Picking Who You Play - Bal Vs Dal

[WinnipegRaven]

This may be a question easily answered with a reasonable explanation. I have thought about it for a while and just can't wrap my head around how the heck they work it....

Schedule

I kept hearing how Jerry Jones "hand picked" the Ravens to play against for the last game of last season. Apparently he thought the C-OW!boys were going to steam roll us in the last game in Cowboys Stadium which we all know didn't happen - teehee!

Anyway, we know it turned out to be a very important game for both teams, the winner advancing to the playoffs.

So how the hell can one man pick and choose who his team plays and when? Obviously I am not complaining - I actually salivate at the idea of Jones wiggling around in his Armani suit thinking "Oh god what have I done" especially given the lofty expectations the C-OW!boys had at the beginning of the year - odds on SB favorites to not making the playoffs thanks to our beloved team.

Anyone know how or when or why this was possible?

[YYZ66]

[quote name='WinnipegRaven' date='18 September 2009 - 02:58 PM' timestamp='1253296736' post='236848']
This may be a question easily answered with a reasonable explanation. I have thought about it for a while and just can't wrap my head around how the heck they work it....

Schedule

I kept hearing how Jerry Jones "hand picked" the Ravens to play against for the last game of last season. Apparently he thought the C-OW!boys were going to steam roll us in the last game in Cowboys Stadium which we all know didn't happen - teehee!

Anyway, we know it turned out to be a very important game for both teams, the winner advancing to the playoffs.

So how the hell can one man pick and choose who his team plays and when? Obviously I am not complaining - [b]I actually salivate at the idea of Jones wiggling around in his Armani suit thinking "Oh god what have I done" especially given the lofty expectations the C-OW!boys had at the beginning of the year - odds on SB favorites to not making the playoffs thanks to our beloved team.[/b]
Anyone know how or when or why this was possible?
[/quote]

Yes, that's an awesome thought of Jerry "scoreboard" Jones!
That's a great question, never really thought about it. We've all heard about how the Ravens declined the opening game against the Steelers. I hope someone knows the answer!

[jfc13]

I don't know, I just figured that teams could make "requests" before the schedule is made - not what team they are going to play, that's all figured out by the formula, and maybe not even which games are home or away, but the date and time of the game. Of course, all requests can't be honored, but the league might try to work with the teams to keep everyone happy.

[MagicianCamille]

Well I imagine he only got to pick from the list of teams his team was already going to play that year. He just got the chance to decide when one of those games would be played because it was going to be the last game at Texas Stadium, which was kind of a big deal.

As for the Ravens, I imagine there they just made a reasonable request due to keeping things fair and the NFL either agreed with them or were going to go with the Titans anyway.

[CorvusCorax]

[quote name='jfc13' date='18 September 2009 - 02:31 PM' timestamp='1253298716' post='236861']
I don't know, I just figured that teams could make "requests" before the schedule is made - not what team they are going to play, that's all figured out by the formula, and maybe not even which games are home or away, but the date and time of the game. Of course, all requests can't be honored, but the league might try to work with the teams to keep everyone happy.
[/quote]

We were scheduled to play Dallas as they were in the NFC East. However, I'm certain JJones wanted to close out their stadium with a 5-11 (2007)team and selected/requested us.

[MagicianCamille]

I don't have any ill will over Jerry picking us. We sucked two years ago. I might have picked us too. He was doing what he thought was best for his franchise.

[CorvusCorax]

And boy did he think wrong!

[darklight1216]

[quote name='MagicianCamille' date='18 September 2009 - 02:39 PM' timestamp='1253299146' post='236871']
I don't have any ill will over Jerry picking us. We sucked two years ago. I might have picked us too. He was doing what he thought was best for his franchise.
[/quote]
I don't know... if I know that my team is going to face teams like the Rams, Bengals, and Ravens, I'd probably go with a team that is consistently bad instead of a team which one year prior to the 5-11 record had taken their division.
But hey, I'm not complaining. It would have been a much tougher game if we'd played in a month that wasn't December.

[Moderator 2]

AND that is what made that win so beautiful:lol: Its like homecoming in highschool and college, you schedule the weaker opponent that day for a feel good story. The Ravens did not play their best football in 2007 so I guess they looked like the weakest AFCN team.

[MagicianCamille]

[quote name='darklight1216' date='18 September 2009 - 04:22 PM' timestamp='1253305331' post='236927']
I don't know... if I know that my team is going to face teams like the Rams, Bengals, and Ravens, I'd probably go with a team that is consistently bad instead of a team which one year prior to the 5-11 record had taken their division.
But hey, I'm not complaining. It would have been a much tougher game if we'd played in a month that wasn't December.
[/quote]

He probably went "Well the Dolphins are the worst team in the league, who'd they manage to beat?".

[BuckWilds]

[quote name='Moderator 2' date='18 September 2009 - 05:12 PM' timestamp='1253308379' post='236958']
AND that is what made that win so beautiful:lol: Its like homecoming in highschool and college, you schedule the weaker opponent that day for a feel good story. The Ravens did not play their best football in 2007 so I guess they looked like the weakest AFCN team.
[/quote]

Yeah, it's pretty funny when it goes south 'Homecoming style'. I played for a small private high school that got scheduled for 6 homecomings in one year in 3 different states (since we were private, we played anyone, anywhere) because our school was tiny. Little did the opposing teams know we would be state champions that year and the next, and we went 10-0 in visiting homecoming games in 2 years.

Sadly, they stopped scheduling our school for Homecomings... It's nice to see the 'homecoming burn' happens at all levels.