Analysis: Patriots' Schedule A Matter Of Perspective

It's good to be the king...

The National Football League released the 2017 schedule on Thursday evening, and while the fans of the New England Patriots have known for weeks who their opponents were going to be, the schedule revealed the details - and the schedule makers couldn't have been any kinder to the defending champions.

But many are viewing the Patriots' overall schedule with gritted teeth - and that because of playing five of eight after the bye on the road, including three in a row in early December and two in a row in altitude in November - and those games will be challenging for sure, but things do tend to balance out.

How? Well first of all, the two games in altitude come at a fortuitous time, coming off of the midseason bye.

After playing two consecutive home games to close out the first half of the season, the Patriots take their bye in week 9, the effective two week break giving them many options to prepare for games at Denver and at Mexico City to play the Raiders - perhaps taking off for Denver on Tuesday or Wednesday to acclimate to the thinner air in the Rockies...

...then after playing the Broncos on that Sunday night, they will have the option to either stay in Denver or head straight for Mexico City, depending on the availability of venues in which to prepare for the Raiders.

After that two week stretch, the Patriots return home for the Dolphins, the go for three straight at Buffalo, Miami and Pittsburgh - but then end the regular season with two straight at home against the Bills and Jets.

According to my math, those circumstances neutralize both the disadvantage of playing two straight games in high altitude by giving the Patriots two weeks to prepare, physiologically, for the thin air of Denver and Mexico City, gives them two of their three game roadie against divisional opponents, then see them closing with two straight at home against divisional opponents.

The latter means that if the Patriots take care of their business down thew stretch and secure a first round bye after playing the Steelers in Pittsburgh on December 17th, they may not have to leave Foxborough for the following seven weeks until having to travel to Minneapolis to participate in Super Bowl LII.

So stress out all you want about the schedule, but the glass-half-full perspective shows that there is nothing goofy about the schedule-making - no conspiracies, no hanky-panky.  And the fact that they play five prime time contests and also play in two late-afternoon games scheduled for National Broadcasts means that Patriots' fans around the globe will be sure to catch nearly half of their schedule by doing nothing more than picking up their remote and clicking a couple of buttons.

Thursday, September 7 (8:30pm)
Kansas City Chiefs at New England Patriots
Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, Massachusetts

Raising the banner is always a special occasion, but the Patriots need to figure out where to put the sucker, as they have run out of room adjacent to the scoreboard.  But, alas, they will figure it out - and also get the opportunity to face a dangerous Chiefs' squad that won the tough AFC West last season before being scalped by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the Divisional round of the playoffs.

On the surface, the Chiefs did very little to improve upon last season, re-signing a couple of core players and signing TE Gavin Escobar while giving the ax to RB Jamal Charles - so don't look for them to improve much over their 20th ranked offense and 24th ranked defense.

Sunday, September 17 (1:00pm)
New England Patriots at New Orleans Saints
The Superdome, New Orleans. Louisiana

An early test for the Patriots' defense, as the Saints finished first in total offense in 2016 - but lost a playmaker when they traded WR Brandin Cooks to New England.  The Saints still have Drew Brees chucking the ball about and they signed former Panther Ted Ginn to try and replace Cooks' speed on the outside.

They still sport a terrible defense (27th overall, 31st in scoring defense), so the first round pick they got from New England in the Cooks trade will probably go toward shoring up their secondary, which ranked dead last in the NFL.

Sunday, September 24 (1:00pm)
Houston Texans at New England Patriots
Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, Massachusetts

The Texans have a great defense - tops in the NFL last season - and they have plenty of receiving weapons on offense, but no one to get the ball to them.  Unless Houston takes a quarterback in the draft, it will be third-year man Tom Savage pulling the trigger in the passing game.  Savage will have a top ten running game to keep the heat down to a minimum, but that might not be enough for them to repeat as the "Default" champions of a horrible AFC South...but then again, the division is so bad, it just might.

Sunday, October 1 (1:00pm)
Carolina Panthers at New England Patriots
Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, Massachusetts

The Super Bowl that should have been in 2015, but the Panthers were a just a shadow of themselves in 2016 - but a play here or a play there and a little luck, and it would have been them winning the NFC South instead of the Atlanta Falcons.

The Panthers lost seven games by less than three points, and still finished with six wins.  Fighting through injuries, they were able to hold things together, and now they have almost all of their weapons returning healthy.  Don't let the Panthers' record fool you, they were nowhere near as bad as their record indicated.

Thursday, October 5 (8:25pm)
New England Patriots at Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, Florida

Scary team on the rise.  The Bucs tripped over themselves coming out of the gate in 2016, losing five of their first eight, four of those losses dropping close decisions to eventual playoff teams, then went 6-2 down the stretch to make a valiant run at the post-season, but coming up just short, beating the likes of Kansas City, Seattle and Atlanta in the process.

Sunday, October 15 (1:00pm)
New England Patriots at New York Jets
MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey

Sunday, December 31 (1:00pm)
New York Jets at New England Patriots
Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, Massachusetts

The Jets come into this season is full rebuilding mode, and with a coach who is squarely on the hot seat.  A team with nothing to lose - especially a hated division rival - is a very dangerous team.  Unfortunately for the Jets, they come into the season without a quarterback of any note, offensive and defensive lines in disarray and zero weapons.  Tough go for the Jets.

Sunday, October 22 (8:30pm)
Atlanta Falcons at New England Patriots
Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, Massachusetts

How motivated are the Falcons going to be to cone into Foxborough and give the Patriots a taste of the whip?  This game is the crown jewel of the NFL's first half and a chance for the Falcons to gain some measure of respect after having their hearts ripped out of their chests in the Super Bowl.

Problem is, Atlanta will be fielding a team that is essentially the same as it was in February, a team that gave New England all they could handle and then some, but eventually wore down and blew a 25 point lead.  We all know the story, now the Falcons want some payback.

Sunday, October 29 (1:00pm)
Los Angeles Chargers at New England Patriots
Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, Massachusetts

The second of tow consecutive home games to finish up the first half of the season heading into their bye, the Patriots should have a decided advantage over the helter-skelter Chargers - but this team should not be taken lightly.

Playing in the toughest division in all of football, the Chargers went 1-5 in the division, but taking the Chiefs into overtime and playing the Raiders tough before dropping heartbreakers, and splitting their series with the Denver Broncos - in between beating good teams from Atlanta, Tennessee and Houston.  The Chargers have inherent talent, but not the the intestinal fortitude to finish off an opponent.  We'll see if that improves with a new coaching staff.

Sunday, November 12 (8:30pm)
New England Patriots at Denver Broncos
Sports Authority Field at Mile High, Denver, Colorado

The Broncos may all well be the Patriots' division rivals, having played each other at least once a year since the 2011 season, New England going 6-3 against the Broncos in nine tries in that time span - with two of their losses coming in conference championship games played at Denver.

So no one has to remind Patriots' fans of the consequence of playing the Broncos.  They have a great defense and plenty of weapons on offense, but their quarterback situation took a step back last season after they let Brock Osweiller leave in free agency, as he had already proven that his skill set was a good match for what Denver liked to do with the football.  But altitude aside, the Broncos are always a tough matchup.

Sunday, November 19 (4:25pm)
New England Patriots vs. Oakland Raiders
Azteca Stadium, Mexico City, Mexico

Denver may be known as the Mile High City, but Mexico City has them beat by a full third of a mile. Playing the Broncos in Denver the previous week will act as an impromptu hyperbaric chamber for the Patriots, allowing them to acclimate to being a mile above sea level in advance of traveling to Mexico City, which one can reasonably expect to happen immediately after their Sunday night gig in Denver.

The Raiders are as high-powered on offense as any team the Patriots will play all season, though their defense leaves them scratching and clawing to score enough points to win.  The Raiders bitch-kitty is their run defense, and the Patriots have four excellent running backs to rotate in and out to keep their running game fresh...

Sunday, November 26 (1:00pm)
Miami Dolphins at New England Patriots
Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, Massachusetts

Monday, December 11 (8:30pm)
New England Patriots at Miami Dolphins
Hard Rock Stadium, Miami Gardens, Florida

The Dolphins are always a tough draw, and the fact that they play each other twice in a span of three weeks doesn't make that any easier for either team.  Miami may have made the playoffs last year, but did so ranked in the bottom third of the NFL on both sides of the ball.  The difference between the Dolphins and most other teams on the Patriots' schedule, however, is that they have the stones to finish tight games.

Many will remember their comeback and near upset of New England in Foxborough early last season when the Dolphins scored 21 unanswered points to close within a touchdown of the Patriots, and were threatening to tie the game up with seconds to play until safety Duron Harmon picked off quarterback Ryan Tannehill in the end zone to salvage the win.

One can expect the same effort from Miami this time around as well, as the current staff seems to have the team headed in the right direction.

Sunday, December 3 (1:00pm)
New England Patriots at Buffalo Bills
Ralph Wilson Stadium, Orchard Park, New York

Sunday, December 24 (1:00pm)
Buffalo Bills at New England Patriots
Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, Massachusetts

This is another instance when the Patriots have to play a division rival twice in a short period of time.  The first was when the Patriots and Dolphins combined to make a Buffalo sandwich in between their contests, and now the Patriots have to play the Bills twice in four weeks, with the Dolphins and Steelers on the docket in between.

The Bills have plenty of talent on offense and play an explosive brand of football, though most of the explosion comes from their dynamic running game, but in contrast, the Bills defense can't stop the opposition's running game to save their lives.  Their saving grace had been their secondary, that is until New England lured cornerback Stephon Gilmore away.

With all of the speed Buffalo has in their receiving corps, they just don't make enough plays in the passing game to keep opposing defenses honest, averaging a mere 190 passing yards per game in 2016.  But a new regime is taking over in Buffalo and, of course, when it comes to playing the champs, every team has a little more motivation.

Collins, Patriots' defense dominate Chargers

Rob Ninkovich (50) and the New England defense treated Phillip Rivers very badly on Sunday night in San Diego

For the second straight week, the New England Patriots' offense seemed to be stuck between second and third gears.  Lucky for them that their defense showed up.

Big time.

Linebacker Jamie Collins, wearing the green dot and calling the plays for the Patriots' defense in the stead of the injured Dont'a Hightower, played like a man possessed in recording nine total tackles, eight of them solo efforts and picked up two key sacks in leading New England to a physical 23-14 victory over the San Diego Chargers at Qualcomm Stadium on Sunday night.

But Collins was just the most visible member of a defense that allowed the high powered Chargers' offense just seven points on the night - their other points coming via a fumble return for touchdown - and thoroughly dominated an offense in just about every way that they can be.

Considering that quarterback Phillip Rivers, he of the strong arm and the dazzling long ball, didn't get the chance to go downfield very often as either the Chargers' coaching staff or Rivers himself avoided throwing anywhere near invisible cornerback Darrelle Revis, which meant that his top weapon, wide receiver Kennan Allen, was lost to the San Diego offense...

Collins chases down Rivers in the second half.

...and second and third options Malcolm Floyd and tight end Antonio Gates couldn't work free fast enough against the rest of the New England secondary - the result being a 20 for 33 night for Rivers for a pedestrian 189 yards.

San Diego's running game didn't fare any better, the stout Patriots' front seven holding them to 53 hard-fought yards and a 3.1 yards per carry average, so it comes as no surprise that the Chargers earned a total of ten first downs in the game, going an abysmal 4 of 13 on third down conversions.

How dominating was the Patriots' defense? The Chargers had 11 total possessions in the game and was forced to punt to end eight of them, the other three resulting in their only touchdown, a blocked punt in which they lost their punter to what looked like a separated shoulder, and an Akeem Ayers interception.

In pitching a shutout in the second half, the Patriots defense continued an incredible run in which they have given up only 30 second half points in their past five games - but the really sick part is that they have allowed just three field goals - nine points - to those same opponents in the fourth quarter.

None of them pushovers, with contests against Denver and Peyton Manning, Indianapolis and Andrew Luck, Detroit and Matthew Stafford, Green Bay and Aaron Rodgers and Sunday night against the Chargers, the Patriots went 4-1 against them and have now won eight of their last nine and hold the tie breaker over the Broncos for the best record and top seed in the American Football Conference.

The Patriots can clinch their sixth straight AFC East division title at home next Sunday when they host the Miami Dolphins at Gillette Stadium.

But all is not rainbows and unicorns in Foxborough, as the Patriots' offense has sputtered badly in the past two games.  Against the Chargers, quarterback Tom Brady and his offensive line struggled against the relentless San Diego pass rush, as after initial success running the ball, New England went pass heavy and all but gave up on the running game when they fell behind early...

...which has a tendency to invite the opposing defense to send their pass rush in waves - and while the Chargers sacked Brady just once, he was constantly menaced - hit on eight other drop backs, had two passes deflected and threw a bad red zone interception that halted a sure scoring drive to end the first half.

For certain, his back shoulder throws - his bread and butter - were off as he seemed to have trouble finding touch on his offerings, firing bullets at times and floaters at others (such as his interception) and never really found his range, but timely grabs by Julian Edelman and Rob Gronkowski bailed out the offense, which took it's first lead of the game at the 10 minute mark of the final quarter.

Obviously, the offense is going to have to find it's rhythm again as the season heads into it's final three weeks and January brings the playoffs - and particularly when New England plays all three of their division rivals to close things out, teams that would love nothing more than ruining the Patriots' designs on grasping the top seed in the conference.

But with a beastly defense that has yet to be fully healthy stonewalling the opposition in dominating fashion, New England is always going to be in any game they play - and once the offense finds it's legs again, ie, their running game, the Patriots just may be unstoppable.

Hell, that defense is so good, they might even be unstoppable anyway.

Dumpster diving Belichick proving that one man's trash is another man's treasure

Akeem Ayers was projected to be a first round draft pick.

At 6' 3" and 255 pounds, Ayers hit on everything that you could want out of a strong-side linebacker: rangy with excellent ball skills, possessing an arsenal of pass rush moves and a finishing burst that caused many experts to label him a can't miss, immediate impact player coming out of UCLA.

Akeem Ayers celebrates a sack of Denver's Peyton Manning

But then his 40 yard dash time at the 2011 scouting combine disappointed. Running a 4.83, every team in the NFL became wary of timed speed, not quite willing to spend 1st day draft capital on a guy that had prototypical linebacker size, but with three-tech speed.  Instead, Ayers watched fellow linebackers Von Miller and Aldon Smith taken with Top-10 selections, while he slipped into the second day.

Shocked to see him still on the board, the Tennessee Titans snagged Ayers with the seventh pick of the second round and immediately inserted him as the strong side linebacker in their 4-3 defensive scheme, where he did indeed provide instant impact, recording 76 tackles and two sacks in his rookie campaign...

,,,following that up with a stellar sophomore season in which he eclipsed the one hundred tackle plateau, logged six sacks and chipped in with eight passes defended.  Clearly Ayers was a steal in the second round and was well on his way to stardom in defensive coordinator Jerry Gray's scheme.

Then 2013 happened.

Injuries to both knees - both with damaged patella tendons, ironically a similar injury to what has Patriots' captain Jerod Mayo on the shelf - sapped much of Ayers' lateral agility and aggressiveness and subsequently tapped into his snap count, his total tackles dropping to half of the previous year's level and he recorded only one sack.

The knee injuries were bad enough to require surgery on both after the season, impacting his full availability for OTA's and the Titans' 2014 minicamp - important in that Gray was now gone, fired with head coach Mike Munchak, and replaced by Ray Horton.

A combination of Ayers' recovery from clean-up on both knees and missing out on acclimating to Horton's 3-4 defensive philosophy rendered him inactive for five of the Titans' first seven games, even though he was physically able to perform when the season started, something that both Ayers and Patriots' head ball coach Bill Belichick alluded to as perhaps being the reason for a falling out with the Titans' new coaching staff - though in a typically back-handed way.

"I was part of some coaching changes." Ayers told the Boston media upon his arrival in Foxborough when inquired about his perceived falling from graces in Tennessee. "Things like that can happen. It's in the past and I'm happy to be here."

If you ask Titans' coach Ken Whisenhunt, he had nothing positive to say about Ayers in the weeks leading up to the trade with New England, and the price the Patriots had to pay in order to obtain Ayers - a sixth-round draft pick - made Whisenhunt's point.

I'm expecting consistency" said the well-traveled Whisenhunt, who also sent a seventh-round pick to New England to dump Ayers. "The only way that he is going to get back on the field is if he does that. It's really up to him."

It's difficult to say whether Ayers would be in Foxborough right now were it not for the season-ending injury to weakside linebacker Jerod Mayo and a significant hip injury to defensive end Chandler Jones, but one thing is for certain: The Akeem Ayers who is now a Patriot looks like the Akeem Ayers who was a force in 2012.

Although Ayers played strong side linebacker in Tennessee through his first three years, his versatility - Surprise! - has instantly made him a vital cog in the Patriots' defense, playing primarily on passing downs at first but graduating to playing the majority of snaps both as a stand-up weakside defender and also with his hand in the dirt in the stead of Jones at defensive end.

The results are encouraging, with three sacks in six games played with an edge-setting mentality that has helped the Patriots' run defense improve dramatically, to the point that there are many openly questioning if the run defense isn't actually better with Ayers on the weakside - and while the fourth-year UCLA product has indeed been a God-send, the true test of his worth should begin on Sunday night when the Patriots take on the Chargers in San Diego.

Jones is expected to make his return from the hip injury, and combined with the status of middle linebacker Dont'a Hightower being a game-time decision due to a shoulder injury may thrust Ayers into an even more significant role, as he has the versatility to line up on the inside, though he gives up about 30 pounds to the massive Hightower.

At his best, Ayers takes tremendous pursuit angles and you will often see him skirting the line of scrimmage and making a play on the ball carrier.  In theses situations he is perfect against teams that employ read option elements and zone blocking schemes, as the weakside linebacker's responsibility is to read the play from the backside, choose a target (either the quarterback or the running back) and to take that target down for little or no gain...

...while against a team like the Chargers who throw a lot and have an ambulatory (but nowhere near as mobile a signal caller as someone like Aaron Rodgers) quarterback like Phillip Rivers with a rocket launcher for an arm, Ayers' aforementioned versatility provides many different options for Patriots' defensive coordinator Matt Patricia.

Despite Rivers' accurate and lethal deep ball - no one throws a prettier deep spiral - the Chargers have had to be content with the short to intermediate passing game, with just as many crossing routes underneath as screens into the flat, which puts an emphasis on linebacker coverage on backs and tight ends, and if Jones' return allows Ayers to play a true weakside base position, we will find out all we need to know about what the Patriots truly have in him.

Belichick has made a career of claiming players that other teams have given up on and plugging them in to his system with success, which means that he is the ultimate NFL version of a dumpster diver, dining on scraps that the other coaches found less palatable - so if Belichick has once again turned one man's trash into his treasure, he will have inserted a former second round draft pick into a defense that is already loaded with first and second day talent...

...boasting five first rounders and four second rounders among their starting eleven, with only big-time playmakers Rob Ninkovich (5th round) and Brandon Browner (undrafted) drafted outside of that elite zone, both of them successful Belichick reclamation projects in their own right.

That's a pretty hefty number of high-round draft picks on one defense and with those personnel split pretty evenly between original Belichick picks (Jones, Vince Wilfork, Hightower, Jamie Collins, Devin McCourty and Patrick Chung) and his reclamation projects (Ninkovich, Alan Branch, Browner, Revis and Ayers - though Revis is hardly a project) proves his worth as a talent evaluator both on the collegiate and pro level.

There are more projects on the depth chart, Sealver Siliga and Jonathan Casillas come to mind as players who have proven reliable in spot duty, along with a myriad of raw talent littered across the chart and on the practice squad - enough to field a talented squad for seasons to come...

...but also one that is ready to contend for a title now, and the way that players like Ayers are contributing, a title just may be theirs in February.

New England Patriots on Paper - 2014 Schedule: Patriots open at Miami, close with three straight division foes

Two straight on the road to start the season, three division rivals in a row to end it, and with a literal plethora of Nationally televised night games in between, the New England Patriots 2014 schedule has been released by the National Football League.

New England opens at Miami on September 7th, then travel to Minnesota, luckily for an early autumn day game at their temporary digs at the University of Minnesota before finally playing before the home folks, hosting the Oakland Raiders in Week 3...

...the middle of the season highlighted with a Monday night visit to Kansas City, a Thursday night home duel with the hated Jets and three Sunday night games hosting the Bengals and visiting Indianapolis and San Diego.

New England ends the regular season with successive contests hosting the Dolphins, traveling to New York to play the Jets and then hosting the Bills.

Regular Season

Sunday, September 7th

New England @ Miami Dolphins
Sun Life Stadium - Miami Gardens, Florida - 1:00PM

After running for 156 yards in a November contest with the Dolphins in Foxborough, the Patriots came into the December game with Miami and completely abandoned their running game - and the result was predictable as the Dolphins took a 24-20 win at Sun Life Stadium as unknown and freshly signed safety Michael Thomas broke up a pass intended for Danny Amendola and then picked off a pass in the end zone intended for Austin Collie to secure the Dolphins' win.  Thomas was awarded AFC Defensive Player of the Week for his efforts.

Sunday, September 14th

New England @ Minnesota Vikings
TCF Bank Stadium - Minneapolis, Minnesota- 1:00PM

The Vikings will play all of their home games on the campus of the University of Minnesota at TCF Bank Stadium, which precludes them from hosting any Monday night or Thursday night games until the last two weeks of the NFL season due to conflicts with the scheduling of other events on the campus.

What a lucky break for the Patriots, as they catch the Vikings in the early fall with an early afternoon start.  Since the Vikings are forced to play their home games outdoors for the next two seasons, whomever has to visit Minnesota in late December is going to be very cold.

Sunday, September 21st

Oakland Raiders @ New England
Gillette Stadium - Foxborough, Massachusetts  1:00PM

Two words: Tuck Rule.  Be prepared to hear that over and over and over again leading up to this matchup in Foxborough.  Ask any Raiders' fan about that playoff game back in 2001, when Raiders' cornerback strip-sacked Patriots' quarterback Tom Brady, the fumble recovered by Oakland linebacker Greg Beikert for what would have probably been a game ending turnover, but referee Walt Coleman overturned the call of fumble on the field, saying that Brady's arm was moving forward and deemed in an incomplete pass.

The Patriots were able to get an Adam Venitieri field goal to send the game into overtime, then another to beat the Raiders on their way to the first NFL title in New England franchise history.

Monday, September 29th

New England @ Kansas City Chiefs
Arrowhead Stadium - Kansas City, Missouri - 8:30PM

These teams may not have played each other in a while, but that doesn't mean there's not a history between them - and just the fact that they are playing at Arrowhead is chilling, as it can be one of the more intimidating venues in the league.

Bernard Pollard is no longer with the Chiefs, but was wearing the uniform when he shredded Tom Brady's knee on opening day in 2008 - in fact, there is no one left on that Kansas City team from that fateful day, but New England coach Bill Belichick is good buddies and frequent draft day trading partner with Kansas City coach Andy Reid.

Again, a lucky break for New England as they catch a Chiefs' team in the Fall instead of winter time, when it becomes bitterly cold in Kansas City.


Sunday, October 5th

Cincinnati Bengals @ New England
Gillette Stadium - Foxborough, Massachusetts - 8:30PM

A grudge match of sorts for the Patriots, as they fell to the Bengals 13-7 last season in monsoonal rains in Cincinnati - the dismal offensive performance leading to New England's first loss of the season after a 4-0 start.  The game also marked the end of the season for defensive tackle Tommy Kelly, who suffered a torn ACL one week after nose tackle Vince Wilfork went down with a torn Achilles tendon.

Sunday, October 12th

New England @ Buffalo Bills
Ralph Wilson Stadium - Orchard Park, New York - 1:00PM

The Patriots paid a heavy price for their season opening win in western New York, losing running back Shane Vereen to a broken wrist and Danny Amendola to a completely torn adductor muscle - though both finished the game, Vereen rushing for over 100 yards despite breaking the wrist on the first play of the game and Amendola gutted out 104 receiving yards on 10 catches.

Vereen went on the IR - Eligible to return list and Amendola was never a factor the rest of the season but showed plenty in his Patriots' debut to be excited for his potential, and the Patriots set an ominous tone for the season with the first of many come-from-behind wins.

And again, catching the Bills in Buffalo in early October is much preferable to challenging both them and Old Man Winter in late December...

Thursday, October 16th

New York Jets @ New England
Gillette Stadium - Foxborough, Massachusetts - 8:25PM

Tom Brady had a very public meltdown just before halftime of this contest last season, jumping all over his rookie receivers for zigging instead of zagging, and the Jets' defense held the Patriots' offense to a paltry 232 total yards, but the New England defense forced four turnovers and the Jets' inexplicably turned away from their dominant running game as the Patriots' escaped with a 13-10 victory in a nationally televised Thursday night game.

Looks as if the Patriots and Jets are going to become annual Thursday night rivals..


Sunday, October 26th

Chicago Bears @ New England
Gillette Stadium - Foxborough, Massachusetts - 1:00PM

Just as with the Green Bay Packers, the history that the Patriots have with the Bears is limited to a game every four years, and that dismal Sunday back in 1986 when the Bears and their Super Bowl Shuffle crushed the Patriots by a score of 46-10 in one of the worst blowouts in Super Bowl history.

Going into the game, the Patriots were said to have a rampant drug problem that permeated the team, a story that was told with gusto by the national media, prompting one national writer to quip, "The Bears gave the Patriots their drug problem - they drug them all over the field."

Sunday, November 2nd

Denver Broncos @ New England
Gillette Stadium - Foxborough, Massachusetts - 4:25PM

No build up needed for this game, though it figures to be hyped and over-hyped ad nauseum for the entire week before the contest.  And why not?  After all, the teams split their two meeting last season, the Patriots taking an epic come-from-behind win in Foxborough during the regular season, then the Broncos winning the AFC Title over New England in January.

Sunday, November 9th

Bye Week

Sunday, November 16th

New England @ Indianapolis Colts
Lucas Oil Stadium - Indianapolis, Indiana - 8:30PM

Surprise, surprise, surprise...the Colts and Patriots meet once again - this time in Indianapolis where quarterback Andrew Luck will try to lead his Colts to a payback victory of sorts over a Patriots' team that eliminated them from the playoffs last January, former Patriots' running back LeGarrette Blount enjoying an epic performance against the Indianapolis defense and their kick coverage units.

Sunday, November 23rd

Detroit Lions @ New England
Gillette Stadium - Foxborough, Massachusetts - 1:00PM

The New England offensive line may feel like they owe the Lions' defensive line a good beating for the way the Lions jacked them up in the preseason last year by a score of 40-9 that wasn't even that close.  It was supposed to be the dress rehearsal for both teams, but Brady was pulled at halftime for the sake of his own health as the Lions pummeled the quarterback into submission.

Sunday, November 30th

New England @ Green Bay Packers
Lambeau Field - Green Bay, Wisconsin - 4:25PM

Not an abundance of history between the teams, just a little game called Super Bowl 31, a game where Patriots' quarterback Drew Bledsoe and running back Curtis Martin led a third quarter comeback to get the Patriots to within six after trailing by two touchdowns, Martin taking it in from 18 yards out to make the score 27-21 and give New England all of the momentum - but then Desmond Howard broke their backs with a 99 yard return of the ensuing kickoff and the Patriots' didn't score again.

Will it be deathly cold in Green Bay?  If so, the Patriots can always just think about the warm sun and sandy beaches of San Diego next week...

Sunday, December 7th

New England @ San Diego Chargers
Qualcomm Stadium - San Diego, California - 8:25PM

So long as LaDanian Tomlinson isn't playing, all should be good between these teams.  Tomlinson was part of a team that was eliminated two consecutive years by the Patriots, including a 21-12 win in the 2007 AFC Title game in which Tomlinson essentially quit on his team - and was one of the first players to speak out against Bill Belichick when SpyGate emerged, stating, "I think the Patriots actually live by the saying 'If you're not cheating, you're not trying,'"

recently, there hasn't been much of a history, other than New England signing since-departed Steve Gregory three years ago, and the Patriots losing third-down back Danny Woodhead to the Chargers last offseason.  The Chargers' offense will be a stiff test for New England's new-look defensive secondary with a revitalized Phillip Rivers tossing the most deep balls in the league last season.


Sunday, December 14th

Miami Dolphins @ New England
Gillette Stadium - Foxborough, Massachusetts - 1:00PM

The Patriots beat the Dolphins in a tightly contested struggle in mid-November last season, coming back from a 17-3 halftime deficit to outscore Miami 24-0 in the second half as part of an amazing six-week stretch where they opened each contest with poor offensive performances, then came screaming back into the games to win going away.  The New England running game gouged the Miami defense for 156 yards while quarterback Tom Brady suffered one of his worst days as a pro, barely hitting the century mark.

Sunday, December 21st

New England @ New York Jets
MetLife Stadium - East Rutherford, New Jersey - 1:00PM

The New England defense surrendered 177 yards on the ground to the potent Jets' running attack and the offense was limited to 295 total yards, but as had been a theme with the Patriots all season, they were resilient enough force the Jets into overtime, but a pair of personal fouls in the extra period - including one on rookie defensive tackle Chris Jones for unsportsman-like conduct for using the backs of his defensive teammates to launch himself in the air to try and block a long field goal attempt - doomed New England to their second loss of the season.

New York kicker Nick Folk missed the long field goal attempt which would have given New England excellent field position close to midfield, but Jones' penalty gave the Jets mew life and three plays later Folk nailed a 42 yarder to end the game.

Sunday, December 28th

Buffalo Bills @ New England
Gillette Stadium - Foxborough, Massachusetts - 1:00PM

The Patriots closed out their season on a roll, particularly on the ground as their power running game accounted for 267 yards as New England dominated the Bills.  As usual, the Bills racked up plenty of rushing yards themselves, but their defense had no answer for LeGarrette Blount, who ran wild for the second week in a row.

Previously released Preseason schedule

Thursday, August 7th
New England @ Washington Redskins
FedEx Field - Landover, Maryland - 7:30pm

Friday, August 15th
Philadelphia Eagles @ New England
Gillette Stadium - Foxborough, Massachusetts  - 7:30pm

Friday, August 22nd
Carolina Panthers @ New England
Gillette Stadium - Foxborough, Massachusetts  - 7:30pm

Thursday, August 28th
New England @ New York Giants
MetLife Stadium - East Rutherford, New Jersey - 7:30pm