eagles (-2)

Sometimes, you can do everything right and still lose. This didn’t ring any truer for the Eagles on Monday Night Football. Jalen Hurts (23-30, 183 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT) played a great game and had the Eagles ahead with just less than a minute left, then Kirk Cousins and the Falcons had to pull off yet another upset. Saquan Barkley (95 yards) had a great game as well, but all for naught. Philly played a great game, but couldn’t hold on in the end. I hate to bring it up, but I’ve heard quiet crowds, but after that late game interception from Hurts, you could literally hear a pin drop in the Linc. It’s all good Eagles fans.

11. Dolphins (-4)

Miami is in a heap of trouble, aside from the 31-10 whipping they received from the Bills. Tua (17-25, 145 yards, 1 TD, 3 int)  is in danger of playing his last snap. After leaving with another scary concussion, Tua’s days seem to be numbered. I mean, how much more of this can he take before he worries about his health? All that money spent on the O-line can’t be for naught, right? Right?

12. Browns (0)

Well, someone had to win this game, right? In their 18-13 win over the hugely disappointing Jaguars, the also hugely disappointing Browns looked rough. Again. Deshaun Watson (22-34, 186 yards) played better, but it’s easy to improve on his performance last week. Rumors have it that the Browns have looked into trading for Joe Flacco. Things are bad when you’re looking to replace your talented, 46 mil a year, QB for Joe Flacco. Cleveland is lucky that the Ravens and Bengals have looked rough, and both played the Chiefs.

13. Cowboys (-4)

Well, the streak is over. The Cowboys 16 game win streak in Jerry World is over, but that wasn’t even the worst thing to occur Sunday. The Saints came in, sat on the couch, put their feet up, and even raided the fridge. A 44-19 loss in front of your home crowd is astounding, but in Jerryworld? The Cowboys have got to do some soul searching this week before their matchup against also disappointing Baltimore. Dak (27-39, 293 yards, 1 TD, 2 int) has got to play better. Cowboys fans are sure to have a bad taste in their mouths.

14. Saints (+4)

On the flipside, We have the confusing Saints. After losing the Division last season in Week 18, they came out firing. Seriously, I don’t know how to rate these guys. OC Klint Kubiak is making a big name for himself, with Nawlins Offense suddenly looking top tier. Derek Carr (11-16, 243 yards, 2 TDs, 1 int) is starting to look comfortable in the Offense, while Alvin Kamara (115 yards, 4 total TDS) reminds us why he was considered one of the best backs in the league a few seasons ago. The prayers (or Voodoo, I’m not judging) of Saints fans seem to be finally working.

15. Seahawks (0)

Ok Seahawks fans, you can breathe now. That game unexpectedly went down to the wire in the 2nd overtime game in as many weeks. Geno Smith (33-44, 327 yards, 1 TD) was a man on a mission against an underrated Patriots Defense. With the Rushing Offense (Zach Charbonnet led the way with 38 yards in 14 carries. ouch) faltering, The Seahawks found success in the air. That being said, will the Seahawks become a Passing team, after leaning on the run for so many years? Whatever they’re doing, it’s working. They’re currently 2-0 and on top of a tough NFC West.

16. Bengals (0)

As most of Southwest Ohio would agree, I think the Bengals were robbed of a win. While yes, it was technically a flag and called right, I watch the same play happen all the time without flags. Hell, the Raiders got away with the same play against Baltimore, and Baltimore against Las Vegas. That aside, the Bengals played a helluva game. Joe Burrow (23-36, 258 yards, 2 TDs) seems to save his best games against the Chiefs. Then again, the Bengals are 0-2 and are sharing a spot with the Ravens at the cellar, but I don’t expect either team to stay down long. Man, the AFC North is gonna be fun to watch this season.

(Personal Note: I’ve said here before that the Bengals are my local team. I’m from Springfield, Ohio. I’m sure everyone here has heard the news or seen the memes about what’s going on in the Champion City. While I refuse to get political here, I ask for your thoughts. Our schools have closed nearly every day since Donald Trump discussed us. As a Clark State student, I’ve been kept home due to a Bomb Threat Saturday and a Shooting Threat Sunday. They’re putting up Guard Towers all over the city and we expect the National Guard to roll in any day now. It’s currently not safe for anyone here, Haitian or not. Please keep us in your thoughts as I and my neighbors go through this tough time, It’d be much appreciated.)

17. Rams (-3)

So, um, how? How did Los Angeles come out and get whipped by the Cardinals of all teams? Well, the Rams seemed like they didn’t have an answer for Kyler Murray and Rookie Marvin Harrison Jr. Matthew Stafford (19-27, 216 yards) had a solid day, even if without any scores, but is a bright spot in the 41-10 shellacking. Rookie Blake Corum had 28 yards in his debut for Los Angeles, but he also led all running backs in yards. All I say to Rams fans is to just sweep this under the rug and move on. 0-2 is rough, but we still have 16 weeks left.

18. Colts (-1)

Indy has got to wake up. With Anthony Richardson (17-34, 204 yards, 1 TD, 3 INT) returning for this season, they have yet to show the NFL they’re ready to compete. Losing a game is tough, but losing to a QB who hasn’t made a start in almost 3 years is rough. Jonathan Taylor (103 yards) is a bright spot, but he can’t be the only one leading this team onto the field.

19. Jets (+1)

New York finally has a point in the win column, but at what cost? Having trouble with a young QB and an openly rebuilding team is alarming, to say the least. Aaron Rodgers (18-30, 176 yards, 2 TDs) looks to be on his last legs, so the Jets are gonna have to find his replacement soon. On the other hand, the youth in New York is starting to develop, with Garrett Wilson (57 yards) and Breece Hall (62 yards) helping out in the win. What are the plans for the future in New York?

20. Raiders (+1)

Las Vegas has a heartbeat. In their upset of reigning MVP Lamar Jackson and the Ravens, the Raiders stepped up and took advantage of a floundering Ravens Offense to put away the game. Despite the running game adding almost nothing to the game (Zamir White led with 24 yards, Raiders had 27 total), they leaned on that passing game, with Gardner Minshew (30-38, 276 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT) and Davante Adams (110 yards, 1 TD) combining to beat a tough Baltimore Defense. Celebrate, Las Vegas. You all needed this one.

21. Jaguars (-2)

Jacksonville is a very, very maddening team. Since Week 12 of last season, they are 1-7. They went from a young and exciting team to one possibly looking at another rebuild. Trevor Lawrence (14-30, 220 yards in the 18-13 loss to the Browns) hasn’t looked the same since his injury against the Ravens last season. Duval is already 0-2 with shared spots with the Titans and Colts in the AFC South cellar, and if they don’t fix things soon, could be looking at another season outside of the playoffs.

22. Vikings (+3)

Minnesota is a lot like the Saints; Are they that good? With a huge upset of the Niners, Minnesota is the talk of the NFL world right now, but not all talk is good talk. The Vikings are 2-0 behind Sam Darnold (17-26, 268 yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT), but how long can it last? While Darnold is filling in well (Just look at him, dude SCREAMS Minnesota QB), he’s had issues of falling off after a hot start, just see his start in Carolina. Darnold does have a talented team, including a newly resigned Justin Jefferson (133 yards, 1 TD). This is the relief Minnesota needed after a rough Offseason.

23. Falcons (+1)

What a comeback by the Atlanta Falcons! After losing a slow game to the Steelers last week, they got a huge Monday Night Football win over the Eagles in Philadelphia. Kirk Cousins (20-29, 241 yards, 2 TDs) looked fantastic, as well as Bijan Robinson (97 yards). Credit to a Falcons team who refused to die time and time again.

24. Chargers (+2)

It’s all smiles in Chargerland. The team is 2-0, Justin Herbert (14-20, 130 yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT) is playing less risky hero ball, Quentin Johnston (51 yards, 2 TDs) is starting finally show some of that promise, and JK Dobbins (131 yards, 1 TD) has been playing unreal as of recent? So, why do I still have them so low? Well, it is Week 2 and I don’t want to be too jumpy, and I just can’t trust the Chargers to keep from Chargering. While the Offense is playing great, they’re one leg from collapsing. JK’s leg to be exact. From what coach Jim Harbaugh has shown us, this team rides on the run. JK, who’s returning from another ACL tear, has to stay healthy.

25. Broncos (-3)

The Broncos are struggling. Rookie Bo Nix (20-35, 246 yards, 2 INT) played respectably against the Steelers and their great defense, but he seemed to be all of the Broncos Offense this week. He also lead the team in Rushing with 25 yards. This is an absolute recipe for disaster for any rookie QB. Most teams with rookies are letting the rushing do the work, while Denver is letting Bo do everything. Javonte Williams (17 yards on 11 carries) has to help his rook out anyway he can.

26. Bears (-3)

I’ll give credit where credit is due, this Bears team is stingy. Falling to the high flying Texans 19-13 is no shame whatsoever, but it certainly wasn’t a clean game. Caleb Williams had a mixed game, throwing for 23-37, 174 yards, and 2 ints, but he also led the team in rushing, with 44 yards on the ground. Chicago has the ability to keep up with nearly any team in the NFL, but with Caleb Williams struggling, it puts a bit of a damper on the Windy City.

27. Cardinals (+3)

I swear, it’s almost as if you can feel the energy coming from the state of Arizona. A win over a division rival is big, but a 41-10 blowout over a division rival who made the playoffs last season? Almost makes you feel warm and fuzzy, even if you aren’t a Cardinals fan. Kyler Murray (17-21, 266 yards, 3 TDs) had his best game in a while, with Rookie Marvin Harrison Jr exploding with 130 yards and 2 TDs on 4 receptions. That’s an average of 32.5 yards per catch. Hell, even James Conner added 122 yards and a TD on the ground. Let’s just say Arizona had themselves quite a day. Man, the future in Arizona is so bright, I have to wear shades.

28. Patriots (0)

The past two weeks, the Patriots have looked like a respectable NFL team. The 23-20 OT loss at home to the Seahawks stings, but it’s definitely progress. Jerod Mayo has his squad playing great football behind QB Jacoby Brissett (15-27, 149 yards, 1 TD) and a strong running game led by Rhomondre Stevenson (81 yards) and new back Antonio Gibson (96 yards). As a fan who wanted to see the evil empire fall, I’m actually glad to see the Patriots play decent football.

29. Titans (-2)

Tennessee isn’t the most talented team, but they fought hard in their 24-17 loss to the Jets. Will Levis (19-28, 192 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT) is developing, but needs to do more with the talent around him. Tony Pollard (62 yards), DeAndre Hopkins (9 yards), and Calvin Ridley (77 yards) are the biggest names on this Offense, but the Offense isn’t moving. The Titans on paper should be good enough to win 7-8 games, but can’t seem to get it together. Gone are the days of “Run through a mf’s face”, Tennessee has to get tricky to be competitive.

30. Commanders (+1)

An ugly win, but a win nonetheless. Washington beat the Giants at home without scoring a single Touchdown. Rookie Jayden Daniels (23-29, 226 yards) is quietly playing great football. If we based Rookie of the Year off of stats, He’d be the current favorite, at least out of all the Rookie QBs. Brian Robinson (133 yards) had a big hand in the offensive production, but come on guys, you have to punch in a score sometime. There’s too much talent on this offense to not score once.

31. Giants (-2)

Just when New Yorkers thought the Giants ran out of new ways to punch them in the gut, they surprise us yet again. In their 21-18 loss to the Commies, they became the first team in NFL history to score 3 TDS, yet lose to Field Goals. Seriously, the Giants scored 3 offensive TDs, their Defense didn’t allow a single TD, and they still lost. Daniel Jones (16-28, 178 yards, 2 TDs) actually had a productive day. Not as much as Big Blue would’ve hoped, but it’s something. Seriously, New York. Can you stop torturing your fans? Missed PAT, then a missed 2 point try, then another missed 2 point try? Brian Daboll’s seat is getting hot.

32. Panthers (0)

What is there to say about Carolina that hasn’t been said already? This team is bad. Over the past two weeks, they’ve scored a combined 13 points. The Chargers in their recent matchup scored 14 points in the 2nd quarter. Everyone who is reading this, please raise your hands. Congrats, you have a better TD-INT ratio than last year’s first overall pick, Bryce Young (18-28, 84 yards, 1 INT). Despite playing terribly and being benched for Andy Dalton, I still refuse to call him a bust just yet. Have you seen this team? This isn’t Bryce’s fault, and he can’t fix it by himself.

As we now know, Patrick Mahomes would turn into the best Quarterback of the 2020’s (so far) and fellow QBs drafted in 2017, Mitchell Trubisky and Deshaun Watson, would have their own struggles, but it drives the question on most Bears fans minds: What if Patrick Mahomes was drafted by the Bears? How would the Bears fare? What would happen to Trubisky and Watson? How would the draft shake up? Well, we’re here to take a deep dive and predict what would likely happen, starting with Mahomes.

Patrick Mahomes, QB, Chicago Bears?

In this scenario, we’re going to assume that the Bears still trade up to the 2nd overall pick as a QB needy team, so that doesn’t change here. So, with the 2nd overall pick, the Chicago Bears take the less hyped “Project QB’ out of Texas Tech. Well, Chiefs fans aren’t going to be happy here.

When he was drafted in KC, Mahomes sat behind Alex Smith for a season to learn the Offense. With the Bears needing a QB asap, they throw Mahomes into the fire. This is when we get into the major differences between KC and Chicago’s Offenses: Andy Reid ran an Air Raid Offense when Mahomes took over, taking Mahomes talents into consideration. John Fox ran a West Coast Offense. Chicago had Josh Bellamy and Kendall Wright at receiver, KC had a young Tyreek Hill and Demarcus Robinson, not to mention Pro Bowler Travis Kelce. Chicago had Jordan Howard for the running game, KC had Pro Bowler Kareem Hunt. Needless to say, Mahomes would’ve struggled. I think he still would’ve been a promising prospect, but not to the levels of his play in Missouri. As most diehard football fans know, the Air Raid and West Coast Offenses differ hugely; The Air Raid can easily be described as “Screw it, go deep” and excelled with Tyreek Hill being the Cheetah he is. Meanwhile, the West Coast focuses on “Dink and Dunk” short passes to open up occasional deep shots. Of course, the current Chiefs with OC Matt Nagy experiments with West Coast scheming, but not to the level of the 2017 Bears.

In Chicago, Trubisky had struggles having time for plays to develop, so the same would go for Mahomes. After getting beat up behind the Bears line, he isn’t as confident with passing, as targets Wright and Bellamy aren’t world beaters. You’ll see them attempt the deep ball occasionally, but not to the levels that Mahomes was used to at Texas Tech with their Air Raid offense, so Mahomes becomes a bit jumpy, leaning towards improvising to keep the play alive, but still gets beat up. In this scenario, I picture Mahomes putting up respectable numbers, say around 2,500 yards and 12 TDs, but with 10 ints and finishes the season with an injury.

In 2018, the Bears hired Matt Nagy. The same happens in our scenario, and just like in real life, the Bears soared. Tarik Cohen proved to be a reliable back and still finishes as a first team All Pro, I say Allen Robinson proves to be a reliable target, putting up over 1k yards and Mahomes finishes with 3,700 yards, 30 TDs, and 11 ints, improving his performance. The Bears offense improves from 9th in real life to 5th. With their league leading Defense, they improved their record to 13-3 to steal the last bye in the 2018 NFC Playoffs. After their bye, they play the high scoring Rams and win, making an appearance in the NFC Title game. While they’re still the better team, the playoff veteran Saints make the Super Bowl, still losing to the Patriots. In 2019, the Bears stay competitive and win 11 games, good enough for the final wildcard spot behind the Seahawks. They exact their revenge against the New Orleans Saints, but fall to the Niners in the title game, who go on to beat the Houston Texans (more on that later) in the Super Bowl. 2020 is a great season for Chicago, in which Mahomes wins his first MVP, leading the Bears to 13 wins and the first seed in the NFC. After beating the Rams and Buccaneers, they reach the Super Bowl against the Buffalo Bills, but fall flat again as the Bills raise their first Lombardi.

With internal aggravation, the Bears swing a trade with the Atlanta Falcons to trade for Julio Jones (Instead of the Titans in real life) to give Mahomes a proven weapon. They also sign Kenny Golladay. They also trade up with the Browns to draft Rashod Bateman before the Ravens. With a loaded receiving corp, Mahomes wins his 2nd MVP and leads the Bears to a 13-4 season, good enough for the first wildcard spot. They defeat the Rams and Bucs (again) to make it to the Superbowl again, this time against Cincinnati. They win the franchise’s 2nd ring in a 30-17 win over the Bengals.

Things get strange in the 2022 playoffs. After they beat the Giants and Niners, they fall to the Eagles, watching them face the Jaguars, in which Philly wins another ring. Going into 2023, after the retirement of Julio Jones, they trade for notably upset receiver, Deebo Samuels. Going into the playoffs with a 12-5 record and the first Wildcard spot, They beat the Buccaneers, upset division winner Detroit, and defeat the Deebo-less Niners to make the Superbowl against the Baltimore Ravens. With the Bears weaker Defense, they are in a duel with Lamar Jackson and Mahomes is intercepted on a late game-tying pass, which leads to the Ravens winning 27-20.

What happened to the other QBs?

Mitchell Trubisky

With the Bears passing on Trubisky, he isn’t reached for in the draft, leading him to fall to the 22nd pick, where the also QB needy Miami Dolphins select him. To keep it short, Trubisky doesn’t take off in Miami, sitting behind Jay Cutler his rookie season, playing decent but disappointing later in the season. Trubisky leads to the Dolphins refusing to trade for the Cardinals Josh Rosen and continue to disappoint until Trubisky is dealt to Washington in the “Tank for Tua” season. Afterwards, Mitch becomes a journeyman in the NFL.

Deshaun Watson

Honestly, the Watson saga doesn’t change much from real life. He is still drafted by Houston, but does lead Houston to the Super Bowl in 2019 and a loss to the Niners. However, do to his, uh, massage tastes, he’s still traded. Due to him being a Super Bowl winning QB and the Bears having Mahomes, he’s dealt to his hometown Atlanta Falcons instead of the Cleveland Browns. He struggles more in Atlanta than Cleveland due to the talent he’s surrounded by. Needless to say, he’s considered the modern day Joe Flacco, having a big playoff run, but struggling immediately after.

What happens to Kansas City?

After missing out on Mahomes in the 2017 draft, I certainly see them skipping out on QB. In my scenario, they don’t even trade up for Buffalo’s 10th overall pick. So, Buffalo keeps their pick and selects Ohio State’s Marshon Lattimore (No, I’m not going into his career, I’m one man.) With Defensive Line being their biggest need (Tre’Davious White doesn’t make sense for KC, they still had Marcus Peters), they select Taco Charlton, due to him being the best DE on the board, even if it was a reach. They still make the playoffs in the 2018 season, still losing to the Titans in the Wildcard.

Continuing to roll with Alex Smith, they don’t select a QB in the loaded 2018 draft. With the 22nd pick, many teams view future MVP Lamar Jackson as more of a receiver, with only the Ravens notably wanting him to stay at QB. So, with the 22nd pick they DIDN’T trade to Buffalo, they select Terrell Edmunds from Virginia Tech to strengthen the Safety position. After a down 2018 season in which they finish 8-8 and out of the playoffs, they trade Alex Smith, but to the Cardinals in return for a 5th rounder, they head into the 2019 Offseason looking for a QB. Not liking what they see from Dwayne Haskins, they choose to sign Teddy Bridgewater to a one year deal, similar to his contract with the Saints. With the 20th overall pick, the Chiefs select Montez Sweat from Mississippi State.

The Chiefs make the 2019 playoffs as the final Wildcard, beating the Patriots in Tom Brady’s last game in Foxborough, but fall to the Ravens in the Divisional round. Rather than resign Bridgewater, the Chiefs choose to eye prospects in the draft, leading to them selecting Jalen Hurts from Oklahoma with the 28th pick. Into the 2020 season, Hurts has an up and down rookie season, starting 12 games for Kansas CIty and ultimately winning 5 games and the Chiefs finish with a 7-9 record and out of the playoffs. However in the 2021 season, Hurts and Hill click. Hurts finishes the season with 3,100 yards, 22 TDs and 15 picks. More importantly, the Chiefs win the weaker AFC West with a 10-6 record. With the 4th seed, they draw a home match with the Baltimore Ravens, who wins a close 31-28 game.

The 2021 season proves to be a tougher season for Kansas CIty, finishing the season 9-8 and just outside of the playoff picture. Needing that receiving threat alongside Travis Kelce, Kansas City doesn’t trade Tyreek Hill over the offseason. Having an easier schedule, the Chiefs improve to 11-6 in the 2022 season, taking the 4th seed in the playoffs with a home date with the division rival Chargers. The Chiefs win at home, then upset number one seeded Buffalo for a date in the AFC Championship against the Bengals, which they lose 27-21. A return to form and 11-6 season leads to Kansas City returning to the playoffs in the 2023 season. With the 3rd seed and another home playoff game, this time against the Dolphins, history repeats itself and the Chiefs win in the cold conditions. However, they lose a dogfight in Buffalo to end their season.

Wrapup

So, we see how important Mahomes is to Kansas City and their offense. What changes did we see in this scenario?

-Patrick Mahomes is a Bear, 2x MVP -Mitch Trubisky is a Dolphin, then a journeyman -Deshaun Watson is a Texan, then Falcon

How much success do these teams see?

-Bears win a ring, make the Super Bowl 3 times with Mahomes -Dolphins go nowhere with Mitch -Texans make a Super Bowl appearance with Deshaun

In this scenario, Mahomes still sees success as he becomes the savior of Chicago football and their best QB ever, but only wins a single ring. With only a ring, would he still be the face of the NFL? Of course! In fact, I believe his legacy is bigger, leading the Bears to the big dance 3 times. Meanwhile, his absence from the AFC leads to parity in the Superbowl, with the Ravens making it twice, the Bills twice, the Bengals once, and the Texans once, from the direct changes. While Mahomes’ talent is still apparent, he sees less success in Championships. This isn’t Mahomes doing though, as the Bears is certainly less talented than his real life Chiefs counterpart. That being said, a 1-2 record in the Superbowl and a 3-2 record in the NFC Title game argues one of the better dynasties in NFL history.

Sources:

Pro Football ReferenceWikipedia (Draft information)

Week one of another glorious NFL season is in the rear view mirror! With a lot of surprises and disappoints to discuss, let’s move on with PFD’s first official Power Rankings of the season.

1. Chiefs (0)

First off, what a game! Second, aside from the refball that occurred (Yes, I’m a Ravens fan. Yes, I’m still salty, but both teams got away with some flags.), The Chiefs appeared to be the NFL’s team to beat, until the 4th quarter. With about 5 minutes remaining, the Chiefs held onto a 10 point lead and nearly squandered it to a fired up Ravens squad looking to avenge their AFC Championship loss, until a Likely Touchdown that wasn’t as likely as some would have hoped. That being said, Patrick Mahomes looked mortal, throwing a late first half pick (He’d finish 20-28 with 291 yards and a TD as well) that led to a quick Ravens score. Chief’s still appear the team to beat in the NFL, but can their young Defense finish games this season, or was this a fluke of Ravens heroics?

2. Niners (0)

San Fran keeps rolling, with a big win on Monday Night Football over Aaron Rodgers and the Jets. Brock Purdy (19-29, 231 yards) returned to his old world beating ways, but the surprise of the game was watching Christian McCaffrey’s backup Jordan Mason show off, racking up 147 yards and a Touchdown. Last night, he ran for a fourth of his CAREER TOTAL. Couldn’t be prouder of the kid. With the win, the Niners are still the class of the NFC.

3. Lions (+1)

Detroit started the season with something they haven’t had since the 1993 season: A Division title. Most importantly, they begin the season as a Super Bowl FAVORITE. Experiencing Detroit during the Draft, the optimism was almost deafening. Even as an Ohio native and Michigan hater (Just kidding, I love our neighbors up north, just not their college team), I couldn’t help but feel drugged by all the hope in the air. That being said, the Lions opened their season with a banger of a win against old captain Matthew Stafford and the Los Angeles Rams, 26-20 in OT. Jared Goff (18-28, 217 yards, 1 TD, 1 int) led the team in OT after almost blowing a 17-3 lead at halftime. Dan Campbell’s gameplan of “Run through a mf’s face” with David Montgomery (91 yards, 1 TD) worked well, getting in the mix, now that the Bears and Vikings also won their season openers. I expect Detroit to be a fun team to watch this season.

4. Ravens (-1)

Jesus, I still haven’t recovered from that overturned Touchdown. With Isaiah Likely returning to the game after a brutal landing in the endzone, he almost appeared to be the next son of Baltimore, catching the appearing tying Touchdown in the endzone, but having it overturned due to wearing a roomier cleat than he probably should’ve. No TD, Baltimore leaves Kansas City with a loss. With some questionable “Illegal Formation” calls (Yes, they were questionable. The NFL is currently investigating the calls), the Ravens seemed to be in the fight for their lives. Respect to the Ravens for keeping up with the Chiefs when all seemed lost, but they can’t keep playing sloppily if they want to pass big brother for a Super Bowl appearance. Lamar Jackson had a great game, finishing with a 26-41 statline for 273 yards and a Touchdown. He also led the Ravens in rushing with 122 yards. This can’t keep happening.

5. Texans (+1)

If not for a controversial game in Kansas City, this could’ve been game of the week. CJ Stroud. Anthony Richardson (or Anthonyyyy RICHARDSOOOOOON to my fellow Gridiron Heights heads). Two young QBs set to become household names in the league and boy did the game deliver. Coming down to the wire in a 29-27 win for the visiting Texans, it was filled with anything an NFL fan wanted, besides defense perhaps. MVP favorite CJ Stroud (Go Buckeyes) finished 24-32 for 234 yards and 2 TDS. New running back Joe Mixon finished with an astounding 159 yards and a TD. I think it’s safe to say, Houston will be a threat this season. Also, the new uniforms look clean now that they’re on the field.

6. Bills (-1)

Buffalo reminded me of last year’s Michigan team: Slow to open, will kill in the 2nd half (From a Buckeyes fan, thanks Longhorns!). After being down 17-10 at the half to the lowly Cardinals, the Bills (and by Bills, I mean Josh Allen) went off. Josh Allen had a game for himself (18-23, 232 yards, 2 TDs) to will his team over Arizona. Even with 4 TDs, I still have to add a fumble to his counter this season, though. From a fellow (and extremely white) Josh, it’s nothing personal. Nice win for the Mafia!

Josh Allen’s turnover counter (or the JAT counter): 1

7. Dolphins (+2)

A comeback win for Miami’s home opener should have most of Miami-Dade county smiling, even if it wasn’t a little scary there for a moment. A 17-7 deficit to the visiting Jaguars isn’t a thrilling sight, but the awakening of Tyreek Hill didn’t keep Miami down for too long. The Defense kept Jacksonville from scoring the entirety of the 2nd half to hold onto the 20-17 victory. Tua (23-37, 338 yards, 1 TD) had a great game and currently has the Dolphins in winning ways. By the way, does coach Mike McDaniel have a “Screw it, Tyreek down there somewhere” play in his playbook?

8. Eagles (+2)

A sloppy game on a sloppy turf in front of the entirety of South America isn’t promising for the NFL, but credit the Eagles where credit is due; they came to play. Saquan Barkley had Giants fans awake at night, finishing with 3 total TDs and 109 yards in his Philly debut. While Jalen Hurts (20-34, 278 yards, 2 TDs, and 2 picks) looked off, he willed his team into a win in Sao Paulo. Even though it’s just the first week of the season, the Eagles look to be a fun team to watch this season. As Brazilian Eagles fans would say, Abençoe os pássaros!

9. Cowboys (+2)

Fresh off of signing a new 4 year, 240 million contract extension, Dak Prescott (19-32, 172 yards, 1 TD) and the Cowboys got a staple win over the number one scoring defense from last season, the Cleveland Browns. Honestly, it didn’t appear the Cowboys had much competition, even trying for a 66 yard Field Goal (Brandon Aubrey made it, but the Cowboys were flagged. Screw that, Aubrey made it. Justin Tucker has got to watch his back.) While the Cowboys have their win, rivals Philadelphia got a statement win as well. I expect the Division to come down to the last game. Again.

10. Packers (-2)

Despite the loss on International TV, the Packers are on the rise. Keeping up with the high flying Eagles is no small feat, but Green Bay was up to the task. Jordan Love (17-34, 260 yards, 2 TDs, 1 int) and new acquisition Josh Jacobs (84 yards) kept the Offense churning, but seemed to slow heading into the 4th quarter. I imagine all of Green Bay sagged when Jordan Love went down on the final play of the game, but thankfully he just suffered an MCL sprain, rather than an ACL injury. Cheeseheads should be excited with the upcoming season now that their Packers have shown they can keep up with the better teams in the NFL.

11. Steelers (+1)

In a surprise twist, after announcing Russell Wilson would start, the Steelers made the decision in favor of Justin Fields, who led them to an admittedly disappointing 18-10 win over Atlanta. While Justin himself wasn’t anything to write home about (17-23, 156 yards), he did just enough. Just enough, meaning the Steelers still have yet to score their first Touchdown of the season. With Arthur Blank running the offense, we still have yet to see any improvement. A win is a win is a win, of course, but like Beavis and Butthead, how long can the Steelers go without scoring?

12. Browns (-5)

Excuse me, what was that? Coming into the home opener against one of the NFL’s better teams, returning most of the Offense and that monstrous Defense (#1 in scoring, Ravens still get the historic edge. Suck it Cleveland.) and it seemed to be almost invisible. Deshaun Watson (24-45, 169 yards, 1 TD, 2 int) has fully lost the city of Cleveland. Don’t believe me? Check out this video Kevin Mercer (fellow writer of the page) sent me, compliments of Cleveland.com

That’s rough. “Worst QB we’ve ever had”? A bit of a stretch, but meaningful considering this team has seen Seneca Wallace, Brandon Weedon, and Johnny Manziel on the field. Worst part? Deshaun Watson has the 9th highest cap hit of all QBs in the league, higher than Kirk Cousins, Justin Herbet, and Trevor Lawrence. Hell, higher than Derek Carr and Jalen Hurts COMBINED. Yeesh.

13. Buccaneers (+2)

Are we watching the revival of Baker Mayfield’s career, or are Baker and the Buc’s just a perfect fit for each other? In their 37-20 win over the Commanders, Baker (24-30, 289 yards, 4 TDs) had possibly the best QB performance of the week! Right now, Tampa Bay is still the favorite for the NFC South and have shown it today. If they keep up performances like this, they’ll certainly be a scary team this season.

14. Rams (-1)

In Matthew Stafford’s 2nd return to the Motor City, he played well (34-49, 317 yards, 1 TD, 1 int), but still left Detroit with a 26-20 OT loss. Honesty, this one must sting for Rams fans, watching David Montgomery tear through their Defense like, well, like a Lion through a Ram. Don’t be alarmed, Los Angeles. The Rams just took the NFC runner up into OT. With news that Puca Nacua (35 yards) due to return by week 4, the Rams should be fine.

15. Seahawks (+1)

Mike Macdonald’s coaching debut was rough, even if the Seahawks won. Two safeties allowed? Definitely worth a drink. Other than that, Geno Smith (18-25, 171 yards, 1 TD, 1 int) and crew snuck away with a 26-20 win in front of the home crowd. Kenneth Walker (103 yards, 1 TD) was a bright spot in the game (other than the safety, of course), and the Defense stepped up, picking off rookie Bo Nix twice. A nice win for the 12th man, but can you relax on the heart attacks? Sleepless in Seattle is supposed to be about love, not penalties. By the way, can the Seahawks PLEASE make their throwbacks permanent uniforms?

16. Bengals (-2)

Wow. Just wow. In what should’ve been a gimme game for the refreshed Bengals turned into the league’s first big upset. I’m sure the 16-10 loss in the Jungle led to an increased consumption of Hudypohl in the Queen City. Joe Burrow (21-29, 164 yards) looked almost lost out there, failing to even get a single point against a young and hungry Pats defense until the 3rd quarter. A lot of pundits saw Cincinnati as a threat to Baltimore for the AFC North crown, and I didn’t see it and performances like this reiterate it.

17. Colts (0)

Indianapolis fought to the very end in a close 29-27 loss to the divisional loss. Returning from injury, Anthony Richardson had a ballsy game, finishing 9-19 for 212 yards (that’s 23.5 yards per completion. That boy was slanging.), 2 TDs, and a pick. While they still lost, Indy is a fart in the AFC, silent but deadly. If the Colts can keep this play up, they should be a threat come January.

18. Saints (+5)

Question: Are the Saints that good or are the Panthers that bad? A 47-10 win shouldn’t even bring up that question, but a week 1 shellacking of the worst team in the league doesn’t scream contender. That being said, it’s still a statement win. Derek Carr (19-23, 200 yards, 3 TDs) had a helluva game for the middling Saints, so do we keep an eye on Nawlins, or do we just write this game off? Maybe we’ll have our answer by week 5.

19. Jaguars (-1)

What did Duval do to the NFL? After blowing their 99% chance to make the playoffs last season, they blew a 90.7% chance to win against the Dolphins. At this point, Jaguars fans have to be tired of seeing that “%” mark anywhere. Trevor Lawrence (12-21, 162 yards, 1 TD) is starting to lose favor in Jacksonville. With the front office trading for Mac Jones in the offseason, he has to be sweating, which is a shame. I don’t want to call him a bust, but he isn’t living up to the lofty expectations in Jacksonville.

20. Jets (-1)

In his first full game with New York, Aaron Rodgers looked, well, meh. Returning from an ACL tear isn’t easy. Neither is returning to play one of the league’s best Pass Rushes in your first game back. Aaron (13-21, 167 yards, 1 TD, 1 int) looked somewhat sluggish in his return, but he should bounce back to a somewhat admirable level. If not, New York may be in trouble. Again. J-E-T-S! RINSE! AND! REPEAT!

21. Raiders (-1)

Las Vegas looks to be heading into another rough season. Unlike the Chargers, who the Raiders fell 22-10 to, the Silver and Black don’t have a lot of positives to go on. Gardner Minshew (25-33, 257 yards, 1 TD, 1 int) is basically a band-aid until Aiden O’Connell can “develop”, Josh Jacobs is gone and backup Zamir White (44 yards) is serviceable, the leading receiver was Jakobi Meyers (61 yards), and star receiver Davante Adams wants out. Unless Bronco’s Bo Nix is an absolute bust, the Raiders look to be the basement dweller of the AFC West.

22. Broncos (-1)

Welcome to the NFL, Bo Nix! The Seahawks made sure Bo felt welcome in their 26-20 loss in Seattle. Bo looked terrified on the field, throwing 2 picks (26-42, 138 yards on the day as well) in the loss. Meanwhile, the Defense excelled! Intercepting Seahawk’s Geno Smith and getting 2 safeties should make the rest of the AFC West sweat. The last time 2 safeties were scored in a game? 2017. Dolphins at, waddya you know? Broncos. Weird stuff man.

23. Bears (+1)

IS THIS YOUR KING, CHICAGO? All jokes aside, Caleb Williams debut was definitely one to forget. 14-29 with 93 yards is a tough pill to swallow, no matter who your QB is, but the first overall pick? Caleb has already received his “Welcome to the NFL” moment. That being said, it’s only the first game and no one in Chicago should be worried. The Bears are 1-0 behind an ugly offensive (in both terms) performance. Welcome to the league, Caleb. I think you’re gonna like it here. Hopefully.

24. Falcons (-2)

New Quarterback, still the same woes in Atlanta. New signee Kirk Cousins was bad (16-26, 155 yards, 1 TD, 2 ints). I know the Steelers have a great defense, but this can’t be what the Falcons expected when they signed Cousins over the offseason. Thankfully, and to the relieved sigh of Football extremists everywhere, the TD pass was to Kyle Pitts. It’s still too early whether to say the Falcons had an off game against a good defense, or if they’re just bad. We’ll be able to fully see over the next few weeks.

25. Vikings (+2)

This was…unexpected. After the offseason from Hell, the Vikings came out swinging in their season opener against the Giants. In replacement of injured rookie JJ McCarthy, Sam Darnold (19-24, 208 yards, 2 TDs and an int) looked solid in Nordic Purple. Since being drafted by the Jets back in the legendary QB draft of 2018, he’s bounced from team to team. For his sake, let’s hope he has a home in Minnesota guiding McCarthy through his “rookie season”.

26. Chargers (+2)

Lots of bright spots here for the Los Angeles Ravens, err Chargers. New coach Jim Harbaugh has his first win in the City of Angels, JK Dobbins (135 yards, 1 TD) looks reborn in Powder Blue, Justin Herbert (17-26, 144 yards, 1 TD) looks to have a decent target in rookie Ladd McConkey (39 yards, 1 TD), and the Chargers get revenge on the Raiders for the beatdown they suffered last season. Then again, the spots aren’t very bright. Harbaugh could suffer the same NCAA fate as Pete Carroll, Dobbins is still coming off another ACL tear, and McConkey led ALL Charger receivers with 39 yards. At least fellow rookie Joe Alt shutdown Maxx Crosby. Are the days of Chargering over?

27. Titans (-1)

Tennessee outperformed the Bears in nearly every aspect of the game, besides the Defense. A blocked punt and an interception return led to a 24-17 loss that was uglier than Caleb William’s nails. Will Levis (Mr. Mayo) had a game he’d much rather forget, finishing 19-32 with 127 yards, a TD, and 2 picks. Funny enough, new lead back in Tennessee Tony Pollard finished with more rushing yards than the old regime in his first game in Royal Purple. While the Titans still outplayed Chicago, it still wasn’t enough. As a wise man (My therapist) once said, “You can do everything right and still fail”. Wise words indeed, Andrew.

28. Patriots (+2)

Be honest, who here had the Patriots upsetting the Bengals in Cincinnati? I don’t even think new New England coach Jerod Mayo had a win in mind, but a 16-10 win in the Jungle is just the win a young team (and coach) needed. Jacoby Brissett (15-24, 121 yards. Welcome back) and Rhamondre Stevenson (120 yards, 1 TD) combined to give Who Dey Nation flashbacks to 2008. Good win Pats!

29. Giants (-4)

Big Blue is at their wits end. A 28-6 beating from Minnesota has them thinking of a full rebuild, but how? Daniel Jones (22-42, 186 yards, and 2 int) has lost the city of New York. Booing from the fans and jersey burnings in Metlife’s parking lot shows the pure frustration from the loyal New York fans. With the only bright spot for fans, Saquon Barkley, gone, what is there to cheer for here?

30. Cardinals (+1)

This one was just painful for Cardinals fans. At one point, their team led 17-3 over the mighty Bills in Buffalo. So, what happened? Well, a 0-14 run in the 3rd quarter will certainly dim any hopes of a comeback. Being outscored 24-10 in the 2nd half alone will kill any hopes. I will say this, the Cardinals offense looked better already, Kyler Murray (21-31, 162 yards, 1 TD) was all over the field and accounted for 219 of the Cardinals total 270 yards of offense. Man, Kyler needs some help out there.

31. Commanders (-2)

Welcome to the NFL, Jayden Daniels! Even in the loss to the Buccaneers, Jayden looked solid and had the best performance of all the rookie QBs. 17-24 and 184 yards is an absolutely solid game for anyone, let alone against the Buccaneers, a division winner and playoff team. Yeah, the 37-20 loss stings, but progress is progress and with Jayden, they may be trending in the right direction. I wasn’t a huge fan of the Commanders taking Jayden, but it’s working.

32. Panthers (0)

Most god awful teams in NFL History have had some kind of bright spot. ‘76 Bucs had Doug Williams on the horizon, ‘08 Lions had Matthew Stafford, ‘17 Browns had Baker Mayfield. What exactly do the ‘23 Panthers have? Bryce Young is promising, but has nothing around him to give him confidence in the Front Office. Poor Bryce (13-30, 161 yards, 2 int in the 47-10 loss to the Saints) looks like a broken man who has zero confidence anymore. All I can say is that it’s gonna be a long while before the Panthers are competitive.

Dayton, Ohio. A city in southwestern Ohio with a population of 137,000 people. Known for the Birthplace of Aviation, The Dayton Agreement that brought an end to the Bosnian War, and as the city that brought us popular figures in culture such as; Nancy Cartwright, the voice of Bart Simpson, Rob Dyrdek, Martin Sheen, Dan Patrick, and Katt Williams. While the city is largely unknown to the common man outside of Ohio, it plays an important figure in history. The first manned flight took place in Huffman Prairie, Funk music was born in Dayton, with the Ohio Players (also Dayton natives) being the first to make the sound mainstream, and one of the nation’s largest Air Force Bases, Wright-Patt AFB, which is believed to house the Alien from Roswell, New Mexico in infamous Hangar 18.

While, yes, it plays an important position in history, most NFL fans don’t realize how important Dayton was to the creation of the NFL today. Many more don’t know anything about one of the NFL’s original teams; The Dayton Triangles.

A quick history lesson on the Dayton Triangles. They were founded as the St Mary’s Cadets, a team made up of Basketball players and other alumni from the local St Mary’s College, now the University of Dayton, in 1913. The same year, they joined the “Ohio League”, an informal league of teams from the Ohio region, that included the-then Portsmouth Spartans, who are currently the Detroit Lions. During their reign in the Ohio League until 1919, they were one of the premier teams in the league, finishing with an overall record of 47-8-4. The team, lead by manager Carl Storck, finished 3 undefeated seasons, including league championship seasons in 1913,1914, 1915, and 1918 and was led by future Hall of Famer Earle “Greasy” Neale as a player-coach.

After 2 years of being named the St Mary’s Cadets and the Dayton Gym-Cadets (a deal with the Dayton Gymnastics Club), the team was officially renamed to the Dayton Triangles. The Triangles nickname came from two different sources. The first was due to players being recruited from three downtown factories: The Dayton Engineering Laboratories Company (known today as Delco), The Dayton Metal Products company, and the Domestic Engineering Company (known today as Delco-Light). These companies, owned by Charles Kettering and Edward A. Deeds, was informally known as the “Triangle”. Triangle Park, another namesake for the team, was built by Kettering and Deeds as a recreational park for employees, and was also on a plot of land at the confluence of the Little Miami and Stillwater Rivers, forming a Triangle shaped parcel of land.

So, you may be asking yourself, “Old team that won championships, so what?” Well,  Carl Strock of the Triangles, along with Art Ranney of the Akron Pros, Jimmy O’Donnell of the Cleveland Indians (Not those Indians), and Ralph Hay of the Canton Bulldogs, all met together at Ralph Hay’s Hupmobile dealership in Canton on August 20th, 1920 to form the American Professional Football Association (or APFA), which would later turn into the NFL we know today. On October 3rd, 1920, the Columbus Panhandles traveled to Triangle Park to play Dayton in the league’s first game, which Dayton won 14-0. This game is recognized by the NFL as their first game in league history. The game was attended by 4,000 people, who paid $1.75 to watch the game. Local player Lou Partlow, nicknamed the “West Carrollton Battering Ram” due to his training routine which included slamming himself into trees, scored the league’s first Touchdown on a 7 yard run. Another highlight of that Triangle’s 1920 season included a 20-20 tie with the high powered Canton Bulldogs, led by future Hall of Famer Jim Thorpe.

After their first season in the NFL, the Triangles struggled mightily, posting a 13-49-6 record over the next 8 seasons. The fall of one of Ohio’s premier teams could be attributed to multiple factors. While the rest of the league was recruiting and signing top players from the college ranks (The NFL Draft we know today would not debut until 1936), Dayton continued to recruit players from the MIami Valley. Meanwhile, while teams like the Chicago Cardinals, New York  Brickley Giants, Detroit Tigers were using marquee ballparks like Wrigley Field, the Polo Grounds, and Tigers Stadium that could fit tens of thousands of fans and pay players up to  $2,500 per game, Triangle park could only hold up to 4,000 fans and couldn’t afford the hefty contracts going around the league. They eventually became a primarily road team, which hurt finances and fan attention back in Dayton. The team was relocated to Brooklyn for the 1930 season.

Believe it or not, but the original Dayton Triangles still has ties with the current day NFL. Stick with me here, because things will get messy. After relocating to Brooklyn in 1930 to become the Brooklyn Dodgers, they merged with the Boston Yanks. Owner Bill Dwyer relocated his part of the team to the freshly founded AAFC to become the New York Yankees. In 1949, the rest of the Boston Yanks followed the Yankees to New York and the AAFC to become the New York Bulldogs. Yankees owner Bill Dwyer then chose to merge with the AAFC’s Brooklyn Dodgers (Completely different team, i told you it’s messy) to become the Brooklyn-New York Yankees. When the AAFC merged with the NFL, the Yankees were split up between the NFL’s New York Giants and New York Bulldogs, who were then renamed to the New York Yanks. Due to financial issues, the Yanks were sold back to the league in 1952, who then relocated the team to Dallas to become the Dallas Texans, the NFL’s first journey to Texas. After a season in the Lone Star State, the team was then sold again to the league, who awarded the roster to a new ownership in Baltimore, dubbed the Baltimore Colts. This Colts team is the current iteration we know of that currently plays in Indianapolis. While the NFL recognizes the Colts as being founded in 1953, they refuse to acknowledge any iterations of the team before, declaring the Triangles as a defunct team as of 1929, while a lot of NFL Fans choose to recognize the Triangles as being a part of the Indianapolis Colts history. If so, then the Indianapolis Colts would technically be the 2nd oldest team in the NFL, behind the Arizona Cardinals.

While the NFL recognizes the Dayton Triangles as a Franchise, the team is mostly forgotten in the history books. While Dayton did receive nationwide attention from the NFL’s “100th anniversary” celebration, not much came of it. While the NFL at one point promised to re-turf Triangle Park and have the Cincinnati Bengals training camp on site, concerns arose as the re-turfing could damage historic value of the park or artifacts. Instead, the NFL chose to have the Bengals practice at University of Dayton’s Welcome Field.

With the kickoff game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Baltimore Ravens being a well advertised and recognized game, why is the first ever kickoff game so hidden in history? Dayton Football fans, including myself, growing up just 25 minutes away from Triangle Park, take civil pride in being the first ever game in NFL history, but find most NFL fans, new and old, have no idea about the historic game or the Triangles themselves. In my opinion, it’s a shame and a sham that the NFL doesn’t recognize the importance of Dayton in their storied history. While Football is well beloved in Dayton, we don’t have a major team in the area. The UD Flyers play in the NCAA’s Division ll, former Football teams include the Miami Valley/Dayton Silverbacks of the Continental Indoor Football League (or CIFL), and the Dayton Warbirds of the National Indoor Football League (or NIFL).

Nowadays, the Dayton Triangles only live on in the minds of those from Dayton or the surrounding areas. I even wore my Dayton Triangles tee to the recent draft and received a mix of confused looks and questions on “Who the hell are the Triangles? Arena League?” to only get an even more confused look when I reply “No, they’re an NFL team”. I personally think the Triangles, along with the Bulldogs, Panhandles, Pros, and Indians, should get more recognition for dying for the league to build and thrive. Progress moves these small teams from the backyards, ballparks, and even empty fields in some instances, to the mega stadium and dome we know today. If it wasn’t for these teams, the NFL wouldn’t have grown in popularity like it did during the 40’s and 50’s. These teams truly walked before the NFL could run and I’d love to see the NFL honor those smaller cities in some way. While there is an Ohio Historical marker in Triangle Park signifying the “First NFL game”, maybe we can see a cleanup of the park and perhaps even a statue? While these are small town dreams, dreams can lead to big things. The NFL and their players certainly know a thing or two about dreaming big.

Sources:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dayton_Triangles#Decline

https://www.dayton.com/news/local/things-you-should-know-about-the-dayton-triangles-the-team-that-started-the-nfl/YTUvk79rHL6lp0nmvhwsII/

https://oldschoolshirts.com/blogs/news/daytons-10-year-run-in-the-nfl?srsltid=AfmBOooPCA4QsukDHdMbzijOJIObLu_rmIjkM78eb0akvaLLB-c2n-7d

Just as quickly as it left, Football is back yet again. After a 2023 season that left us surprised, yet had the same old song and dance, how is the 2024 season shaping up?

1. Chiefs

Your reigning Super Bowl champs and top of the offseason lists for most pundits, and for a good reason; Chris Jones is back (5 yrs, 95 mil), the receiving corp got a much needed boost with the signing of Marquise Brown (1 yr, 11 mil), the Defense is intact, and Patrick Mahomes is still Patrick Mahomes. Although he took a step back statistically, Mahomes should benefit with a veteran receiver in “Hollywood” Brown, but I’m a narcissist. Also, a Ravens fan. While Mahomes should still will his way into the postseason yet again, I believe his numbers won’t rebound to, say, 2019 numbers. Of course the Chiefs are the betting favorites for the Super Bowl, but how much more can Mahomes take with having no reliable receivers, and his most reliable target suddenly a trophy husband of sorts?

2. Niners

Man, what a disappointment for the NFC Champs. After reaching their 8th Super Bowl, they fell flat in a 25-22 OT loss in a rematch with the Chiefs. While the team is solid, with MVP candidates Christian McCaffrey and Brock Purdy returning, why does it feel like last season was the Niners final shot? Brandon Aiyuk looks to be on the way out and Purdy is due a big payday. Can GM John Lynch continue to play with the Cap and continue filling this roster with talent? Their first selection in the draft, Ricky Pearsall, is a confusing pick, but can pan out. If not, San Fran (or rather Santa Clara) can be in trouble Although Free Agency pickups Leonard Floyd (2 yr, 24 Mil) and Jordan Elliot (2 yr, 10 mil) are silent, but solid, pickups.

3. Ravens

Another season of Playoff disappointment in Baltimore, as the Ravens, hosting their first AFC Championship since a different Dick was in office, fell to Kansas CIty. Confusingly, the league leader in rushing yards refused to run the ball against the weakest rush defense in the playoffs, but I digress. That monstrous defense is returning, perhaps short a few pieces (Why Queen? Why Pittsburgh?), but should still be among the top three in 2024 with former Linebacker Zach Orr running the show. Addressing the name in lights, human wrecking ball Derrick Henry joins Baltimore on a 2 yr, 16 mil deal that should make Baltimore’s rushing offense that much scarier. That being said, could this finally mean a championship for Lamar Jackson?

4. Lions

Detroit finally feels right at home among the NFL’s elite! After an exciting season culminating in a NFC Championship appearance, Motown fans haven’t felt this excited about the Honolulu Blue since Barry Sanders was running over defenses in Pontiac. Trust me, I was in Detroit for the NFL Draft, but couldn’t attend due to scheduling issues and a record attendance, but the city was buzzing with NFL love. With the Pistons being…awful, the Red Wings in a rebuild, and the Tigers being mediocre, Detroit finally has a winner in town. After bringing in Kevin Zeitler (1 yr, 6 mil) to bolster the Offensive Line and DJ Reader (2 yr, 27.75 Mil) for the Defensive Line, I fully expect Detroit to be competitive yet again this season. Please Detroit, don’t let us down. Also, check out Motown Records while visiting the city, highly recommend.

5. Bills

In only one word, I can easily describe the Bills 2023 Season and Offseason: Concerning. While Buffalo made a run of the table after staring at a 6-6 record to make the postseason and send the Offensively antiqued Pittsburgh Steelers, I still wouldn’t fully say they’re a true contender. While they’ll be hard to beat with Josh Allen at center, he’s both what keeps them contending, yet what holds them back. I’ve been known to be hard on Josh for the turnovers, but it’s now a more worrying situation now that Stefon Diggs is in Space City. Gabe Davis walked for a contract with the Jaguars. So, other than Free Agency addition Curtis Samuel (3 yr, 24 mil), who is there to catch any passes from Josh? With the Bills rushing offense being a known issue, something has to be done in Orchard Park. Also, Mitch “Kissing Titties” Trubisky is here on a 2 yr, 5.25 mil contract. Neat?

6. Texans

Houston shocked the NFL world with their sudden rise to dominance behind what could be possibly the best Draft Class of the 2020’s, snagging both Offensive and Defensive Rookie of the Year’s in Will Anderson and CJ Stroud. Behind Stroud’s exciting play, the Texans found themselves going from worst to first in a weaker AFC South and even stealing a game from the Browns in a big 45-14 win, but fell in the Divisional round to the Ravens. That being said, the Texans have to be one of the most exciting teams to watch going into the 2024 NFL Season, but are they ready for a deep Playoff run? After adding Stefon Diggs in a trade with Buffalo, and adding Danielle Hunter (2 yr, 49 mil), Denico Autry (2 yr, 20 mil), and the low risk, high reward signing of Jeff Okudah (1 yr, 4.75 mil), the Texans look to be a competitive force in a loaded AFC race.

7. Browns

Cleveland went on a helluva ride with the 2023 Browns. With a League leading Scoring Defense and a former rival turned Hero of the City, there will be books (or at least articles) written on this team. Yet, with the Browns being the best team in the AFC not named the Ravens, Chiefs, or Dolphins, they fell flat in their return to the playoffs to the Texans, 45-14. Although Joe Flacco is currently the backup in Indianapolis, the Browns should still be a strong team. Keep in mind, this team won 11 games without Nick Chubb or Deshaun Watson. Even if Chubb returns to form, the future of the franchise rests firmly on Watson’s shoulders. If he can return to his Houston form, Cleveland should be a scary team. If not, the Brownies are in trouble. Big trouble. They can’t depend on a veteran QB to come out of the blue and play lights every season, can they? Can they?

8. Packers

Green Bay is an interesting team, namely with Jordan Love, who just signed a massive 4 yr, 220 mil contract over the offseason, and new acquisition Josh Jacobs (4 yr, 48 mil). While it’s nice to see Green Bay spend money in Free Agency, do the Packers truly fancy themselves a contender? They’re obviously buying to load up after a Playoff win over the rival Cowboys, but are they ready? We’ve only seen one full season of Love and Jacobs was somewhat hit-or-miss in Sin City. With another big grab in the Free Agency, Xavier McKinney (4 yr, 68 mil) joining a lackluster defense, can the Packers truly compete, or will former little brother Detroit get in the way?

9. Dolphins

Of all the teams that disappointed in the 2023 season, Miami was the most disappointing in my eyes. After being the talk of the league after hanging 70 points on the Broncos, many thought the Dolphins would at least make an appearance in the AFC Championship, yet they fell to Kansas City in Freezer Bowl 2 (Trademark pending). Tua should improve, Tyreek Hill and the rest of the Legion of Zoom is returning, and the Defense getting a major kick in the tailfin with Jalen Ramsey returning from injury and the additions of Jordan Poyer (1 yr, 2 mil), Shaquil Barrett (1 yr, 9 mil), Jordyn Brooks (3 yr, 30 mil), and Kendall Fuller (2 yr, 15 mil) all anchoring an already solid Defense. On Paper, this looks like a team you’d build on Madden 20 with unlimited cap. Yet, they haven’t reached their full potential against playoff teams. Shame really.

10. Eagles

Methinks the Eagles tush-pushed a tad too far and fell off the map. After starting the season 10-1, they tumbled to a 11-6 record and lost their chance to be NFC East champs to the hated Cowboys. That slump carried into the playoffs, where they lost to the 9-8 Buccaneers 32-9. It seemed like GM Howie Roseman wanted to assure that wouldn’t happen, spending quite a bit in Free Agency. New names include Kenny Pickett, traded from Pittsburgh, Devin White (1 yr, 7.5 mil), CJ Gardner-Johnson (3 yr, 33 mil), Bryce Huff (3 yr, 51 mil), and big fish Saquan Barkley (3 yr, 37.75 mil). While this roster isn’t on the same level as the 2011 “All Star Eagles”, it’s pretty close. It’s obviously Super Bowl or Bust for Philly.

11. Cowboys

Suddenly not the big dog in Texas, Dallas needed a huge offseason to stay competitive and keep the fans in the Lone Star State to keep their eyes in the north. What followed was a stake in the heart to “Dem Boys”. While signing Eric Kendricks to a 1 yr, 5 mil deal is an underrated move, the main worry for Cowboys fans was Running Back. With Tony Pollard being a Free Agent, most were hoping for his return. Either that, or the signing of Derrick Henry. With Jerry Jones promising a busy offseason, many thought of the latter. Well, they got neither. With Pollard signing with Tennessee and Henry signing with Baltimore, Dallas looks to reuse Ezekiel Elliot as their main back. Not terrible, but doesn’t exactly strike fear into opponents, especially in the NFC East. With Dak spending a good portion of the summer in a boot from an ankle injury while fishing (Seriously, how do you get injured while fishing?), it’s looking rough in Dallas.

12. Steelers

What a wild offseason it’s been in the Three Rivers. While Free Agency was busy, namely bringing in former rival Patrick Queen (3 yr, 41 mil. Why Pittsburgh, Queen?) and Cordarrelle Patterson (2 yr, 6 mil) on some solid contracts, but that’s not why i’ve called it wild. Russell Wilson, of Mile High riding fame, has come to the Steel City on a 1 yr vet minimum (1.2 mil) deal, certainly miles away from what he was making in Denver. While I think his signing was underrated, it’s definitely a “Low risk, High reward” deal that could make the AFC North a little harder to predict. If “Danger-Russ” doesn’t work out, the Steelers also traded for insurance policy Justin Fields. I’ve said it since he played for the Buckeyes, he’d be perfect for the Steelers. While he’s currently the backup QB (Or Kick Returner, or Wide Receiver, or mascot. Seriously, what the hell are the Steelers planning with Fields?), he looks to be a future option. Can Pittsburgh fix the Offensive woes that plagued the team last season, or will they continue to depend on TJ Watt?

13. Rams

The Rams are an intriguing team heading into the season. With an awkward mixture of youth and veterans throughout the lineup, the competitive window seemed to slam shut, then bounce back open. Puca Nakua was a huge bright spot for the Rams, yet Matthew Stafford is 35 years old (Tied with Russell Wilson for oldest starting QB in the NFL .last season). Newly signed backup Jimmy Garopollo (1 yr, 4.5 mil) is currently 32. Los Angeles looks to be a competitive team down the road, but they need a younger QB to develop for when Stafford decides to hang it up. With other new signees Tre’Davious White (1 yr, 8.5 mil), Kamren Curl (2 yr, 8.75 mil) and Jonah Jackson (3 yr, 51 mil) look to keep the Rams alive in a suddenly tough NFC West.

14. Bengals

Other than the Kansas CIty Chiefs, no one has had it as hard as the Cincinnati Bengals this offseason. With Tee Higgins demanding a trade, then Trey Hendrickson suddenly wanting out, the Bengals seem to be approaching a crossroads of sorts. Can they resign Higgins and Hendrickson, or will they lose their Number 2 Receiver and Sack Leader in one fell swoop? That being said, will replacing Joe Mixon (sent to Texans in a trade) with Zach Moss (2 yr, 8 mil) prove to be anything less than a bump in the road? Aside from Moss, the Bengals also brought in Sheldon Rankins (2 yr, 26 mil), Mike Gesicki (1 yr, 3.25 mil), Geno Stone (2 yr, 15 mil) and Vonn Bell (1 yr, 6.1 mil) all on decent contracts, but these signings are problematic to me, specifically Moss and Stone. While Moss was great in Indy, and Stone was tied for 2nd in Interceptions, they seem more like system players. Moss benefited in Johnathan Taylor’s absence and Stone was often targeted due to Baltimore’s stronger secondary. That being said, if they can play as advertised, the Bengals got a steal here. With Joe Burrow returning from injury (and with a haircut too. He looks less like “Joe Brr” and more like “Joseph”), the Bengals should threaten for an AFC North Title.

15. Buccaneers

Tampa Bay is a hard team to read; While they obviously benefited from a weak NFC South, they won a playoff game against the reigning NFC Champions in the Philadelphia Eagles. While they fancy themselves to be contenders, there’s definitely work that needs to be done. Resigning star players Baker Mayfield (3 yr, 100 mil), Mike Evans (2 yr, 52 mil), Lavonte David (1 yr, 10 mil), and Tristan Wirfs (5 yr, 140 mil) are huge, but also scream that the Bucs aren’t quite ready to give up on their current core. Adding Randy Gregory (1 yr, 3 mil) is a bit of a question mark for me, but Bryce Hall (1 yr, 1.1 mil), Jordan Whitehead (2 yr, 9 mil), and Chase Edmonds (1 yr, 1.5 mil) are great deals in my mind. While Tampa is still the reigning king of the NFC South, I don’t see much more success after that.

16. Seahawks

Seattle was thissclose to a playoff appearance, but a sudden losing streak in the twilight of the season made things much harder in the Emerald City. While this isn’t a bad sign for any team, the Seahawks definitely underperformed. This is a team, that with Geno playing his best football, could be a sleeper pick for an NFC Championship appearance. That being said, it’s suddenly a new day in Seattle. Pete Carroll has stepped into the Front Office, leaving former Ravens DC Mike MacDonald to take over day-to-day operations. I, for one, am a huge fan of this signing. As a Raven’s diehard, I’ve seen first hand what Mike can do with the right tools. That being said, he’s also only been a DC in the NFL for one year. It’s certainly a high risk move for Seattle, I think it’ll pan out with one of the better young minds in the game at the helm. Joining him is Jerome Baker (1 yr, 7 mil) and Rayshawn Jenkins (2 yr, 12 mil) to bolster the Seahawk’s porous Defense. Seattle should be competing for a Wild Card spot in January.

17. Colts

While the Seahawks were close, Indianapolis was even closer to the postseason, just needing to beat the Texans for a AFC South title and playoff berth. Quite impossible considering some in Vegas were betting Indy to go winless in 2023. With season savior Gardner Minshew leaving for a gig in Las Vegas, Anthony Richardson is returning to lead the Colts, along with 2023 Comeback Player of the Year and new signing Joe Flacco (1 yr, 8.7 mil) to back him up. While Flacco is the biggest name to join the Colts, they did well in Free Agency, resigning stalwarts Michael Pittman Jr (3 yr, 70 mil), Zaire Franklin (3 yr, 31.26 mil), and Kenny Moore (3 yr, 30 mil). The biggest wonder is the health of long time owner Jim Irsay. Seeing a team owner’s health declining always tightens the sphincters of fans. While the team will stay in the family, as it did when Robert Irsay passed (Nothing nice to say here). I don’t think the Colts will be competing for the division crown, I could see a possible Wild Card berth here, as long as either AR-15 stays healthy or Flacco plays like last year.

18. Jaguars

Jacksonville pulled what was probably the biggest choke job this side of 28-3. Sitting at 8-3 with a 99% chance (Yes, 99%) of making the playoffs, they finished the season 1-5 to need a miracle (Jags beat Tennessee, Texans and Colts tie) to win the division. That’s simply crazy to me. To ensure that it wouldn’t happen again (hopefully), Duval spent some serious cash in Free Agency, bringing in; Arik Armstead (3 yr, 51 mil), Gabe Davis (3 yr, 59 mil), Mitch Morse (2 yr, 10.5 mil), Ezra Cleveland (3 yr, 24 mil) and Darnell Savage (3 yr, 21 mil). That’s 165.5 mil spread out between 5 players. That’s the equivalent to the payroll of the entire San Diego Padres roster. While Jacksonville has the cap room, they could be putting themselves into trouble further down the road, but that’s the dangers of being a competitive team. With Houston looking tough, the Colts being a promising squad, and a sneaky Tennessee team in the midst, this is no longer a cakewalk for the Jags.

19. Jets

Let me ask the loyal readers here a question: Do you think the Jets are good? Why does ESPN think Aaron Rodgers, who will turn 41 this season, can turn this entire team around. Last season’s image of him on Metlife Stadium’s turf should be a sign that Aaron isn’t the answer in New York. While Gang Green did load up in Free Agency to help Rodgers, signing Tyron Smith (1 yr, 6.5 mil), Mike Williams (1 yr, 15 mil) and John Simpson (2 yr, 18 mil). As a backup option, they also signed Tyrod Taylor (2 yr, 12 mil) just in case. The Jets just still feel like a broken team to me, but at least they’ll have better uniforms this season. The New York Sack Exchange was the best look in Jets history.

20. Raiders

Woof, the Raiders look rough going into this season. Why? Take your pick. At QB, you have the choice of Aiden O’Connell or newly signed Gardner Minshew (2 yr, 25 mil). At RB, you have either also recently signed Alexander Mattison (1 yr, 2 mil) or recently re-signed Ameer Abdullah (1 yr, 1.85 mil) now that Josh Jacobs went north to the Frozen Tundra. Outside of Davante Adams and possibly Brock Bowers, who is there at Receiver? Meanwhile, new acquisition Christian Wilkins (4 yr, 110 mil. Ref! REF!) teams up with Maxx Crosby to give Las Vegas possibly the scariest D-Line in the league. Other than that, what else is there to be intimidated by? The Raiders are on the list of teams that somehow got worse over the offseason. Also, a good choice by Mark Davis to sign Antonio Pierce as HC. That’s how you win over your players.

21. Broncos

Things are bad when I had to take a break writing before covering the Broncos. Even thinking about it is stressful. Where to even begin? Russell Wilson is gone, but the Broncos are paying him to play elsewhere, they TRADED for Zach Wilson (I wouldn’t even consider doing that on Madden.), they only have 4 picks for 2025, and this years pick was made on Bo Nix. With all do respect, Bo Nix seems to be a nice guy and could be a great QB, but do you think he’ll do well in Denver? The best QB stat-wise in Denver since Peyton Manning? Russell Wilson in 2022, who they just let go for peanuts. Meanwhile, the best QB the Broncos have drafted recently? Jay Cutler. Bo Nix just isn’t in the best situation. To help improve the roster for their Rookie QB, they’ve signed Josh Reynolds (2 yr, 14 mil). That’s it. I’m sorry Broncos fans, but; Bad QB (unless Nix or Wilson moves time and space), bad receiving corps, bad running game, bad secondary, and bad uniforms? Get the Coors Light ready.

22. Falcons

The story of Atlanta’s offseason could be written with one word: Quarterback. Kirk Cousins (or Kirk Thuggins, if you will), joins the Dirty Birds on a 4 yr, 180 mil deal that should certainly shore up the Quarterback position for the Falcons, right? Wrong, at least according to the Falcon’s front office. In a move that shocked everyone, the Falcons drafted Quarterback Michael Penix Jr with the 8th overall pick. Hell, even Penix Jr seemed shocked. So, what’s the plan here? Kirk plays out his contract while Penix Jr develops for four years? Penix Jr takes over while Cousins becomes a mentor? Kirk holds up the belt while Penix Jr comes out of the locker room with a chair? (Bah Gawd, that’s Michael Penix Jr’s music!) Other than worrying about our Cousin’s Penix (Yes, that was a stretch), Darnell Mooney (3 yr, 39 mil) joins a lackluster receiving corps that contains Drake London and the ghost of Kyle Pitts. Hopefully new coach Raheem Morris and sudden acquisitions Justin Simmons (1 yr, 8 mil) and Matthew Judon can create what seems to be a dangerous Defense.

23. Saints

New Orleans is in deep doodoo, metaphorically speaking. While currently avoiding the cap by a measly 10 mil, 2025 looks to be hell on earth, ironic for a saint. Being in the hole 95 mil (Jesus) will certainly hurt any future plans. Meanwhile, this cap strapped team is struggling on the field, failing to win a weak NFC South. Instead of embracing a rebuild, they took the Roulette wheel for another spin, signing Chase Young (1 yr, 13 mil) and Willie Gay (1 yr, 3 mil). 5th Round pick Spencer Rattler will be looking to join a QB room that contains Derek Carr, Taysom Hill and Jake Haener. So, what do you get when you mix an Auto Dealership owner, a Swiss Army Knife, a Male Model, and a Snake? Apparently the New Orleans Saints. Just a reminder, I don’t get paid to write.

24. Bears

Chicago has been the talk of the NFL world since the season ended. With their clinching of the First Overall pick (with a little help from Carolina), they suddenly have an important decision to make: Try to develop Justin Fields and use the pick on, say, Marvin Harrison Jr, or trade Fields and draft consensus number one pick Caleb Williams? Well, they decided on the latter, selecting Caleb Williams first overall and shipping Fields to Pittsburgh. Apart from drafting Williams, they also picked up Rome Odunze ninth overall to improve the offense. Apart from the draft, Chicago also used Free Agency to shore up their squad, signing D’andre Swift (3 yr, 24.5 mil), Gerald Everett (2 yr, 14 mil), and Kevin Byard (2 yr, 15 mil) to multi-year deals. While Caleb Williams appears to be the biggest sports icon in Chicago since Michael Jordan, is he worth the hype? He should at least be successful, the Bears offense is almost “too big to fail” at this point.

25. Giants

Honestly, the Giants have been “wash, rinse, repeat” since Eli Manning retired. While they’ve admittedly spent more money this offseason, will it be enough to get the tires spinning? After months of rumors, New York was the winner of the Brian Burns sweepstakes, receiving him in a sign and trade that netted him a nice 5 yr, 150 mil payday to play in East Rutherford. Joining him in New Jersey, Drew Lock (1 yr, 5 mil), Devin Singletary (3 yr, 16.5 mil), and Jon Runyan (3 yr, 30 mil) to try to get Big Blue in gear in a competitive NFC East. Meanwhile, the retirement of Darren Waller seems to make the trade for him last offseason a bit of a waste. Can’t anything ever go the Giants way?

26. Titans

Tennessee is currently entering a new age of Titans football, whether they like it or not. After vetoing a trade sending Derrick Henry to Baltimore for a few picks, they lost him to Baltimore in Free Agency. Funny how that works out. With the biggest name since Steve McNair (RIP big guy. Also somewhat ironic, considering they lost McNair in FA to Baltimore) suddenly gone, there’s certainly a hole in their offense, and in their fans’ hearts. To fill said hole, Tennessee brought in former Cowboy Tony Pollard on a 3 yr, 24 mil deal to be the Titans new workhorse. They also signed Calvin Ridley (4 yr, 92 mil. He’ll make his name known in Nashville, bet on it. Or maybe not), Lloyd Cushenberry (4 yr, 50 mil), Mason Rudolph (1 yr, 3.62 mil), Kenneth Murray Jr (2 yr, 18 mil) and Chidobe Awuzie (3yr, 25.5 mil) to strengthen a fourth place team. While the Titans still have a lot of work to do, it’s certainly a start.

27. Vikings

If you know a Vikings fan, give them a hug, as they’ve had the offseason from hell. While they were able to re-sign franchise icon Justin Jefferson to a 4 yr, 140 mil contract to keep him in the Twin CIties, that’s probably the best thing that happened for the Purple Reign. Where to even begin? Losing Kirk Cousins to Atlanta was hard, Rookie Khyree Jackson died in a car crash (RIP, 24 years old is way too young to go), and hyped up rookie QB JJ McCarthy is gone for the season before even stepping foot on the turf at US Bank Stadium. While there’s a bright side in the signings of former Packer Aaron Jones (1 yr, 7 mil), Sam Darnold (1 yr, 10 mil), and Jonathan Greenard (4 yr, 72 mil), it sadly appears to be another lost season in Minnesota. Make that two in a row for the Purple People Eaters.

28. Chargers

I don’t even know where to begin with the Chargers. The offseason in Los Angeles was a busy one. To start, It’s a new regime in Chargertown, with new head coach Jim Harbaugh bringing in Gus Edwards (2 yrs, 6.5 mil), Hayden Hurst (1 yr, 1.1 mil), JK Dobbins (1 yr, 1.6 mil), and Bradley Bozeman (3 yr, 18 mil) to become the Los Angeles Ravens. In all seriousness, it appears Jim had direct connections with brother John Harbaugh for Free Agents. While they did add players who haven’t worn the Purple and Black, like Denzel Perryman (1 yr, 3 mil) , it appears they’re wanting to depend on the run this upcoming season. No move shouts this any louder than the trade of Keenan Allen over the offseason to Chicago. So, who is Justin Herbert expected to throw the ball to? Right now, projected starters are Joshua Palmer, who has 1700 yards over 3 seasons, Rookie Ladd McConkey, and DJ Chark. Unless McConkey develops into a star receiver, this has got to be the worst receiver room in the NFL. With the Offense rostering 4 Ravens, a team known for developing players, only for them to be underwhelming elsewhere, The Chargers are a “boom or bust” team that is likely to bust in my mind.

29. Commanders

Even with new ownership, Washington is continuing the “Damn Good Culture” of hiring uninspired candidates. While Dan Quinn is still a quality candidate for a Head Coaching position, it’s still uninspired. While the Head Coaching hiring was, well meh, the Commies actually had a great offseason, bringing in Austin Ekeler (2 yr, 11.43 mil), Bobby Wagner (1 yr, 8.5 mil), Zach Ertz (1 yr, 5 mil), Frankie Luvu (3 yr, 36 mil), Tyler Biadasz (3 yr, 29.25 mil), Jeremy Chinn (1 yr, 5.2 mil), and Dorance Armstrong (3 yr, 45 mil) all on great contracts. I gotta say, this is a huge difference from the name chasing Redskins of yesteryear. Don’t forget the Commanders also drafted Jayden Daniels 2nd overall in the draft. While this roster certainly isn’t ready for primetime, it’s a start.

30. Patriots

Well, this feels weird, doesn’t it? For the first time in 24 years, the Patriots won’t be coached by Bill Belichick. Want to feel old? We have writers on our staff that weren’t even alive the last time someone other than Bill was at the helm (I was the ripe age of 3). With former Linebacker Jerod Mayo taking over duties, it can’t be easy to follow up one of the most legendary coaching jobs the league has ever seen. To make the job even harder, Mayo is also inheriting one of the worst rosters in the league. New signees Jacoby Brissett (1 yr, 8 mil) looks to be the starter until rookie Drake Maye is ready to take over in Foxborough. Sione Takitaki (2 yr, 6.6 mil), Austin Hooper (1 yr, 3 mil), and Antonio Gibson (3 yr, 11.25 mil) were brought in to add a little strength to the roster, but let’s be honest, this appears to be another top ten pick season in New England. As T.S. Eliot wrote in his poem The Hollow Man, “This is the way the world ends. Not with a bang, but a whimper” and man, it couldn’t be any truer with the Patriots.

31. Cardinals

As a NFL fan, watching the Cardinals be mediocre every season is somewhat annoying. The Cards are 105 years old as a franchise, with a total of 11 playoff appearances to their name. That’s an average of an appearance every 9.6 years. Just absolutely pitiful, and it doesn’t appear to be changing anytime soon. Kyler Murray has been a mess the past few seasons, the Defense finished number 30 last year, with the Offense finishing 19th. New additions Jonah Williams (2 yr, 30 mil), Mack Wilson Sr (3 yr, 12.8 mil), and Bilal Nichols (3 yr, 21 mil) should all help the roster a tad, but nothing appears to be changing in Arizona.

32. Panthers

What’s there to say? This is the worst team in the NFL right now. Ownership is god awful, new head coach Dave Canales is the 4th head coach since 2022, Quarterback Bryce Young is running for his life behind a porous Offensive Line, The Defense and Offense are both bottom five in the league, and things don’t appear to change anytime soon. Carolina has had 9 head coaches in their young history. Baltimore has had 3 in about the same time. Sadly, this squad won’t be worth a damn until David Tepper changes or sells the team. I’m sorry Panthers fans, it appears your team is the new Commanders for the foreseeable future.

With the season getting ready to kick off soon, I’m gonna try my hand at predicting the playoffs  for the 2024 season.

1.Baltimore                                 1. San Francisco2. Kansas City                            2. Detroit3. Dolphins                                 3. Dallas4. Texans                                    4. Tampa Bay5. Cincinnati                               5. Green Bay6. Cleveland                               6. Philadelphia7. Jacksonville                            7. Seattle

So, what do you all think? Did I nail it, or did I miss big time? Let us know in the comments!

By Brian Bjornholm

The 2024 NFL Draft is upon us once again! Outside of just rooting for your favorite team to pick the next franchise player, this also gives us degens that NFL itch that we can’t wait to scratch. It doesn’t matter if you’re a seasoned sharp or just a rec bettor, having the chance to click the NFL icon on your favorite sports betting app gives us that little reminder that we are that much closer to next years NFL season!

Now we move on to our second ever PFD NFL Draft Betting Guide! Last year we managed to go up almost 2 units within the first 4 picks of Round 1 and set the tone for the rest of the season. Our team at “PFD Presents: The Money Line” gave out winners all year and we can’t wait for the 2024 season to start so we can pick up where we left off. Before that happens, let’s get into this year’s draft!

Team to draft Bo NixThe play: Denver Broncos (-130) 1 Unit

I love this play! There’s not a ton of value thats out there when it comes to handicapping the draft, but at a dollar thirty, I like laying the juice here. Denver doesn’t have a ton of draft capital and Nix could immediately come in and compete for the starting job given the Broncos qb woes. Bo is likely an extremely late or day two pick so Denver could get a solid, experienced qb while the more blue chip quarterbacks are scooped up in the top ten picks.

Dallas Turner draft position O/U 9.5The play: Under (+145) .5 Unit

Its no secret the top 5 picks are going to be extremely heavy offensively. There’s likely to be no sweat and no chance for a top 5 pick, but I could see the 7-8-9 picks of Tennessee, Atlanta, and Chicago making a defensive splash for an edge rusher. Getting + money here just feels right and were going to lay .5 unit there.

JJ McCarthy to go 3rd overallThe play: Yes (+400) .5 Unit

Were gonna chase my longshot here and at 4-1, I think we can see some draft day madness. With Minnesota holding the 11th and 23rd picks in the 1st round, it could be enough capital to get New England to swap picks and allow the Patriots to fill some of the needs they so desperately need to. If we get some magic, I think the 3rd overall pick becomes a two horse race between Maye and McCarthy. Give me the National Champion at +400!

Betting the draft can be unpredictable and should be fun. This week shouldn’t be about bankrupting your bookie, but instead adding a little more interest while waiting to be on the clock. Remember as always, stick within your unit size and fade or tail where you see fit!

Tweets by Bjornholm11