Trivia Time #18
Every year dislocated Pats fans in eight different areas get a chance to see their favorite team play locally in a regular season NFL game.
Question: Which NFL team(s) fans have gone the longest without having seen the Patriots play there in a regular season or playoff game?
- Answer: Tampa Bay
And which will have gone the longest at the conclusion of the 2009 season?
- Answer: Tampa Bay
Hmmm.... I'm not quite sure.
Houston?? - did we have them away in '03??
New Orleans?? or Tampa???
And if it is Tampa, then Tampa Bay area Pats still won't get them in their area!!!
Good logical reasoning there Cal. Houston is the longest among all AFC teams; Saints and Bucs are the longest of all NFL teams - or so I thought (see below.)
Some AFC that come to mind @Cleveland @Houston
Some NFC @Philly @Washington @Detroit @Carolina @Tampa @New Orleans (Play @NO in 2009) @Arizona
I think it has to be @Detroit or @Tampa
What made me think of this was mostly related to the second part of the question. NFC teams visit AFC teams (and vice-versa) only once every eight years in the regular season under the current scheduling format. However, with this year's game in London, the Pats don't go to Tampa so Pats fans in this area will have to settle for another preseason game or a road trip to Miami.
The current format was set up in 2002 with the guarantee that all teams would play every other team on a regular basis. Teams play both home and away against each division teams, so that eliminates the Jets, Bills and Dolphins from this question.
Teams play each of the teams in a single division within the conference every three years on a rotating basis, so they are both home and away against every other AFC team once every six years. This may be more frequently due to two games each year based on standings (first place vs first, second vs second, etc. - which is why the Pats seem to play the Colts and Steelers so often.)
The last four games are against each time in a single division in the other conference every four years; once at home and once away every eight years. So the answer would have to be the teams in the NFC that the Pats are playing this year: the NFC South. The home games against NFC South teams are versus Atlanta and Carolina, so those are the two teams that Pats season ticket holders have gone the longest without seeing them play live in Foxboro.
The away games are New Orleans and Tampa Bay, so that would be the answer to the first half of this trivia question. But since Tampa Bay is the 'home' team in London, after the end of this season the Pats will still have not played a regular season game at Tampa Bay in front of their fans, and that is the answer to the second part of the question.
That's what I figured when I posed this question but I forgot one thing.
Eight years ago would be 2001; this current scheduling format started in 2002. 2009 would be the final year of the eight-year rotation. In 2001 there were still three divisions in each conference and 31 NFL teams. In that season the Pats were at two other teams that are now in the NFC South, Carolina and Atlanta, played New Orleans in Foxboro, and did not play Tampa Bay (who was then part of the NFC North.) The last time the Pats played the Saints in New Orleans was October 4, 1998, when the Pats won 30-27 in a game with five picks: three by Drew Bledsoe and two by Danny Wuerffel. The last time the Pats played a regular season game in Tampa Bay was November 16, 1997 with the Bucs winning 27-7; the Pats were limited to 10 first downs and 168 total yards, while being sacked five times and turning the ball over three times.
Sorry about the question not being as clear as it should have been and a bit ambiguous. I had some trouble wording the question because I didn't want to bring in new stadiums (such as the one in Dallas) in to the question; but at the same time I didn't want to give away the hint to the answer (the London game) either. Ironically as it turns out the answer would be the same even if the game was being held in Tampa.
