The next 15 games

[SVN]

just breaking down our games which we should win vs which seem a lot tougher now with 12 out.

HOME
miami
bills
jets
cards
stl
denver
pitt

of these denver scares me the most as usual plus they really looked good last nite with their rookie receiver eddie royal. reminded me of deion branch.
pittsburgh is right up there too . We *should* be able to win against the other teams but all these home games except the fins are actually a little down the road so we will never know where we are

ROAD
sf
sea
miami
jets
bills
sd
indy
oakland

SD and indy are obviously the most difficult ones . bills , is the last game so who knows where either of us are at that time. we should win at sf and miami and oak.next week at jets looks a little difficult right now
so if we were to go 11-5 our losses could be sd,indy,denver,pitt and any one of the rest . if we just protect our home field behind our large and loud crowd , it would be huge.

thoughts ?

 

[O.Z.O.]

just breaking down our games which we should win vs which seem a lot tougher now with 12 out.

HOME
miami
bills
jets
cards
stl
denver
pitt

of these denver scares me the most as usual plus they really looked good last nite with their rookie receiver eddie royal. reminded me of deion branch.
pittsburgh is right up there too . We *should* be able to win against the other teams but all these home games except the fins are actually a little down the road so we will never know where we are

ROAD
sf
sea
miami
jets
bills
sd
indy
oakland

SD and indy are obviously the most difficult ones . bills , is the last game so who knows where either of us are at that time. we should win at sf and miami and oak.next week at jets looks a little difficult right now
so if we were to go 11-5 our losses could be sd,indy,denver,pitt and any one of the rest . if we just protect our home field behind our large and loud crowd , it would be huge.

thoughts ?

In reference to that game against the Donkeys-

what have we been hearing from the haters and pessimists about MC's debut on Sunday- "it was only the Chiefs"

...it was only the raiders...

 

[Disco Volante]

All I know is the Bears had absolutely no problem beating the Colts on the road and their home field advantage has significantly been weakened with their new stadium as it isn't nearly as suffocating at the RCA dome was.

 

[CheerforTom]

All I know is the Bears had absolutely no problem beating the Colts on the road and their home field advantage has significantly been weakened with their new stadium as it isn't nearly as suffocating at the RCA dome was.

The first thing I thought when I heard that Dungy could dictate when they close the roof was "what do you think are the chances the roof is ever open when they play the Pats, regardless of the weather?"

The schedule is going to depend largely on how the Bills and Jets do. They both looked promising on Sunday.

 

[captadamnj]

The only thing I know is that right now, I don't know how anything is going to go. While Cassel may be in his 4th year, for all intents, he's a first year qb. Which means we may very well see something like what we saw out of Derek Anderson last year - early season success followed by teams catching up to him once they've got some film. About all I can look forward to is the next 2 games. Against the Jets, I think the defense will have to make some plays against Favre and their new o-line. I like having this game earlier in the season vs. later since both Favre and the o-line is new to the team. I like the matchup of our defense in this game, especially with the Jets not really having what I would call a difference maker at WR. I like the Pats in a close one.

Next week against Miami, again, I think the defense has a favorable matchup. Very winnable again.

The problem, I fear, is that getting to 3-0 in the bye week is going to create an atmosphere of "See, no Brady, no problem, Cassel is the man!". If the offense totally sucks the next 2 weeks (which if KC was any indication, it shouldn't), then we have a real problem on our hands. But success the next 2 weeks, while good for confidence, I don't think will be a very good barometer for what will come the rest of the reason. After the bye, the first west coast swing against the 49ers and Chargers then home for the Broncos, I think that 3 game stretch will give us (and the league) a better idea of what the Matt Cassel led Patriots look like.

Even if the Offense is still looking good, hard to say what we'll have the 2nd half of the year once Cassel's been scouted a bit. You hear BB with his "one game at a time" and "we're not looking ahead" mantras, well, this year more then ever, you've got to go with it.

 

[Rob0729]

I have been saying this for a long while now. I am not all that worried about the Colts. I don't think they are as bad as they were Sunday night, but they are not going to be an elite team. I am almost as worried about Arizona as I am the Colts. I think Seattle is in for a fall too while we are at it.

Personally, I think the games that will be toughest will be (in no particular order) SD, Denver, all the divisional games, and Arizona. Not that the Pats won't face tough competition in other games, but those are the ones that scare me most.

 

[SVN]

I have been saying this for a long while now. I am not all that worried about the Colts. I don't think they are as bad as they were Sunday night, but they are not going to be an elite team. I am almost as worried about Arizona as I am the Colts. I think Seattle is in for a fall too while we are at it.

Personally, I think the games that will be toughest will be (in no particular order) SD, Denver, all the divisional games, and Arizona. Not that the Pats won't face tough competition in other games, but those are the ones that scare me most.

anyone but arizona scares me and iam always nervous against any team . a dome/arizona based team playing the 2nd last game in december in foxboro ? . i dont like their chances.colts at home with peyton and offense finally clicking is more of a probability.

 

[patsfaninpittsburgh]

Good insight

In a way, this does make the year more interesting. We really don't know what will happen. However, a few points:

We do play alot of crappy teams. I don't think there will be a consistent body of work to get the "blueprint" on the offense. I don't buy the "8 men in the box theory". Ask KC

SD and Indy need to show alot more. Talk all you want about Peyton but their special teams and that defense were awful. The Bears have a great line, but the Colts O-line needs to be questioned. SD, what's up with that? We might be lucky in that our "measuring stick" games are spaced out.

Will our defense get better/worse?

Can't wait till Sunday!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[SVN]

The first thing I thought when I heard that Dungy could dictate when they close the roof was "what do you think are the chances the roof is ever open when they play the Pats, regardless of the weather?"
.

if its in november and the temperature is below 70 then the roof will be closed. you can bet on it.

 

[JoePats]

In regards to Arizona, we do get them at home in December. That's gotta be a big advantage.

The Colts might not be what they were, but let's not get carried away that Matt Cassel is likely to beat Peyton Manning in Indy. At this point, unless Cassel is way better than can reasonably be expected at this point, there is no reason to think that is anywhere near a coin flip.

 

[Ring 6]

just breaking down our games which we should win vs which seem a lot tougher now with 12 out.

HOME
miami
bills
jets
cards
stl
denver
pitt

of these denver scares me the most as usual plus they really looked good last nite with their rookie receiver eddie royal. reminded me of deion branch.
pittsburgh is right up there too . We *should* be able to win against the other teams but all these home games except the fins are actually a little down the road so we will never know where we are

ROAD
sf
sea
miami
jets
bills
sd
indy
oakland

SD and indy are obviously the most difficult ones . bills , is the last game so who knows where either of us are at that time. we should win at sf and miami and oak.next week at jets looks a little difficult right now
so if we were to go 11-5 our losses could be sd,indy,denver,pitt and any one of the rest . if we just protect our home field behind our large and loud crowd , it would be huge.

thoughts ?

With no Brady, here is my take.

Division. We are clearly the best team in our division, even without Brady. 5-1
Non-division home
KC was a win, cards and rams are easy wins, pit and den are competitive teams, probably split those 4-1
Non-div road
sd indy, tough games, will count as losses for the sake of predicting because of hfa (But I'd bet a lot we don't lose both) seat, sf, oak, do not impress me, but i can see an upset in the group. 3-2

Record 12-4
Home 7-1, road 5-3
division 5-1

Oh, and this includes winning in New Jersey this week, because we will.

 

[Ring 6]

In regards to Arizona, we do get them at home in December. That's gotta be a big advantage.

The Colts might not be what they were, but let's not get carried away that Matt Cassel is likely to beat Peyton Manning in Indy. At this point, unless Cassel is way better than can reasonably be expected at this point, there is no reason to think that is anywhere near a coin flip.

It will be the Patriots against the Colts, not Cassel beating Manning.

Eli Manning beat Tom Brady last year.
Billy Volek beat Peyton Manning last year.

I think we are going to get an awesome opportunity as fans to see how good the other 52 players on this team are while Brady is out.

 

[NEPatriot]

As long as we have home field advantage during playoff, we will be OK. It's a good start.