Next year's schedule is brutal - has BB even looked at it?

[SHOWTIME15]

Based on what has or has not been done this offseason so far, unless Belichick is making this into a 2-3 year project and conceding next year, I think he needs to look at the 2010 schedule.

Home: Buffalo Bills, Miami Dolphins, New York Jets, Baltimore Ravens, Cincinnati Bengals, Indianapolis Colts, Green Bay Packers, Minnesota Vikings

Away: Buffalo Bills, Miami Dolphins, New York Jets, Cleveland Browns, Pittsburgh Steelers, San Diego Chargers, Chicago Bears, Detroit Lions

I can see the patriots losing to the Ravens, Colts, Packers, Vikings, Steelers, Chargers and splitting with the Jets and Dolphins. That means an 8-8 season.

I am not trying to troll or be a pain, but reality is realty. Next year's schedule is brutal. With the team the way it is right now, I can't see a great season. and i don't think the draft is going to help for next year either because it will take guys like Brandon Graham to develop. Add to that Welker is basically done for the year and we have a problem.

My gut feeling is BB is trying to restore this team to greatness but realizes it won't happen until 2012 or so. This is why the pats are refusing to throw money at old guys like Peppers and Boldin.

Thoughts?

 

[JSn]

Reality is realty? That's deep. And weird.

I think if we're going to get an impact player who's a veteran, it will be in a draft-time trade when other teams are all bleary-eyed looking over the fence at the proverbial "greener-grass". FAR too soon to worry about it. At this time in 2007, I don't think anyone was thinking 16-0...

I also think we might score a rookie or two who can rip it up. Not worried. Not a bit. Yet.

I'll wait to panic when we lose our second pre-season game and the sky is proclaimed to be falling.

 

[Rob0729]

Who even looks at the schedule now and predicts wins and losses. I guarantee you that at least three teams that were predicted to be very good won't be and three teams that are supposed to suck will be good to great. Happens virtually every year.

Look at the Vikings. What if their starting QB is Sage Rosenfels? What if Roethlisberger is taking time off to deal with his court case? What if Shonn Greene can't carry the load in NY? What if the Chargers don't fill all the holes they are making this offseason?

Last year at this time if you said the Jets would be in the AFC Championships, you'd probably laugh. Or that the Steelers would finish third in the AFC North and miss the playoffs all together.

Reality is reality. And the reality is that you cannot predict strength of schedule in March. I guarantee you whereever the Pats are ranked in SOS right now, it will be very different come December of this year. It could be worse, but it also could be a lot easier.

 

[RodThePat]

Based on what has or has not been done this offseason so far, unless Belichick is making this into a 2-3 year project and conceding next year, I think he needs to look at the 2010 schedule.

Home: Buffalo Bills, Miami Dolphins, New York Jets, Baltimore Ravens, Cincinnati Bengals, Indianapolis Colts, Green Bay Packers, Minnesota Vikings

Away: Buffalo Bills, Miami Dolphins, New York Jets, Cleveland Browns, Pittsburgh Steelers, San Diego Chargers, Chicago Bears, Detroit Lions

I can see the patriots losing to the Ravens, Colts, Packers, Vikings, Steelers, Chargers and splitting with the Jets and Dolphins. That means an 8-8 season.

I am not trying to troll or be a pain, but reality is realty. Next year's schedule is brutal. With the team the way it is right now, I can't see a great season. and i don't think the draft is going to help for next year either because it will take guys like Brandon Graham to develop. Add to that Welker is basically done for the year and we have a problem.

My gut feeling is BB is trying to restore this team to greatness but realizes it won't happen until 2012 or so. This is why the pats are refusing to throw money at old guys like Peppers and Boldin.

Thoughts?

Looking at this schedule I can see us having any record between 9-7 and 14-2. This kind of exercise is pointless in March.

 

[JackBauer]

I'm pretty sure BB isn't even aware there is an NFL season in 2010.

 

[Lampshade]

Every game looks winnable, with 14 or so looking eminently losable. So somewhere between 2-14, and 16-0.

Pointless exercise at this point. Rest of FA, draft, injuries etc etc.

 

[Sicilian]

I'm pretty sure BB isn't even aware there is an NFL season in 2010.

I bet if you gave him a football right now he'd try to eat it.

 

[BradyManny]

Our schedule was brutal in 2007 and we went 16-0. Our schedule was historically easy in 2008 and we went 11-5. If this team is one of the elite teams - and I think it can be again - then it ultimately doesn't matter what the schedule is, they'll win enough games to get a top seed.

 

[PATRIOTS-80]

I'm pretty sure BB isn't even aware there is an NFL season in 2010.

Post of the day. Seriously, to predict the schedule now is ludicrous. Neither the Patriots or the other teams even have a finished 53 man roster.

 

[tobias funke]

****ty poster, ****ty post

 

[BelichickFan]

I agree with those who say "who cares, who knows" right now. Also the reality is that every team in our division has all the same opponents except for two. Even if it's a brutal schedule (which I'm not conceding) if we win the division by winning the division games and doing at least as well as the Jets, Dolphins, Bills, in the non division games then we're in with our shot.

 

[Kontradiction]

I'm not panicking yet but a lot of people around here are sitting back and saying "look, we still have the draft to build this team". The reality is this: we don't even have the 10-6 2009 team at our disposal as it doesn't look like Welker is going to be available to start the season. Going into that schedule with this current team, we're looking at a 9-7 or an 8-8 team. The following are areas on this team where there are holes or, at the very least, areas of concern...

RG, C, WR3, WR4, TE, DE, OLB1, OLB2, ILB, CB

RG should be looked at as an area of concern because Stephen Neal hasn't shown the ability to stay in the line-up for a full 16 game season, Connolly wasn't cutting it last season, and we have no clue what we have in the likes of Ohrnberger. Center is certainly a position that could be upgraded though I don't think that Koppen has done nearly as bad of a job as the people who are critical of him have been making it out to be (though I don't think he's doing a bang-up job either). Do I even need to explain WR3 and WR4? Sam Aiken and Isaiah Stanback? Even with Welker in there these areas needed to be addressed. Without him, forget about it. The only answer people seem to have as of right now is Brandon Tate, however we know exactly jack about what we have in Brandon Tate as a professional football player othe than the fact that he has prior knee issues. We don't even have a TE as of right now so that's most definitely a hole. DE is a hole as Mike Wright showed last season that he was incapable of containing the run in place of Seymour. Green is off to Denver though he was even worse than Wright in that area (and at least Wright was a factor in the passing game whereas Green was nowhere to be found there either). This should be one of the top (if not THE top priority in the draft). Both OLB positions have huge question marks. AD can either be let go or kept around, but his production in this system has been just north of awful for the past year. TBC is a good pass rusher but is a liability against the run, and we have no clue what we have in Crable except for the fact that he can't seem to stay healthy. ILB is a question mark because, outside of a couple of people here, it seems pretty obvious that Guyton can be upgraded. IMO, he should be left in primarily on passing downs. People have high expectations for McKenzie but nobody really knows what we have in him either. This is one of our lesser needs, however. CB outside of Bodden and maybe Butler is a question mark. Springs wasn't exactly awe inspiring last season and Wheatley and Wilhite have not looked great to date. I expect that Butler will make the leap this season, I can only hope that Wheatley and/or Wilhite can follow.

As of right now, we're putting too many eggs into the draft basket. Sure, we can draft to take care of a lot of our needs, but the pure fact of the matter is that it's going to take time for many of these draft picks to play in our system in a way which will help us win. Our system on both sides of the ball is difficult to learn. On top of that, with all the question marks we have on the team, there's no way we're going to be able to fill all of the holes through the draft alone. For this reason, I hope talks with Reed went well and we take advantage of the cuts that are going to take place after the draft is over. Like I've said, there is no reason to jump off the cliff right now. But there is certainly reason for a mild level of worry.

 

[patsinthesnow]

Looking at this schedule I can see us having any record between 9-7 and 14-2. This kind of exercise is pointless in March.

Great post, and true.

I could see the pats losing to 8 of these games, on the other hand, I could see the pats beat every team in the league when Brady's on.

Plus, 8-8 saints to 16-3 sb champs. 16-3 sb champ steelers to 9-7 mediocrity. Teams change everyyear.

 

[BelichickFan]

RG, C, WR3, WR4, TE, DE, OLB1, OLB2, ILB, CB

I bolded those on your list that I agree with.

 

[JackBauer]

I'm not panicking yet but a lot of people around here are sitting back and saying "look, we still have the draft to build this team". The reality is this: we don't even have the 10-6 2009 team at our disposal as it doesn't look like Welker is going to be available to start the season. Going into that schedule with this current team, we're looking at a 9-7 or an 8-8 team. The following are areas on this team where there are holes or, at the very least, areas of concern...

RG, C, WR3, WR4, TE, DE, OLB1, OLB2, ILB, CB

RG should be looked at as an area of concern because Stephen Neal hasn't shown the ability to stay in the line-up for a full 16 game season, Connolly wasn't cutting it last season, and we have no clue what we have in the likes of Ohrnberger. Center is certainly a position that could be upgraded though I don't think that Koppen has done nearly as bad of a job as the people who are critical of him have been making it out to be (though I don't think he's doing a bang-up job either). Do I even need to explain WR3 and WR4? Sam Aiken and Isaiah Stanback? Even with Welker in there these areas needed to be addressed. Without him, forget about it. The only answer people seem to have as of right now is Brandon Tate, however we know exactly jack about what we have in Brandon Tate as a professional football player othe than the fact that he has prior knee issues. We don't even have a TE as of right now so that's most definitely a hole. DE is a hole as Mike Wright showed last season that he was incapable of containing the run in place of Seymour. Green is off to Denver though he was even worse than Wright in that area (and at least Wright was a factor in the passing game whereas Green was nowhere to be found there either). This should be one of the top (if not THE top priority in the draft). Both OLB positions have huge question marks. AD can either be let go or kept around, but his production in this system has been just north of awful for the past year. TBC is a good pass rusher but is a liability against the run, and we have no clue what we have in Crable except for the fact that he can't seem to stay healthy. ILB is a question mark because, outside of a couple of people here, it seems pretty obvious that Guyton can be upgraded. IMO, he should be left in primarily on passing downs. People have high expectations for McKenzie but nobody really knows what we have in him either. This is one of our lesser needs, however. CB outside of Bodden and maybe Butler is a question mark. Springs wasn't exactly awe inspiring last season and Wheatley and Wilhite have not looked great to date. I expect that Butler will make the leap this season, I can only hope that Wheatley and/or Wilhite can follow.

As of right now, we're putting too many eggs into the draft basket. Sure, we can draft to take care of a lot of our needs, but the pure fact of the matter is that it's going to take time for many of these draft picks to play in our system in a way which will help us win. Our system on both sides of the ball is difficult to learn. On top of that, with all the question marks we have on the team, there's no way we're going to be able to fill all of the holes through the draft alone. For this reason, I hope talks with Reed went well and we take advantage of the cuts that are going to take place after the draft is over. Like I've said, there is no reason to jump off the cliff right now. But there is certainly reason for a mild level of worry.

I agree with more or less everything you've written here. I expect additions to be made through FA and supplemented by the draft.

However, the entire premise of this thread is ridiculous. To assume that BB would try harder to improve the team due to a difficult SOS (in concept) is asinine.

 

[ctpatsfan77]

Great post, and true.

I could see the pats losing to 8 of these games, on the other hand, I could see the pats beat every team in the league when Brady's on.

Plus, 8-8 saints to 16-3 sb champs. 16-3 sb champ steelers to 9-7 mediocrity. Teams change everyyear.

Heck, even this year the Patriots weren't too many plays away from either 8-8 or 14-2. . . .

 

[SHOWTIME15]

I'm not panicking yet but a lot of people around here are sitting back and saying "look, we still have the draft to build this team". The reality is this: we don't even have the 10-6 2009 team at our disposal as it doesn't look like Welker is going to be available to start the season. Going into that schedule with this current team, we're looking at a 9-7 or an 8-8 team. The following are areas on this team where there are holes or, at the very least, areas of concern...

RG, C, WR3, WR4, TE, DE, OLB1, OLB2, ILB, CB

RG should be looked at as an area of concern because Stephen Neal hasn't shown the ability to stay in the line-up for a full 16 game season, Connolly wasn't cutting it last season, and we have no clue what we have in the likes of Ohrnberger. Center is certainly a position that could be upgraded though I don't think that Koppen has done nearly as bad of a job as the people who are critical of him have been making it out to be (though I don't think he's doing a bang-up job either). Do I even need to explain WR3 and WR4? Sam Aiken and Isaiah Stanback? Even with Welker in there these areas needed to be addressed. Without him, forget about it. The only answer people seem to have as of right now is Brandon Tate, however we know exactly jack about what we have in Brandon Tate as a professional football player othe than the fact that he has prior knee issues. We don't even have a TE as of right now so that's most definitely a hole. DE is a hole as Mike Wright showed last season that he was incapable of containing the run in place of Seymour. Green is off to Denver though he was even worse than Wright in that area (and at least Wright was a factor in the passing game whereas Green was nowhere to be found there either). This should be one of the top (if not THE top priority in the draft). Both OLB positions have huge question marks. AD can either be let go or kept around, but his production in this system has been just north of awful for the past year. TBC is a good pass rusher but is a liability against the run, and we have no clue what we have in Crable except for the fact that he can't seem to stay healthy. ILB is a question mark because, outside of a couple of people here, it seems pretty obvious that Guyton can be upgraded. IMO, he should be left in primarily on passing downs. People have high expectations for McKenzie but nobody really knows what we have in him either. This is one of our lesser needs, however. CB outside of Bodden and maybe Butler is a question mark. Springs wasn't exactly awe inspiring last season and Wheatley and Wilhite have not looked great to date. I expect that Butler will make the leap this season, I can only hope that Wheatley and/or Wilhite can follow.

As of right now, we're putting too many eggs into the draft basket. Sure, we can draft to take care of a lot of our needs, but the pure fact of the matter is that it's going to take time for many of these draft picks to play in our system in a way which will help us win. Our system on both sides of the ball is difficult to learn. On top of that, with all the question marks we have on the team, there's no way we're going to be able to fill all of the holes through the draft alone. For this reason, I hope talks with Reed went well and we take advantage of the cuts that are going to take place after the draft is over. Like I've said, there is no reason to jump off the cliff right now. But there is certainly reason for a mild level of worry.

finally someone else who is a pragmatist. I agree with just about everything you say. The draft may or may not help. The pats would have to get 3-4 impact players in the draft and/or through trade to be able to handle that schedule. Josh Reed can help but there are other holes to fill. The oline is the same oline essentially (except vollmer of course) that let the giants hit brady like a pineta in 07 and now they are 3 years older. also, the pats still have no consistent running game.

for those of you who think everything will be solved by brady getting back to the way he was you are assuming way too much. first, brady will never play as well as he did in 07' because he does not have the players around him to do that. no stallworth, welker, etc. Brady is not going to simply come in and take off. he needs oline to protect him well, he needs a RB that can take pressure off him, he needs receivers other than Moss, he needs a defense that can stop top offenses, etc.

 

[Defsoul]

Have to agree with the OP. We should just lay down and surrender, so that we can pick twice in the Top 5 of the 2011 NFL Draft.

 

[patsfan-1982]

we don't know what any of dose teams or the pats roster will look like week one.


you say they will beat the browns i say the browns looked pretty good to end the year and could be even better this year.


you say they will loose to the steelers i say they have not done anything to make them selfs better then a 8-8 team



we will not know how good or bad the pats are untill the season starts.

 

[Sicilian]

The oline is the same oline essentially (except vollmer of course) that let the giants hit brady like a pineta in 07 and now they are 3 years older.

You mean the Giants who lead the league in sacks, and had a double digit lead over the #2 team? You're going to judge the O-Line based on that?