Pats vs. Patsies: Considering New England’s schedule

By Os Davis  |   Wednesday, October 11, 2006  |  Comments( 8 )

New England Patriots
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Those waiting to proclaim the New England Patriots' dynasty carrion had probably better take a look at the Foxborough boys' remaining schedule and start searching for corpses elsewhere.

Seriously, how did this happen? After taking care of business four weeks of five and inexplicably limping through the Denver Broncos game, New England takes a 4-1 record into the bye week. The Pats will emerge from the mini-vacation to see a schedule card that includes a virtual "Who's Who" of beat dogs, including the Detroit Lions, Green Bay Packers, Miami Dolphins, Tennessee Titans and the Houston Texans; combined, these teams are currently 3-21.

Aside from these notables, New England's dance card also includes visits to marginal squads such as the Buffalo Bills, Minnesota Vikings and Jacksonville Jaguars (who, by Week 16, should be exposed for the .500-level teams they actually are), plus a home date against the New York Jets.

Exactly two appointment-canceling dates for both Patriot haters and worshippers appear on New England's schedule: Nov. 5 and Nov. 26. The opposition on these Sundays will be the Indianapolis Colts and Chicago Bears, respectively, a pair of juggernauts who may well bring undefeated records to the face-off.

But guess what, Bradyophobes? Both games are in Foxborough. Indy and Dah Bears may bring zero losses into town but shouldn't count on leaving Massachusetts still perfect.

Even figuring in a couple of upsets along the way and the cruising mentality the Pats will be able to adopt after clinching a playoff spot with five games remaining, the navy blue-and-silver are still looking at a 12-4 record and a number three seed. Much scarier for the AFC (and much more likely) is the definite possibility that these Patriots can match the 14-2 mark achieved in 2003 and 2004.

How important is home field in the playoffs for these Patriots? Ask the Oakland Raiders, who were beaten down by oppressive cold long before the "Tuck Rule" call finished them off in 2002. Ask Peyton Manning, whose Colts were thoroughly whipped twice in Foxboro while serving as fodder for Super Bowl champion teams.

(By the way, be sure and mentally pitch all that "one game at a time" garbage come Nov. 5; Manning well realizes by now that the date will help determine the outcome of the AFC Championship Game.)

Statistically speaking, Belichick-led New England teams have now gone 5-0 at home in the playoffs; the single playoff loss suffered in this dynasty (or mini-dynasty or near-dynasty) came last year at Denver.

How important are preseason forecasts of strength of schedule? Not very. A schedule which in terms of difficulty level appeared fair-to-middling just two months ago - Remember predictions of Miami in the Super Bowl? Of the Packers putting up a fight? - has been revealed as a list of patsies for the Pats to loosen up on. If Laurence Maroney does indeed bag the NFL Rookie of the Year award, he should be thanking his lucky stars he came up in a season wherein New England drew the three-quarters lame NFC North and AFC South to go along with a weak AFC East.

In short, the New England Patriots aren't going anywhere. The vultures will have to continue circling throughout the playoffs and into next year.

Meanwhile, if you want to see something really terrifying, check out the Bears' slate of games. Anyone else like a Super Bowl XX rematch...?

See how far the New England Patriots go this year at RealFootball365.com.
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About Os Davis

Os Davis has taken a twisted route to get to RealFootball365.com in his nearly 17 years in professional writing, working in any number of capacities in the sportswriting, news reporting and film criticism worlds. In print media, Os has served as editor at a few publications, including Albuquerque's...
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CommentsComments: 8  |  Sign Up  View all comments
No.1
Kevin		10:10 AM
10/11/2006
"In short, the New England Patriots are going nowhere. " I think your intent might be to say "the Patriots aren't going away"...
No.2
Stephen blesofsky		10:57 AM
10/11/2006
I agree with the article and love the Remy Report, as it connects me to Boston sports which I love and miss. Sure do not miss the...
No.3
Pyper		12:05 PM
10/11/2006
I still don't think you fixed it adequately. "In short, the New England Patriots aren't going anywhere" reads pretty much the...
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