BoTown

A lot of times there are discussions about strength of schedule and things of that nature. The flaw is that strength of schedule looks at the whole picture but disregards the impact that each win or loss has at the time it occurs. It's kind of like how if the Pats had faced and beaten the Falcons, it would've been more impressive to talk about how they beat the then 5-2 Falcons than it is to say they beat a 7-8 Falcons team. Or like how earlier in the season a win against the Titans would be considered no big deal at all as opposed to how it would look nowadays. Every win is considered a feather in the cap for the opposition, so the same should apply for the Pats.

So with all that said, here are the Patriots' opponents during the 2006 schedule and the records they had leading up to the game.

Week 1: Buffalo Bills (0-0, 0-0 road)
Patriots win, 19-17

Week 2: @ New York Jets (1-0, 0-0 home, W1)
Patriots win, 24-17

Week 3: Denver Broncos (1-1, 0-1 road, W1)
Patriots lose, 7-17

Week 4: @ Cincinnati Bengals (3-0, 1-0 home, W3)
Patriots win, 38-13

Week 5: Miami Dolphins (1-3, 0-2 road, L1)
Patriots win, 20-10

Week 6: bye

Week 7: @ Buffalo Bills (2-4, 1-1 home, L2)
Patriots win, 28-6

Week 8: @ Minnesota Vikings (3-2, 2-1 home, W2)
Patriots win, 31-7

Week 9: Indianapolis Colts (7-0, 3-0 road, W7)
Patriots lose, 20-27

Week 10: New York Jets (4-4, 2-2 road, L1)
Patriots lose, 14-17

Week 11: @ Green Bay Packers (4-5, 1-3 home, W1)
Patriots win, 35-0

Week 12: Chicago Bears (9-1, 5-0 road, W2)
Patriots win, 17-13

Week 13: Detroit Lions (2-9, 0-5 road, L3)
Patriots win, 28-21

Week 14: Miami Dolphins (5-7, 3-3 home, L1)
Patriots lose, 0-21

Week 15: Houston Texans (4-9, 2-5 road, L1)
Patriots win, 40-7

Week 16: @ Jacksonville Jaguars (8-6, 6-1 home, L1)
Patriots win, 24-21

Week 17: @ Tennessee Titans (8-7, 4-3 home, W6)
TBD

So in retrospect:

- The Patriots had to battle division rivals on back-to-back weeks to begin the season to take command of the division lead. They had the lead and kept it the entire season, impressive considering all 4 teams were still in playoff contention 2 weeks ago.

- They destroyed the Bengals who were being considered as early Super Bowl contenders at the time after two impressive road victories against Kansas City and Pittsburgh.

- Beat the Vikings, who at the time were being lauded for their stingy defense, and considered a darkhorse Super Bowl candidate out of the NFC.

- Gave the Bears their only road defeat of the season.

- Defeated a very tough Jaguars team on their home turf in a game with great playoff implications for both teams.

Now they'll be facing a Tennessee Titans team that is entering the week on a 6-game win streak. And if we do play into the whole strength of schedule idea, well, take a look at that schedule again. 9 games against teams that are either in the playoffs or contending for a spot.

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Pats726

somtimes what looks easy is NOT as in seems this year has been....and if one looks at how this division is..it's 6 tough games. The Jets were hardly that good last year and Miami is NOT all that bad a team...and Buffalo?? Again a bit stronger than last year. Not many easy games...

BoTown

Yup, I remember thinking at the beginning of the season that the Patriots would benefit from an easy schedule, but it's actually been a tough battle from start to finish. I would be thrilled with a 12-4 finish based on all we've seen. The Pats have shown an ability to be dominant on the road, so I'm not too concerned about there having to be only one playoff game at the Razor this year.

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Kasmir

FO says the Pats have had the 19th most difficult schedule, i.e. slightly easier than average. Tenn has had the toughest schedule by their measure, so their 8-7 record isn't bad...

http://www.footballoutsiders.com/stats/teameff.php

brdmaverick

the Pats still had a relatively easy schedule

sure, the AFC East opponents turned out to be better than advertised, but the Pats still had the benefit of playing the NFC North

the Pats were also fortunate to not have to play the AFC West

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