Do people realize the Pats probably requested that 3 week high altitude part of their schedule?

[Raymond]

They will probably take game balls from the Mexico city game and test them in NY. "Hey......both teams were playing with severely under inflated footballs"

You don't understand. The man who stole Brady's SB Jersey was IN Mexico.......The NYJFL will run a sting at that game with the Pat's and they will WEIGH all their Jerseys at halftime. Kensil will be in charge and this will be Jerseygate.....the Pat's play with lighter clothing than all the other teams.

 

[jmt57]

Do people realize the Pats probably requested that 3 week high altitude part of their schedule?



Yes, I do believe the Patriots most likely requested those two games be placed back-to-back.

However, I sincerely doubt that they requested five road games in six weeks, three consecutive road games, or a trip to Heinz Field following a Monday night game as part of that deal.

 

[lurker1965]

Patriots get to play the Raiders at a neutral site, rather than in Oakland, and people are complaining about the placement /conditions of that game. Also, the Raiders aren't use to high altitudes either.

With the Raiders having announced their move already the road may be friendlier than home. Supposedly the Raiders have a big Mexico fan base, so they might be more welcome than at home.
That said, none of it matters. Bad air pollution there. Think LA in the early '80s. It will be like every player took up smoking. Add the high altitude and expect everyone to be gassed - both teams and both offense and defense.

 

[fnordcircle]

I assumed other than agreeing to play in a specific location that teams had no input on the schedule. Otherwise it is easy for there to look like there is favoritism.

 

[bresna]

It's funny, but to my way of thinking, the NFL gave the Patriots back to back high-altitude games to mess with the Patriots and give the Dolphins the advantage for the 11/26 game at low altitude Foxboro.

 

[Gwedd]

Oddly enough, it will also give them an advantage at their next home game after Mexico City since the benefits of training at altitude will stay with them. It's why many elite runners train in Denver or similarly elevated places.

Interestingly enough, I found this to be true many years back. I grew up in the mountains of northern Utah and played CB and tennis in high school,plus swimming and cross country. When I joined the Navy, I was sent to boot camp in San Diego and I was amazed at the stamina I had those first couple weeks. It was then that I realized I had been going from the thinner atmosphere where I had lived and trained down to that O2-rich sea level atmosphere.

Of course, after those 2 weeks or so I became acclimated to that new environment, but it was interesting then to see how much better I performed.

As others have said, I am more concerned with the effects of the pollution on the team's respiratory systems.

 

[kennyb]

I wasn't aware teams,were allowed input into their schedule. Seems very unlikely. Does the original poster realize how unlikely this is?

 

[DarrylS]

I am still wrestling with the idea that if the Pats did request that this happen that the NFL would even consider such a request..

It seems to me that the NFL is longing and pining for ways to slow down this juggernaut..

 

[slam]

I wasn't aware teams,were allowed input into their schedule. Seems very unlikely. Does the original poster realize how unlikely this is?

Here's an article about teams schedule requests for this season. Doesn't mention the Pats but it shows that making requests is an ordinary thing.

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/h...requests-teams-are-making-for-the-season/amp/

 

[PatsFanSince74]

I wasn't aware teams,were allowed input into their schedule. Seems very unlikely. Does the original poster realize how unlikely this is?

I don't know what did or did not happen in this case, but the process of developing the schedule includes reviews by teams before the final version is established and released.

 

[Raymond]

People, playing one game in Mexico City will not have any long term harmful effects on the players. They may not perform up to their standards on that day, but worrying about that would be like assuming player x is damaged from that single road trip in a car he took with a smoker friend 10 years ago.

 

[captain stone]

During the 2008 season, the Patriots played both the AFC West and the NFC West, and were able to play 2 sets of back-to-back road games instead of possibly going to the west coast on 4 seperate occasions. IIRC, that bit of scheduling was done at the Pats' request. It wouldn't surprise, therefore, to learn that scheduling games at Denver and at Mexico City on back-to-back weeks was also done at the Pats' request.