The Biggest What-Ifs of the 2022 NFL Season so Far | News, Scores, Highlights, Stats, and Rumors

Dwelling on hypotheticals is one of the many entertaining aspects of NFL fandom. Throughout the season, there are innumerable things—results, trades, injuries—that could have gone differently, and it’s fun to imagine what could have been.

Reality, after all, is such a buzzkill.

Unfortunately, the NFL season isn’t like a saved franchise on Madden. Teams can’t create a backup file around the trade deadline or before a key game in case something goes wrong. The rest of us can dream, but our internal roster management and predictions don’t change the season.

That, however, doesn’t stop us from wondering anyway. While dozens of scenarios have shaped the 2022 season, we’re exploring five key topics and pondering what might’ve happened in an alternate NFL reality.

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The reality of the situation is uncomplicated: Davante Adams wanted to join the Las Vegas Raiders, and the Green Bay Packers made it happen. That part isn’t worth relitigating.

But exactly how much did Adams overshadow the Packers’ underlying problems on offense?

Although rookie Christian Watson has recently emerged as a big-play weapon, he was quiet for the first two months of the season. During that time, the Packers had a lifeless passing attack and stumbled through a five-game losing streak that included particularly ugly losses to the New York Giants, Washington Commanders and Detroit Lions.

Green Bay’s top three receivers—Allen Lazard, Watson and Randall Cobb—have combined for 96 catches, 1,370 yards and 13 touchdowns. Adams, meanwhile, has 79 grabs for 1,176 yards and an NFL-leading 12 scores.

Again, why Adams is no longer with the Packers is clear. Still if he had remained in Green Bay, wouldn’t they be soundly in the playoff picture at 8-5 rather than on the verge of elimination at 5-8?

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The timing of this hypothetical isn’t ideal, considering a knee injury led to Lamar Jackson’s early exit in the Baltimore Ravens’ recent win against the Denver Broncos. This idea isn’t meant to suggest that bulking up the team’s offensive firepower would’ve prevented Jackson’s health setback, either.

But the Ravens clearly have a weakness at receiver.

Since a foot injury ended Rashod Bateman’s year, Baltimore hasn’t found a reliable target beyond tight end Mark Andrews. Devin Duvernay and Demarcus Robinson play a ton of snaps each weekend, but they’ve each had a pair of one-catch games in the past five weeks. DeSean Jackson is an all-or-nothing piece, and neither James Proche nor Tylan Wallace are consistent contributors.

The result is an offense that ranks 30th in the NFL with only 14 passing gains of 25-plus yards.

Now, the prices for someone like the Denver Broncos’ Jerry Jeudy, Houston Texans’ Brandin Cooks or even New England Patriots’ Kendrick Bourne might’ve been too high. Plus, Baltimore is 8-4 with an extremely favorable slate, so a playoff trip should still happen.

But the near-absence of explosiveness looks likely to doom the Ravens in the postseason. Would the perception be different if they’d managed to bring in a proven receiver?

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You’ve heard it before, you’ll hear it again: Injuries are not a good excuse, because they happen to every team.

That is an undeniable fact. Simultaneously, the Los Angeles Chargers have somehow managed to watch key player after key player join the injured list throughout the season.

Quarterback Justin Herbert (ribs) didn’t practice for much of the season. Wide receivers Keenan Allen (hamstring) sat for seven games, Mike Williams (ankle) has missed four and counting, and Jalen Guyton (knee) is out until 2023. Left tackle Rashawn Slater (biceps) hasn’t played since Week 3, and center Corey Linsley has missed multiple games.

And that’s simply the offense.

Edge-rusher Joey Bosa (groin) exited the same week as Slater. Top cornerback J.C. Jackson and nose tackle Austin Johnson are both sidelined with season-ending knee injuries.

Despite all of that, the Chargers are 6-6 with a legitimate shot at snatching a wild-card spot. But if injuries hadn’t obliterated the roster, the AFC West might actually be a race.

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Here’s a sneaky-fun recent result.

Because the NFC South has struggled so much collectively, the division has slowly drifted off the radar. Sure, one franchise will eventually win it, but an early postseason exit is the expectation.

But, my friends, this division could’ve been incredibly wacky if the New Orleans Saints had clipped Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday night. More precisely, it might’ve happened if Mark Ingram hadn’t shuffled to the sideline a yard shy of the first-down marker because of a knee injury.

Instead, the Saints’ 16-3 advantage with six minutes left in regulation turned into a 17-16 victory for the Bucs, giving them a 1.5-game advantage in the NFC South.

Flip the result, and the division would be an ever greater mess.

Tampa would be 5-7 and only narrowly in front of the 5-8 Atlanta Falcons, 5-8 Saints and 4-8 Carolina Panthers. Awful? You bet! Captivating? In a ruthless sort of way, absolutely!

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Speaking of flipping results, the Minnesota Vikings are on the proper side of a preposterous stat.

Minnesota holds a 10-2 record overall with a 9-0 record in one-possession games, as of Week 13. The unblemished mark is a blend of good coaching, formidable talent and a fair bit of luck. All three factors can coexist without minimizing the Vikings’ success to date.

Nevertheless, we’re talking about very particular moments having a heavy influence on nearly all of Minnesota’s year.

What if the Detroit Lions convert that 4th-and-1? Or the Buffalo Bills don’t botch a goal-line snap? Or the New York Jets score a touchdown in three goal-to-go plays at the one? And on and on.

The idea of reversing Minnesota’s one-score record is jarring, considering the Vikings would be 1-11. That feels unnecessarily dramatic.

They are, nonetheless, a reminder of just how thin margins can be. If even a handful of bounces don’t go Minnesota’s way, the NFC North might have been viewed as another subpar division.