Rate games on schedule

I chose Oakland but for non-football reasons. Mexico city is high altitude and the air pollution is bad. By the 4th quarter both teams will be gassed like the just took up smoking. (Seriously, Belichick should use some of that depth.) If it is remotely close the end will be a coin flip.
Power ranking the Patriots 2017 schedule

Belichick's got that covered with the special week 10/11 uniform adjustment...

I would handicap the game at Pittsburgh as the toughest one on the schedule myself. Yes, the Patriots have fared well versus the Steelers recently, but Pittsburgh is still the next best team in the conference. It is not just at Heinz Field, it will be the fifth road game in a span of 35 days, plus it will be coming off a very short week after playing on Monday night at Miami.

The game in Mexico City will be tough, but the high altitude and air quality will affect both teams equally. If anything the Pats should be better acclimated after having played at Denver.

On the other end of that list, I don't see how playing Kansas City can be ranked as the easiest game; it is certainly not easier than home versus the Jets (unless the Patriots have clinched the #1 seed by then).

lurker1965 said:

I chose Oakland but for non-football reasons. Mexico city is high altitude and the air pollution is bad. By the 4th quarter both teams will be gassed like the just took up smoking. (Seriously, Belichick should use some of that depth.) If it is remotely close the end will be a coin flip.
Power ranking the Patriots 2017 schedule

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The Raiders did very little to improve their defense & they had a lousy defense last year. Their defense was even worse in the Redzone & Tedy Bruschi pointed out, they never corrected their mistakes. They made the same mistakes over and over.

Teams like that don't scare me at all !

Even if we did lose in the regular season in Mexico, I love our chances against them in Foxboro in January.

cupofjoe1962 said:

The Raiders did very little to improve their defense & they had a lousy defense last year. Their defense was even worse in the Redzone & Tedy Bruschi pointed out, they never corrected their mistakes. They made the same mistakes over and over.

Teams like that don't scare me at all !

Even if we did lose in the regular season in Mexico, I love our chances against them in Foxboro in January.

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I agree. I picked Oakland because Mexico City could be the great equalizer. I don't think Oakland even makes the playoffs. The have the same HFA that San Diego had last year and actually feel better on the road.

jmt57 said:

I would handicap the game at Pittsburgh as the toughest one on the schedule myself. Yes, the Patriots have fared well versus the Steelers recently, but Pittsburgh is still the next best team in the conference. It is not just at Heinz Field, it will be the fifth road game in a span of 35 days, plus it will be coming off a very short week after playing on Monday night at Miami.

The game in Mexico City will be tough, but the high altitude and air quality will affect both teams equally. If anything the Pats should be better acclimated after having played at Denver.

On the other end of that list, I don't see how playing Kansas City can be ranked as being an easier game than home versus the Jets (unless the Patriots have clinched the #1 seed by then).

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I sort of agree about the Steelers, but Mexico City could make it a 50-50 proposition. I can't see the Steelers having a 50% chance.

As for KC, we have yet to see how Alex Smith reacts to having the guy the team traded two first round picks for on the bench.
Add to that no home team lost a Thursday Night opener - Yes, the Giants lost on a Wednesday. and the Ravens lost but game was in Denver.

#1 Riaders Mexico City - I believed this year and still do now Oakland was our biggest rival. Then Carr went down and that was that. This team is scariest than Pitt cause they have a Defense that doesn't show its hand easily and a push rusher capable of a few game changing plays.

#2 @ Broncos - In Denver is hard and I will need to believe their O though not good will not be the absolutely **** show it was last year. This D is real and can force the Pats to win not relying on Brady which is always a little scary.

#3 Falcons - This is going to be a very good game and I would not be surprised to see them again. I don't think they fall apart though their O will come back down to earth a bit.

#4 @Jets - This game is almost always hard no matter how much better the Pats are.

#5 Pitt - I need to put this top 5 but to be honest I don't see Pitt as a threat. They AGAIN won't change their D and Brady will pick them apart and that will be that. I don't care how good their O is if they don't change their D they can't beat Brady.

#6 Panthers - They are not as good as they were in 2015 or as bad as they were in 2016. I look for them to bounce back and be a Pretty good team. Will help having Luke back. NFC team though so lower.

#7 @Tampa - I am curious to see this young team on the rise. They have the type of WR which can give the Pats fits and will feed him a lot.

#8 @Saints - This team is bound to improve soon and make a run. This could be the year and having an elite QB makes them a threat. This could be the year their D steps up.

#9 KC - I am curious to see how the Pats handle their TE and pass rush. However I can't bring myself to worry about them. The Coach/QB just isn't enough. Also season opening make it a bit special.

#10 Houston - Same as above. Will be interesting but not a team who can truly challenge.

#11 Chargers - This is a good team for 75% of the game. They should be better than they are but they just aren't. It will be entertaining more so than KC/Houston but they likely can't put together the 60 minutes needed to give the Pats a run.

#12 @Maimi - This game is hard in September. In December? I doubt it.

#13 Jets - One of the Jets games will be a beat down i think. This will be fun to watch

#14 @Bills - Away is always a little hard but the Bills just don't have the QB.

#15 Miami - Should be an easy win at home

#16 Bills - Same.

Am I the only one who thinks Oakland is a bubble playoff contender?

Toughest games are as always for Pats: @Denver and @Miami. @Steelers and vs Falcons will be challenging. vs Oakland (neutral field) doesn't concern me.

This schedule is really split. It breakdowns into 2 different gauntlets imho. Before & After the Bye.

Before

1a) @ N.O.
I really like what T.B. is doing but the thought of Brees and Peterson together is scary. I believe Peterson has a few more great years in him but what's even scarier is the versatility in that backfield. A.P. , Ingram & Kamara. That's pretty good if you ask me and should be the real strength of that team. Their secondary is very young (Lattimore, Williams and Bell) but do have the talent overall on D to make it respectable. (Should be noted that the hype around/about Peterson is enormous down there. Coaches, teammates, f/o are all talking his addition up and impact he'll have)

1b) @TB
This will be a tough game. Tampa has serious potential at the WR position. I've loved Evans since college and think he has HOF potential. Amazing receiver who continues to make QB'S look good. Combine Evans and Jackson with Godwin from PSU and you have a perfect array of weapons for Winston who needs help at that position in terms of catch radius & deep ball playmakers.

Key to success is their oline and D. They've been tinkering with both but need serious improvements from both.

2) K.C.
Their D, specifically front 7 is legit but so are the Pats and I'm just not afraid of Smith here. Mahomes is a few years away but the pressure is still there which imo isn't fair. Smith is who he is. At this point you can't be surprised by his game and I'm actually a fan of his. Limited yes but not everyone can do what he does.

After The Bye

1)@Oak
People can talk about their defense but it's pretty close to being very good and frankly if Carr is healthy their offense is good enough to win them a lot of games. Most people are just now figuring out how bad Seattle's oline was but that's not hardly the case in Oak. Here's a video of what their offense could look like.


2)@Denver
1 & 2 could easily be reversed as this game might be more winable bc of the bye the week before and the Oak game the week after. Not much needs to be said here.

3) The first 6 weeks after the bye are @Den, @Oak, Mia, @Buff, @Mia & @Pitt. This is obviously the toughest stretch with Buff & Jets to end with. I wouldn't be surprised at all with any loses during that stretch.

Ice_Ice_Brady said:

Am I the only one who thinks Oakland is a bubble playoff contender?

Toughest games are as always for Pats: @Denver and @Miami. @Steelers and vs Falcons will be challenging. vs Oakland (neutral field) doesn't concern me.

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They have a very tough division but they have a great team.

After @ Denver that will be a difficult game and I'm thinking they have decent showing of Raider fans down there.

At Denver will always scare me no matter who is playing QB over there.

People are seriously underestimating the Raiders, IMO.

They were ahead in touchdowns most games, so they would slack off often. They are not disciplined, as other point out, but they have a pretty strong Front 7 (Khalil Mack is next to Von Miller in quality) and they reinforced their secondary with rookies. Obviously, their offense is legit.

They are the 2nd best team in the AFC, under us. I feel like our biggest advantage is coaching (BB vs Jack Del Rio), but even he seems better than before. Because this game will be played under so different circumstances, that will give us an edge on our game against them. They lack experience in the spotlight, too.

JayNM said:

People are seriously underestimating the Raiders, IMO.

They were ahead in touchdowns most games, so they would slack off often. They are not disciplined, as other point out, but they have a pretty strong Front 7 (Khalil Mack is next to Von Miller in quality) and they reinforced their secondary with rookies. Obviously, their offense is legit.

They are the 2nd best team in the AFC, under us. I feel like our biggest advantage is coaching (BB vs Jack Del Rio), but even he seems better than before. Because this game will be played under so different circumstances, that will give us an edge on our game against them. They lack experience in the spotlight, too.

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Perhaps the Raiders are that good, but was anyone surprised that they were easily handled by Houston in the playoffs after Carr went down? I'm not sure you can call a team really good when their defense stinks (at least they did last year) and their offense is totally dependent on their QB.