Could an easy schedule hurt the Patriots down the road?

[CheeseMonkeys]

They ALREADY DID!! Or hadn't you noticed like the numskull who said the Pack, with no run game, and the 31st Defense are greatly different from the Pats.

Why do you suppose the cumulative defensive stats are so poor?

They have ALREADY played the IRON on their schedule, and have effectively:
a) won their Division,
b) and hold the best record in the AFC for HFA.

Right, but I was asking if anyone else thought the Patriots may become overconfident or not improve where they are flawed due to the easy schedule ahead.

 

[PATSNUTme]

Jeopardy! Think Music, 1960s 1984-1997 - YouTube

My final answer is: What is NO!

 

[SHOWTIME15]

I am constantly amazed how some on this board can consistantly find a cloud in every silver lining.

Is the glass ever half full in your world of pessimism?

I think the OP is just posting a possibility, not necessarily being pessimistic. He has a valid point - we've seen teams that scratch and claw their way into the playoffs in different sports go further than teams with the good records. I mean the schedule looks like batting practice for the patriots. on the one hand the injured players can get healthy. on the other hand playing indy doesn't help us prepare for the ravens.

 

[BradyFTW!]

Hurt us? No, because if the Pats were playing against good QBs with this secondary, they'd probably drop some games. This way they can get healthy and get some playing time for their backups while likely winning out anyways. Can't ask for much more than that.

 

[Betterthanmost]

The team no, as they know who they are, but it may hurt any fan who gets delusional of what we really are.

 

[Bonzo]

I was wondering this myself, but as others have said, you can dig up historical examples to serve either side of the argument. I think BB & the coaching staff is particularly adept at identifying the particular challanges any given team presents -- enough so that the team can continue to improve throughout December.

Regardless of the difficulty of the opponents -- and I don't personally feel that any of those final three games are a certain gimme -- I think the Patriots will feel ample pressure internally to to snag HFA, especially considering none of the other 3-loss teams have particularly stout schedules either. So I doubt relaxation/overconfidence will be an issue.

Besides, the Pats couldn't be more beat up, so I think the softer schedule comes at a good time.