Mike, not only does that make sense, but the NFL has set a precident of that as a back-up plan. Wasn't it only a year or two ago that the Saints played a home game against the Giants in Giants Stadium?

All the victims of the storm are in my prayers. Where they play the game should be the least of Houston's worries. It is bad that they lose a home game, but they should just play in Baltimore. This is what happened when New Orleans had to play a "home" game in NY after Katrina. so there is precedence.

Isn't the Astrodome still there? Why not play it there?

Did you forget about the conflicting with Orioles playing at same time??

It's an option but with all the flack the league took when the Saints played their home game here in East Rutherford against the Giants because of Katrina I think they would be more likely to schedule the game at a site closer to Houston. Of course financially this won't be great because the stadium will probably be very lightly filled barring very cheap tickets being available for the locals.

This is the best idea!

The NFL screwed this up from the start. I was shocked at the original decsion and predicted all along that the plan was doomed. If many of us could see this from afar why couldn't the NFL? Now getting the Texans out of Houston is an issue. Idiots rule!

Having the game here would be the best scenerio for us.
Or even go to New Orleans which is only 4 hours drive from Houston.
If not...well listen...
I work with commercial property managers.
That management company who says they can't have the game there is a bunch of crap. That company from this point on has 2.5 days to get that stadium and parking lot ready.
Roger Goodel needs to get his rear end down there, show some leadership by getting clean up and contracting companies together, and push that management company along to get done whatever needs to get done.
It's time for Goodel to step up.

The Houston Chronicle is speculating the game could be played 10/26. That's great, we can play a doubleheader raiders and texans oops, it's not baseball and the Texans stubbornly refuse to allow the game to be played anywhere but their stadium. Boy did the NFL screw this up. Hopefully the can get the Texans out of there on Sunday to play somewhere hopefully balto.

It certainly seems the most simple solution. Plus, if the NFL would have went that way it could have been resolved days ago easing the logistical burden and awkward tv scheduling. I believe the people of houston are going to be a bit preoccupied this weekend. Make it up to them next year on the schedule and include financial compensation.

Mike,

Nice idea and I would be part of this "Nice" crowd. But actually the league blew it here. I and many other people I am sure could see this coming when they announced that this game would be moved to Monday. They should have just moved the game , players etc somewhere else Friday (Atlanta, Dallas whatever). Now the team "Texans" are stuck because its unknown even when the airport would open and in addition are now in the way of any relief effort. They could not reschedule the game later as that would screw up a few other teams schedules.

Simple .. they should have made the hard choice of moving the game OUTSIDE of Houston Friday rather than "Hoping" Ike would not be so destructive.

Yes I understand and think in a perfect world that the players would want to be home rather than somewhere else. But now look at the mess we have. Its actually worse of a situation I think.

Why Mike? Because Goodell is too incompetent and incapable of making intelligent decisions. I'd like to know who Goodell was talking to on Thursday that said it would be a good idea to have the game in Houston? It wasn't a meteorologist because every one of them was forecasting a direct hit on Houston. If he made the call then to have it in Baltimore or Atlanta all this would have been avoided. Goodell needs to be removed from the position as commisioner. He clearly can't make intelligent executive decisions.

I was wondering the exact same thing. One way or another, this game has to be relocated and played. This isn't baseball- cant just play a doubleheader later on. With only 16 games, and as competitive as the league is now, ! don't see how they can afford to cancel a game from a competitive standpoint( economics aside).

The NFL wouldn't make that mistake again. When they made the Saints play a so-called home game in NY against the Giants, it was a huge slap in the face to New Orleans. You would see this game played in Atlanta before it would come to Baltimore. You are essentially suggesting giving the Ravens a ninth home game. The NFL took alot of heat the last time they did that.

That's not going to happen. It would be considered an advantage of sorts, in the long run, for the Ravens to have an extra home game. Furthermore, I think the league did a HORRIBLE, DISGRACEFUL job handling this situation. Absolutely pathetic!!! They knew it was going to be a category 4 upon land fall, how STUPID does the league have to be to think that there wasn't gonna be significant damage afterwards?!?! When i heard they moved it to monday, i knew that wasn't gonna happen. I seriously question the decision making of the league. And I am not the least bit pleased that I have to wait a another whole week for the Ravens to play. KDJHFGKJS!!!!!!!

After the debacle of allowing the Saint-Giants game to be played in Jersey, I would think the NFL wouldn't repeat that mistake.... Wait the game will be played in Baltimore.

Probably because THAT makes entirely too much sense. This is the NFL we're talking about here, which in this case stands for "Not Fully Logical."

Uh,...Mike...don't you remember the big stink from three years ago when the Giants got an extra home game when the Saints had to go to Jersey to play the G-men?
The NFL learned it's lesson from that. They'll play the game in Atlanta or Indianapolis or wherever. Nice try, though Baltimore. LOL!

Morty McNutt

Play the game here. 100% of the proceeds..........advertising and all.........go to the Texans. Its the right thing to do.

What about those of us that have tix to the game in Hou? Would they let us use them if the game is here?

Two Words: Hurrican Katrina. The backlash to giving the Giants a 9th home game after moving the Saints-Giants game there in 205 guarantees that will NEVER happen again. No way is that game within 300 miles of Baltimore when it's played. It simply will not happen.

MORONS!!!!!! The word "precedent" means the first time something happened. Just cause, it's the first time, doesn't make it right. If you don't believe me, ask the saints fans!!! There are plenty of stadiums in texas that could host the game. Let's call the alamodome.

I agree that we should play the game here and donate the entirety of the proceeds to the Houston Texans. That would be an excellent solution.

I would be fine with playing the game at a neutral site, if the NFL was willing to forgo the costs of lost ticket prices.

However, if they decide to eliminate the Ravens bye week, I'll be furious. There is no reason the NFL gets to cowtow to other moaning teams about some team getting an extra home game, and then take away a bye week. Would the NFL be willing to grant the Ravens an additional $5 million in salary cap space and revenue to make up for this "competitive disadvantage?" If the Ravens lose their bye week, the NFL has proven that they don't really care about the player's health or an even playing field.

ProFootballTalk.com is posting that New Orleans' Superdome is the likely destination for the game on Monday, Ironic, huh?

This is the stupidest idea, not only does it give the Ravens an added advantage but the people who paid for tickets would lose their money because NFL tickets are not refundable. They should just move it to the closest location and play the game on Tuesday. If not that then the game should be rescheduled to the week after the season ends...

Best solution would be to count week 2 as both teams' bye weeks. The Ravens are scheduled to be off week 10. The Texans and Bengals play each other in week 10, and both have a bye in week 8. Move the Bengals-Texans game to week 8, and let the Texans host the Ravens in week 10.

They should play this came in San Antonio, we have an unused stadium here. Plus we are starving for NFL action. NFL needs to put a team down here anyway. I moved from one city (Baltimore) that the NFL hates to another city (San Antonio) that it doesn't respect.

Sadly, this is a game that shouldn't be played at all this weekend. Sure, the idiot NFL blew it by not relocating the game in the fist place and getting the Texans out of town. But, the Texans' management and the NFL should be more focused on making certain that the team's players, coaches and staff remain home taking care of their own post-hurricane business -- repairing damage to their homes, caring for their families many of whom may not have power, etc. Rescheduling the game certainly would be a problem. But, that should not be the concern now. And, while I love Matt Stover, complaining that the team doesn't want to lose its bye week is simply not appropriate. I will miss seeing the game, and as a PSL holder would love to see the game in Baltimore. But, some other time. Right now the Texans need to stay home, not be concerned with football, and take care of more important business.

The logistics don't allow the game to be played in Baltimore. I am guessing the hotel space etc won't work. In addition, no way the other teams agree to it. One extra home game can have a big impact on standings since there are only 16 games.

week 8 Oct 26

currently cincinati and houston have a bye

week 10 nov 9

baltimore has a bye
cincinati @ Houston is the scheduled game.

Natural solutionis to have cincy @ houston happen on week 8 and then balt @ housotn occurs on week 10.

I say move the game to LA so I can attend it

The game is going to be played in New Orleans. For those of you who think that it's unfair for the game to be in Baltimore, they could schedule the Texans and Ravens to play again next year and have the game in Houston as their 9th home game, and make it our 9th road game that year.

None of you seem to realize that in order to move the game to Baltimore at this point, it would require a significant set of logistics to happen in 48 hours or less. You need to get a CBS TV crew into baltimore with Satellite trucks, announcers, staff ,etc. - you need to get the city to cooperate and be able to quickly get your typical police/traffic/security staff available and mobilized - you need to have Aramark and all the concession people to swing into action assuming they have staff and food. etc. ready to go. - the list goes on and on... not to mention what some people mentioned which is the Orioles are in town which already is pulling from the above mentioned resources.... sorry folks, it ain't a good idea at this point cause it can't happen. THe NFL should have made a better decision earlier in the week to move to another location outside the path of the storm.

Put it in Atlanta with 100% going to Houston.

I think they should have a week off between the regular season and the playoffs. Then if you have a weather situation like this, then you could reschedule the game for that week between the regular season and the playoffs.

They have a few days off after the Baseball season for emergencies or games that couldn't be made up. It would mean the Super Bowl would be a week later or they could skip that week off between the Playoffs and the Super Bowl.

Crazy. This is an absolutely AWFUL idea. No team should be denied its home-field advantage. Having the Saints play New York in New York a couple of years ago was a disaster. An absolute disaster. Home games should be played at home. If needed, reschedule it for later. Work it out any way you can. But don't forfeit a team's advantage.

The only way the game could be played in Baltimore and to be fair to the Texans would be to play the game in a completely empty stadium. That's right, the only people allowed in would be the players, coaches, officials, training staff, and team representatives (owner, gm, etc). Now would you agree to that?

if they reschedule this game it will be bad for both teams, this is horrible, we cant have abye this early in the year, we need to be on the field playing, i mena come on they cant relocate the game? the texans cant drive 2 hours to austin texas which has a nice stadium where the longhorns play, seriously we cant hav this game rescheduled

The NFL could not have handled this situation any worse than it has. The game should have immediately been moved away from Houston when it became clear the storm was heading directly at the city. There are so many other venues the game could have/still be played at (San Antonio, Austin, New Orleans, Atlanta, BALTIMORE). The Texans should not be concerned with losing a home game, that should be the least of their concerns and it is incredibly insensitive for them to fight losing a home game.

Mike: My vote is to play the game in San Antonio Monday. Bill

Simple solution:

A. The Bengals and Texans have a game scheduled in Houston on November 9th, the Ravens bye week.

B. Move the Bengals and Texans game to October 26th when both of those teams have a bye.

C. Then the Ravens can play the Texans on November 9th

D. Since this is a simple solution, I am sure the players union will reject it because two teams will have lost their scheduled bye week and one team will have their bye week postponed by two weeks. But hey, I'm just a teacher who's lost 20% of my Christmas break due to Florida's hurricanes so what do I know?

Mike,
Even if the Reliant Stadium was in good condition, the game should not be played there Monday. My gosh, the citizens of Houston aren’t allowed out of their homes and the government doesn’t know the extent of the damage nor identified who needs help! If the Ravens aircraft lands at the local airport, they should be put to work clearing debris for emergency vehicles and supply trucks. There are more important things than football (unless we are talking about the big money of the tv advertisers).

If the schedules of the two teams can not accommodate a rescheduled game then the NFL should dictate the game venue or Houston forfeits the game. Baltimore as a possible site sounds good to me. This might sound unfair but tough. The importance of a pro football game falls some where between the plight of the people of Houston and going to a museum. Does the NFL have rules that govern a situation like this?

Excellent suggestion, Mike! This idea of moving the game to week 10 is stupid. It would be really unfair to make the Ravens play 15 consecutive weeks without a bye. I wouldn't even have a problem if they played it in San Diego.

I'm convinced the NFL is being run by morons because they are talking about rescheduling bye weeks which would just snowball to both teams opponents.

Preston's solution would work as would this: Play the game in Baltimore, to counter for the loss of a home game for the Texans and the addition of one for us, we could get the Raiders involved in mix. We play the Raiders @ M & T oct. 26th, the Texans play the Raiders @ McAfee Dec. 21st. The Ravens could play AT the Raiders to give the Raiders another home game and the Raiders could play AT the Texans to give the Texans back their home game. It shouldn't be too hard for the NFL to figure out, and it all evens out that way.

The NFL will screw this up by canceling the game and it's not fair to the players of both teams. End of story, come up with a solutin to get this game played SOMEWHERE this week.

Making this the Ravens and Texans bye week and tinkering with the Bengals schedule is a fair option given the circumstances. Having a bye in week two is a disadvantage but it's nothing compared to the loss and destruction in the Texans region caused by Hurricane Ike.

It's amazing that the NFL actually thought this game would be able to take place in Houston. Don't they have at least one meteorologist working for them who could have advised them on this situation? If not, any reasonable person could have told them that even if the stadium sustained no physical damage from this storm, the power would probably not be on by Monday night, nor would most of the stadium employees be ready and able to return to work on Monday night.

What about playing at the University of Texas in Austin? The Texans could take a bus there and not worry about the airport.

If they try to swap the bye weeks like they are proposing, dont the Ravens players have to vote on that? I wouldnt give up my bye week if I was them. They need the rest and the time off by the time week 10 comes. Just put the Texans on a bus and play Monday night in New Orleans or San Antonio.

Why in the world would they even keep the Texans in Houston while millions are being ordered to evacuate.

If the storm is so bad that Flights are cancelled for the weekend and millions are evacuating, what makes Godell believe that they could even have the game in Reliant Stadium on Monday. If the stadium wasn't severely damaged, they would surely have evacuatees there.

Oh Yeah, let's have a game in the Stadium, while houses around us have been destroyed and businesses shattered.

And Goodness forbid the league from doing anything that doesn't screw over Baltimore. Cancelling this game would certainly screw the Ravens out of a Bye week, because they have been preparing all week for the Texans. Oh no, we can't have another 9 home game situation on our hands.

Why they didn't just move the game to a neutral sight for Sunday at the originally scheduled date, getting the Texans out of there Thursday, is beyond me. If the Flights were not in service Thursday, my apologies. Otherwise, make both teams show up in the city with the neutral sight by Thursday night and still have the game Sunday at 4:15. But that would be too much like right.

Now, the Ravens have fully prepared for the Texans, the Texans may be stuck in Houston(Why I don't know), Reliant Stadium is messed up(As we all expected), and this has a good chance of not ending well AT ALL.

They should just suck it up and have the game in Baltimore. They made this mess by making that foolish original decision. They need to bite the bullet.

The answer is obvious and right in the article if you read it. Move the game to week 10 (BAL bye) and move the HOU-CIN game that is on week 10 to week 8 (HOU and CIN both have byes that week). The only downside is HOU and BAL then have to use this week as their bye. CIN's bye moves from week 8 to week 10. That way, nobody loses a home game. A small price to pay for an extraordinary situation.

It's the most logical, so the NFL probably won't do it.

Why not Baltimore?

Is this a serious question?

Its wrong. Thats why.

Where the league erred is they should have named a neutral site earlier instead of trying to move it to Monday.

The NFL moved a game to the road teams home once, and should never do it again. Its wrong.

I have heard they are looking at using our bye date to play this game and rescheduling the Bungles Texam=ns game. This would give us a week 2 bye which in no way would be fair seeing how we prepared all week for a game. This game could easily be moved to another venue close by for a Monday night start.

Ok, we can't have the game in Baltimore. Who would support us going on the road when we we're supposed to have a home game. Come on..Mike are you serious? Imagine the ticket sales alone. The refund to Houston PSL owners and the charging of the Raven PSL owners. The logistics of mail and ticket sales couldn't be done in a week. Let's get that out of the way.

The problem is the National Weather Service among other major news outlets had stated for over 5 days that a huge storm was coming. They were talking about Ike for more than 2 weeks. An alternate site should have been arranged. Dallas would of been the most ideal. They could of moved the game up to Saturday at the beginning of the week. Played a Saturday night game in Dallas. This would give them a two day turn around for the Monday night game against Philly. The NFL hates Baltimore. After we win a Superbowl we get the great gift of the second prime time game. Not the first like every other team gets after they are crowned champions! Then the horrific acts of Sept 11 pushed our game to the last of the year. When wildfires are raging in California, the NFL quickly works out a alternate location (Sun Devil) in AZ. A home game for us wouldn't be fair, but the league has had more than enough time to work out a solution. Now instead of our players going home and resting, visiting family across the country on their buy week. Our players practiced all week and have no rest for the remaining regular season. Sounds as if Goodell is keeping with the Paul Taglibu tradition of screwing the City of Baltimore.

p.s. Did anyone know there was a huge Hurricane coming??? ANYONE!

p.s.s. Who cares about the Orioles? Did somone mention the Orioles will be playing? Who goes to O's games?

Stupid people do rule......

Yes play it here because thats what actually make sense, the NFL handled this so poorly it wasn't even funny, and give the proceeds to the Texans.

If they don't do it this way then I don't see how they are going to reschedule this game.

LETS SEE. Play the game here, Minute Maid Park, Astrodome, Rice University, University of Houston, San Antonio...
There are soo many options I'm praying that the NFL doesn't screw this up and reschedule it so we lose our bye week.

When I looked Saturday at the volume of tickets available in Houston for the game scheduled For tomorrow...I did was not sure anyone had a ticket to the game

Wow .. someone is THINKING out there !!

A conflict with the Orioles? You mean a conflict with all of the 10,000 people who might be there?

The NFL will punish the Ravens by using the Ravens bye week to play the Texans game. Goes back to the Tagliabue days of screwing Baltimore.

San Antonio made a decent home for the Saints 3 years ago, why can't the Texans use that for now?

One solution I have yet to hear is to move the game to San Antonio on Tuesday night. They could also show the game on the NFL Network. It is no different than playing a game on Sunday than playing on Thursday night.

It makes more sense for the Texans to play in San Antonio than in New Orleans. Why would a team named the "Texans" play in Louisiana? If the Saints could play in San Antonio, why not the Texans.

They can't get the Texans out of Houston, which is why they're postponing the game.. which is ridiculous, IMO.

Just last week the Saints left New Orleans ahead of Gustav as a just in case manuever.

This was completely avoidable and handled very poorly by the league.

This is garbage. We have to play 15 straight games because Houston refuses to play on a neutral field? How can this be fair?

If they Texans wanted the game in Texas so bad why didn't they look in to the possibility of using the Alamo Dome in San Antonio?

With such short notice, moving the game would be far easier said than done. Remember, it's not justK/u> the players, it's all of the people at the stadium, the city infrastructure, etc. I'm not saying it's impossible. I'm just saying that even though it seems like the logical thing to do, it's not as simple as it sounds.

Now I'm hearing they'll play at Houston Nov 9 - eliminating our bye for that week. The Texans were supposed to play someone else that day, and that game will be rescheduled also.

It's not a good solution, but I don't really think there is a good solution to this kind of situation.

They could have played this game at Baylor University in Houston.

Yet again the NFL shows it doesn't like Baltimore, and now Houston gets dragged punished as well. The decison to reschedule during the Ravens bye week places the Ravens & Texans at a disadvantage versus all other teams. Instead of having a bye in the middle of the season when players are dinged up & need the week off. Both teams have a bye after 1 week and get the privilege of playing 15 straight, while the rest of the league doesn't start having a bye until week 4. Proper planning & decison making could have kept the schedule equitable for both teams.

The best scenario would have been for them to play here Monday night. Us to move our home game with Oakland to Oakland and Oakland to move their home game with Houston to Houston. Some number of home games for everyone and you do not penalize Baltimore by removing their bye week.

That would have been too simple...

Our thoughts and prayers go out to the communities in Galveston & Houston, TX.
With that said what is wrong with Steve Biscotti & Matt Stover - the Ravens NFL Player Rep. You are going to make your team work 16 weeks in a row without a Break!!! That is insane. You will say, "well they are off this weekend", NO they were practicing all week. Hey guys "Grow a Pair". This change in the weather now causes the Bengals to change their vacation plans too. At least the NFL should have given the Texans the option to move the game to Baltimore or a neutral site or FORFEIT the game. The Ravens should not be penalized.
Maybe the NFL thinks that the Ravens should just get along and hang out in their museum.

Yeah, this is just horrible! All that info they had and they still thought the city of Houston will be available the next day for some football?? Damn, Goodell must be smoking some good @ss green! New Orleans is not that far and they're playing an away game anyway so why couldn't the NFL think smarter?? They actually thought this is going to be an easy situation to deal with and now the ENTIRE TEXANS are stuck and even if the league decides anything, it would not even fukin matter! DUMB @SSes

NFL's solution? Screw both teams out of their BYE weeks because Goodell didn't have a plan in place beyond "delay game one day, cross fingers".

Thanks for nothing, no fun league.

Mike,

Can you please blow up Goodell on an article tomorrow? This guy should be removed from his position. How do you screw something up this bad? It's not rocket science. On Thursday he should have moved the game to NO or Atlanta. Now we have 15 straight games and 5 out of 6 on the road. Thanks Goodell.

I'm sorry to sound selfish, but I think we are getting screwed badly, Our Week 10 Bye is now a Week 2 bye...Our players didn't get the week off like the other teams

I feel for the people in that area, but the right thing to do is bring the game to another stadium this week, not in week 10.

The NFL made a mistake even thinking they could play in Houston.

They should be playing tomorrow in Baltimore or at a neutral site.

Both teams lose a mid-season bye week which might hurt them.

Cleveland and Houston's opponent next week will both face teams with an extra week to practice and rest. This isn't fair to those teams.

Goodell, with one ill considered decision, has hurt four teams! Nice work Roger.

Mike I agree, Mr. Goodell just made the BIGGEST MISTAKE! and now it will cost the Ravens... Thanks a lot Mr. Goodell. Why does everyone assume that moveing the game to Balt. would be a Texans home game? No it would not, after the Saints-Giants "FUBAR". No, the game here would of been good and the Texans next game at home would be there home game. Now the best situation would of to play that game in Auston, or San Antonio, or even Texas Stadium since the Cowboys don't play until Monday night. At these locations the game could easily been played Sunday night along with the Steeler game. Come on Mr. Goodell it didn't take a "Rocket Scientist" to think this out. Now with the Ravens in a week 2 bye, they will get beat down inthe 2nd half of the season. Thanks Roger. Thanks for nothing! The fans hated the last jurk in charge, now I suppose you are next!

Correct me if I'm wrong but werent the Saints in a similar predicament when Katrina came, and didnt they play a "Home" game against the Giants at Giants Stadium a few years ago?

Why the heck didn't they just do this in the first place?