Best Games (or interesting matchups) that Never Happened

[CSKreager]

Super Bowl 20- Bears/Raiders

We hear so so much about the Bears/Dolphins hypothetical what many easy forget is that the Raiders actually had the AFC’s #1 seed that year

Even if LA beat NE, they would not have gone to the Orange Bowl

Keep in mind that the Dolphins up to that point had never EVER beaten the Raiders in California and Shula had lost 5 straight times to the Silver and Black under Tom Flores.

Miami only got to host the AFC CG because of New England’s win at LA

For all that has been said of that CHI/MIA Monday Night at the Orange Bowl, let’s not forget these Raiders also had familiarity with the Bears from that hard hitting game at Soldier Field in November 1984

And remember those Raiders had already twice turned the tables from a regular season loss in January (PHI 80/WSH 83)

Throw in the fact that they had recent SB experience, a capable defense in their own right, would have wanted to extract some revenge, and of course were a team that knew how to win.

And considering the raider mystique, that might have elevated the 85 Bears legend even more

Imagine if they had shut down Marcus in his greatest year and CHI had beaten not a surprise wild card fluke but a legendary iconic franchise.

[7DnBrnc53]

^^^ Definitely this.
Also any Bills/49ers Super Bowl between 1988-1992. 1988 or 1990 especially.

Good point. For this post, I would like to focus on 1989.

A few years ago, I watched the Bills@49ers December showdown from that year. What stood out is the defense. The Bills CB's played up and inside, not back in zones like most people when they played the 49ers. Also, they had some missed opportunities in that 21-10 loss. In the first quarter, Flip Johnson was breaking open deep, but Kelly under threw him. Then, in the second quarter, the Bills sacked Steve Young and forced a fumble. Bruce Smith started to head the other way with a TD (that would have made the score 10-0. It was a clear fumble), but the officials gave the ball to SF.

In the second half, the Bills turned it over, and the 49ers pulled away. However, the Bills ran a no-huddle offense, and scored late in the game to make it 21-10. That is significant, because if they get out of Cleveland (if Ronnie Harmon holds onto the ball for a TD), they would have made that their offense full-time.

The next week, the Bills would have went to Denver, but maybe the Broncos don't have much time to adjust to the no-huddle (unlike in 91) and the Bills pull off the upset (and get revenge for their Week 2 MNF loss at home).

A Bills-49ers SB XXIV would have been much better, especially when you consider the fact that Elway was sick, and Wade Phillips ran the wrong defense:

https://goldenrankings.com/SuperBowl24-A.htm

[Brian wolf]

Interesting and possibly ... Yet I still believe Montana would have blown the Bills out. He was in a zone during that postseason ...

[Gary Najman]

Of the 1982 season games cancelled by the strike, off the top of my head I remember 3 (all Prime Time games):

- Atlanta - Kansas City (the first game cancelled, it was going to be a Thursday Night game in Week 3; William Andrews vs. Joe Delaney).
- San Francisco - Tampa Bay (I thought it would be interesting to see Montana playing against Selmon and the Buc defense at the Big Sombrero in a Monday Night in Week 4).
- Dallas - Cincinnati (The only Sunday Night scheduled for the season. I don't know if it was Dallas first visit to Riverfront Stadium, but it should have been a great game, and both teams were still strong and maybe both teams would have been in Super Bowl XVII if half of the season wasn't cancelled).

[Gary Najman]

I would choose regular season games that were cancelled by the 1982 strike, like the Cincinnati-Dallas then-rare Sunday Night game at Texas Stadium, or what about the MNF game between the 49ers and Buccaneers at Tampa Stadium?

That Cincy/Dallas game would have been at Riverfront (the Cowboys’ AFC home games were vs Pittsburgh and Cleveland)

You are right, my bad. And I saw all the Cowboys games that season, I also remember how they thrashed the Oilers at the Astrodome on a Monday Night.

[JohnH19]

A 1968 NFL Championship Game between Baltimore and Dallas should have happened. They were both absolute powerhouses.

[7DnBrnc53]

Interesting and possibly ... Yet I still believe Montana would have blown the Bills out. He was in a zone during that postseason ...

They were playing well, but it didn't hurt that the Broncos were playing the exact wrong defense to go up against the Walsh WCO (he designed his offense to attack a static 3-4, and that's what Wade played. The middle was open a lot in that game, and Montana took advantage).

[Brian wolf]

Other great matchups would have been Dallas vs Oakland in SB II, IV, XI and XII ... It would have been great Raider offense against both versions of Doomsday. The Cowboys in 76 would have given them a better game than the Vikings. I dont believe Blanda would have gotten it done against the Cowboys in SB V ...

[CSKreager]

How about a 49ers/Dolphins SB that almost was? Not Dan Marino vs Steve Young, but rather SB V (Griese vs Brodie)

Would those young Fins have matched up better with the Niners?

[Brian wolf]

I think the Niners with Brodie would have beat the young Dolphins in SB V but not VI ... Would Jim Johnson have matched up against Paul Warfield? That would have been great to witness ...