There are some things I just know, even if I can’t prove it … or the people doing it don’t want to admit it.
Here is what I “know.” The schedule makers in the National Football League make an effort to put the best teams in difficult situations early in a season.
Why?
Because if they can knock off teams like the Philadelphia Eagles, Baltimore Ravens, Buffalo Bills, Detroit Lions, Green Bay Packers or a handful of other teams expected to be good that year with a loss or two during the season's first month, they have a much better chance of having competitive division races deep into the season.
“Dennis,” Al Davis asked me one morning while I was talking about something else, “What business are we in?”
I thought I had the right answer when I replied, “Winning.”
Davis laughed, acknowledging my focus on what the Oakland Raiders were really all about, but then added, “We are foremost in the entertainment business. Fans fill the stadium for Raiders games because we give them a show, we give them players to root for and backstories on the greatness of the Raiders.”
Entertainment. That’s what he said.
To maximize the attractiveness of an NFL season it needs to be competitive. If the division races had all the best teams run away from the pack and stay at the top of the standings all year, the entertainment value would be diminished.
Yet, on the other hand, if the best teams lost a game or two in September, then the season would have longer competitive races and the entertainment value would be enhanced.
Now, let me show you my contention in real time.
Tonight, two teams that came out of last year’s regular season with as good of a chance to play in the Super Bowl as the two teams that did, the Detroit Lions and Baltimore Ravens, meet in Maryland to pin one of them with a second loss. Last year, over the 17-week regular season, the Lions only lost two games: the Ravens five.
How have we gotten to only the third week of the season and already be on the cusp of one of these two powerful units likely to absorb a second loss tonight? Only likely, allowing for the possibility of a rare tie on the final score which would leave both the Lions and Ravens with records of 1-1-1 after tonight’s game.
Well, it started this way. Open the season with a Sunday night battle between the two best teams in the AFC. I know Kansas Chiefs followers will cringe with that assessment, but the Bills and Ravens are both better than Kansas City. Maybe last year, and most definitely this season. Now you’ve got one of the two best teams in the AFC already with a loss one week in.
Take the team with the best record in the NFC last year and send them to Lambeau Field to meet a talented Packers team. Mission accomplished, the Lions lost to Green Bay two weeks ago after beating them twice last season.
Now, have the Lions and Ravens go against each other in a primetime Monday Night Football matchup made in heaven. Fans think it is a great contest between two quality teams, but I suspect the marketing team in the NFL is celebrating the fact that either the Lions or Ravens are going to open defense of their division titles with two losses three weeks into the season.
The league is getting what they want, the fans are getting a great game to watch, and everyone is happy but me.
The game, as good as it is, doesn’t offer a wagering advantage with the favorite or underdog.
Yes, it’s entertainment, but that is not the focus of my work.
Damn.