Two days ago, NFL quarterback Josh McCown was tasked with the challenge of coming back from a 17-6 deficit to lead the Philadelphia Eagles to a win in the NFC Wild Card Round over the Seattle Seahawks.
He did not quite succeed in that task, but if he did, it would have not been the first time he eliminated a team with a 17-6 comeback.
That was the deficit McCown and the Arizona Cardinals faced against the Minnesota Vikings in the final week of the 2003 regular season. The Vikings needed to beat the Cardinals to win the NFC North Division title, and did not have enough wins to get a wild-card spot.
Unlike last Sunday, McCown was able to complete the comeback in 2003, completing a touchdown pass to Nate Poole on the final play of the game.
What if Poole didn't, though?
If you see the play in our universe, Pool did not have two feet inbounds. Back then, if a referee ruled that a receiver was forced out of bounds, he could rule it a catch.
The force-out rule was eliminated in 2008. Therefore, under current rules, Poole's catch would not have counted.
So let's say that in another universe, the force-out rule was in place in 2003.
That would mean that the Seahawks would face the Vikings, not the Green Bay Packers, in the 2003 NFC Wild Card Round.
Matt Hasselbeck would still say in overtime, "We want the ball, and we're gonna score." And this time, he would keep his word.
After all, this Vikings team almost let the 3-12 Cardinals team come back to win in Week 17. How do you expect them to stop a three-time Pro Bowl selection?
The Seahawks may not win the Super Bowl that year -- after all, the New England Patriots still exist in this alternate universe as well -- but they do end up winning Super Bowl XL.
Against who? The Indianapolis Colts. I'll explain.
In our universe, the Cardinals picked Larry Fitzgerald with the third overall pick in the 2004 NFL Draft.
Since the Cardinals lost to the Vikings in 2003 in this alternate universe, they would have the first overall pick, not the San Diego Chargers. Since the Mannings don't refuse to play for the Cardinals, as they did to the Chargers in our universe, the Cardinals select Eli Manning with the top pick.
The New York Giants, who traded Philip Rivers to the Chargers for Manning in our universe, select Ben Roethlisberger in the alternate universe.
We don't know what the rest of this year's playoffs will bring us in this universe, but we do know that, had McCown would have eliminated another team with a 17-6 comeback last Sunday, those results will have been a lot different.
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