[SplitPersonality1]

Week Three recap
2013 San Diego Chargers (9-7, 0-2) at 1998 Minnesota Vikings (15-1, 2-0)
In RL, the 2013 Chargers barely got into the playoffs, upset a heavily favored Bengals team in the wildcard game, and promptly lost to the Broncos in the Division game. I did not suspect they would do much in this tourney and sitting at 0-2, they were proving me right.

The Chargers opened up the game with a quick td pass from Philip Rivers to Keenan Allen. Robert Smith answered back on the next drive to tie it up. 7-7 after one. The Vikings took the lead early in the second with a Leroy Hoard 17-yd run, but then the offense just disappeared. The Chargers got a rushing td followed by another Rivers to Allen pass, this time from 52 yards out. Chargers up 21-14 at the half.

The only score in the third was a Gary Anderson field goal for Minnesota. Four and a half minutes to go in the game, Cunningham hit Leroy Hoard from 1 yard out to take a 24-21 lead. Philip Rivers goes nuts hitting every pass in the next drive (helped by two very stupid encroachment penalties by MIN) and finally connects with Danny Woodhead to go up 28-24 with just 53 seconds on the clock.

The Vikings start out on their own 21. Cunningham to Hatchette for 10 yards. Cunningham scrambles for 5 before going out of bounds. 38 seconds left. Incomplete pass. Cunningham to Smith for 21 and he gets out of bounds. Ball at the 43 with 24 seconds left. Incomplete pass. Incomplete pass. Just 18 ticks remain. Cunningham to Cris Carter for 16 and he just scoots out of bounds. Two seconds left on the clock. Cunningham throws a jump ball to the endzone and Randy Moss comes down with it as time expires. Vikings get a big scare from the Chargers but win a thriller 30-28. Whew. Go Vikes.

Philip Rivers was the Player of the Game with 307 yards and 3 td’s

Around the League
1985 Chicago Bears (15-1, 1-0) at 1984 St. Louis Cardinals (9-7, 1-1)
The mighty ’85 Bears looked bad against a weak Cardinals squad and go down 26-9. McMahon was just 13-23 for 173 with 1 td and 1 int. Walter Payton was held to 57 yards and kicker Kevin Butler missed both field goal attempts. DE Curtis Greer of St. Louis was Player of the game with three sacks.

1972 Miami Dolphins (14-0, 1-0) at 1977 New England Patriots (9-5, 1-1)
The Dolphins remain perfect and win a defensive battle by a score of 10-7. Neither team had 100 passing yards.

The Division of Doom
1997 Denver Broncos (12-4, 0-1) at 1959 Pittsburgh Steelers (6-5-1, 1-1)
The Steelers are all over the Super Bowl Champs and win 19-9.

1989 Cleveland Browns (9-6-1, 2-0) at 2011 Green Bay Packers (15-1, 0-2)
The Pack and the Browns play a back and forth see-saw kind of a game, but in the end, Aaron Rodgers and company go down 30-27.

1993 Kansas City Chiefs (11-5, 0-2) at 1948 Cleveland Browns (14-0, 2-0)
The surprising ’48 Browns keep their unbeaten streak alive and win easily over the Chiefs 23-13. I guess the only reason it is surprising is the fact that 1940s teams rarely fare well in the WhatIfSports NFL simulations. I notice a strong bias for modern-era clubs.

Of the teams that I thought would be vying for the division, only the ’48 Browns have a winning record. The Division of Doom has turned out to be a Division of Duds.

Surprise of the Week
The ’85 Bears loss is easily the most surprising thing in week three. I expected them to lose a few games during the season; after all, they are playing a playoff caliber team each and every week. I was just amazed that they lost to this particular team. I rated the ’84 Cardinals dead last in Division 1985.