New England Patriots' 2010-2011 Regular Season Schedule

The New England Patriots aren’t the team they were just a few seasons ago with an aging offensive line and a defense that has many new faces.

If this group is going to make it back to the Super Bowl, it will take another great coaching job by Bill Belichick, and the team needs to win home field advantage as well.

Below we have the Patriots' 2010-2011 regular season schedule for you to view as we inch closer to the beginning of the NFL season. We also have the fantasy-relevant players for New England and a breakdown for all NFL teams in schedule strength in win/loss, against the pass, against the run, and points against.

Fantasy Players

• * Tom Brady
  * Randy Moss
  * Wes Welker
  * Julian Edelman
  * Stephen Gostkowski
  * Patriots Defense
• Ryan Mallet
• BenJarvus Green-Ellis
• Danny Woodhead
• Shane Vereen
• Stevan Ridley
• Deion Branch
• Aaron Hernandez
• Rob Gronkowski
• Vince Wilfork
• Jerod Mayo
• Rob Ninkovich
• Brandon Meriweather
• Pat Chung
• Devin McCourty

Strength of Schedules

Win/Loss | Against the Pass | Against the Run | Points Against

Audio: New England Patriots 2010-2011 Schedule

New England Patriots 2010 - 2011 Schedule - Printable Download Able on Scribd">New England Patriots 2010-2011 Schedule—Printable Downloadable

More Ground, Less Air?

The New England Patriots rebounded in 2009 to not just make it back to the playoffs but win the division too. Keeping Tom Brady healthy was a high priority after the team traded away proven backup Matt Cassel to the Chiefs.

While Brady was beaten up throughout the second half of the season, he did manage to finish the entire season.

No matter the Patriots' schedule, I would expect Brady to have a better season this year in the sense that he won’t struggle with the accuracy issues he had at times last year. Coming off a bad knee injury like Brady’s, it’s no surprise that he looked rusty at times and not like his old self.

While Brady’s accuracy may improve, his overall fantasy numbers could stay around the same as last year. Rumors out of New England are that the team is ready to return to more of a running attack.

It’s hard not to use Brady and Randy Moss when you have them, but running the football more makes sense. It was that type of approach on offense that won the Patriots three Super Bowls (with shutdown defense), and if the running game is working, Brady won’t take as many shots to his body.

Overall | Tier | Top 200 | Auction Values

PPR Cheat Sheets

Overall | Tier | Top 200 | Auction Values

Touchdown Only Cheat Sheet

Overall

Dynasty / Keeper Cheat Sheet

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IDP Cheat Sheet

Overall

Defense Needs to Step Up

The Patriots secondary shouldn’t be that bad, as the young group of players had a respectable overall ranking against the pass. Considering that the Patriots play Chad Henne, Trent Edwards, and Mark Sanchez (six games a year), it’s not hard to see why their numbers are good.

Nose tackle Vince Wilfork is still around, and that is crucial to the team's 3-4-style defense. Conversely, the loss of key veterans at defensive end and linebacker is a concern for this unit.

Because of these issues, I still expect the defense to have problems against elite offenses in the NFL. This could cost them a Super Bowl appearance if they can’t win home field advantage.

NFL fantasy football player rankings writer Sean E. Douglas: fantasy-info.com

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