NY Times: Secrets kept last week may lead to victories this week

[neuronet]

N.F.L. Fast Forward - Rematches of Season Finales Rule Wild-Card Round - NYTimes.com

Fluffy piece about teams holding back against teams they will face in first round of playoffs.

Notable for one random last paragraph:

A Hard Year Ahead

Brutal schedule watch, 2010: the Patriots. They will host the Colts in their annual throwdown, but they will also have Minnesota, Green Bay, Cincinnati and Baltimore at home, and San Diego and Pittsburgh on the road. And, of course, they will play two games against the Jets.

 

[CheerforTom]

That's really not that bad, though. We're very good at home and only two notable games on the road? One against Pittsburg? I'll take it.

The fact that we play Indy at home for once makes that schedule good news imo

 

[MrTibbs]

That's really not that bad, though. We're very good at home and only two notable games on the road? One against Pittsburg? I'll take it.

The fact that we play Indy at home for once makes that schedule good news imo

The NFL will make sure that is a September, October game. They won't want Manning standing outside in the cold you know.

 

[neuronet]

Yes, it's about time we have a home game against Indy. Three in a row in that sissydome is enough.

The NFL will make sure that is a September, October game. They won't want Manning standing outside in the cold you know.

 

[TrueBeliever]

I fully expect Philly and Cincinnati to look a helluva lot better this week than they did last week. NE I'm not sure what to think. Arizona will probably do better but I still expect the Packers to beat them again.

 

[JR4]

That is a horrible schedule. Everyone of those teams is a 50-50 situation.
Unless the PATs improve a lot I would expect at least 4 losses. from those
8 games. From the remaining 8 games I would not be surprised for a 6-2 record.
Doing well the PATs may be looking at a 10-6 season. It really depends
on what happens in the off season concerning all the moves these teams make.

 

[jmt57]

The Colts game won't be in December, but it won't be in September either. The networks want that held back every year until Nielson does their ratings sweep, which is usually sometime in November.

Way too early to figure out if a schedule is good or bad. Every year teams make big jumps up and big jumps down due to free agency and injuries. In 2008 the Steelers had the toughest schedule in the NFL and won the Super Bowl; then in 2009 their schedule was the easiest based on their opponents' records from the year before but they missed the playoffs entirely.

Right now it looks like five games that should be definite wins (Bills, Bills, Browns, Bears and Lions) with eleven that could go either way, but that could drastically change by next fall. I don't know that it looks that much harder than most past seasons at this point in the year. If I looked at the 2009 schedule one year ago today I would have said there were only four or five definite wins and eleven or twelve that could go either way also. The 2009 schedule had seven games against teams that went to the playoffs the previous year, and six more against teams that just missed the playoffs.

 

[dalero]

The NFL will make sure that is a September, October game. They won't want Manning standing outside in the cold you know.

They had him in Buffalo last week.

 

[pheenix11]

We had a "horrible schedule" in 2007 as well.

How'd that work out?

 

[Pat the Pats Fan]

The NFL will make sure that is a September, October game. They won't want Manning standing outside in the cold you know.

Although the networks like this game to be in November and at night. Should be interesting to see if Polian can get a roof on Gillette.

 

[upstater1]

That's really not that bad, though. We're very good at home and only two notable games on the road? One against Pittsburg? I'll take it.

The fact that we play Indy at home for once makes that schedule good news imo

We'll see if they schedule Indy around week 9 or not (early November). Watch them schedule it the second week when it's balmy.

 

[upstater1]

I fully expect Philly and Cincinnati to look a helluva lot better this week than they did last week. NE I'm not sure what to think. Arizona will probably do better but I still expect the Packers to beat them again.

I think Philly is one and done. They had everything to play for last week. They went from a bye to not games at home.

Hard to believe.

 

[aluminum seats]

That is a horrible schedule. Everyone of those teams is a 50-50 situation.
Unless the PATs improve a lot I would expect at least 4 losses. from those
8 games. From the remaining 8 games I would not be surprised for a 6-2 record.
Doing well the PATs may be looking at a 10-6 season. It really depends
on what happens in the off season concerning all the moves these teams make.

Oh please. Trying to predict how hard a schedule is the year before is beyond pointless. Teams change enormously from year to year, and within the season. You can pretty much count on the Colts being good, most of the rest is a crapshoot.

 

[FloridaPatsFan]

The NFL will make sure that is a September, October game. They won't want Manning standing outside in the cold you know.

That is an absolute fact....

 

[PatsFanSince74]

Way too early to start worrying about next year, but it's hard to ignore the fact that we do face 7 of the 12 2009/10 playoff teams (including the Jets twice) plus we have the Fins who always seem to hang an L on us.

But, we have to remember that the Panthers and Titans were a combined 25--7 in 2008 and 16--16 this year, so a schedule one year out doesn't say as much as we fear it might when it looks bad and as much as we hope it might when it looks good.

I'm worrying about the Ravens...2009 version!

 

[PatsFanSince74]

The NFL will make sure that is a September, October game. They won't want Manning standing outside in the cold you know.

I heard that the League was requiring the Pats to erect a temporary dome in case it rains.

 

[Patsfanin Philly]

They had him in Buffalo last week.

That was supposed to be Sorgi's game. He's like Santa Claus, showing up once a year in December/week 17...........