Pre-Season:
Friday, Aug. 10 -- Patriots at Buccaneers (Ch. 5, 7:30 p.m.)
Friday, Aug. 17 -- Titans at Patriots (Ch. 5, 8 p.m.)
Friday, Aug. 24 -- Patriots at Panthers (CBS, 8 p.m.)
Thursday, Aug. 30 -- Giants at Patriots (Ch. 5, 7:30 p.m.)
Regular Season:
Sunday, Sept. 9 -- at Jets (CBS, 1 p.m.)
Sunday, Sept. 16 -- vs. Chargers (NBC, 8:15 p.m.)
Sunday, Sept. 23 -- vs. Bills (CBS, 1 p.m.)
Monday, Oct. 1 -- at Bengals (ESPN, 8:30 p.m.)
Sunday, Oct. 7 -- vs. Browns (CBS, 1 p.m.)
Sunday, Oct. 14 -- at Cowboys (CBS, 4:15 p.m.)
Sunday, Oct. 21 -- at Dolphins (CBS, 1 p.m.)
Sunday, Oct. 28 -- vs. Redskins (FOX, 4:15 p.m.)
Sunday, Nov. 4 -- at Colts (CBS, 4:15 p.m.)
Sunday, Nov. 11 -- BYE
Sunday, Nov. 18 -- at Bills (CBS, 1 p.m.)*
Sunday, Nov. 25 -- vs. Eagles (NBC, 8:15 p.m.)*
Monday, Dec. 3 -- at Baltimore (ESPN, 8:30 p.m.)
Sunday, Dec. 9 -- vs. Steelers (CBS, 1 p.m.)*
Sunday, Dec. 16 -- vs. Jets (CBS, 1 p.m.)*
Sunday, Dec. 23 -- vs. Dolphins (CBS, 1 p.m.)*
Saturday, Dec. 29 -- at Giants (NFL Network, 8:30 p.m.)
*Subject to flexible scheduling
Hmmmm, well I'd rate that schedule fairly high on the difficulty schedule. I'll just say that all the divisional games are always tough, no matter what the record is. That's my 'broken record' statement that I pull out every year. So, moving on to the other non-division games...
Chargers: On the surface, a tough game, until I remember that Norv Turner will be their coach. And it's the second game of the season. And The Pats are playing them at home while The Chargers have to fly across the country. And it's a national TV re-match of last years' playoff game. Should be interesting, that's for sure.
Bengals: This will be a tough one. An away game on national TV.
Browns: The Browns have not been a very good team the last few years. This one will be interesting because it will be Belichick returning to Cleveland to face his former Defensive Coordinator and personal friend, Romeo Crennel.
Cowboys: Hmmm. Could go either way. The Cowboy's will be breaking in a new coach and it will be interesting to see how Romo plays in year two. Impossible to really make a good call on this one at this point.
Redskins: Another one that is hard to determine at this point. They were not that good last year, but that does not mean things will be that way this year.
Colts: An away game vs. The Colts. Circle this one in red. The Colts are always a challenge. It feels like they never left the division, seeing as how we still play them every year...
The BYE week comes at a very good time in the season, right at the mid-way point. A perfect time to get a break and heal up.
Eagles: On the surface, looks to be a tough game. Depends how McNabb is playing. The Eagles always seem to come on strong at the end of the season.
Baltimore: This will be a battle. A tough away game.
Steelers: New coach for Pittsburgh and looking to put a bad season behind them. Could be a re-build year for this team.
Giants: Kind of similar to the Eagles game. Tom Coughlin knows the Pats pretty well from his days coaching The Jags. The Pats will play them in pre-season but by this time in the season, that will mean pretty much nothing.
The Pats have 4 out of the last 7 games at home, including 3 straight home games in a row prior to closing things out in NY. That's pretty nice. Three of those 7 games also happen to be national games.
So, not a cakewalk by any means, but the match-ups are not outrageous. Add in a bye week at a very opportune time and a lot of home games to close out the 2nd half.
Now we have to wait. Though I have to say, as much as I love football, I'm not in a rush at this point. I'm looking forward to summertime.