2009 NFL Season 

Eastern Conference 

 In the Atlantic Division in 2009, the Miami Dolphins and the Jacksonville Jaguars were in a tight race. Eventually the Dolphins would pull ahead, and finish the season at 10-6, with a division title. In second, the Jacksonville Jaguars, at 8-8, missed the post season, even though they started at 6-2. In third, the Baltimore Bombers posted a 7-9 record, the fourth place Washington Redskins would end up 6-10 and in last the Tampa Bay Buccaneers went 5-11. With their division title, Miami won the right to host the Eastern Conference Final, skipping the first round. 

 In the North Division, the New York Giants-Bay State Patriots rivalry reached its apogee. In the regular season, the Giants won both games with the Patriots, winning 31-24 at home, and 34-13 in Foxboro. As such, even though both teams finished at 10-6, the Giants won the right to host the Eastern Conference Playoff, while the Bay State Patriots would win the right to travel to Giants Stadium for the playoff. In third place, the Philadelphia Eagles finished at 9-7, just behind the Giants and Patriots. The Pittsburgh Steelers,  the defending NFL champions, underperformed posting a 7-9 record, while in last place, the Cleveland Browns continued to be mired in failure, finishing at 3-13.

 In the 2009 Eastern Conference Playoff, the New York Giants hosted the Bay State Patriots. This would be their third meeting of the season, and the Giants were favorites going into the game. However, any football fan should tell you that you never count out Tom Brady. In the end, the spectators got a barn burner. All game, the Eli Manning-Tom Brady rivalry shined. Both quarterbacks did their best to beat their opponents having a 31-31 tie game at the two minute warning. The Patriots had the ball, and while Brady drove down the field, he was unable to score a touchdown, settling for a field goal. With just over a minute left to play, the Giants got the ball and engineered a drive of their own. With 27 seconds left in the game, and with the Giants without a time out, Eli Manning threw a pick in the red zone, that ended the game, and gave the Patriots their first victory against the Giants all year.  

In the 2009 Eastern Conference Final, the Miami Dolphins hosted the Bay State Patriots. Though it had cooled in recent years, thanks to the fact they no longer played in the same division, the Miami-Bay State rivalry had once been one of the premier rivalries in the game, going back to when both teams played in the Continental Football League. In the regular season, the Dolphins, led by Chad Henne, demolished the Patriots 36-10 in Foxboro. The Final would be a far better game. Though the Patriots took a 20-7 lead in the third quarter, the Dolphins stormed back, to make the score, 27-24. At the end, both teams would score field goals, and the Bay State Patriots would advance to the NFL Title for the first time since 2003.

 Western Conference 

In the Central Division, the narrative all year, was the return of Brett Favre to the NFL. Though he had retired following the Packers victory in the NFL Title in 2007, had had come out of retirement and signed with the Minnesota Vikings. His former team, the Green Bay Packers, were now led by the young and dynamic Aaron Rodgers. Both teams played out of their minds all season. In their regular season matchups, the Packers lost at home to Vikings, 23-21, while in Minnesota, Green Bay won 27-14. In third place, the Indianapolis Colts had a good season, posting a 10-6 record. In fourth place,the Chicago Bears finished at 5-11, while the Detroit Lions had a horrible season, going 0-16. With the winless season, it was the second time in two seasons that a team went winless, last year being the Cleveland Browns. It is also noteworthy to note, that the Lions went 1-31 in two seasons. With their division title, the Minnesota Vikings won the right to host the Western Conference Final, while the Packers would travel to Atlanta to play in the Western Conference Playoff.  

In the South Division, their was a close race between the Atlanta Falcons and the New Orleans Saints. Though there was only a difference of one game in the regular season standings, the Falcons finished at 11-5, where as the Saints finished at 10-6. With the division title, the Atlanta Falcons won the right to host the Western Conference Playoff. In third place and fourth place, the Tennessee Titans and the Houston Apollos both posted a 9-7 record, with the Apollos having their first season with a winning record. In last place, the Dallas Texans ended up at 5-11.

  In the Western Conference Playoff, the Atlanta Falcons hosted the Green Bay Packers. During the regular season, the two met in week three, when the Packers won at home, 30-9. In the playoff matchup, the Falcons scored on the first drive taking a 7-0 lead, and had a 9-0 lead early in the Second Quarter. However, the Packers would storm back, winning the Playoff, 16-9. With the victory, the Packers won the right to travel to Minnesota to play the Vikings.  In the Western Conference Final, the Minnesota Vikings hosted the Green Bay Packers. Meeting for a third time, the Packers and Vikings had split their series in the regular season, and the game was touted as one of the best games of the year. At first the game was close, with the Vikings leading 7-3 at the end of the first half. However, the Packers would take advantage of two picks thrown by Favre, and would win the game, 20-7. With their victory, and the victory of the Bay State Patriots, the Green Bay Packers, as the third seed, would host the fellow third seed Patriots in the NFL Title.  

In the NFL Title, the Green Bay Packers hosted the Bay State Patriots. The two didn't meet in the regular season, and many expected a close and exciting game. The Packers, led by Aaron Rodgers, took an early 14 point lead, and soon left the Patriots in the dust. All game, the Packers defense harassed Tom Brady, recording five sacks against him. The only points the Patriots would get, was a field goal in garbage time, which made the score, 21-3.  

 2009 PCFL Season

 In first place in 2009, the Denver Broncos, at 10-2, finished in first place, and won the right to host the 2009 Pacific Bowl. In second place, just behind the Broncos, were the 8-4 San Diego Chargers, who though tied with the defending champion Arizona Cardinals, finished ahead on tiebreakers. With the 8-4 records, both would make the postseason. In fourth place, the San Francisco 49ers posted a lackluster 5-7 record, while the fifth place Oakland Raiders ended up at 4-8, while at 3-9 were the Seattle Seahawks and Saint Louis Rams, who both had poor seasons.  

 In the 2009 Playoff, the San Diego Chargers hosted the Arizona Cardinals. In the regular season, the two met in week 7 in San Diego, where a close game ended on a field goal to give the Cardinals the victory, 27-24. In week 15 in Arizona, San Diego blew them out of the water, winning 47-21. In the PCFL Playoff for 2009, the Chargers won the game 37-15, giving the Chargers, led by Quarterback Phillip Rivers, the right to travel to Denver to compete for a Pacific Bowl title. In the Pacific Bowl, the Denver Broncos hosted the San Diego Chargers. In week four, the Chargers beat the Broncos in Denver 33-14, while in week 12, the Chargers lost at home, 17-13. With their third matchup, the game was close all throughout, ending in tight victory, 30-24.

Last edited by Enigmajones (3/16/2022 6:06 pm)

So this is a tertiary post about this worlds USFL. In TTL the USFL forms like OTL and than survives as spring football. This explains the creation of a league trying to play in the fall.

The USFL in the late 1990's and the birth of the short-lived NAFL, or North American Football League

The USFL, as a spring league had gone great things in the name of football. Due to having good investors, prices for players skyrocketed, as names like Troy Aikman and Mark Brunell lit up a league often seen as minor league in some eyes. One such eye, was the owner of the leagues premier franchise, the New Jersey Generals. Donald Trump, a real estate magnate had early on proposed taking the USFL to the fall to compete directly with both the NFL and PCFL. In the spring, the league only competed with the CFL, and as such did quite well in the continental United States.

In 1994, following the USFL Title, in which the New Jersey Generals soundly defeated the Los Angeles Express, Donald Trump called a meeting of owners to propose launching a second USFL, named USFL Pro, to bring the league into the forefront. However, these plans were not met with much support and as a result Donald Trump fumed, threatening to sell the franchise. This would not occur, but in 1996, Vince McMahon, a well known entertainer and founder of modern professional wrestling, bought the Orlando Renegades and relocated them to Toronto. This was also met with the folding of the New York City Hawks, which resulted in McMahon being awarded an expansion franchise that would operate out of New Haven's Yale Bowl, the Connecticut Carnage.

In 2000, after working with McMahon, Donald Trump aligned 8 franchises, (Los Angeles Express, Buffalo Bills, New Jersey Generals, Toronto Renegades, Connecticut Carnage, Kansas City Cowboys, Birmingham Stallions, Memphis expansion franchise named the Showboats). With these teams together, Trump, working in tandem with McMahon and NBC executive Dick Ebersol, launched the North American Football League, a league set to play in the fall in contest with the NFL. The league was announced with a media blitz and almost killed the USFL, which lost 7 of its 16 franchises, and was met with some excitement, and some skepticism. The league would change some rules, including a promise to bring back rough and tumble football, as opposed to the lightning offenses of the PCFL and USFL.

It is clear that the 2000 Pacific Bowl was considered as one of the greatest football games of all time, and while the New York Giants defeat of the Tennessee Titans was far less dramatic, both were well attended and very popular on television. In 2001 when the NAFL launched this was it's makeup.

NAFL

East Division
New Jersey Generals
Buffalo Bills
Toronto Renegades
Connecticut Carnage

West Division
Los Angeles Express
Kansas City Cowboys
Birmingham Stallions
Memphis Showboats

The first game, hosted in Los Angeles, saw the New Jersey Generals defeat the Express in a 21-7 contest. While 40,000 showed up to attend the game, many tickets were given out for free or at heavy discounts and the crowd looked sparse and small in the cavernous LA Coliseum. Other games played that week were varying in success at the box office. Kansas City, Memphis and Birmingham would prove good draws, but the best teams that season were the New Jersey Generals and the Toronto Renegades.

Although originally intended to play their second game at home, there was injunction that stopped it from occurring. When the NAFL formed they attempted to attain the right to play at Giants Stadium. Though they had played in the stadium with no trouble in the past, this was not during the same season as the NFL and was thus allowed. In a lawsuit, the Generals were allowed to play home games at Giants Stadium, as long as their dates didn't conflict with the New York Giants. In Toronto, a good team was met with small support from the city. 24,000 showed up for the first home game, and about as much would show up for the rest of the season.

In the 2001 season, there were only four teams that would make the post season. These would be the New Jersey Generals, the Eastern champions, and the Birmingham Stallions, the Western champions hosting the two playoff games. The playoff system, allowed the Toronto Renegades to seize the first wild card spot, and forced a tie breaker in Los Angeles, between the Express and the Connecticut Carnage. Connecticut would win the game 16 to 10 and earn the right to play the New Jersey Generals in the playoffs. Toronto and Birmingham would do battle as well. In Birmingham the Stallions were soundly defeated 30 to 7 at home, and in the other game, the New Jersey Generals won a hard fought contest in Giants Stadium 24-17 over the Connecticut Carnage.

In the first NAFL Title, a trophy referred to jokingly as the Trump Cup, the New Jersey Generals hosted the Toronto Renegades. In front of 50,000 fans, the Generals beat the Renegades 38-10 and hoisted the trophy. The ratings for the game were a distant third compared to both the NFL Title and Pacific Bowl, but according to the experts the first season had been a success. However things were not all good.

In Toronto, the Renegades announced they would relocate if a season ticket drive was unsuccessful. When the deadline was past 7,534 deposits had been secured, several thousand less than their lowest anticipated number. As a result before the 2002 season would start, the Toronto Renegades world begin deliberations to relocate. McMahon's second team, the Carnage, also failed to draw a consistent base, and instead relocated to Cincinnati, retaining the Carnage moniker. The West would retain it's 4 teams, but the Renegades would announce they would be relocating back to Orlando, where McMahon had relocated them from in 1996.

When the 2002 season started, the first game was once again in Los Angeles, where the Express would play a hard grudge match with the newly relocated Cincinnati Carnage. A good crowd was attracted, but it was less than the 40,000 a year before. The season would prove to be quite even as when the season ended the first place Cincinnati Carnage only finished 6-4, as opposed to New Jersey's 8-2 record the previous year. The Orlando Renegades were a failure on the field, but attracted a decent crowd. The Generals and the Bills led the pack in attendance in the East, with Cincinnati proving the largest debacle. The planning for the Cincinnati franchise had begun years before the Carnage move and had always relied on the multipurpose Riverfront Stadium as a home field. However, in order to make way for the Cincinnati Reds new baseball park, the stadium was demolished in early 2000. So when the second season began, the Carnage were playing in a baseball stadium. They would regularly pack 25,000 fans into the stadium, but this looked poor given the stadiums size, with capacity for 42,000. When the regular season ended, Cincinnati held the Eastern Division title and the first seed in the league. In the west, the Los Angeles Express went 5-5, and claimed the Western division title. Following them was the Birmingham Stallions with the 3rd seed and a 5-5 record, and then there was the Buffalo Bills, a team that had placed in second in the East with a 4-6 record.

When the playoffs began, the games were to be set in Cincinnati and Los Angeles. In Cincinnati, the Carnage hosted their first and only sellout losing in spectacular fashion. The Carnage, which 3 minutes left in the 3rd quarter, held a 20-3 lead over the Buffalo Bills. However, a fight broke out in the game between Cincinnati's #1 receiver, Wayne Chrebet and a backup defensive player that led to a three minute brawl between both teams resulting in multiple players being expelled from the game. Several of Cincinnati's offense were expelled including Chrebet. The fight would go down as the Queen City Quarrel. With the fight over, play resumed and the game would finish 23-20, a Buffalo win. In Los Angeles, the Express went up against the Birmingham Stallions and soundly defeated their division rival 30-13. The next week, the Buffalo Bills visited Los Angeles for the second title. The Express saw a good crowd, and some Bills fans were also found in the stadium. In total 37,352 people passed through the gate to attend the game, much less than the previous year. The game was well enough with the Los Angeles Express taking the title and beating the Buffalo Bills 27-17.

In the off season it became clear that the league was in danger of folding. Vince McMahon, hemorrhaging money decided he could no longer operate two franchises, and decided to sell the Orlando Renegades to local owners for an undisclosed fee. Shortly after the new ownership announced they would be leaving the NAFL and the fall to return to the USFL. This was followed shortly after by the announcement that the LA Express, League champions were looking to sell their team as well. When no buyer came to the table, the ownership announced they would be considering relocating the franchise. This enraged Trump, the unofficial leader of the NAFL, who ordered a league vote to halt the relocation of one of the leagues largest markets. However, this was only a stopgap measure before the season began the LA Express would fold. (Though in 2005 new ownership in the USFL bought the rights to the old franchise and resurrected the team.)

In January 2003, the league announced it would play the season with a single division. However with both ratings and interest waning, the NFL and PCFL intervened and brokered a new deal which gave the NBC the right to broadcast their games. When the news broke fans of the league mourned and within weeks, the NAFL announced it would suspend operations for a time. This would be the league's death knell. After an abortive attempt by several of the league's teams to enter the NFL, most notably Donald Trump and his New Jersey Generals, many of the teams made preparations to rejoin the spring circuit, which had survived. One last ditch effort by Trump and his fellow 5 owners was a plan to merge their teams with the PCFL to create a new league with teams in both the west and east, a true competitor to the NFL. The PCFL declined, and as a result, the North American Football League went the way of the do do.