Mano: The NFL Without the Tuck Rule?

Some of you may know my love for alternative history, where simple changes can have dramatic changes on history. I have attempted some history re-writing in the past and I wanted to give it another shot. No what-if will ever top Tom Brady ending up as a car detailer (jump to 6:15), but this one is as close as it gets.
The NFL got rid of the Tuck Rule in 2013, 12 years after it set the stage for one of the most controversial and memorable games in AFC playoff history. However, what if the rule never existed to begin with? While many remember the immediate effects, such as the Patriots coming back to beat the Raiders and going on to win the Super Bowl, many don’t think of the long-term effects and what a Raiders victory would mean to the rest of the NFL and, more importantly, what it would mean for the Steelers. Well, with the help of WhatIfSports.com, I’m here to answer that question.
Let’s start with the remainder of the 2001-02 NFL Playoffs. With no Tuck Rule in place, the Raiders would maintain possession of the football, run out the clock, and advance to the AFC Championship Game to play the 13-3 Steelers at Heinz Field. The Steelers would score 24 unanswered points to beat Oakland and move on to Super Bowl XXXVI. The Steelers would go up against St. Louis Rams and their ‘Greatest Show on Turf,” who was looking to win their second Super Bowl in three years. However, it would be the Steelers who would win their “one for the thumb,” defeating the Rams 20-17. With Pittsburgh holding a 20-3 lead, the Rams went on a furious 14-point run before Mike Logan intercepted Kurt Warner to seal the victory with 1:16 left in the game. (On a side note, we might still be having starting lineups introduced at the Super Bowl if this happened. In real life, the Patriots set a trend by coming out as a team, but that may not be the case today with the Steelers taking their place.)
This would be where we begin to see some changes in the NFL. Having brought the Raiders a game away from the Super Bowl, Jon Gruden would stay with the Raiders and Steve Mariucci would become the new head coach at Tampa Bay instead. Meanwhile in the AFC, Kordell Stewart would remain the starting QB for the Steelers after winning the Super Bowl and being named MVP, while Tom Brady would never become the QB we know today and Patriots would not have their early 2000’s dynasty.
Instead, the Patriots would hold onto Drew Bledsoe heading into the 2002 season, starting training camp off with a QB controversy. While Brady would win the job for good and eventually have a good career, he would only become a little more than game manager in the future. The Patriots would still be a good team but would not be the team that wins three Super Bowls in four years. Meanwhile, the Stewart-led Steelers would beat the Titans in the Divisional round in 2002 before falling to Gruden in the Raiders in the AFC Championship Game 16-10. The Buccaneers would still beat the Raiders in Super Bowl XXXVII, albeit a closer 16-6 game, and without the Patriots to worry about in 2003, Peyton Manning and the Colts would win Super Bowl XXXVIII 21-13 over the Panthers.
This leads us to 2004. The Steelers would still have missed the playoffs in 2003 and would still pick up Ben Roethlisberger. He would still lead the Steelers to an NFL-best 15-1 record and would take them to the AFC Championship Game. However, he would be taking over for Kordell Stewart instead of Tommy Maddox and instead of playing the Patriots to go to the Super Bowl it would be Manning’s Colts. Instead of falling one game short of Super Bowl XXXIX, Pittsburgh would take down Indianapolis 22-14, stopping Manning from a potential game-tying touchdown drive as time expired. The Steelers would be back in the Super Bowl, this time against the in-state rivals Philadelphia Eagles. Leading all players in rushing yards for the game, Jerome Bettis would lead the Steelers to its sixth Super Bowl victory. Bettis would be named MVP and would retire on top in 2004 instead of 2005.
The next few years would look pretty familiar. The Steelers would win Super Bowls XL and XLIII, Peyton Manning would win his second Super Bowl in Super Bowl XLI, and the Giants would win Super Bowl XLII. The Steelers would see their next change in 2010. Since Brady and the Patriots aren’t nearly as good as they would have been, the Steelers-Patriots game in 2010 is way different than what actually happened. This means that the Steelers would finish off the drive that Jeff Reed missed the 26-yard FG, instead scoring a touchdown. While they wouldn’t win the game, they would keep Jeff Reed. Reed, as shown in real life after signing with the 49ers to finish the season, would get hot towards the end of the season, making 90% of his field goals after that game.
Now, fast forward a couple weeks to Super Bowl XLV. Remember that 52-yard field goal miss by Suisham that was so bad it landed in a different area code? Reed drills that, as he is historically more accurate than Suisham from long range. That makes it a 31-28 game and, with the ability to tie the game instead of having to score a touchdown, the Steelers have a modified game plan for the final drive, getting into field range and letting Reed tie it up to send the game into OT for the first time. The Steelers win the coin toss, drive down the field, and score to win Super Bowl XLV over Green Bay, allowing Hines Ward to retire after that game on top, just like his friend Jerome Bettis did six years prior.
Years 2011-2015 would have some slight changes based on the ripple effects of these altered seasons. Here’s a look at some of the new Super Bowl history
XXXVI: Steelers over Rams
XXXVIII: Colts over Panthers
XXXIX: Steelers over Eagles
XLIII: Steelers over Eagles
XLV: Steelers over Packers
XLVI: Giants over Ravens
XLIX: Seahawks over Patriots
In conclusion, it’s safe to say the Steelers are a clear winner if the Tuck Rule never exists. We are the team of the 21st century with five Super Bowl championships. Big Ben is a for-sure first ballot Hall of Famer with four titles of his own, and the Brady-Manning battles are replaced with Manning-Roethlisberger. I enjoy doing these alternative history timelines and if anyone has suggestions on what I should do next (Pittsburgh-sports related), I’d be happy to hear it. Hopefully this ties you over until Sunday’s playoff game!