Back in April, I said the NFL blew it by not scheduling the Redskins as the final regular season opponent in Texas Stadium. After all, the Cowboys came in to close out the Redskins' RFK Stadium and several of the best moments there involved the longtime rivals.
The schedule had the Baltimore Ravens as the opponent even though they had never played a game in that stadium until last night. There are rumors that Cowboys owner Jerry Jones pulled some strings to have the Ravens as the cupcake to their homecoming game.
It's too bad the Cowboys couldn't figure things out in the final game at Texas Stadium -- especially since Jones apparently petitioned the league for the Cowboys to play the Ravens because it once looked like a winnable game. Jones sort of confirmed that theory to me after the game, but I couldn't tell whether he was joking. It didn't matter to the Ravens.
If that is true, that is sad on so many levels. I mean, would the NFL actually schedule a perceived weak opponent for a team's final game at their stadium just so they can go out on a positive note? And why would the proud owner of America's Team need to line up a cupcake? Shouldn't a team that was the favorite to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl be able to take on all comers?
It makes it all the more laughable that the Ravens came in and beat them. In their first and last appearance at Texas Stadium, Baltimore will leave as only the second undefeated team (the Raiders won all three of their games there).
The Cowboys had no shortage of bad teams that stopped in on Texas Stadium's final season. Cincinnati, San Francisco and Seattle are among the worst teams in the league. But all of them looked somewhat formidable before the season began. The Ravens were coming off a 5-11 season, had a rookie head coach running things and no idea who their quarterback would be. They had the best look of a cupcake team back in April.
Instead, the Ravens look like a playoff team. Dallas, on the other hand, doesn't.
Sports
No word if the Cowboys are planning on asking the league to schedule the Detroit Lions to help open up the new Cowboys Stadium in 2009.
Jerry Jones May Have Hand-Picked the Ravens For the Home Finale originally appeared on NFL FanHouse on Sun, 21 Dec 2008 07:35:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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