Excellent article by Felger
 

Talks about BB's situation, Vrabel and the shows the importance of bye weeks.

http://patriots.bostonherald.com/pat...ticleid=118060

Bye week is important but...
 

Not the make or break that Felger makes it out to be. Yes, the Patriots only have won it all when they had the bye but recent NFL history shows it is not vital.

In 3 of the last 6 years and 4 of the last 8 years a wildcard team made the Super Bowl.

XXXVIII Feb. 1, 2004 New England 32, Carolina 29
XXXV Jan. 28, 2001 Baltimore 34, N.Y. Giants 7
XXXIV Jan. 30, 2000 St. Louis 23, Tennessee 16
XXXII Jan. 25, 1998 Denver 31, Green Bay 24

Carolina, Baltimore, Tennessee and GB all were wildcard teams. The Bye has not been as vital as it used to be since free agency. Before the non bye teams were great and the wildcard teams were fringe teams. Teams that were good enough to make the playoffs but not great. Now, there are no "great" (by great I mean a team that has no weakness) teams. Every team in the playoffs has a weakness. Indy's, NE, Cinny all have issues on defense. Denver can't really on the passing game. Jacksonville has a below average O. You get the point. The Pats would be better off having the bye but they can still win without it.

Get over it
 

We got to get over the bye thing. We are not getting one this season. Let's concentrate on the teams that won three games to make it to the SB. What was their formula for success?

Excute, play smart, no turnovers, limit penalties, and hit the other guy harder then he hits you.

Once we win the first week, the lack of a bye will mean little to nothing. Sure, we won't have had the week of rest but Belichick can manage that however he feels like as we've already won the division. The Patriots are more than mentally tough enough to deal with road playoff games.

Bye = rust?
 

A case can certainly be made for teams that clinch early playing soft down the strectch and then having the bye being quite rusty for that first (and hopefully this year - only home game). I woudl think timing would certainly have to be way off, especially if starters when are rested for a game or three and then factor in the bye week.
I would like one of our resident statistical genuises chart the number of bye teams that lose in their Divisional round of the playoffs versus those that go on to win it all.
I also wonder, would it be better to play the Colts during the divisional round or the AFC Championship game? I would think Divisional round to take advantage of the "rust" factor i am talking about above.

All I want for the new year is three home games in foxboro in January and one in detroit in Feb.

If we are a good team we can win without having the bye. It is one more game to play but we can get to the SB without the bye.

And, I also think that we can do it as the 4th seed or if we get lucky and get the 3rd seed.

We certainly have the offense to get it done. The only question in my mind is the secondary - as it was last year.

If you notice the records of those teams are 11-5, 12-4 etc. Nobody backed in.

Using exellence and Felgie in the same sentence is an oxymoron.
Excellent analysis. Had PROFESSIONAL REPORTER Felgie did the same and said "Hey research at first shows WC teams fail, but look deeper and you'll see other factors that..." But no, instead good looks and personalities are the game for today's media, not facts. Otherwise guys like Miguel, Box O Rocks and insightful analysis like yours would be featured. Thanks again for the insight.