Post by prossman on Mar 19, 2009 6:21:07 GMT -7
FWST: Williams: Dallas Cowboys’ Thanksgiving Day slot appears safe
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Dallas Cowboys’ Thanksgiving Day slot appears safe
By CHAREAN WILLIAMS
cjwilliams@star-telegram.com
The NFL’s competition committee has determined the Dallas Cowboys and the Detroit Lions don’t have a competitive advantage by hosting a Thanksgiving Day game annually.
That could go a long way in Dallas’ and Detroit’s hopes of keeping their traditions beyond this season.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said in his state of the league address at the Super Bowl that the Cowboys and Lions are not promised their Thanksgiving traditions beyond this season.
But Atlanta Falcons president Rich McKay said Wednesday that owners who insist the Cowboys and the Lions have a competitive advantage by the 10-day break that follows the Thanksgiving games are misinformed.
"We’ve not found that statistically there is a competitive advantage," McKay, the co-chairman of the competition committee, said on a conference call. "The statistics don’t back that up. You would sense it would, and some of the [owners] are quick to say, 'They get that home game; it’s a Thursday game; there’s got to be a numerical advantage.’ But yet, when you look at the numbers, and we did again this year, that doesn’t necessarily show up.
"That doesn’t mean that the commissioner, who has control of the schedule, wouldn’t decide to change it. But when asked the simple question: Is there a competitive advantage that the competition committee sees by the awarding of these games on a continuous basis? Our answer is: No, we have not seen one."
The Cowboys have not won a playoff game since 1996. The Lions’ last playoff victory came against the Cowboys in 1991.
Those are the two longest playoff-winning droughts in the NFC.
Dallas has been a fixture on Thanksgiving Day since 1966, hosting 42 of the past 44 years. (St. Louis hosted in 1975 and ’77.) Detroit has hosted the annual holiday game even longer, since 1934.
The Cowboys are 26-14-1 on Thanksgiving Day; the Lions are 33-33-2. In 2006, the NFL added a third Thanksgiving game that rotates sites.
In the week after their Thanksgiving game, which follows a 10-day break, the Cowboys are 26-15 overall. (That includes a 2007 game in which the Cowboys played back-to-back Thursday games, took a 10-day break and then beat the Lions.)
In the past 12 years, Dallas is only 4-8 after the 10-day break.
Since 1970, the Lions are 10-29 in the game that follows the Thanksgiving Day game. They have not won the game after the 10-day break since 1999.
The competition committee will not propose changing the Thanksgiving format at the owners’ annual meetings next week in Dana Point, Calif. It also is not proposing a change to overtime.
After reviewing player and team surveys, McKay said changing the current sudden-death format lacked support, even though 43.4 percent of overtime games last season were won on the first possession. (The team that won the coin toss had a 63 percent winning percentage last season, regardless of the number of possessions in overtime.)
Owners will discuss the future of a 17- or 18-game regular season, though it will not be voted on and will have to be addressed with the players association in the upcoming labor negotiations.
The competition committee has recommended seven rules changes, five of them involving player safety. Another recommends that the on-field officiating error made by referee Ed Hochuli last season be subject to replay. Hochuli erroneously ruled Denver Broncos quarterback Jay Cutler threw an incomplete pass at the end of a game against the San Diego Chargers. Though replay showed it was a fumble recovered by San Diego, replay rules prevented Hochuli from overturning the call. The Broncos retained possession, scored a touchdown and the game-winning 2-point conversion.
Owners also will vote on changing draft-order seeding. Under the proposal, the 20 non-playoff teams will be seeded based on their regular-season record, using current tiebreaking procedures. The other 12 teams would be seeded based on the playoffs. Currently, the first 30 teams are seeded based on their regular-season records, with the Super Bowl loser seeded 31st and the Super Bowl winner 32nd.
This year, the Chargers, who reached the playoffs with an 8-8 regular-season record, draft 16th. That’s 11 spots ahead of the team they beat in the playoffs, the Indianapolis Colts, and higher than four other playoff teams. The New England Patriots, who failed to make the playoffs, draft below three playoff teams, including the Chargers.
It takes approval of at least three-quarters of the 32 team owners for a rules change.
Charean Williams, 817-390-7760
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Dallas Cowboys’ Thanksgiving Day slot appears safe
By CHAREAN WILLIAMS
cjwilliams@star-telegram.com
The NFL’s competition committee has determined the Dallas Cowboys and the Detroit Lions don’t have a competitive advantage by hosting a Thanksgiving Day game annually.
That could go a long way in Dallas’ and Detroit’s hopes of keeping their traditions beyond this season.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said in his state of the league address at the Super Bowl that the Cowboys and Lions are not promised their Thanksgiving traditions beyond this season.
But Atlanta Falcons president Rich McKay said Wednesday that owners who insist the Cowboys and the Lions have a competitive advantage by the 10-day break that follows the Thanksgiving games are misinformed.
"We’ve not found that statistically there is a competitive advantage," McKay, the co-chairman of the competition committee, said on a conference call. "The statistics don’t back that up. You would sense it would, and some of the [owners] are quick to say, 'They get that home game; it’s a Thursday game; there’s got to be a numerical advantage.’ But yet, when you look at the numbers, and we did again this year, that doesn’t necessarily show up.
"That doesn’t mean that the commissioner, who has control of the schedule, wouldn’t decide to change it. But when asked the simple question: Is there a competitive advantage that the competition committee sees by the awarding of these games on a continuous basis? Our answer is: No, we have not seen one."
The Cowboys have not won a playoff game since 1996. The Lions’ last playoff victory came against the Cowboys in 1991.
Those are the two longest playoff-winning droughts in the NFC.
Dallas has been a fixture on Thanksgiving Day since 1966, hosting 42 of the past 44 years. (St. Louis hosted in 1975 and ’77.) Detroit has hosted the annual holiday game even longer, since 1934.
The Cowboys are 26-14-1 on Thanksgiving Day; the Lions are 33-33-2. In 2006, the NFL added a third Thanksgiving game that rotates sites.
In the week after their Thanksgiving game, which follows a 10-day break, the Cowboys are 26-15 overall. (That includes a 2007 game in which the Cowboys played back-to-back Thursday games, took a 10-day break and then beat the Lions.)
In the past 12 years, Dallas is only 4-8 after the 10-day break.
Since 1970, the Lions are 10-29 in the game that follows the Thanksgiving Day game. They have not won the game after the 10-day break since 1999.
The competition committee will not propose changing the Thanksgiving format at the owners’ annual meetings next week in Dana Point, Calif. It also is not proposing a change to overtime.
After reviewing player and team surveys, McKay said changing the current sudden-death format lacked support, even though 43.4 percent of overtime games last season were won on the first possession. (The team that won the coin toss had a 63 percent winning percentage last season, regardless of the number of possessions in overtime.)
Owners will discuss the future of a 17- or 18-game regular season, though it will not be voted on and will have to be addressed with the players association in the upcoming labor negotiations.
The competition committee has recommended seven rules changes, five of them involving player safety. Another recommends that the on-field officiating error made by referee Ed Hochuli last season be subject to replay. Hochuli erroneously ruled Denver Broncos quarterback Jay Cutler threw an incomplete pass at the end of a game against the San Diego Chargers. Though replay showed it was a fumble recovered by San Diego, replay rules prevented Hochuli from overturning the call. The Broncos retained possession, scored a touchdown and the game-winning 2-point conversion.
Owners also will vote on changing draft-order seeding. Under the proposal, the 20 non-playoff teams will be seeded based on their regular-season record, using current tiebreaking procedures. The other 12 teams would be seeded based on the playoffs. Currently, the first 30 teams are seeded based on their regular-season records, with the Super Bowl loser seeded 31st and the Super Bowl winner 32nd.
This year, the Chargers, who reached the playoffs with an 8-8 regular-season record, draft 16th. That’s 11 spots ahead of the team they beat in the playoffs, the Indianapolis Colts, and higher than four other playoff teams. The New England Patriots, who failed to make the playoffs, draft below three playoff teams, including the Chargers.
It takes approval of at least three-quarters of the 32 team owners for a rules change.
Charean Williams, 817-390-7760