The one thing I hate about the Rams game already... (1 Viewer)

[GrandAdmiral]

The late 3:05pm start time is not because of the Rams. The real reason is that the Bayou Classic is being played on Saturday afternoon. The late kickoff on Sunday gives more time to clean up and prepare for the Saints to play.

Didn't even think about this. Good point to bring up.

 

[faceman]

Sure…but of all times to do this, they absolutely had to give us a home game this particular weekend, and it JUST so happens to be the Rams game, the one home game we have against a west coast team that would love the most to have a 3:00 start? Not to mention I don't know if we have EVER had a home game scheduled the day after the Bayou Classic, at least none in recent history, and the one time they (presumably) needed it to happen, of all games, they chose the Rams game to be the one that coincides with it?

I wasn’t born yesterday, Roger!

Everything to know about the NFL schedule and how it works

How does the NFL schedule release come together? Here’s a look at who creates it and what factors play a role in making it.

www.nbcsportsboston.com

It would appear the schedule makers knew about the Bayou Classic. From the article

On top of that, they need to be aware of potential schedule conflicts. The league begins gathering information from teams in January about what events could cause logistical issues, such as concerts at the stadium or other sporting events at nearby venues.

 

[St. Geezy]

Everything to know about the NFL schedule and how it works

How does the NFL schedule release come together? Here’s a look at who creates it and what factors play a role in making it.

www.nbcsportsboston.com

It would appear the schedule makers knew about the Bayou Classic. From the article

On top of that, they need to be aware of potential schedule conflicts. The league begins gathering information from teams in January about what events could cause logistical issues, such as concerts at the stadium or other sporting events at nearby venues.

Yes, I am well aware of that. That said, and call me a skeptic all you want, I still think the elements I laid out are wildly too convenient.

It may not be so much as Saints hate but rather a convenient Rams favor.

 

[FLIPPY]

Gives more drinking time.

 

[DaveXA]

The late 3:05pm start time is not because of the Rams. The real reason is that the Bayou Classic is being played on Saturday afternoon. The late kickoff on Sunday gives more time to clean up and prepare for the Saints to play.

While it's true that there was a game the day before and it takes time to clean up, change the field and and it's a lot of work, it's not like they don't have the manpower and ability to have it ready for a noon kickoff the next day. It's been done before. Maybe there are other considerations but color me skeptical.

 

[St. Geezy]

Don’t put anything past the favoritism level or pettiness level of the schedule-makers.

These are the same people that made sure that the 7 teams that voted against the league resolution forcing teams to have second Thursday night game each played in one of the four Thursday night games featuring teams that already had had one that year.

You read that correctly, 7 of the 8 teams forced to play a second Thursday night game were the 7 teams that opposed the league’s desire for it.

There are subtle jabs at teams and hidden favoritism measures taken every year. It’s a very human-influenced process, and I am quite certain Roger has some level of influence on it as well.

They didn’t HAVE to give us a home game this weekend and they certainly didn’t have to just so happen to make it a west coast team, arguably the most favored west coast team of them all’s, preferred 3:00 game.

 

[DaveXA]

Don’t put anything past the favoritism level or pettiness level of the schedule-makers.

These are the same people that made sure that the 7 teams that voted against the league resolution forcing teams to have second Thursday night game each played in one of the four Thursday night games featuring teams that already had had one that year.

You read that correctly, 7 of the 8 teams forced to play a second Thursday night game were the 7 teams that opposed the league’s desire for it.

There are subtle jabs at teams and hidden favoritism measures taken every year. It’s a very human-influenced process, and I am quite certain Roger has some level of influence on it as well.

They didn’t HAVE to give us a home game this weekend and they certainly didn’t have to just so happen to make it a west coast team, arguably the most favored west coast team of them all’s, preferred 3:00 game.

Yep. It's absolutely not a coincidence or accident.

 

[St. Geezy]

Here’s something else worth analyzing if someone wants to do a deep dive…

Obviously there are two teams in L.A. that share a stadium, which means for the most part these two teams almost never play at home on the same weekend, and conversely it means they would rarely play on the road on the same weekend.

These two teams just so happen to play on the road on this same upcoming weekend, the one weekend the Saints, if they were to have a home game, just so happen to have needed for it to be a 3:00 game.

What this means is that some things needed to be moved around to effectively provide the Rams with the relief of not having a noon kickoff for this one particular game.

I don’t have the time to do it right now, but I’d imagine what’s occurring this weekend, with both L.A. teams being on the road together, may happen from time to time, but I would imagine it is very rare, and I find it EXTREMELY implausible for this to just be a random occurrence that happens to coincide with this Saints schedule quirk requirement.

It’s so obvious to anyone with a trained eye to see how intentional this was to throw the Rams a bone and keep them away from the dreaded “West coast team traveling east to play at noon” scenario of doom and/or keep us from having this once in a blue moon scheduling advantage, against one of the league’s darling teams. Literal effort was put into this, including having us play on this Bayou Classic weekend in the first place (I’d imagine also a rarity, as I don’t recall this ever being a problem in the past).

 

[Saint KayBee]

Or option C, don’t have both of these two unique matchups under unique circumstances on the very same Sunday.

New York also deals with it every single week, and it impacts their opponents too. I don’t see this as being much worth fussing over. The Monday night-Sunday afternoon-Thursday night stretch was much more dreadful than whatever this is.

 

[DaveXA]

New York also deals with it every single week, and it impacts their opponents too.

Its absolutely not every single week. Scheduling, while there are certainly logistics involved, isn't THAT complicated.

I don’t see this as being much worth fussing over. The Monday night-Sunday afternoon-Thursday night stretch was much more dreadful than whatever this is.

I'm not saying it's a huge deal, but giving the Rams a late game slot when that's not a customary thing for West coast teams is at minimum a questionable thing, and at worst blatant favoritism for the Rams, who have historically gotten friendly calls when playing the Saints.

I'm not sure it affects the game, and hopefully it doesn't, but it's definitely a head-scratcher.

 

[Saint KayBee]

First, this season:

Chargers and Rams were both scheduled as the away team in 2024 3 times: week 2, week 9, and this week. I will give all kickoff times as eastern time, to help my brain keep everything consistent with what I’m reading. In week 2- Chargers went to Carolina at 1 and won, Rams went to Arizona at 4 and got destroyed. In week 9- Chargers went to Cleveland at 1 and won, Rams went to Seattle at 4 and won in OT. In week 13- Chargers are going to Atlanta at 1, Rams are coming here at 4.

Interestingly they’ve also both been scheduled at home three times: weeks 8, 10, and 12. Games and results for the Chargers: vs. NO @ 4pm (W), vs. TEN @4 (W), vs. BAL on MNF (L). Rams: vs. MIN on TNF (W), vs. MIA on MNF (L), vs. PHI on SNF (L).

The problem with trying to do the “these two games could have been flipped” is then solving for other advantages/disadvantages that could grow from them, such as a team winding up with four straight road games, or going too long (or too closely) between games vs. a division rival, and so forth. There’s always a third team that gets involved, then a fourth, and the next thing you know the whole thing winds up not being a clean break from “just swap games x and y” afterall.

Now for Saints, the Bayou Classic, and the Superdome:

2024- home, 4pm kick
2023- @atl
2022- @SF
2021- played on Thanksgiving
2020- Bayou Classic postponed til April
2019- played on Thanksgiving
2018- played on Thanksgiving
2017- @LAR
2016- home, 1pm kick (the Brandin Cooks anti-game)
2015- @HOU
2014- @PIT
2013- @SEA
2012- home, vs SF, 4:25 kick
2011- home, MNF
2010- played on Thanksgiving (we have now covered every Saints’ appearance on Thanksgiving)
2009- home, MNF
2008- @TB
2007- @CAR
2006- @atl
2005- Katrina season
2004- @atl
2003- @WSH
2002- home, SNF
2001- @NE
2000- @STL
1999- @STL
1998- @MIA
1997- @CAR
1996- home, 4pm kick
1995- home, SNF
1994- home, MNF


What I’m willing to conclude after looking at 30 years of data is that they’ll either try to get the Saints on the road/out of the way of the Bayou Classic, or have them play an unavoidable home game out of the early time slot. Only one time - 2016 - have the Saints played at home, vs. a west coast team, and maintained the early kickoff. They don’t usually get it regardless the opponent’s geographic location. The other seven home non-Thanksgiving day games in this 30-year stretch all got bumped to midday or a night time kick.

 

[St. Geezy]

First, this season:

Chargers and Rams were both scheduled as the away team in 2024 3 times: week 2, week 9, and this week. I will give all kickoff times as eastern time, to help my brain keep everything consistent with what I’m reading. In week 2- Chargers went to Carolina at 1 and won, Rams went to Arizona at 4 and got destroyed. In week 9- Chargers went to Cleveland at 1 and won, Rams went to Seattle at 4 and won in OT. In week 13- Chargers are going to Atlanta at 1, Rams are coming here at 4.

Interestingly they’ve also both been scheduled at home three times: weeks 8, 10, and 12. Games and results for the Chargers: vs. NO @ 4pm (W), vs. TEN @4 (W), vs. BAL on MNF (L). Rams: vs. MIN on TNF (W), vs. MIA on MNF (L), vs. PHI on SNF (L).

The problem with trying to do the “these two games could have been flipped” is then solving for other advantages/disadvantages that could grow from them, such as a team winding up with four straight road games, or going too long (or too closely) between games vs. a division rival, and so forth. There’s always a third team that gets involved, then a fourth, and the next thing you know the whole thing winds up not being a clean break from “just swap games x and y” afterall.

Now for Saints, the Bayou Classic, and the Superdome:

2024- home, 4pm kick
2023- @atl
2022- @SF
2021- played on Thanksgiving
2020- Bayou Classic postponed til April
2019- played on Thanksgiving
2018- played on Thanksgiving
2017- @LAR
2016- home, 1pm kick (the Brandin Cooks anti-game)
2015- @HOU
2014- @PIT
2013- @SEA
2012- home, vs SF, 4:25 kick
2011- home, MNF
2010- played on Thanksgiving (we have now covered every Saints’ appearance on Thanksgiving)
2009- home, MNF
2008- @TB
2007- @CAR
2006- @atl
2005- Katrina season
2004- @atl
2003- @WSH
2002- home, SNF
2001- @NE
2000- @STL
1999- @STL
1998- @MIA
1997- @CAR
1996- home, 4pm kick
1995- home, SNF
1994- home, MNF


What I’m willing to conclude after looking at 30 years of data is that they’ll either try to get the Saints on the road/out of the way of the Bayou Classic, or have them play an unavoidable home game out of the early time slot. Only one time - 2016 - have the Saints played at home, vs. a west coast team, and maintained the early kickoff. They don’t usually get it regardless the opponent’s geographic location. The other seven home non-Thanksgiving day games in this 30-year stretch all got bumped to midday or a night time kick.

Great info...thanks for compiling all of this data.

So it looks like after Sunday, we will have done the home, 4:00 kick three times in 30 years as a result of Bayou Classic - once versus SF, twice versus the Rams (once while they were in St. Louis and also a divisional opponent in the same central time zone as us). It probably should also be noted that the SF game was a 4:25 slot game, meaning it was of national significance, as it was a rematch of the 2011 Divisional Playoffs, while this upcoming Rams game is of the "Ho hum," "Not a big game" variety.

Some would say we were due, but I am still a cynic and don't trust anything coming from Park Ave. as it relates to the Saints, and especially not when it also involves the Rams.

At the end of the day though, may the best team win.

 

[Saint KayBee]

Its absolutely not every single week. Scheduling, while there are certainly logistics involved, isn't THAT complicated.

New York City/metro absolutely deals with “who’s the home team, and how does this affect the local TV schedule” every single week. If the Giants are at home on 1, the Jets are most likely to be a) going somewhere else and playing at a different time; b) on a bye week; or c) their opponent. The Jets are definitely not going to be at home at any point that Sunday, and probably won’t be the home team on any alternate date either unless they burn a home team designation playing in London or Timbuktu or wherever Rog wants an NFL game. This is the foremost drawback to sharing a stadium, and now the NFL’s two largest media markets’ teams all do it.

I'm not saying it's a huge deal, but giving the Rams a late game slot when that's not a customary thing for West coast teams is at minimum a questionable thing, and at worst blatant favoritism for the Rams, who have historically gotten friendly calls when playing the Saints.

I'm not sure it affects the game, and hopefully it doesn't, but it's definitely a head-scratcher.

I hope it doesn’t impact the game either but the more devious thing to do is to play the west coast team traveling east in the early kick slots, especially now that bindings by division are less strenuous.

All told, I’m struggling to get to the conclusion of “the NFL is wrong for what it did to the Saints” here.

 

[St. Geezy]

New York City/metro absolutely deals with “who’s the home team, and how does this affect the local TV schedule” every single week. If the Giants are at home on 1, the Jets are most likely to be a) going somewhere else and playing at a different time; b) on a bye week; or c) their opponent. The Jets are definitely not going to be at home at any point that Sunday, and probably won’t be the home team on any alternate date either unless they burn a home team designation playing in London or Timbuktu or wherever Rog wants an NFL game. This is the foremost drawback to sharing a stadium, and now the NFL’s two largest media markets’ teams all do it.



I hope it doesn’t impact the game either but the more devious thing to do is to play the west coast team traveling east in the early kick slots, especially now that bindings by division are less strenuous.

All told, I’m struggling to get to the conclusion of “the NFL is wrong for what it did to the Saints” here.

It may be "devious," but it is an advantage virtually every non-West coast team gets to enjoy except us in this instance. When an opponent travels from the west to the east, them playing in our time slot is usually a part of the home field advantage, aside from if it's a primetime games obviously; we have lost what every other team got but 1 this year and last year in national audience implication type games.

 

[Trey W.]

I would think as a team/stadium owner with two teams that play in the same stadium, you would want a game every week to be home. Unless there is a previously scheduled event like a concert, NCAA bowl game, state HS championship, etc; these owners would want to make as much money as possible.