Well, there is a site that seems to try and solve that idea of hypothetical matchups between historical teams. This is the link for the NFL simulation:
https://www.whatifsports.com/nfl/default.asp
It didn't feel that fun somehow when I was using it yesterday. The box score comes up really quick, but that's all you really get (just a list of stats). In order to know the "game flow," you'd have to read the entire text play-by-play.
I wasn't sure how accurate it was when I created a few of the matchups. Last year's Panthers had a pretty soft schedule in my opinion. Were they better than the Giants team from the 1990s that won the Super Bowl having to go through a division with other Super Bowl winners from the 1990s, and then the Buffalo Bills? I think, the sim said Carolina wins most of the time, with really good defensive statistics.
I just did a basic sim really quick as I'm creating this post. You know how the 2007 Giants technically won the Super Bowl? To do that, they beat an 18-0 team with better offensive statistics, at least in the regular season. If the 2007 Giants played the 2015 Panthers, in Carolina, with ideal weather conditions, this simulator says Giants 26 Panthers 24. Brandon Jacobs would run for 142 yards. Eli would get intercepted three times, but still complete three passes for TDs. The Panthers even won on time of possession, while not being very strong at converting third downs. Basically, I'm not sure how they figure those things out.
There are teams that do feel like they're from different "eras," even if they might be just six or seven seasons apart! By that, I mean how I was trying to create simulations with the 1994 49ers and the 2000 Ravens. According to Pro Football Reference, that version of the 49ers was really good on both sides of the ball compared to the rest of the league. Offensively, they were one of only two teams with over 6,000 total yards (Miami finished just 18 yards ahead of them). They scored 505 points in a season when nobody else scored more than 414. After that, it drops down to 389. They attempted the 11th fewest passes, but still led the way with 37 TDs and only 11 INTs. If you wanted to score against them, they allowed 296 points. If the same QB kept playing against them, he would've attempted 583 passes just to gain 3,501 yards, and only 15 of them scored a TD. Meanwhile, they tied for the league lead with 23 INTs.
Six years later, the Ravens won a Super Bowl, which seemed to be based on their stifling defense. If you go back to that 1994 season, the "Ravens" were still called the Cleveland Browns, right? I think that's what happened. My point is, that 1994 team only allowed 204 points to their opponents. They had an 11-5 record under a coach named Belichick, and a defensive coordinator named Nick Saban (currently well known in college football). I just thought that was interesting. Apparently, they didn't peak until the relocation to Baltimore, meaning, officially, no team has gone to a Super Bowl under the name Cleveland Browns.
So, the 2000 Ravens, right? You'd probably rank them the #1 team defense from that season, but the Titans were amazing also (from their same division?). The Ravens led the league in fewest points against (a crazy 165). The Titans didn't even let other teams get credit for scoring 200 points (191). The Titans allowed fewer total yards, but the number was under 4,000 for both teams. I think the area where they were least similar was takeaways. The Ravens had 49 of those (meaning an "average" game for them was three turnovers?). If you were a QB playing 16 games against the Titans, you would've finished the season with only 2,423 yards and 10 TDs (17 INTs). If you had to keep playing the Ravens, you would've struggled to gain 2,997 yards and 11 TDs (23 INTs). Where I think the Ravens really stood out was in their run defense. It's not like other teams might not have been trying to run (361 attempts, but that was actually third fewest in the league). They just got shut down for 970 yards, 2.7 yards per attempt, and 5 TDs. Do you know who else played good run defense that season? The 2000 NFC champions (NY Giants) allowed 3.2 yards/attempt, 1,156 total yards, and 7 TDs. How did that translate into losing the Super Bowl by 27 points?
The point is supposed to be, I put those two historic teams head to head a bunch of times. There are options where you can change the depth chart. For the 2000 Ravens, the default QB depth chart doesn't have Trent Dilfer in the top spot, even though he started the Super Bowl. You can choose playbooks for each offense. The 49ers were showing "balanced," even though I would assume they used to run "West Coast," even in the 1994 season (that's what Pro Football Reference says). The Ravens had almost a 50/50 split of run to pass (actually more run attempts), so is that "balanced," or "favor run"? I would think, compared to how most teams pass over 50% of the time, having more runs than passes would be "favor run." Then, similar to Madden, you can pick any stadium (this list seems to feature EVERY college or pro stadium that's ever hosted NFL teams), and sometimes the weather (domes would probably ignore the outside weather).
I'm kind of foggy on the overall results of those sims, but the same team wouldn't win every time. It just seemed weird to me how the 49ers would sometimes run the ball 35 times, and were able to gain 140 yards from those plays (against the 2.7 yards per attempt defense?). Then again, those are the raw numbers, which don't really tell you if the defense started breaking down after three-and-outs, or late in the game.
Here's an example of a sim I just ran:
1994 49ers 13 2000 Ravens 16
I changed the depth chart for the Ravens (Dilfer as QB1, Stokley as WR3). Both playbooks were "balanced." The Ravens were "home," but in a neutral stadium (New Orleans Superdome). The 49ers ran the ball 33 times, for 26 yards! Now that feels a little exaggerated. They were intercepted three times and lost a fumble. Their loss was in spite of having more total yards, converting 8 of 17 third downs and having four more minutes of possession. Jerry Rice was even the player of the game (146 yards, TD).
Let's try again:
1994 49ers 17 2000 Ravens 10
Here were some of the changes I made. The 49ers had a West Coast playbook. The Ravens had Priest Holmes as RB1 and Jamal Lewis as RB2. They had a "favor run" playbook. The Ravens were considered the home team, and playing at M&T Bank Stadium (where they play now, but has it always been that stadium?). The temperature was 45 (I think), no rain, medium wind.
I'm not sure how to interpret this box score. Being at home didn't translate to a Ravens win. Jamal Lewis, as the "RB2," had eight more attempts than Priest, plus the only TD (but Priest led in rushing yards). The 49ers gained 85 rushing yards and 78 passing yards. They never turned the ball over. Baltimore dominated in time of possession (34:56) and had 274 total yards. They also gave the ball away four times. You'd probably have to go into the play by play to make sense of those stats (Baltimore driving, but then getting intercepted).
Finally, I made the 49ers the home team, fixed the Baltimore depth chart, and moved the game to Candlestick Park. The weather warmed up to 60, but the winds were still medium.
2000 Ravens 26 1994 49ers 7
The 49ers actually scored first! Then it was a shutout. The Ravens decided to run 43 times for 268 yards. Jamal Lewis had 180 of those, with no TD to show for them (Priest Holmes did that part). Those run stats are the biggest difference I see in the box score. It seems like, if the game came down to the Ravens trying to run 80% of the time, the 49ers wouldn't be able to slow that down.
That's the free tool (or one of them) on that site. What sort of interests me is how you might be able to create your own "Frankenstein" team of the best individual seasons for certain players and then put them into a simulation. This way, though, as I mentioned, it's just a box score. Somehow, watching it happen on Madden or in a video game would seem cooler. If you really go into the details or spend money on the paid products, I'm pretty sure that somebody out there is trying to achieve what I would picture in my mind: let Babe Ruth keep playing into the 1990s, where Randy Johnson is pitching to him. If every team was stacked with All-Star players, would the stats be like their Hall of Fame careers? It would be an experiment to answer those sorts of hypothetical questions.
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