New England Patriots: 2008 Schedule Analysis

This is it football fans... the schedule's have been released, and we're ten days away from the draft! It's time to start taking a serious look at the 2008 Season!

Now, I'm not about to predict the score of any games, or try to tell you what the Patriots record is going to be. It's way too early for that. There's a lot of offseason left ahead of us, and it would seem silly to attempt such things. But hey... let's take a look at the schedule!

Sun 9/7/2008 1:00 PM vs Chiefs

Kansas City has a decent football team, and this will not be a given by any means, but the Patriots will be more than ready to claim their first win of the 2008 season. The Pats will be especially ready after dealing with such an infuriating offseason following such an astonishing Super Bowl loss.

Sun 9/14/2008 4:15 PM @ Jets

As many will point out, this matchup will be enveloped by gossip and drama regarding the 2007 season's spygate scandal. That will be all caused by the media though, as I'm sure that both the Jets and Pats organizations are ready to put all of that behind them. This will be a good matchup, which already has some excellent storylines to go with it. Victor Hobson was signed by the Patriots a few weeks ago, and I'm sure there will be many more things to talk about by then. This should be an interesting week of Patriots football.

Sun 9/21/2008 1:00 PM vs Dolphins

Last year this game looked to be a gimme and after the Dolphins released most of their starters, it would appear to be the same this season. I'm here to tell you that overlooking this game would be devastating to the beginning of the Patriots' season. Bill Parcells will have had plenty of time to create a real, working football team and he's definitely hired a lot of guys he believes in to run the team. Expect them to put up just as much of a fight as a division rival should.

Sun 9/28/2008 vs Bye

Bye week already? This would seem like a very early bye week, but it might not be as bad as it seems come January. I'll explain further shortly.

Sun 10/5/2008 4:15 PM @ 49ers

The Niners were supposed to be a good team last year. I'm not even going to attempt to speculate what happened. I will say this though... get rid of Alex Smith. It's admirable that you're trying to give the guy a chance, but seriously ... give it up. If Smith plays, this one should be a fairly simple victory for New England.

Sun 10/12/2008 8:15 PM @ Chargers

This will be the first game against a premiere AFC opponent and it should be very entertaining. A very large part of this game will be whether or not San Diego starts this season the same way they started the 2007 season... lethargic and unprepared. If they're playing to their full potential, I'd expect to see battle of backs, as Laurence Maroney and Sammy Morris will likely see a lot of carries this season.

Mon 10/20/2008 8:30 PM vs Broncos

Monday Night Football is always fun to watch anyway, but this should be a great matchup, if the Broncos play anything like they're capable of. No matter who Denver has in the backfield, they always pose a threat on the ground. As Jay Cutler continues to mature as a quarterback, look for this team to make some serious improvements on offense. New England will mainly utilize their ground game for the second week in a row.

Sun 10/26/2008 1:00 PM vs Rams

A rematch of the 2001 Super Bowl. Unfortunately, this will dig up drama about Matt Walsh and whatever he says he has on film from that very Super Bowl. Thank the media for another wonderful display of he-said/she-said. Other than that, if Bulger stays healthy this season, the Rams should have a pretty good team, and this could be a fun game to watch.

Sun 11/2/2008 8:15 PM @ Colts

This is becoming tradition. Patriots vs. Colts in week nine should be a holiday. I wonder if they'll both be undefeated. Not much else to say about this one, since we all know what's at stake. First round byes and home field advantage... business as usual.

Sun 11/9/2008 1:00 PM vs Bills

Divisional break after a grueling matchup with the Colts. Not that the Bills are a horrid team, but they're no Indy.

Thu 11/13/2008 8:15 PM vs Jets

Hooray! More Drama! All kidding aside, we might be starting to look at playoff pictures at this point in the season, and for this Jets, this might be a make-or-break game, and a game which the Patriots can't afford to overlook.

Sun 11/23/2008 1:00 PM @ Dolphins

See the prior week. The Dolphins were a laughing stock on '07, but don't put it past Bill Parcells and Co. to put together a playoff team in no time.

Sun 11/30/2008 4:15 PM vs Steelers

The Steelers have one of the toughest schedules in 2008, and they might be riding a wave of confidence coming into this game if they're playing well. The Patriots will have to attack the line and try to get to Big Ben if they want to handle the Steelers. It'll be getting cold in Foxboro, but Pittsburgh sure doesn't mind that at all.

Sun 12/7/2008 8:15 PM @ Seahawks

The Seahawks are falling fast. I expect the Cardinals to take charge of their division, and the Seahawks might be looking at elimination in this game, which can make any team dangerous. The Seahawks... not so much. This will be the end of their season.

Sun 12/14/2008 4:15 PM @ Raiders

That's right Raider Nation... your old tuck rule buddies are coming to town. The only question is, will this game matter at all? New England may already have the No. 1 seed locked up at this point, and the Raiders in are a very tough division. No matter how much better they are from last season, I'm not too sure I can see them still being in the playoff hunt halfway through December. 

Sun 12/21/2008 1:00 PM vs Cardinals

Depending on how the Cardinals have handled their season, this game could have Super Bowl preview written all over it. No, that wasn't a prediction, but it is a possibility. If that's the case, both teams will be playing all of their starters and have a battle similar to the Pats/Giants matchup in week 17 of the '07 season.

Sun 12/28/2008 1:00 PM @ Bills

This is almost like giving the Patriots an extra bye week. There's no way the Bills will be playing for a playoff spot, and even if they are, I'm not expecting there to be a need for the Patriots to play their starters in this game. This could hurt the Patriots in the playoffs though. Resting their starters in this game, followed by a possible bye week means that they might have some rust to shake off in the Divisional Game.

Is this a setup??

Just kidding.

But seriously, that does raise a red flag for me. I'm hoping Belichick and Co. see that one coming from a mile away and will plan accordingly.

Onto the Draft!!!!