Looking at the top AFC contenders home and away schedules...

...and I'm actually hard pressed to say who has the easiest time of it right now.

http://www.nfl.com/schedules/tv/2006_opponents#schedule

I actually think the Pats have an equal if not a leg up. Indy as usual jumps out because of Houston and Ten. But they have Miami, Wash, Cincy at home and come here, go to Dallas, Giants and Denver. Probably one of the best schedules I've seen for all the top teams in a long time. That being said teams like Cincy could drop from where they were this year and make Pits schedule alot easier.

PatsRI said:

...and I'm actually hard pressed to say who has the easiest time of it right now.

http://www.nfl.com/schedules/tv/2006_opponents#schedule

I actually think the Pats have an equal if not a leg up. Indy as usual jumps out because of Houston and Ten. But they have Miami, Wash, Cincy at home and come here, go to Dallas, Giants and Denver. Probably one of the best schedules I've seen for all the top teams in a long time. That being said teams like Cincy could drop from where they were this year and make Pits schedule alot easier.

Click to expand...

Miami and Indy at Foxboro in December would be nice. :cool3:

Thanks for posting that article.

Actually I see a good shot at getting back into 14-2 range for us - provided we get some holes filled reasonably well in the coming months and stay relatively healthy. Chicago, Indy and Denver come here. JAX doesn't phase me here or there. Tennessee is still grappling with McNair. Cincy could be tough if Carson is back so scheduling there will be interesting. GB could be tough but more likely will be lost in transition. Minn also has a rookie HC and Culpepper is at a crossroads and coming back from knee surgery.

Indy could easily lose 5+ on that schedule. They're down on draft picks, short a RB and picking 31st too! And they have $18M due to Peyton and Marvin and $6M to franchise Wayne, and a handful of starters on that D up for contracts or RFA tenders.

I don't think anyone in the West will win 12 this year.

Think it will come down to us and the Steelers with the byes.

Just looking at what we have lined up in 2006 as to what we had to face in 2005, I think we're in better shape for HFA. Last year we had one gimmie on paper, and that was the Saints. We had to go to Pitt, Denver, KC, Atlanta & Carolina on top of the divisional games. That's the hardest slate you'll ever see, and consider we had 4 of those 5 in a 5-game stretch.

2006 has 6 big games, 3 at home, 3 on the road. The tougher ones (Indy, Denver) in Gillette and Jax, Cincy aren't impossible places to play. The Miami games could be split as usual.

As for the rest, we have EIGHT games against teams with a new HC. If we're SB contenders we sweep 'em all. The other 2 (at Tenn, Chicago) are winnable IMO.

So 13-3 or 14-2 is achievable, considering we went 10-6 (shoulda been 11-5) against a much tougher schedule.

I predict the perfect season.

Knock wood.

MoLewisrocks said:

Actually I see a good shot at getting back into 14-2 range for us - ....

Click to expand...

While ago, when the who-and-where first came out ... i found myself thinking 14-2. But didn't dare to say so.

Glad someone respectable came along to lead that parade.

Holy cow, look at Cinci's schedule!

shakadave said:

Holy cow, look at Cinci's schedule!

Click to expand...

Looks eerily familiar huh? In 2006 the AFC North has to face the AFC West and NFC South like we did last year. Only one team from the North will make the playoffs.

flutie2phelan said:

While ago, when the who-and-where first came out ... i found myself thinking 14-2. But didn't dare to say so.

Glad someone respectable came along to lead that parade.

Click to expand...

I think this schedule probably leads to a probable 14-2 record, but there IS a reasonable shot at 16-0, IMHO.

not only do we have home and away games against the Jets and Bills, but we then host Detroit, Houston, and Chicago, and another two road games against Green Bay and Tennessee. That could be nine wins right there.

with a healthy team (of course healthy being the operative word) I see 11-5 as the worst case scenario (potential losses being to Denver, Indy, at Miami, at Cincy, at Jacksonville)

and trust me, I definitely don't think we will lose all of those games