NFL Scheduling

[jrh31584]

Is there anywhere I can find out how NFL schedules were created in the past, at least in years in which there was an actual system for creating the schedule?

[NEW.ERA]

All the info is here

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regular_season_(NFL)

[Mac the Knife]

The best source for this information (particularly how they scheduled in the past) are copies of the NFL Record & Fact Book. You'd have to go through them year-by-year, but there's a section in the front of each year's edition showing in detail how the schedule is formulated.

[The_Admiral]

I prefer to believe that the old NFL scheduling rules were

1) Throw darts at the wall

2) Whatever you do, do NOT let Green Bay host Dallas

[neo_prankster]

Here's some more insight on how the scheduling used to work when there were only 30 teams:

http://www.jt-sw.com/football/pro/index.ns...nts/0-sched-opp

UPDATE:

This was how the interconference match-ups were matriculated:

1st Place: 1-2-3-4

2nd Place: 1-2-3-5

3rd Place: 1-2-4-5

4th Place: 1-3-4-5

5th Place: 2-3-4-5

[illwauk]

I prefer to believe that the old NFL scheduling rules were

1) Throw darts at the wall

2) Whatever you do, do NOT let Green Bay host Dallas

HA! Seriously... but it was nearly orgasmic to see the Packers put the mother of all smackdowns on Deion & Co. when they finally had to come to Lambeau.

I've got another weird scheduling quirk involving the Pack that someone here might have some insight on... when the Packers were still playing in Milwaukee, nearly every time they hosted the Rams the game was played at County Stadium. The fact that the '67 playoff between the two was played in Milwaukee (something that only happened once before and never since) leads me to believe that this was more than a simple coincidence.

IIRC, the 49ers also played a disproportionate number of games in Milwaukee, but it wasn't nearly as skewed as the Rams.

[Sport]

I prefer to believe that the old NFL scheduling rules were

1) Throw darts at the wall

2) Whatever you do, do NOT let Green Bay host Dallas

HA! Seriously... but it was nearly orgasmic to see the Packers put the mother of all smackdowns on Deion & Co. when they finally had to come to Lambeau.

I've got another weird scheduling quirk involving the Pack that someone here might have some insight on... when the Packers were still playing in Milwaukee, nearly every time they hosted the Rams the game was played at County Stadium. The fact that the '67 playoff between the two was played in Milwaukee (something that only happened once before and never since) leads me to believe that this was more than a simple coincidence.

IIRC, the 49ers also played a disproportionate number of games in Milwaukee, but it wasn't nearly as skewed as the Rams.

I'm curious to the story behind this. Did the Cowboys really go that long without going to Green Bay?

[illwauk]

I believe the only time the 'boys visited Wisconsin between the Ice Bowl and that game in '97 was 1990(?) in Milwaukee.

When the Packers beat the Niners in the 96 playoffs the fans chanted "WE WANT DALLAS!" for the last 5 minutes of the game. The Packers had homefield advantage that year and had been beat in Dallas 6 times each of the past 3 seasons. 3 of them were playoff losses and their loss in the 95 championship game was/is presumed by everyone outside of Texas to have been a ref job. All they needed was for the Cowboys to bead Carolina in Dallas to FINALLY force the Cowboys into the Tundra.

But Dallas choked and us fans had to settle for the Pack beating an expansion team for our trip to the Super Bowl.

FINALLY in 1997, the scheduling system put the Cowboys in Green Bay and the Packers clobbered them 45-17. I dare say it was more satisfying for most of the Green Bay faithful than winning the Super Bowl.

[rams80]

I prefer to believe that the old NFL scheduling rules were

1) Throw darts at the wall

2) Whatever you do, do NOT let Green Bay host Dallas

HA! Seriously... but it was nearly orgasmic to see the Packers put the mother of all smackdowns on Deion & Co. when they finally had to come to Lambeau.

I've got another weird scheduling quirk involving the Pack that someone here might have some insight on... when the Packers were still playing in Milwaukee, nearly every time they hosted the Rams the game was played at County Stadium. The fact that the '67 playoff between the two was played in Milwaukee (something that only happened once before and never since) leads me to believe that this was more than a simple coincidence.

IIRC, the 49ers also played a disproportionate number of games in Milwaukee, but it wasn't nearly as skewed as the Rams.

I have theories related to the West Coast locales of those teams, and presumably saving money on travel/getting larger "gate" revenue for the games to pay for the travel, but that depends on whether Seattle, San Diego, and Oakland played in Green Bay or Milwaukee.

[neo_prankster]

I believe the only time the 'boys visited Wisconsin between the Ice Bowl and that game in '97 was 1990(?) in Milwaukee.

Between the Ice Bowl and the '97 season, the Cowboys and the Packers met, actually in Green Bay, on December 24, 1989, with the Packers winning 20-10 and finishing 10-6 (Tied with Minnesota for 1st in NFC Central) while the Cowboys finished with their worst record in team history (1-15; 5th in NFC East).

Packers' 1989 Milwaukee Games:

October 1st vs. Falcons (Packers won 23-21)

October 29th vs. Lions (Packers won 23-20 in OT)

November 26th vs. Vikings (Packers won 20-19)

Source:

http://www.jt-sw.com/football/pro/results.nsf/Teams/1989-gb

[rainmaker17]

Sunday September 21st, 2008. Lambeau Field.

Dallas 27

Green Bay 16

[infrared41]

Sunday September 21st, 2008. Lambeau Field.

Dallas 27

Green Bay 16

Yeah but...

Sunday January 3rd, 2009.

Dallas was home watching TV. (Sorry, I had to do it.)

[illwauk]

I believe the only time the 'boys visited Wisconsin between the Ice Bowl and that game in '97 was 1990(?) in Milwaukee.

Between the Ice Bowl and the '97 season, the Cowboys and the Packers met, actually in Green Bay, on December 24, 1989, with the Packers winning 20-10 and finishing 10-6 (Tied with Minnesota for 1st in NFC Central) while the Cowboys finished with their worst record in team history (1-15; 5th in NFC East).

Packers' 1989 Milwaukee Games:

October 1st vs. Falcons (Packers won 23-21)

October 29th vs. Lions (Packers won 23-20 in OT)

November 26th vs. Vikings (Packers won 20-19)

Source:

http://www.jt-sw.com/football/pro/results.nsf/Teams/1989-gb

I could've sworn that game was in Milwaukee. Either way... the old system lended itself to weird quirks like that.

We can also thank the old system for John Elway and Dan Marino only playing each other once during the regular season.

[FrankCostanza]

Between 1965 and 1991, the Packers hosted the Cowboys sevens times, five of which were in Milwaukee.

Source: ShrpSports

[illwauk]

Hmmm... well I was born in 1981, so the earliest Packers-Cowboys game in Wisconsin that I can recall is the one in 1997. Maybe it's because the mid-90's were saturated with the Packers always having to go to Dallas. During that time, the Packers had a 24 (or something) game home winning streak and many of us were pissed that "couldn't beat the Cowboys" was gonna tarnish Mr. Favre's legacy.

(insert your own joke here)

[neo_prankster]

Getting back on topic, before the current schedule arrangement, here were some of the schedule aberrations, some of which should already be eliminated by now:

- Raiders did not play Steelers in Pittsburgh from '81 through '99

- Dolphins and Broncos met only once between '83 and '97 during Elway and Marino's careers.

- Pack and Skins: didn't see each other from '89 through 2000, and not played in Washington since '79.

- Falcons and Giants didn't see each other from '89-'97.

- Steelers and Chiefs met five straight times at Arrowhead prior to realignment.

- Pack and Cowboys met four straight seasons at Texas Stadium from '93-'96.

- Bucs never played Bills in Buffalo (until next season).

- Chargers and Jaguars did not meet until 2003.

Source:

http://www.footballinjuries.com/rotation.htm

[scoobytim]

Getting back on topic, before the current schedule arrangement, here were some of the schedule aberrations, some of which should already be eliminated by now:

- Raiders did not play Steelers in Pittsburgh from '81 through '99

- Dolphins and Broncos met only once between '83 and '97 during Elway and Marino's careers.

- Pack and Skins: didn't see each other from '89 through 2000, and not played in Washington since '79.

- Falcons and Giants didn't see each other from '89-'97.

- Steelers and Chiefs met five straight times at Arrowhead prior to realignment.

- Pack and Cowboys met four straight seasons at Texas Stadium from '93-'96.

- Bucs never played Bills in Buffalo (until next season).

- Chargers and Jaguars did not meet until 2003.

Source:

http://www.footballinjuries.com/rotation.htm

Philadelphia and Kansas City have only met 5 times and only once in Philadelphia.

[neo_prankster]

Getting back on topic, before the current schedule arrangement, here were some of the schedule aberrations, some of which should already be eliminated by now:

- Raiders did not play Steelers in Pittsburgh from '81 through '99

- Dolphins and Broncos met only once between '83 and '97 during Elway and Marino's careers.

- Pack and Skins: didn't see each other from '89 through 2000, and not played in Washington since '79.

- Falcons and Giants didn't see each other from '89-'97.

- Steelers and Chiefs met five straight times at Arrowhead prior to realignment.

- Pack and Cowboys met four straight seasons at Texas Stadium from '93-'96.

- Bucs never played Bills in Buffalo (until next season).

- Chargers and Jaguars did not meet until 2003.

Source:

http://www.footballinjuries.com/rotation.htm

Philadelphia and Kansas City have only met 5 times and only once in Philadelphia.

In 2009, it'll be the Chiefs' second visit to Philadelphia.

[wdm1219inpenna]

Getting back on topic, before the current schedule arrangement, here were some of the schedule aberrations, some of which should already be eliminated by now:

- Raiders did not play Steelers in Pittsburgh from '81 through '99

- Dolphins and Broncos met only once between '83 and '97 during Elway and Marino's careers.

- Pack and Skins: didn't see each other from '89 through 2000, and not played in Washington since '79.

- Falcons and Giants didn't see each other from '89-'97.

- Steelers and Chiefs met five straight times at Arrowhead prior to realignment.

- Pack and Cowboys met four straight seasons at Texas Stadium from '93-'96.

- Bucs never played Bills in Buffalo (until next season).

- Chargers and Jaguars did not meet until 2003.

Source:

http://www.footballinjuries.com/rotation.htm

Watch, the Bucs vs Bills game will be the game they play in TORONTO next year, and we STILL technically would have it where the Bucs never visited Buffalo (proper)!

[FrankCostanza]

Getting back on topic, before the current schedule arrangement, here were some of the schedule aberrations, some of which should already be eliminated by now:

- Raiders did not play Steelers in Pittsburgh from '81 through '99

- Dolphins and Broncos met only once between '83 and '97 during Elway and Marino's careers.

- Pack and Skins: didn't see each other from '89 through 2000, and not played in Washington since '79.

- Falcons and Giants didn't see each other from '89-'97.

- Steelers and Chiefs met five straight times at Arrowhead prior to realignment.

- Pack and Cowboys met four straight seasons at Texas Stadium from '93-'96.

- Bucs never played Bills in Buffalo (until next season).

- Chargers and Jaguars did not meet until 2003.

Source:

http://www.footballinjuries.com/rotation.htm

Watch, the Bucs vs Bills game will be the game they play in TORONTO next year, and we STILL technically would have it where the Bucs never visited Buffalo (proper)!

That would be neat if one team (in this case Tampa) would play games in three different countries in one year. They are already scheduled to play the Pats in London in October.