New England Patriots 2011 Schedule: Assessing Strategy for the 6 Toughest Games

The NFL lockout seemingly drawing near an end as the NFL and NFLPA hammer out a new collective bargaining agreement. With that, we can turn an optimistic eye toward the 2011 NFL season, even if free agency hasn't happened yet.

Excuse me if I'm a little too excited about the prospect of games being played in 2011. So excited, that I've begun to think about what the New England Patriots need to do in order to defeat their toughest opponents next season.

Erik Frenz is the co-host of the PatsPropaganda and Frenz podcast. Follow Erik on Twitter @erikfrenz.

Week 2: vs. San Diego Chargers

When the Patriots have the ball: As measured by our friends at Cold, Hard Football Facts, San Diego's Defensive Hogs tied the Pittsburgh Steelers for the best unit in all of football in 2010. They did this by forcing 11.78 percent negative pass plays, the second-best percentage in the league.

By tallying four sacks on Tom Brady in last year's meeting, San Diego was able to hold the All-Pro and MVP quarterback to just one passing touchdown in that contest.

San Diego was very creative with their scheme under Ron Rivera, and it remains to be seen how that creativity is impacted in 2011 under Greg Manusky, but the personnel is still in place. New England must protect their quarterback if they want to have a chance.

When the Chargers have the ball: One constant for the Chargers offense through the Norv Turner years has been the deep ball. Rivers has led the league in yards per attempt three consecutive years, and in that span, he has averaged an obtuse 8.62 yards per attempt from '08-'10.

Of course, a pass attack as lethal as San Diego's has to be able to earn their yards more than one way. The Chargers ranked fourth in average yards after catch last year, with a gaudy 6.61 AYAC.

Thus, while New England must respect the deep ball, they also have to account for those yards earned after the catch. Expect to see a good mix of man and zone coverages from New England's secondary, but the front seven has to be able to disrupt Rivers' timing.

Special note: This note is particularly "special" because it remains to be seen how San Diego's special teams unit will respond to being one of the league's worst in 2010. They had problems in coverage in the kicking game and had several kicks and punts blocked, as well. Perhaps, New England's best chance at victory lies in exploiting San Diego's special teams.

Weeks 5 and 10: vs. New York Jets

When the Patriots have the ball: Brady was the one to blame for the lack of offensive rhythm. This point has been beaten to death, almost beaten as badly as Brady was in the playoff loss to the Jets. Time and time again, he didn't find open receivers. This resulted in coverage sacks that weren't really a result of coverage as much as poor reads.

The key, though, is allowing Brady to get into an early rhythm and allowing him time to make those reads from the beginning. Former NFL quarterback and ESPN analyst Ron Jaworski pointed out that Brady began to see the ghosts of the Jets pass rush, and this threw him off psychologically. Early rhythm for Tom Terrific could be the elixir to fix those problems.

When the Jets have the ball: Mike Dussault of Pats Propaganda eloquently explained that the problem against the Jets in the playoffs wasn't the preconceived notion that Mark Sanchez had all day to throw. Instead, he pointed out with video evidence for the first half and second half that it was indeed the coverage on three-step drops on 3rd-and-medium that doomed the Patriots.

On a three-step drop, it's going to be hard to get to the quarterback no matter who your pass-rushers are. The best bet is to play sound coverage. That, perhaps more than anything, explains why the Patriots went after Ras-I Dowling, another cover corner in the second round of this year's draft.

Week 8: At Pittsburgh Steelers

When the Patriots have the ball: A horizontal attack exploited weaknesses in the Steelers' defense last year, as the Patriots went on to rout Pittsburgh 39-26 in a game that was more lopsided than the score indicates.

Not only did Pittsburgh have a hard time covering Rob Gronkowski (five catches, 72 yards, three touchdowns) but they were also exposed when the Patriots played the width of the field with Wes Welker and Deion Branch (a combined 15 receptions for 160 yards).

New England's ability to exploit cornerback Ike Taylor's lack of quickness was what gave them a sizable advantage, and stretching the field horizontally also negated the fierce Pittsburgh pass rush. It was a win-win and could lead to a win again.

When the Steelers have the ball: Mike Wallace and Emmanuel Sanders are two great field-stretching receivers, and covering the deep pass must be a top priority.

The biggest priority, though, is Big Ben. Frequent readers of the Cold, Hard Football Facts know he is one of the most efficient passers of the modern era, so if the Patriots want to put pressure on him, they must also make sure they bring him down. It's when he escapes the pocket that he's most dangerous.

Week 9: vs. New York Giants

When the Patriots have the ball: Despite many personnel changes, not a lot has changed scheme-wise for the Giants since Super Bowl XLII. They love to unleash their pass-rushers from all directions, up the middle and off the edge.

Keeping Tom Brady upright will be a key to victory, but New England has developed an offensive attack that utilizes multiplicity and several facets of both the running and passing game. Perhaps, the best way to counter that pass rush is to keep the defensive line off balance by running when they expect a pass and vice versa.

When the Giants have the ball: The New York Giants are no longer a run-heavy offense. Eli Manning has begun to come into his own as an NFL quarterback and has many weapons at his disposal in Kevin Boss, Hakeem Nicks and Mario Manningham.

The Giants' pass attack is at their best when a defense loads the box and gives the rush attack too much respect. The running game will hurt you, but they are also susceptible to fumbles, which the Patriots happen to be rather skilled at causing.

Week 12: At Philadelphia Eagles

When the Patriots have the ball: If there's one person who knows the weaknesses of Asante Samuel, it's Bill Belichick. He may be one of the best cornerbacks in football, but he isn't without his weaknesses, especially when it comes to gambling. If there's one team that can make a player come up on the short end of a gamble, it's New England.

The Eagles had some problems wrapping up and had a hard time getting off the field on third down as well. That could burn them, as the Patriots excelled at converting third downs as the first-ranked offense in the league in that category in 2010.

When the Eagles have the ball: Shutting down the vertical quick-strike pass attack should be priority No. 1 but don't sleep on Philadelphia's uber-effective rush attack. The Eagles ranked No. 1 by a large margin in average yards per rush attempt, and though much of that can be attributed to Vick's legs, a lot of it is also due to defenses respecting the deep-ball capabilities of DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin.

Heavy containment is the key to stopping the Eagles offense, and even that's no sure thing. Michael Vick's athleticism is unparalleled in the NFL, and he's one of the rare players that can make something out of nothing.

Week 13: vs. Indianapolis Colts

When the Patriots have the ball: The Indianapolis Colts defense is predicated on speed. The Tampa 2 scheme originally installed by Tony Dungy is built to stop the pass. Their roster consists of light, small and quick defenders to execute that scheme, but that leaves an inherent weakness against the run.

An offense that's able to grind it out with a stout rush attack can exploit the small defenders in Indy's front seven. That is evidenced by Indy ranking in or near the bottom 10 in the league in rush yards and/or yards per attempt seven of the past eight years, including dead last in both categories in '06.

The Patriots' best bet, as it usually is against the Colts, is to play keep-away from Peyton Manning while playing ground-and-pound against the Colts defense.

When the Colts have the ball: Confusing Peyton Manning is next to impossible. You're just not going to show him very many things he hasn't seen before. Still, New England nabbed three interceptions off Manning in the previous meeting. One was a pressure pick, the other was a poor throw by Manning, but one pick was simply Manning reading the defense differently than his receiver, Pierre Garcon.

Instead of a futile attempt at confusing Manning, New England was able to keep his receivers off rhythm by confusing them instead. New England will have to employ a similar tactic if they are to beat Indy again this year, by jamming the receivers, disguising their coverages and mixing up their defensive backfield.