An Alternate Universe's NFL: Kansas City Chiefs

[Buck]

http://boards.sportslogos.net/index....post&p=1486579

Kansas City Chiefs – The Kansas City Chiefs are the 5th oldest franchise in the NFL, playing their first game on September 20th, 1933, a 23-2 loss to the Los Angeles Rams. They were known as the Royals in their first several years of existence, because they shared a stadium with their baseball counterparts, finally becoming the “Chiefs” before the start of the 1940 season. The Chiefs made their first playoff appearance in 1947, tying with the Baltimore Ravens for first in their division with an 8-4 record. They lost their one game playoff against the Ravens 21-0, and it would be 25 years before the Chiefs would return to the playoffs. During that pitiful quarter century, the Chiefs watched a bevy of future star quarterbacks slip through their fingers before finally landing Mike Livingston from SMU in 1968. It wasn’t an immediate turnaround though, as Livingston struggled for his first few years and was repeatedly booed and hung in effigy by fans in their brand-new Arrowhead Stadium. It was hard to believe that with a 5-9 finish in 1970 and a 6-8 record in 1971 they would grow into not only the team of the decade, but the franchise by which all others in the NFL are measured.

1973 proved to be the franchise’s breakout year, with young back Ed Podolak rushing for 1,055 yards and 11 touchdowns leading the way to an 11-3 record and a division crown. In their first playoff game in 25 years, the Chiefs hosted the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in what would become a legendary game in the annals of league history. With the Chiefs trailing 7-6, they had the ball on their own 40, facing a 4th and 10 with 22 seconds to play and no time outs, when history was made. Livingston’s pass over the middle was intended for RB Mike Adamle, but as the pass approached Adamle was drilled by Buc’s LB Larry Ball at the instant that the ball bounced off of Ball’s right shoulder pads. With the ball sailing back up field, Podolak found himself in the right place at the right time, and snagged the pass just above the ground and took it 60 yards for the game-winning score. After much debate by the referees to sort everything out, the Chiefs were awarded the score and their first playoff win in franchise history, 13-7. The Chiefs would run into history again the following week, but this time they were on the wrong end, losing the AFC Championship game to the soon-to-be perfect San Francisco 49ers, 21 – 17. However, the “Immaculate Reception” became the catalyst that reversed the Chiefs’ fortunes forever. Tampa Bay got their revenge on Kansas City the following season, defeating them at home in the first round of the 1973 playoffs, 33-14.

The Chiefs came back in 1974 with a 10-3-1 record, and after blowing through Philadelphia and rival Tampa Bay in the AFC Playoffs, the Chiefs took care of the New England Patriots in Super Bowl IX 16-6, and took home their first World Championship in their 42 year existence. The Chiefs came right back in 1975 with a 12-2 record and Defensive Player of the Year honors for DB Emmitt Thomas. Advancing to their second straight Super Bowl – once again knocking-off Tampa Bay in the process – the Chiefs squared-off against the Chicago Bears, who would grow to become their cross-conference rival. A defensive struggle for most of the game, the teams exploded for points in the 4th quarter, but KC hung on for a 21-17 won and their second-straight World Championship. WR Barry Pearson made several memorable catches and scored on a 68 yard pass play to seal the win, and took home game MVP honors. A win away from their third-straight AFC Championship in 1976, Tampa Bay finally knocked off the Chiefs 24-7, keeping the Chiefs from attempting to win 3 straight Super Bowls.

1977 was a major disappointment for KC. Despite winning their division with a 9-5 record, their production was down greatly, and they were defeated by Atlanta in Divisional Playoff round, 34-21. While many people thought the Chief dynasty was on its way down, they responded in 1978 with a 14-2 record, and avenged their loss to Atlanta in the playoffs, winning 33-10. Advancing to their 3rd Super Bowl in 5 years, the Chiefs once again faced-off against the Bears, and in another memorable game, won their third Super Bowl title, 35-31. Mike Livingston was the game’s MVP. The Chiefs made one more run for it in 1979, winning 12 games in the regular season and blowing out the 49ers and Oilers in the playoffs to win their 4th AFC title in 6 seasons. Their opponents in Super Bowl XIV were the Miami Dolphins, who gave them everything they could handle for three quarters, but two long touchdown passes by Livingston in the second half earned him his second straight game MVP award, and the Chiefs their 4th World title. The Chiefs’ cry for 1980 was “One for The Thumb”, but it wasn’t meant to be as they limped to a 9-7 record, and followed the decline in 1981 by finishing 8-8.

The 1980’s were no good for the Chiefs, as they made four playoff appearances but only won two playoff games in the decade. As the 90’s began, new coach Marty Schottenheimer brought a renwed enthusiasm to the club and helped revive the Chief dynasty. Leading the Chiefs to playoff appearances in his first 6 seasons, including 5 division titles, the team lost in the 1994 AFC Championship game – at home – to the Jets before busting through in 1995 and returning to the Super Bowl. In their 5th Super Bowl appearance – and third against the Chicago Bears – the Chiefs were looking for their 5th Super Bowl title against a team looking for their 3rd ring in 4 years and vying to become the team of the 90’s. The Chiefs shut down the Bears running game, but 3 Steve Bono interceptions sealed the Chiefs fate, as they lost the Super Bowl for the first time, 27-17. The Chiefs were contenders again the following two seasons, before a streak of 3 straight non-playoff seasons followed that.

The Chiefs responded in 2001 with a 13-3 record and homefield advantage throughout the playoffs before facing yet another AFC Championship game loss, this time to rival Detroit, who was also on their way to becoming a dynasty. The Chiefs posted their best record in team history in 2004, a 15-1 mark that netted them homefield advantage throughout the playoffs. However they once again could not buck recent history, as they again lost a home AFC Championship game…and once again it was to the Detroit Lions. The 2005 season began with promise, but injuries saw them sitting at 7-5 ¾ of the way through the season. A four game winning streak to close out the season earned them a playoff spot, albeit as the 6th seed in the AFC, meaning that they’d have to play all of their games on the road as long as they were still eligible. They handled Denver in the Wild Card Round, and Minnesota in the Divisional Round before travelling to Atlanta for the AFC Championship game, where they knocked off the Falcons 34-17 to advance to their 6th Super Bowl, while also becoming the first 6th seed to advance to the big game. Opting to wear their white road jerseys for the game, the Steelers finally got that elusive “One For The Thumb”, and Coach Vermeil finally got over the hump and won a big game. Chiefs star RB Priest Holmes retired after the game, saying he had actually made up his mind to retire before the game…win or lose.

The Chiefs faced an injury-marred 2006 season that killed their attempt to repeat, coming home with an 8-8 record. Coach Dick Vermeil stepped down after the season, so 2007 was one for change in KC. In came new coach Herman Edwards, and with him a 10-6 record and another division title, but also a loss to the New Orleans Saints in their first playoff game. Edward’s second season as coach delivered Kansas City a 12-4 record and a first round bye in the AFC Playoffs, defeating the Jets 35-24 in the Divisional Round and division foe Arizona in the AFC Championship Game for their 2nd AFC title in 4 years. Looking for their 6th Super Bowl win, the Cleveland Browns – in their first Super Bowl – gave KC all that they could handle before Tyler Thigpen hit WR Dwayne Bowe in the back corner of the end zone with under a minute remaining to give KC a 27-23 win and their record 6th Super Bowl victory.

The celebration didn’t carry over; however, as once again injuries limited the Chiefs in 2009 to a 9-7 record and no playoffs. With renewed intensity for 2010, the Chiefs had hoped to bounce back in a big way, until QB Matt Cassel was suspended for the first four games by the league for violating the league’s policy on personal conduct. The Chiefs responded by going 3-1 in the 4 games he was out, and put together a 12-4 campaign for another division crown and another first round bye. KC once again drew division foe Arizona in the first round, and once again came out on top, 31-24. Hosting yet another AFC Championship Game, the Chiefs used a first-half shutout to put away the Raiders 24-19 and advance to their 8th Super Bowl, tying their rival Chicago Bears for the most all-time. Facing off against the 6th seed New York Giants, the Chiefs found themselves down early before making a late rally, however they were never able to get the key stop they needed, and a late fumble by RB Thomas Jones didn’t help their cause either, and the Chiefs failed in their bid for their 7th ring, 31-25.

The Reality – The Chiefs and Steelers represented the AFL/AFC in 6 of the first 14 Super Bowls, winning 5. The two teams have made the playoffs in the same year 7 times, facing off once in 1993. The Steelers held an early lead in that game before some late game heroics by Joe Montana pulled off the win for KC. The Steelers have played the Chiefs 26 times including that one playoff game, and hold a 17-9 edge. There’s been quite a few notable players and even hall of famers who have played for both KC and Pittsburgh. The most notable of which was QB Len Dawson, who was a first round draft pick of the Steelers and spent his first three seasons there before being traded to Cleveland and eventually landing in Kansas City. Also of note is Hall-of-Fame center Mike Webster, who spent the first 15 seasons of his career in Pittsburgh before finishing his last two with the Chiefs. Leroy Thompson started his career as a change of pace RB with the Steelers before moving over to the Chiefs for the 1995 season. Former Steelers coach Bill Cowher came to them from Kansas City, where he was the Chiefs defensive coordinator.

Thoughts – The easiest team treatment that I’ve done so far…period. It was so easy that it pretty-much did itself. I think it looks rather Iowa State-ish or USC-esque, but I think overall it could work for KC, minus the logo. This is the quickest – 4 days apart – between team reveals since the series started in December of 2009, partly because of the simplicity of the concept, and also because I was ready to put the Broncos to Bengals trip behind be and move on to the next thing. As always, thoughts and comments are welcomed….as long as they don’t come in all caps =)

[WebGem]

wtf **** that steeler helmet shit

the rest is sort of cool though, except i don't like change

[Jewish Rabbi]

WTF was that wall of text about?

[LiveSteam]

History lesson
I liked it

[WebGem]

Originally Posted by Jewish Rabbi

WTF was that wall of text about?

lol, i bet 4% of the people who view this will read all of that

[Bambi]

This sure is an alternate universe, there are playoff wins involved.

[Jewish Rabbi]

Originally Posted by WebGem

lol, i bet 4% of the people who view this will read all of that

I made it through like 3 lines. Have no clue what it was about... Looks like some guy made up a history of Chiefs and then gave us our own version of the Steelers' uniforms.

[Buck]

Denver Broncos – Futility – noun, plural: The act of being futile; ineffectiveness; uselessness. Such has been the distinction of the Denver Broncos during much of their history. Beginning play as an AFL expansion team in 1968, they only entered the league when they were promised to be part of the NFL upon the 1970 merger. The Broncos limped the a 3-11 finish that season, although a bright spot was RB Garrett Ford earning Rookie of the Year honors for his 1,000 yard season. After a slight improvement in 1969 to 4-9-1, the Broncos moved into brand-new Mile High Stadium in 1970 and put it all together in only their 3rd season – and first in the NFL’s new AFC – and made the playoffs with an 8-6 record. Their playoff run ended quickly however, as they were shut out in Minnesota to the eventual Super Bowl Champions, 17-0. The Broncos fell back to earth in 1971, finishing 4-10, but bounced back in 1972 with an 8-6 mark and became a contender in the AFC for the next few years. The Broncos won the division for the first time in 1973 with a 10-3 mark, but lost at defending champion San Francisco in their opening game 34-16, once again falling to the eventual Super Bowl winner in their opening playoff game. A strong 11-3 record in 1975 was good enough for only a Wild Card spot, as Kansas City finished 12-2, so once again the Broncos had to play their opening playoff game on the road, and once again lost…this time at Tampa Bay, 31-28. In 1976 the Broncos put together a 10-4 campaign and a share of the division crown, but failed to make the playoffs because they were swept in their two meetings with Kansas City. A winning season in 1977 was followed by 3 straight losing seasons, but 1981 brought new head coach Dan Reeves – a former Super Bowl-winning player and assistant coach for the Chicago Bears – and the Broncos responded with a 12-4 record and their first AFC Championship. The Broncos hosted the New York Jets in what’s known as the coldest game in NFL history, winning The Freezer Bowl 24-7 over the favored Jets and advancing to their first Super Bowl. In Super Bowl XVI, the Broncos got off to a terrible start against the NFC Champion Green Bay Packers, finding themselves down 20-0 at halftime before veteran QB Craig Morton scored on a 5yd scramble to end their first possession to start the third quarter. The Broncos defense held Green Bay to only two series’ – both 3-and-outs – in the third quarter, setting up one of the more memorable sequences in Super Bowl history. Near the end of the quarter, the Broncos got a first down and goal to go at the Packers’ 3 yard line, looking for a score that could have turned the game completely in the Broncos’ favor. After two busted running plays, Morton hit RB Dave Preston on a short swing pass that – had the route been run correctly – SHOULD have scored the Broncos’ second touchdown. Instead, Packers LB Mike Douglas made a textbook open field tackle and stopped Preston at the goal line for no gain. Passing on a chip-shot field goal, the Broncos opted to go for it on 4th and goal from the one, but a Rick Parros plunge up the middle was blown-up at the line of scrimmage, and the Broncos failed to gain any points on the possession. The Broncos would get a touchdown from TE Riley Odoms on their very next possession, putting them right back in the game, 20 – 14. The Packers added a field goal on their next drive, but more importantly took the clock down to just over 5 minutes to play. Morton threw another interception on the Broncos first play after the kickoff, and the Packers added another field goal to extend their lead to 26 – 14 with barely 2 minutes to play. The Broncos’ Odoms scored an “oh by the way” touchdown on their next drive with only 20 seconds remaining in the game, and the Packers fell on the onside kick to preserve a 26-21 win in what would start their run as the team of the 80’s. The Broncos became the only losing team in Super Bowl history to score more touchdowns as the losing team, and the game is always remembered by Bronco fans as a game of many missed opportunities. A 7-2 record in the strike-shortened 1982 season resulted in a blowout loss at home to the Raiders, 44 – 17. A 7-9 finish in 1983 and an 8-8 record in 1984 ushered in the John Elway era, who would go 7-9 in 1985, his first year as the full-time starter. The young Broncos started putting it together again by going 10-6 in 1986, only missing the playoffs by one game. The strike-marred 1987 campaign was a forgettable one at 4-11, the most memorable moment of which was a stunning loss the thorn-in-the-side Green Bay, who turned a sure loss into a touchdown pass for a win with no time remaining on the clock. With everyone healthy and no strike to upset the balance, the Broncos finally lived up to their preseason hype, and behind league MVP Elway, the Broncos of 1988 finished 12-4 and had homefield advantage throughout the playoffs, knocking off the Philadelphia Eagles 21-10 in the AFC Championship game, to once again face the Green Bay Packers in Super Bowl XXIII. Fullback Sammy Winder had become a league sensation as the “Winding Winder” end zone dance took the nation by storm. As the Broncos prepared for their Super Bowl rematch with Green Bay, RB Steve Sewell was suspended from the game when he was found using cocaine in his hotel room on the night before the game, sending a dark pall over the Broncos’ spirits. On top of that, All-Pro NT Greg Kragen broke his leg and was lost for the game very early on…the replay of which became one of the most graphic examples ever of a sports injury. The two teams were pretty even throughout the first half, going to the locker room tied at 3, the first halftime tie in Super Bowl history. With a 6-6 tie near the end of the 3rd quarter, Broncos KR Ken Bell took the Packers’ kickoff 93 yards for the game’s first touchdown and a 13-6 lead for the underdog Broncos. The Packers marched right back on their next drive, and from the Broncos 14 Don Majkowski’s pass to the end zone was in the grasp of Broncos’ CB Jeremiah Castille, but he couldn’t hang on to what could have been a game-changing INT. On the very next play, Majkowski hit eventual game MVP Sterling Sharpe for the game-tying touchdown. Though the Broncos regained the lead with a FG, Majkowski earned his place in history by leading a game-winning 11 play, 92 yard drive that earned them their 3rd Super Bowl victory when he found WR Ed West for a 10 yard touchdown with only 39 seconds left to play. The Broncos lost both of their Super Bowl appearances by a combined 9 points. After a mediocre 8-8 record in 1989, the Broncos won their division with a 9-7 record in 1990, defeating the Houston Oilers 10-7 in the AFC Wild Card Game before falling in the Divisional Round at Tampa Bay 20 – 10, a game memorable for 2 reasons: It was Bucs RB Bo Jackson’s last NFL game, and it would be the Broncos last playoff game for 15 years. From 1991 to 2004, the Broncos never had a winning season, only managing to win as many as 8 games in a season 3 times, two of which were in ’03 and ’04. Finally in 2005, the upstart Broncos won their division behind QB Jake Plummer, WR’s Rod Smith and Ashley Lelie, and RB Mike Anderson, finishing at 11-5 and securing a home playoff game. Their playoff dreams died as quickly as they started however, facing off against division foe and proverbial thorn-in-their-sides Kansas City, and losing QB Jake Plummer to a knee injury on the game’s first series…a play that resulted in a change in NFL rules for going low on quarterbacks. Kansas City would go on to win their 5th Super Bowl title, while all Denver could do was watch yet again. Seasons of 8-8 and 7-9 followed before the bottom fell out amid team strife in 2008, and resulting in a 4-11-1 record. With things seemingly smoothed-over in the off season, the Broncos won and swept their division, finishing 10-6, before losing – again at home – to Oakland in the first round 24 – 14, as the Broncos missed two field goals and squandered several other chances to take control of the game. The Broncos just completed a very disappointing 2010 season, finishing 4-12, once again amid much turmoil and inner strife.

The Reality – While the Bengals have been one of the worst franchises in all of professional sports the past two decades, the Broncos may have been the worst team of the old AFL, as they were the only team never to appear in the league’s championship game. Denver’s luck changed dramatically beginning in the late 70’s, but the Bengals were a competitive franchise for their entire history prior to founder Paul Brown’s death in 1991, when the franchise’s fortunes took a drastic turn for the worse, resulting in only 2 playoff appearances in the 19 years since. The Broncos have a 17-8 head-to-head advantage over the Bengals, and even though they have only appeared in the playoffs together once – 2005 – the two franchises combined to win 8 of the first 28 AFC Championships, or almost 1/3rd. A notable player for both franchises is CB Deltha O’Neal, who was quick to criticize the Broncos’ franchise upon signing with Cincinnati. As the Bengals introduced perhaps the first “modern” uniform in 1981 with the addition of the tiger striping and colored (non gray) facemask, it was the Broncos who ushered in a whole new era of modern uniforms to all of football, forever changing the way football uniforms were designed and manufactured. In an unusual twist, the first coach to guide Cincy to the Super Bowl – Forrest Gregg – was a legendary player for the Green Bay Packers, the team who kept the Broncos from a World Championship in this alternate universe.

Thoughts – Without a doubt the toughest team treatment I’ve done so far, so tough in fact, that right up until last week I had considered switching them with an as-yet unveiled team that I thought may have worked better, but I decided to stay true to my original vision and ride this one out to the end. The final result is either so over-thought that it’s bad, or so unthinkable that it’s brilliant…that’s for you all to decide. I paired these two teams based on a few factors: The two innovators in modern uniform design, the fact that both teams use animal mascots, and their use of a similar if not identical color orange. The helmet obviously was the biggest struggle, and I finally decided to go with a horse’s mane design. In fact, if you take the Broncos current logo, turn it upside down and reverse it, you have 4 of the 6 stripes shown on the helmet, giving the mane more of a “relaxed” look than the current helmet logo’s “wind-blown” look. Although the Bengals do no incorporate a center stripe of any kind, I gave these Broncos a variation of their current stripe as a way of connecting the mane design…otherwise you have “hair” that doesn’t appear to connect to anything. Going down the uniform, I didn’t think that I could get away with the mane striping on any other part of the uniform because it’s not present on an actual horse (as opposed to a tiger having “all-over” stripes). The next thing that came to mind was horseshoes, but that was very quickly ruled-out because of the Colts, and so I evolved that idea into actual hoof prints that follow around the sleeve and up the pants striping, very closely mimicking the Bengals leg striping. I’d been sitting on a new quarterback template – based off of Tim Tebow – for a while because I wanted to debut it with this treatment. The left-facing horse head is new, but to me it almost looks more like a front view of the current horse than it does a horse version of their tiger head logo, but that's due to not being able to find as many CLEAR reference shots of a horse at that angle to work with. As I said in one of my very first posts in this now 20+ page thread, not every one of these is going to be a gem, but the point was to challenge myself as an artist, and a Bengals-for-Broncos crossover doesn’t leave a lot of direction to move in either way it goes. So with that said, enjoy it for what this is and be kind, and I look forward to your thoughts and feedback as always.

[Jewish Rabbi]

Oh look, it's the Denver Bengals! This shit is stupid as hell.

[Buck]

New York Jets – The New York Jets entered the football world with seven other teams in 1959 as part of the American Football League, though they would play their first season in 1960 as the New Jersey Jets before settling in New York for good in 1961. The high-scoring Jets lived up to their name, as their wide-open passing attack was lead by future Hall-of-Famers Joe Namath at quarterback and Don Maynard at wide receiver. Their high-flying style resulted in division titles in five of the AFL’s first six seasons, including the AFL championship in 1963, where they drubbed the Detroit Lions by a score of 51-10. New York would respond with the following season by getting all the way back to the Championship Game, but fell to the Philadelphia Eagles 20-7 in their bid to repeat. The Jets would return once again in 1965, making it three straight seasons to the AFL Championship game, but once again fell to Philadelphia, this time being shut out 23-0. In 1966 however, they failed to make it four in a row, as they posted a 7-6-1 record, and wouldn’t make the playoffs again during the decade. The Jets settled into the new AFC East division once the merger took place in 1970, and finished that first year at 5-6-3. In 1973 they acquired veteran quarterback Fran Tarkenton, but the all-time great was clearly past his prime, and in the first round of the 1976 draft the Jets brought in Richard Todd, the strong-armed signal caller from the Alabama Crimson Tide. Things began to turn around in 1977, when Walt Michaels was hired as coach, ushering in the era of “Air Michaels” in New York. The real turning point was the 1979 season, when Todd set a then-NFL record by passing for over 300 yards in four straight games. The Jets clinched their first playoff appearance in 14 years with a 35-0 victory over the Indianapolis Colts, and won the division two weeks later on a Monday night game against the Atlanta Falcons, however their playoff run ended after only one game with a defeat at the hands of the Houston Oilers, 17-14. The Jets’ success carried over into 1980 as they finished 11-5 and once again won the division. In the playoffs they knocked-off the Philadelphia Eagles, but lost to the would-be Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers 34-27. The next year the Jets once again won a division crown with a 10-6 record, and the “Air Michaels” offense reached it’s peak when three receivers (Wesley Walker, Johnny ‘Lam’ Jones, and TE Jerome Barkum) each recorded over 1,000 yards receiving. Rookie Freeman McNeil also contributed huge in the running game. In the Divisional Round of the playoffs, the Jets traveled to San Francisco to take on the 49ers in what became one of the most epic and memorable games in playoff history. Jets quarterback Richard Todd and 49ers QB Joe Montana each passed for over 400 yards, but the hero of the game was Jets TE Jerome Barkum, who caught 13 passes for 166 yards and blocked crucial 49ers field goal attempt to give the Jets the 41-38 victory. The very next week the Jets travelled to Denver to face the Broncos in the conference Championship Game in what’s regarded by most historians as the coldest game in NFL history. The Jets offense sputtered in the cold, and the Broncos advanced to Super Bowl XVI with a 27-7 victory. The Jets made one last playoff push in the strike-shortened 1982 season, knocking off the Kansas City Chiefs in the first round before falling to eventual conference champion San Francisco in a rematch from their classic game the previous year. That loss began a slide for the Jets as they failed to make the playoffs from 1983-1991, but the got turned around in 1992, when the Jets rebounded from an 0-4 start behind coach Bruce Coslett to become the first team to make the playoffs after such a bad start, finishing 11-5 on the season and winning the division. Though they shut out the Houston Texans 17-0 in the opening round, they themselves were shut out in their next game by old foe San Francisco, 31-0. That was followed by an average year in 1993 of an 8-8 record, though the team was stunted by several injuries. The following year brought the Jets’ biggest success so far, as they started out of the gates 6-0 behind the strong running of Johnny Johnson and a defense lead by LB Mo Lewis and future Hall of Famer Ronnie Lott and advanced all the way to Super Bowl XXXIX, where they were soundly defeated by the Green Bay Packers 49-26.
This season is also notable as the Jets brought back their famous and beloved “Mean Green” uniforms from their glory days of the 1960’s as part of the NFL’s 75th anniversary season in which each team wore a specific throwback uniform in selected weeks. The reemergence of the Mean Greens was a marketing goldmine and fans pined to see the team return to the look fulltime. Regarded by many as the greatest uniform in all of sports, the Jets pulled them out again for a game in 2000, and introduced them as a full-time alternate in 2002. The Jets would return to the playoffs in 1995 but were shown the door quickly by the Minnesota Vikings, losing by a score of 35-20. The next 8 seasons were tough for Jets fans, as the once high-flying franchise was either .500 or worse each season. That finally changed in 2004, as young, upstart team of Jets finished 12-4 and came away with a division championship. Hosting their first playoff game in 9 years against the Oakland Raiders, the Jets had many opportunities to win, and none better when K Doug Brien missed a game-winning kick in overtime. The resulting miss allowed the Raiders to pull off the 20-17 upset. Despite the loss, coach Herm Edwards was named NFL Coach of the Year, and QB Chad Pennington was named NFL Comeback Player of the Year. The Jets started 0-2 in 2005, but rebounded with a blowout win against the Los Angeles Rams on a Sunday night game, and evened their record the following week with a 41-17 win on the road against the two-time defending champion Detroit Lions, also ending their 21 game home winning streak. In week 14 they travelled to Minnesota to face the 13-0 Vikings and handed them their first loss of the season 26-17. Despite a winning record of 9-7, the Jets missed the playoffs because of losses in their final two games. Their 2005 schedule ranks on many lists as the most difficult strength of schedule in league history. The Jets carried that over into 2006 and ran through the league to a 14-2 record, but lost a heartbreaker at home to Detroit in the playoffs 24-21. 2007 saw the Jets finish 11-5 and pick up their first two playoff victories since their Super Bowl year of 1994, but they fell once again in the Championship round to the Detroit Lions. The Jets squeaked to their third straight division title in 2008 with an 8-8 record, and knocked-off Minnesota once again in the playoffs before falling to eventual champion Kansas City. That was followed in 2009 by a 13-3 record and an 11 game winning streak entering the playoffs, where once again the Jets faced-off at home against the Oakland Raiders, and once again tasted defeat due to ineptness in the kicking game.

The Reality – The Jets and Chargers entered the old AFL at the same time as part of the inaugural AFL lineup, albeit with the Chargers in Los Angeles and the Jets being known as the Titans. The Chargers won five of the first six AFL West division crowns, while the Jets won the final two East Division crowns, but the two never met in the AFL playoffs. Recently, two notable former Chargers have joined the Jets in RB Ladainian Tomlinson and CB Antonio Cromartie. The two have made the playoffs in the same season 5 times, facing off against each other in 2004 and 2009, both times in San Diego and both games being won by the Jets. In the regular season they have faced-off 31 times, with the Chargers holding a 19-11-1 advantage.

Thoughts – First thing’s first, I’m just glad to have restarted the series again. I’ve been having a tough go of things in my personal life and it was nice to sink my teeth back into this to get myself out of reality for a bit…thank you all for sticking with me on this. Going back to my original rules of only adding silver or black to a team’s color scheme, I added silver to the Jets to mimic the athletic gold of the Chargers, and used to Jets’ 80’s Kelly green to mimic the old powder blues of the Chargers. Though not as beautiful as that old Chargers uni and very reminiscent of the 60’s Eagles, I’m still a fan of how it turned out. I opted for the 1994-2006 version of the powder blues as my basis rather than the more AFL-historically correct ones that they sported last season…and I chose Ronnie Lott as my model for them. I have to give very special thanks to Andrew Harrington for allowing me to use a logo he came up with as a Jets concept he posted here on the boards over two years ago. I was at work on this series as far back as then, and was going for a strikingly similar look when his idea was first posted, and since he essentially nailed what I was going for with the helmet logo, I kept that in mind for almost two years and asked his permission to use it a few months back. It basically replaces the bolt on the uniform and logo elements.

[Hammock Parties]

These are pretty cool.

[Buck]

MLB
http://boards.sportslogos.net/index.php?showtopic=73447

NFL
http://boards.sportslogos.net/index....pic=70671&st=0

[BryanBusby]

Originally Posted by Buck

It's.....it's trying to tell me something......

"You Gonna Get Raped"

[listopencil]

Put down that crack pipe and just walk away, man. Just walk away.

[BillSelfsTrophycase]