NFL Schedule Released: Patriots Kickoff Against Tennessee
The National Football League has announced the full league schedule for the upcoming season.
The schedule, which was released at 7pm eastern time, laid out New England's 2012 journey opening in Tennessee against the Titans on Sept. 9. Here is the full schedule for next year. -
Preseason
Thursday, Aug. 9 -- vs. Saints (7:30 p.m.)
Monday, Aug. 20 -- vs. Eagles (8 p.m.)
Friday, Aug. 24 -- at Buccaneers (7:30 p.m.)
Wednesday, Aug. 29 -- at Giants (7:30 p.m.)
2012 Regular Season
Week 1 - Sep. 9 - at Tennessee (1 p.m.)
Week 2 - Sep. 16 - Arizona (1 p.m.)
Week 3 - Sep. 23 - at Baltimore (8:20 p.m.)
Week 4 - Sep. 30 - at Buffalo (1 p.m.)
Week 5 - Oct. 7 - Denver (4:15 p.m.)
Week 6 - Oct. 14 - at Seattle (4:05 p.m.)
Week 7 - Oct. 21 - NY Jets (4:15 p.m.)
Week 8 - Oct. 28 - at St. Louis (1 p.m. London)
Week 9 - Nov. 4 BYE WEEK
Week 10 - Nov. 11 - Buffalo (1 p.m.)
Week 11 - Nov. 18 - Indianapolis (1 p.m.)
Week 12 - Nov. 22 - at NY Jets (8:20 p.m. Thanksgiving)
Week 13 - Dec. 2 - at Miami (1 p.m.)
Week 14 - Dec. 10 - Houston (8:30 p.m. MNF)
Week 15 - Dec. 16 - San Francisco (8:20 p.m. SNF)
Week 16 - Dec. 23 - Jacksonville (1 p.m.)
Week 17 - Dec. 30 - Miami (1 p.m.)
Thoughts:
- The Patriots start with three of their first four games on the road to open the 2012 season; Definitely a tough test for any football team.
- New England will have four prime-time games: at Ravens Week 3 (SNF); at Jets Week 12 (SNF); vs. Texans Week 14 (MNF); vs. 49res Week 16 (SNF).
- The Patriots bye week is in week 9. This gives them eight games to open the regular season & eight games to close the regular season. After week 9, New England will only have to travel to Florida twice and New York once. They're home every other game to close out.
- October appears to be a very tough stretch for the Patriots. The team goes on a cross-country journey to Seattle, comes back home and then the following week goes on a trans-Atlantic trip to face the Rams in week 8.
- The toughest stretch for the Patriots seems to be week 12 - week 15. The Pats will face the Jets and Dolphins on the road in back-to-back games. After that, New England will play prime-time games in weeks 14 and 15, both at home. Week 14 is a Monday night game against the Houston Texans and week 15 is a Sunday night game against the San Francisco 49ers. All four games should prove to be a good challenge for Belichick's 2012 squad.
- On a side note, I found it interesting that for the 2012 season, every team will play one "short-week" game.
2012 Prediction: 12 - 4
What do you think about the 2012 Patriots schedule? Do you have a record prediction? Let me with a comment below!
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