Bye weeks shuffled to accommodate Ravens-Texans postponement
posted 10:12 pm Sat September 13, 2008 -
(Sports Network) - Hurricane Ike has forced the postponement of Monday night's game between the Houston Texans and Baltimore Ravens after Reliant Stadium sustained structural damage to the roof making the facility unsafe to host the game.
Stay on top of breaking news! Sign up for ABC 7 News e-mail alerts.
The NFL had already pushed the game back from its scheduled 4:15 p.m. (et) Sunday kickoff to 8:30 p.m. (et) Monday night to allow the massive hurricane to pass through the area, and for the region to focus on cleanup and recovery. That cleanup, which now includes the roof and surrounding property of Reliant Stadium, produced a schedule change for three NFL teams, including the Cincinnati Bengals.
The postponed game has been rescheduled for Sunday, November 9 at Reliant Stadium for 1:00 p.m. (et). The Texans' bye has been changed from Sunday, October 26 to Sunday, September 14 while the Ravens' bye has been changed from Sunday, November 9 also to Sunday, September 14.

The Cincinnati Bengals' bye has been changed from Sunday, October 26 to Sunday, November 9. Cincinnati was originally scheduled to play the Texans at Reliant Stadium Sunday, November 9. That game has been rescheduled for Sunday, October 26 at Reliant Stadium at 4:05 p.m. (et).
The Houston Chronicle quoted Shea Guinn, the president of SMG, the company that manages the stadium, as saying that Reliant Stadium will not be usable for Monday's home opener for the Texans and that there is some wind and water damage elsewhere on the stadium's property, and that SMG is still in the process of assessing the situation.
It is unclear if the damage is extensive enough to put the location of Houston's next scheduled home game, October 5 against the Indianapolis Colts, up in the air. The Texans play away from home the next two weeks.
The NFL went through a similar situation in 2005, when Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, and damaged the Superdome. The Saints played their home opener against the New York Giants on the road -- in Giants Stadium -- and were forced to split the rest of their home games between Baton Rouge, Louisiana and San Antonio, Texas before returning to New Orleans in 2006.
Ike, the biggest storm to hit a U.S. city since Katrina, hit Texas' coastal town Galveston as a Category 2 storm with sustained 110 mph winds early Saturday morning.
Copyright 2008 The Sports Network
All rights reserved
ABC 7 News to leave comments on news stories.