Rod Wood Knew Exactly What He Was Getting Into
Look, we’ve all been griping about that brutal stretch in November. Three games in 12 days including a trip to Germany, a home game against Tampa Bay, and Thanksgiving against Chicago. It’s a gauntlet that would make even the most optimistic fan reach for the antacids.
But before you start firing off angry tweets at the NFL schedule makers, pump the brakes. Turns out our own front office knew exactly what they were signing up for when they pushed hard to get that Germany game.
During the league’s schedule-making conference call this week, NFL vice president of broadcasting planning Mike North made it crystal clear: Rod Wood and the Lions organization were well aware of the complications. They wanted that Munich game against New England badly enough to accept the consequences.
The Price of Going International
We knew that Germany game was going to be a mere two weeks before Thanksgiving, and it was important enough to Rod, to the organization, to our international folks, certainly to your wide receiver [Amon-Ra St. Brown] that it made a lot of sense for the Lions to play in that Germany game,” North said. The league wasn’t about to give Detroit a bye week before the holiday game because that would leave Chicago working off a short week while the Lions got extra rest. That’s just not how the NFL operates.
So Wood made a calculated decision. Instead of fighting for a pre-Thanksgiving bye that wasn’t coming anyway, he focused on getting something more realistic: avoiding back-to-back Thursday games like they have done the past two Thanksgivings.
That request got approved. The Lions will get a 10-day break after Thanksgiving instead of another Thursday-to-Thursday nightmare. Credit where it’s due, Wood played the hand he was dealt and got something out of it.
We’re Not Alone in This Misery
Here’s the thing that should make you feel slightly better about the whole situation. Most teams playing internationally this year are getting the same raw deal. Only three of 16 international teams will have a bye week after their overseas game: Jacksonville, New Orleans, and our Germany opponent New England.
The Patriots got that bye specifically because they don’t play on Thanksgiving. Meanwhile, we’re stuck in the middle of our annual holiday tradition with jet lag as a bonus feature.
But Here’s Where You Can Still Be Mad
If you want to direct some legitimate anger at the schedule makers, focus on this: Tampa Bay gets their bye week right before they come to Ford Field. While we’re stumbling off a transatlantic flight and trying to remember what time zone we’re in, the Bucs will be sitting pretty with extra rest and preparation time.
That feels unnecessarily cruel, even by NFL standards. We accept the Germany trip complications because Wood fought for it, but facing a well-rested opponent immediately after? That’s just adding insult to international injury.
So there you have it. The Lions asked for this dance, and now we all get to watch them try to navigate it. Wood gambled that the Germany experience and the post-Thanksgiving break would be worth the brutal stretch in between.
Think Wood made the right call trading a bye week for international exposure, or are we about to watch this decision blow up in our faces come November? Drop your take below.
Honestly I’m all in on Rod for pushing for the Germany game. Yeah the scheduling sucks but this is the kind of bold move that shows we’re building something different here. Campbell and Holmes are trying to make this team matter on a bigger stage and I respect that gamble.
I get it, Wood wanted the international experience and he got something back with that post-Thanksgiving break. But let’s not pretend this doesn’t put us at a disadvantage when Tampa rolls in well-rested and we’re still jet-lagged. That’s just real talk.
You know what, I’ve watched a lot of bad decisions come out of the front office over the decades. But at least Rod and this organization are out here fighting for things instead of just accepting whatever the NFL hands us. That’s a different mentality and I can respect it.
The Germany game with Amon-Ra playing in front of his people, the global exposure for our team, AND we get a real break after Thanksgiving? Wood played this smart. Yeah November’s gonna be rough but that’s football and we got something good out of it.