Displaying items by tag: 2012 schedule
NASHVILLE, Tenn.-- The Tennessee Titans return to the primetime football lineup with games against the New York Jets on Monday Night Football and their long-time rival the Pittsburgh Steelers on NFL Network. The Titans will open the 2012 season against the reigning AFC Champion New England Patriots at LP Field on September 9th.
“It is obviously exciting to open the season at home against a quality opponent in New England,” said head coach Mike Munchak. “They have been one of the best teams in the league for a number of years and the game will be a great test for us.
“What stands out to me is the two home primetime games. We didn’t have any last year and those are fun for our fans and an opportunity to showcase our team.
“The bye falls really late, but hopefully the Thursday night game in October will give us a long weekend and extra days to get players some rest. The final six games feature four division games and five AFC games, so it gives us a chance to control our own destiny down the stretch.”
The Titans schedule features home games against New England, New York Jets, Chicago, Detroit, Pittsburgh, Houston, Indianapolis and Jacksonville. Tennessee will travel to Buffalo, Miami, Green Bay, Minnesota, San Diego, Houston, Indianapolis and Jacksonville.
Again this year, the NFL will feature “flexible scheduling” for the Sunday night game in Weeks 11-17. Teams will be given two weeks notice if a game is moving from an afternoon game to a night contest.
The Titans 2012 schedule contains several interesting stories:
• The schedule features six games against 2011 playoff teams: Houston (twice), New England, Pittsburgh, Green Bay and Detroit. The Titans will face three of these six opponents in the first four games of the schedule.
• Former Titans defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz will return to Nashville for the first time as the head coach of the Detroit Lions.
• The Titans will make their first regular season trips to Green Bay and Minnesota since 2004.
• This is the first year without a three-game home stand or three-game road trip since 2008.
• This will mark the 7th Monday Night Football game played at LP Field and first since 2008 (Indianapolis).
• Since byes were introduced into the NFL in 1990, this is the latest bye in franchise history.
• This will be the first time the Titans have finished the regular season at home since 2006.
The opponents for all 2012 regular-season games have been determined and a complete list of each team’s home and away matchups was issued by the NFL.
The Tennessee Titans, after a 9-7 finish this season, will face four playoffs teams outside their division next year with the Patriots, Steelers and Lions at home and the Packers on the road. The Titans play the Jets and Bears at home and travel to the Bills, Dolphins, Chargers and Vkings.
Home: Houston Texans, Indianapolis Colts, Jacksonville Jaguars, New England Patriots, New York Jets, Pittsburgh Steelers, Chicago Bears, Detroit Lions
Away: Houston Texans, Indianapolis Colts, Jacksonville Jaguars, Buffalo Bills, Miami Dolphins, San Diego Chargers, Green Bay Packers, Minnesota Vikings
The scheduling formula implemented in 2002 with realignment guarantees that all teams play each other on a regular, rotating basis. After the 2008 season, a decision was made to continue with the same rotation in 2010 and beyond.
Under the formula, every team plays 16 games as follows:
• Home and away against its three division opponents (6 games).
• The four teams from another division within its conference on a rotating three-year cycle (4 games).
• The four teams from a division in the other conference on a rotating four-year cycle (4 games).
• Two intraconference games based on the prior year’s standings (2 games). These games match a first-place team against the first-place teams in the two same-conference divisions the team is not scheduled to play that season. The second-place, third-place, and fourth-place teams in a conference are matched in the same way each year.
Beginning in 2010, a change was made to how teams are paired in the schedule rotation to ensure that teams playing the AFC and NFC West divisions would not be required to make two west coast trips (e.g. at San Francisco and at Seattle), while other teams in their division had none (e.g. at St. Louis and at Arizona). The pairings of teams are listed in the digital version of the 2011 NFL Record and Fact Book (attached).
The official 2012 schedule, with playing dates and times, will be announced in the spring.
NFL Kickoff 2012 Weekend will begin on Thursday night, September 6, and the regular season will conclude on December 30.
Super Bowl XLVII at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana will be played on Sunday, February 3.
