Texas A&M Football: How Haynes King’s mid-October return can help CFP chances

The Texas A&M Football team had a heartbreaking moment during their Week 2 football game against Colorado when Haynes King went down with a leg injury. He wouldn’t return and the Texas A&M Football team’s offense struggled mightily.

Fast forward a couple of days and King has been given a mid-October return date, which should strike fear in A&M fans’ hearts. This was originally reported by On3 Sports on Monday afternoon.

There’s no way to spin it positively — this is bad news for a Texas A&M Football team that has National Championship aspirations. But there may be a silver lining attached.

The Texas A&M Football team’s chances of making the playoff may have just improved

Again, there’s no doubt that the Texas A&M Football team will be worse off without King, but it could stand to benefit them. Here’s how.

For starters, A&M already had a relatively small chance to win against Alabama. Last season, A&M was blown out despite having their roster fully intact. With a new offense and a ‘Bama team that already looks unstoppable, it’s hard to say with confidence that the Aggies would have been able to get the win.

Let’s say, hypothetically, that Texas A&M ends up losing the game against Alabama in 2021. The same logic that kept them out of the College Football Playoff a season ago could have kept them out again this season. At full strength, they couldn’t beat ‘Bama — why would you put them in a competition that pins the two teams against one another again?

But with King out, the logic could be formed that the Aggies, even with a loss against Alabama, could have a better offensive performance and win a College Football Playoff game against the Crimson Tide. We don’t know the team’s full potential if the quarterback wasn’t around for the first rodeo.

To put it simply, here’s what I’m trying to say. If Texas A&M would have lost anyway, Haynes King’s absence may be an excuse that allows a one-loss Aggie team to enter the elite postseason competition.

Still, this may be a bit of a stretch. After all, the offense looked bad for the entirety of the game, even before King was injured. After a pretty solid game from Zach Calzada, you’d be delusional to say that the quarterback change has made a huge difference.

Plus, in order for this theory to work, you have to already believe that A&M didn’t have much of a chance against the Tide in the first place. How can any true fan say that they didn’t have confidence after this team’s Week 1 performance?

I’m grasping at straws here — can you blame me?