PATRIOTSFANINPA

I read this on a blog at patriotsgab.com and dont know the legitamacy of this because the NFL usually keeps this hush hush,but the blog seemed so certain of the upcoming schedule and weeks that this seems that it could be from inside sources,with 1 day before the release,I think it could be possible its the real schedule - We will see ....

Anyways here is what the blog states as to the weeks and teams the Pats play in 2009 - (A) is away games and (H) is home games ....

Week 1 - Bills (H - Monday)
Week 2 - Dolphins (A)
Week 3 - Jets (H)
Week 4 - Broncos (A)
Week 5 - Ravens (H)
Week 6 - Falcons (H)
Week 7 - Buccaneers (A - London)
Week 8 - BYE WEEK
Week 9 - Jets (A)
Week 10 - Dolphins (H)
Week 11 - Texans (A)
Week 12 - Colts (A)
Week 13 - Panthers (H)
Week 14 - Jaguars (H)
Week 15 - Saints (A)
Week 16 - Titans (H)
Week 17 - Bills (A)

The blog does not indicate if there are any other Monday night or sunday night games during 2009 but I assume there should be another 1 or 2 prime time games after week 1.

If this turns out to be the REAL schedule then weeks 4,5,& 6 and Weeks 12,13,14,15,16 could turn out to be very tough to try and get though without more than 1 loss in these stretches.

I do think its CERTAIN that the Bucs and Pats will both get week 8 off as thier bye week after the long trip east and that would be great.

BelichickFan

Same as what was posted here :

FALSE (sorry) - Pats' schedule leaked?

and there's no reason to believe it's true.

PATRIOTSFANINPA

Didn't see that thread ... and yes,that schedule would be brutal,hope it is wrong

Ungeheuer

Man, you folks must have a low opinion of our team. I'd worry about the Colts and the Ravens, but the rest of that schedule doesn't scare me that much. The Saints and the Falcons might be tough matchups if the Pats' pass defense doesn't improve, but assuming Brady is healthy we still have to be heavy favorites going into those games.

There are a lot of tough teams that the Pats won't have to play if that's the real schedule -- most notably Pittsburgh, the Giants, and the Chargers. In most years recently the Pats have had to play at least two of their top 3 AFC foes (Indy, Pittsburgh and SD) and often they've had to play all three. In fact they had to play all three of those teams in three of the last four years. This year they have to play only one of those teams -- great.

Plus five of the first seven games are home games. The Panthers, Broncos and Jags are in disarray and we're getting the Texans after the annual Matt Schaub injury. This seems like a pretty soft sked to me, if it's real.

spacecrime

You misunderstand. Those are the teams the Pats play, home and away. That was decided in 2002. What people are talking about when they say schedule, is when we play those teams. The schedule (what dates the games are scheduled for) will come out tomorrow.

PatsFanSince74

I guess the schedule is generated by a computer program in the final analysis, but I did think, subject to correction by someone who knows more about this than I do, that the NFL tries to put as many Division games as possible towards the end of the season. According to this version, there is only one Division game in December, with the previous game in Week 10. Doesn't seem right, but I could well be wrong about that.

Bottom line, tho, for me is that, no matter where the games fall, that schedule looks a lot tougher than last year's, especially since BB finessed the four West Coast games into just two cross-country roundtrips.

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BelizePats

If this is the correct schedule I will be pissed. At what point do we stop playing the Colts in Indy? When do they come back to our house?

mossisboss

That schedule is a phony.

The NFL always schedule Indy vs NE in Week 9.....check the last 4 or 5 seasons.

Urgent

The source of all this is Patriots.com

They showed all the teams the Patriots would be playing, home and away.
The webmaster listed these in random order, with a big heading stating:
NOT IN ORDER

However, people saw it, ignored the statement, and copied the schedule.

As noted:
The teams the Patriots play have already been determined.
The divisions were determined in 2001.
The specific teams are determined at the end of the season, based on standings.

The reason the Patriots play Indy this year is that they play all teams in the AFC South (Houston, Jax, Tennessee as well).

The Patriots also play each team in the NFC South as well (Atlanta, Carolina, New Orleans, Tampa Bay).

So, six division games, four AFC South games, four NFC South games. Those were all determined in 2001.

That leaves two more games (6+4+4+2 more=16). Teams play the extra two games against teams in the two divisions inside their conference that they don't face, based on their standing. Since the Patriots play against the AFC East and AFC South, that leaves a team from the AFC West and AFC North.

The reason they play Baltimore (and not Pittsburgh) is that they were second in their division, and Baltimore was second in their division. Miami, who was #1 in the AFC East, plays Pittsburgh, but not the Ravens.

Similarly, Denver finished second in the AFC West, so the Patriots play them.

This is why the Patriots played Indy so many years in a row - both Indy and New England have perenially won their divisions. Since each were in first place each year, they always played each other. Even if this was a year we were not scheduled to face the AFC South, we would again play Indy, since both the Patriots and the Colts finished second.

Home and away was determined by the same system, I believe. The home and away shown in that schedule should be accurate. No hoping that the Colts game is in Foxboro.

Last year the Patriots played the AFC West and NFC West, hence the multiple west coast trips.

What is currently unknown is only the order of games, timing of games, and bye week schedule.

Presumably the Patriots will receive a bye week around the London game, which is already scheduled. Teams can lobby for special requests like that. Note that the Patriots had four west coast games last year, and had them grouped in two back-to-back series, as they wanted.

This system is up for review at the end of the 2009 season, so we don't know with certainty who the eight scheduled games are against yet for 2010.

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PatsChamp88

I think this was posted week(s) ago, anyway the real schedule comes out tomorrow so its not a huge deal.