Hypothetical post merger Playoff Bowls

[SeahawkFever]

Thanks again SeahawksFever for an interesting post ...

Hypothetical SB Matchups/Playoff Bowls Two ...

I feel in an early 2003 SB, the Titans would have beaten the Eagles who didn't have quality wide receivers.

I felt the 2008 Ravens were stronger than the Eagles, even with a rookie QB and would have won in early 2009.

Brady and the Patriots would have beaten Palmer and the Cards in early 2016, I believe.

Mahomes and the Chiefs high powered offense would have won a shootout against Brees and the Saints in early 2019. Possibly the highest scoring SB ever?

As for what you pointed out here:

Regarding Philly vs Tennessee in 2002: Wide receiver was certainly the Achilles heel of Philly in 2002 (the players who have the most targets on their team are Todd Pinkston, James Thrash, and Antonio Freeman). Must've had a good running game if they had a top five offense with those receivers, and with Donovan McNabb getting injured for six games.

That running game would have faced a Tennessee team that had one of the best run defenses that year (seventh by yards per carry, and second by yards allowed). That said though, Philly would've had Donovan McNabb against a defense that wasn't even top ten in spite of their run defense.

In the case of 2008, I could see that one going either way as well (Philly had the better offense, but Baltimore the better defense; with the gap between the offenses by points being a bit bigger) .

The 2015 Cardinals and Patriots: Tom Brady is certainly better than Carson Palmer (in particular if we go by performance in that actual round), and both teams had top 10 offenses and defenses; though the gap between the defenses was bigger (7th vs 10th in favor of Arizona). I do think I change my mind about this one now that I look at it again.

Lastly for the 2018 Saints vs Chiefs: Both teams had top three offenses (first for KC, 3rd for New Orleans), but New Orleans' defense ranked 14th by points whereas Kansas City's ranked 24th by points. New Orleans's defense also was 14th by yards vs 31st for Kansas City. Certainly would have been a very high scoring game, but I picked New Orleans.

Thanks for giving me your thoughts on the hypothetical matchups.

One other that I will point out that I went back and forth with: 2005 Panthers vs Broncos.

Denver had the 7th ranked offense and 3rd ranked defense vs 8th and 5th for Carolina; though Carolina actually made a Super Bowl with the core of players on this team. Whereas I could not say that for Denver (the center Tom Nalen was the only starter from their last Super Bowl with Elway I believe).

Both teams also had a one time pro bowl quarterback who made their only pro bowl that year, and whose first name was Jake (Plummer for Broncos, Delhomme for Panthers), and their passer ratings were within 2.1 points of each other (slight edge to Plummer; 90.2 to 88.1).

I went with Denver though because they had averaged 4.7 yards per carry vs 3.4 for Carolina (though Denver's run defense was worse than Carolina's, I still think that's enough of a point in favor of Denver).

Either way, thanks for replying, and I'd be curious to hear what you'd say about 2005.

[Brian wolf]

That's the thing, I tried to include injuries and momentum from the championship games but you were on the nose with most of your picks. Its close either way but like people have pointed out, it's amazing that certain matchups like Dallas-Oakland or SF-Buffalo, never happened in the SB.

Carolina at the end of 2005 rode the momentum of Steve Smith in the postseason but I think Jake Plummer and the Broncos would have won the SB matchup. It surprised people that the Steelers whipped the Broncos in Mile High for the AFC crown. The next season, Shanahan rolled the dice and went with Cutler as his QB, which in hindsight, might have been a mistake.

[Brian wolf]

Good speculation on a potential Cowboys-Jets SB in early 1983.
Either the Cowboys pass rush would have gotten to Todd, forcing mistakes or Freeman McNeil could run wild, because as usual back then, the Cowboy's linebackers were slow. I feel Dallas would have let McNeil get his carries as long as they kept Wesley Walker in check.

The Sack Exchange could get to Danny White or Hogeboom but in a huge game could they contain Pearson, Hill, Cosbie and especially Dorsett?
Tough order but once the Pokes got by Washington, I think they would have taken care of business. It's fun to speculate.

[SeahawkFever]

Nice list! And time put into it!

The problem with the 'Playoff Bowl' was you could never be sure if the winner won it because they were actually better or because the losing team simply wasn't motivated enough. We all know how Vince felt about the event. Playing for a bronze medal in the Olympics or a college team playing in a non-National Championship Bowl game - up until recent years, that is - is one thing, but it didn't seem to work in the NFL nor would it in any of the other three major sports. Perhaps some big incentive would be needed to assure each team playing their best as if it were still a real playoff game. Only so much money, these days, that you could give each player to even want to play in it after the season yet along get them motivated for "3rd best" in the league.

But simply seeing the two best teams of each year that didn't make the Super Bowl and who you think was better between the two not a bad thing to ponder. I see you have the Bills as better than the Bears in '88. But do remember that both played each other that year with Chicago winning at home, 24-3. It was Buffalo's only loss within that 11-1 start. But it may have been an upset thus Bills possibly winning a meaningful rematch; maybe, maybe not. What made that Rams/Titans Super Bowl special was the contrast-in-styles. Well, had Tampa Bay & Jacksonville squared off instead for all-the-marbles, that also would have been that kind of match-up; a toss-up, I'd think.

Again, great putting together of the list!

Thank you for reading the list, and as for the Bears and Bills in 1988, that one was tough because unlike most of these, they did actually play each other during the season. I could see an argument either way.