What If: Sean Taylor Hadn't Been Killed

On November 26, 2007 four men broke into a house that they assumed was empty. Tragically it wasn't. The house belong to Washington safety Sean Taylor. Taylor was home with his girlfriend and daughter. Long story short, Taylor was shot and killed. It has been said that if the bullet would have been an eighth of an inch up, down, left or right, he would have survived. This moment helped lead to the downfall of Washington as a Super Bowl contender. But what if the injuries he suffered hasn't been fatal? What if Sean Taylor had survived?

What if...

Sean Taylor would not have returned to play in the 2007 season due to being shot and suffering an infection in the team's facilities trying to come back quickly. This gets a lot of media attention and the medical staff is fired, which will be important later. Washington still goes 9-7 and loses to the Seahawks in the Wild Card. On a side note Joe Gibbs decides to retire from coaching and focus on NASCAR. With no good options, Washington owner Daniel Snyder hires Art Shell as the new coach, passing up on Jim Zorn.

Now we get to the 2008 offseason. The draft will stay as it is because there are no changes in the standings and therefore no need to change selections. That isn't great for Washington, which doesn't have a first round pick and still selects two future WR busts, Devin Thomas and Michael Kelly, in the second round. Aside from Fred Davis at tight end, nobody in the draft is going to have much of an impact for Washington. In free agency it's unfortunately more of the same, but besides re signing a couple of guys and giving Mark Brunell a one year deal at quarterback, there is no need to be spending big money.

2008 season: Here is where things get interesting. With Sean Taylor returning to play, Washington goes out and starts 7-1. This can happen because they originally started 6-2. With the addition of Taylor, 7-1 is reasonable. Much like the real 2008 team, this squad will unfortunately have a rough middle stretch but will still finish 9-7, one game better than Washington actually did. That isn't enough to make the playoffs but it's still better than they did in real life. They are still last place in the division due to tiebreakers. But on a bright note Taylor finishes 3rd in Defensive Player of the Year voting and makes another Pro Bowl. The Steelers will keep the Lombardi Trophy they won in 2008, but changes are coming.

2009 Offseason: We have changes finally. Washington will move back to pick 16, thus missing out on Brian Orakpo. Instead, with the 16th pick they select linebacker Clay Matthews. In the second round, instead of trading the pick for a old Jason Taylor, they will use the 44th pick and select Lesean McCoy to replace the aging Clinton Portis in the backfield. The rest of the draft stays as it originally was, but Washington has gotten better already. Art Shell is fired as coach because he wanted more power. As a result, Washington signs Mike Shanahan a year earlier than in the original timeline.

Dan Snyder is at a party with Sean Taylor and some other players two days before free agency begins. Taylor has a cold and Snyder catches it, which means Snyder sleeps late because he took too much cold medicine and misses out on signing Albert Haynesworth. This means that they can spend money elsewhere in the future like for DeAngelo Hall. Besides that there are just small changes that aren't worth to mention... yet.

2009 season: Shanahan does not trade for Donavan McNabb and instead trusts Jason Campbell at quarterback for one more year. Snyder objects, but Shanahan says "why would the Eagles trade a quarterback to a division rival unless they knew he was really bad?" But Washington does trade safety LaRon Landry to the Texans in exchange for a first round pick and a fifth round pick. The Texans will go 9-7 but won't make the playoffs. Washington will win the same amount of games, as Campbell plays awful and is eventually cut. It also doesn't help that players like Mathews and Hall get injured. Taylor wins DPOY, and McCoy win Offensive Rookie of the Year. In the Super Bowl the Saints will win but bounty gate comes to life earlier.

2010 offseason: Washington picks Trent Williams with its own first round pick. Then with the Texans first round pick, 20th, they decide to take Dez Bryant because the team needs another receiver. In the second round, because they never traded for Mcnabb, Washington still has its pick and takes a tight end, someone named Rob Gronkowski. The rest of the draft stays the same, except that in the 6th round Washington take wide receiver Antonio Brown.

2010 Season: With the new additions to offense and the defense finally staying healthy, Washington has an amazing year, going 11-5. That is enough to win the division and earn the No. 3 seed in the NFC. McCoy comes in third in the Offensive Player of the Year voting and Taylor wins DPOY and Walter Payton Man of the Year. But unfortunately, in the playoffs Washington faces Aaron Rodgers who is just too much for the defense to handle. Washington loses 31-30.

2011 offseason: Washington can't take Ryan Kerrigan because since they went 11-5 they don't have the 10th overall pick and then don't trade it to Jacksonville for the pick that became Kerrigan. So you are probably asking... what happens now? The Eagles have that pick but because Michael Vick struggled the previous year, they don't trade the pick and take Blaine Gabbert. Washington picks Cameron Jordan with his first round pick, which it can do because the Saints lost their first round pick for 3 years because of bounty gate. In the second round Washington takes Torrey Smith because he's from Maryland and can be the slot receiver and a true #3 receiver. As for free agency, they DO NOT sign O.J. Atogwe for 5 years, $26 million because they need to pay Sean Taylor. They try for a quarterbacks but no one signs due to a "necessary" lockout for a bit of free agency. So their quarterback is Scott Tolzien as a undrafted rookie. Washington offers Taylor the highest salary ever for a safety, but he wants to be paid like a linebacker or cornerback so he holds out.

2011 Season: The wheels completely fall off due to Taylor's holdout and poor play from Tolzien, and the team finishes 6-10. Williams makes a Pro Bowl, along with Brown and McCoy. I will be nice and let the Giants keep their Super Bowl. Rumor has it that Shanahan may be fired because of the team's poor performance and growing tension with Snyder. Also Washington needs to fix their QB situation, but how?

2012 offseason: Washington solves its coaching problem by replacing Shanahan with ... Shanahan. For the new head coach Washington gives their interim coach job to Kyle Shanahan, Mike's son. It names Sean McVay offensive coordinator, and the defensive cordinator is the recently fired Lovie Smith. Snyder finishes cleaning house by firing the current GM who was... himself. Kyle Shanahan instead becomes both coach and GM. Washington still trades up to pick Robert Griffin III, but instead of picking Kirk Cousins they will pick a offensive linemen and the best one available is Bobby Massie. In the 5th round they will pick Josh Norman and in the 6th they will still pick Alfred Morris. In free agency they sign Carlos Rodgers for 3 years and they still re sign London Fletcher. Taylor also signs a 6 year $90 million with $44.5 million guaranteed, making him the highest paid safety in NFL history

2012 season: The team bounces back and goes 12-4 with a top 5 defense and a top 10 offense. Offensive Rookie of the Year RGIII throws for over 3,000 yards and rushes for 900 yards. RGIII gets hurt in Week 17 against the Cowboys but because Washington has a bye week as the #2 seed, he is able to heal up and not be rushed back to play. The MVP goes to Taylor who becomes the first safety to win MVP. Morris rushes for 1,000 yards and McCoy runs for 1,500 yards.

Playoffs: Washington's first playoff game is against the Packers after Green Bay beats Seattle in the wild card. Unlike in their previous matchup, Washington defense is too much for Aaron Rodgers as McCoy, Smith, and Brown dominate in a 31-7 win. In the NFC Championship Game, Washington plays the 49ers. Collin Kaepernick balls out, but in the final minute he is sacked by Matthews and loses the ball and is picked up by Sean Taylor, who returns it for a touchdown to give Washington the lead and ultimately a 35-28 win.

Super Bowl 47 AKA the BELTWAY BOWL: Its Ravens VS Washington. Flacco vs Griffin. John Harbaugh vs Kyle Shanahan. In the first half, Flacco struggles with 3 interceptions, including a Pick 6 by Taylor. Besides that, Griffin rushes for one touchdown and throws one to Gronk. The score at halftime is 21-0. The second half starts with a kickoff return touchdown by Smith to make the score 28-0.

Then, suddenly, the power goes out. It stays out for 30 minutes, sucking all of Washington's momentum away. While this is happening, sources report that Snyder is livid at commissioner Roger Goodell, screaming at him because he believes Goodell turned off the power. He even grabs the Lombardi Trophy and tries to throw it at Goodell, but it is too heavy for him and Goodell's bodyguards subdue him. Snyder is apparently kicked out of the game and punishments are coming.

Anyway back to the game... the first play back was a 80 yard run by Ray Rice. Morris then fumbled and Ray Lewis returned it to the 5 yard line. Flacco then hit Jacoby Jones to make the score 28-14. On the next Washington drive Griffin threw a deep ball to Bryant who Mosses Ed Reed to give Washington the ball at the one. The Ravens D then made a goal line stand and Washington is forced to take a field goal to make the score 31-14. We get to the fourth quarter and the Ravens proceed to score 17 straight points in 10 minutes. With five minutes left the score is 31-31. McVay then calls a read option run and Griffin runs 80 yards and goes into the end zone to make the score 38-31. The Ravens have the ball with 4:20 left and they are down by 7. Flacco steps back and throws a ball to Jones but Taylor pics it and returns it for a touchdown. Taylor then celebrates by throwing his helmet in excitement and screams "YEAH LETS F--ING GO." Now down 14, Flacco throws another pic to Taylor who is tackled at the 25 yard line. The clock then runs out and Washington WINS THE SUPER BOWL. Taylor and Griffin get co-Super Bowl MVP and start to celebrate.

2013 offseason: The defending champs first have to deal with an internal struggle. Snyder Is forced to sell due to the backlash from all the other owners, media and Roger Goodell. Joe Gibbs takes a small stake in the team, but becomes the face of the new regime and therefore is seen as the new owner Washington. For free agency, Bryant, Brown, Jordan, McCoy, Hall, Gronk and Williams all re-sign. In the second round instead of taking some scrub named David Amerson, Washington takes Tyrann Mathieu. Matthews is then traded to the Green Bay Packers for a 2015 fifth round pick as well David Bakhtiari. It's not all good news: Washington doesn't pick Jordan Reed and instead picks a bust in Will Davis. Besides that Washington trades Torrey Smith to the Rams in exchange for their first round pick the following year, since they don't have the money to re-sign him.

2013 season: Griffin and McCoy dominate as they each rush for over 1,000 yards. Taylor finishes with 5 sacks and 13 ints. The MVP however goes to Eli Manning! Wait, whoops, they read the wrong name. Peyton actually won MVP (sorry Eli). The Giants also make the playoffs at 10-6 as a wildcard team. Washington merely goes 11-5 and gets the 3 seed. Now lets get to the playoffs.

Playoffs: On wild card Sunday Washington plays the Giants. In a defensive battle, Washington barley holds on to win on a 55 yard field goal by undrafted kicker Justin Tucker. But in the divisional round, the 49ers get their revenge and Washington loses 17-9.

2014 offseason: Lets get the draft out of the way Washington picks 14 and takes Aaron Donald. Washington won't be able to trade the second round pick to Dallas, so sorry Cowboy fans, you don't get DeMarcus Lawrence. You do however get Kony Ealy, so that's ok I guess. The rest of the draft besides minor changes will stay the same. In free agency Washington will resign Griffin and Morris and call it a day.

2014 season: 3-13! Shanahan is fired and McVay is promoted to head coach. Taylor gets hurt and everyone has a down year. Happens to the best organizations sometimes.

2015 offseason: In the draft, Washington takes the Brandon Scherff, Eric Rowe, Craig Mager, T. J. Clemmings,Stefon Diggs,and trade the rest of the picks. For free agency McCoy gets his deal. Taylor whose contract currently has 4 years left, restructures his deal and ads on another two year, $20 million contract. For his new offensive coordinator, McVay promotes Matt Lafleur who was still on the coaching staff who he has gotten too like. The general manger position is filled by Andy Reid.

2015 season: Washington proceeds to go 15-1 with the best offense and best defense in the league. Washington offensive line only gives up 4 sacks and everyones moral is happy. Taylor wins DPOY, and Diggs wins OROY. OPOY goes to McCoy who racks up 2,000 rushing yards. Griffin leads the league in passing yards, touchdowns, and QBR. Taylor leads the league in INTS, and passes defended. McVay wins Coach of the year and the MVP goes to... RGIII. But now lets get to the playoffs.

2015 playoffs: Washington is the #1 seed so they get a bye through wild card weekend. The Panthers by the way are the #2 seed with a solid 14-2 record. That pushes the 13-3 Cardinals to the #3 seed who will now play the #6 seed Seahawks. They will win that game and destroy the Seahawks 42-3. The Seahawks are injured and barley even made the playoffs. We also get Vikings vs Packers in the wild card round where we see Teddy Bridgewater pull out a win as the Packers defense is still garbage. Washington easily gets through Adrian Peterson and the Vikings while the Panthers are upset by the Cardinals thanks to Carson Palmer's Hail Mary. Washington easily gets by the Cardinals, setting up a Washington vs Broncos Super bowl.

2015 Super Bowl: Its Super Bowl 50. The Denver defense vs the Washington offense. Unlike in real life Denver gets absolutely destroyed and its not even close. Griffin plays decent but Taylor plays out of his mind with four sacks, two interceptions and a forced fumble. The final score is 56-8. Taylor gets MVP and everyone celebrates again.

We have now gone through the best parts of Taylors career so I will now summarize the rest...

After 2015 Washington won't be able to win another Super Bowl with this team, as they have to start paying players and will lose a couple of guys to free agency time and time again. Trent Williams is treated for cancer immediately because the new medical staff catches it quicker, so that whole holdout never happens. In the offseason Peyton Manning wants one more crack at a Super Bowl so he signs with Atlanta and will ultimately win Super Bowl 51. This means the the Falcons aren't known as the chokers they are today. Sean McVay never goes to the Rams so Jared Goff won't break out. Washington does still change its team name but its to the Washington RedHawks. As for Sean Taylor, he will be known as the greatest safety to ever play the game and is inducted in the Hall of Fame in 2024, five years after his retirement in 2019. Taylor's No. 21 is never worn in Washington again and is retired by the team.

Sean Taylor could've and should've had a amazing career. So that is where this story ends.

I'll see you next time in the playoff preview!.