Originally Posted by usickenme Big deal Pats win at home ( all their "tough " games are at home ) and still have 3 losses with the NFLs easiest schedule against a team who had nothing on the line.

I brought that point up to my dad last night. They always seem to play big games at home and consistently have one of the easiest schedules in the league (or so it seems to me that is). Kind of... strange... if you ask me...

It's not like they go out and schedule games with Division II schools. There is a formula to the NFL schedule, and they play what they're given. Their schedule strength isn't helped by the shitty division they play in. I can't believe you buttheads are making me defend the Patriots.

I feel the same way right now pitfall...they've played the ravens, broncos, seahawks, rams, colts, texans and have the 49'ers coming up. It isn't like they are playing a weak schedule. You play the teams that you are given, and win the games in front of you.

Originally Posted by pitfallharry219 It's not like they go out and schedule games with Division II schools. There is a formula to the NFL schedule, and they play what they're given. Their schedule strength isn't helped by the shitty division they play in. I can't believe you buttheads are making me defend the Patriots.

Originally Posted by perdition(troy I feel the same way right now pitfall...they've played the ravens, broncos, seahawks, rams, colts, texans and have the 49'ers coming up. It isn't like they are playing a weak schedule. You play the teams that you are given, and win the games in front of you.

There are those who are a little delusional that think the NFL is staged just like the WWF (now WWE). My favorite theory is that the NFL handpicked the Patriots to go on a 10+ year run of success in response to the 9/11 attacks... (Patriots.. Patriotism.. Good for ratings... Good for business...)

Schedules are picked years in advance and worked around the TV networks. The patriots play the same amount of home and away games as every other team the NFL. I really doubt NFL executives try to guess what teams will be good and which ones won't over the next few years so that they can give the Patriots the easiest possible schedule.

Bottom line the patriots most likely aren't as good as they played against the Jets or the Texans and for sure the Texans aren't as good as their two loss record suggests.

Originally Posted by tgk2044 I brought that point up to my dad last night. They always seem to play big games at home and consistently have one of the easiest schedules in the league (or so it seems to me that is). Kind of... strange... if you ask me...

Agreed. It's total bullshit that everyone else in the NFL has to play the mathematically determined schedule and the Patriots get to pick who they play and where.

Originally Posted by GBAstar Schedules are picked years in advance and worked around the TV networks.

This is a common misconception. There is absolutely nothing about what teams are scheduled to play which that is "picked". The only manual part of the process is when the games are played (and I suppose which gets banished to London), but never who or where.

Every team plays:
- Home and away against every team in their division
-2 home and 2 away against a division in their conference which rotates every three years. The home/away in this series alternates as well.
-1 home and 1 away against teams from the other two divisions in their conference, corresponding to which teams finished in the same spots the prior year (so the 1st place teams always play the other 1st place teams, etc)
-2 home and 2 away against a division from the other conference which rotates every 4 years. These also alternate home/away.

There is zero choice involved, which makes the "why do they always have an easy schedule" thing one of the most bizarre conspiracies in sports.

The reason the Patriots always seem to have an easy schedule is because the rest of the teams in their division have been mediocre for the last decade. There is no mystery to it.

If you want to see a creampuff schedule, look at the Broncos.

Well its like how playing the NFC West always seemed like to be give me wins, this year its a division you really don't want to play. Well aside from Arizona, but injuries and poor planning are playing a factor there.

Patriots schedule has been pretty tough, its not their problem the rest of the AFC East has a problem establishing a good team and that the NFC West has looked really bad the last couple of years. If the playoffs started now, the Pats have played 4 of the other 5 teams in the playoffs, the Steelers being the only team they haven't played.

Originally Posted by dafoomie If you want to see a creampuff schedule, look at the Broncos.

that's idiotic. Atlanta, Texans, New England, Baltimore,

plus close to Playoff teams like Cincy, Steelers, TB

yeah they have KC but only 2 games.



Plus the Broncos have to actually go on the road for their though games unlike the Patsy's. The good teams the Patsy's played on the road = a loss.

Originally Posted by usickenme that's idiotic. Atlanta, Texans, New England, Baltimore, plus close to Playoff teams like Cincy, Steelers, TB yeah they have KC but only 2 games. Plus the Broncos have to actually go on the road for their though games unlike the Patsy's. The good teams the Patsy's played on the road = a loss.

Only good team the Broncos have beaten all year is Pittsburgh, at home.

Their last 11 games:

San Diego 5-8
New Orleans 5-8
Cincinnati 7-6
Carolina 4-9
San Diego 5-8
Kansas City 2-11
Tampa Bay 6-7
Oakland 3-10
Baltimore 9-4
Cleveland 5-8
Kansas City 2-11

Cream. Puff.

Patriots lost to Arizona, nuff said.

Originally Posted by soulvengeance Patriots lost to Arizona, nuff said.

I'm sure that's comforting to the Texans.

The Patriots are currently outscoring the next closest team (Denver) by more than a touchdown per game. Only one other team in NFL History has ever done that: the 2007 Patriots. Only two other teams in the last decade have even outscored the next closest by more than a field goal (and one of those was also the Pats).

No one is arguing that the Pats are invincible, they're clearly not. Nor is the NFL all about who scores the most points (though any one game is, obviously). But trying to make any argument that they're not an incredibly dangerous team is a one-way ticket to looking silly. It's especially silly after what happened last night. Their defense has also looked just light years better after the Talib trade. It's been night and day.

No team is perfect. Right now the Patriots are the top dog in the AFC.

Let's see what happens when the Niners defense goes up against the Patriots offense. Should be fun.

Originally Posted by bvharris The reason the Patriots always seem to have an easy schedule is because the rest of the teams in their division have been mediocre for the last decade. There is no mystery to it.

Exactly. And this is what is so annoying about it - total incompetence for over a decade in that division. You need basically 10 wins to get to the playoffs (and sometimes more when Cassell is your QB) but that's basically 5 free wins on average every year give or take. So without doing anything you can pencil them in for 5 wins meaning they only need to go 5-6 against everyone else. Not that tough even though they obviously do better than that for the most part. Also, I'm just so sick of the Patriots and handsome Tom Brady (even though he is QBing my fantasy team to the title this year).

When I look at the most dangerous teams in the NFL right now that are playoff bound, I think to myself 'which team hasn't peaked yet?' I say that because that's the team that is going to win the Super Bowl. In my opinion, that team is currently the Green Bay Packers. They've won some important games here lately, and they're also going to be getting some key figures back soon while maintaining some semblance of comfort in the playoff hunt.

I think Washington and Indianapolis have peaked, and 2 weeks too early at that. If Washington gets in, they won't get past either SF, GB or SEA. Indianapolis will either face Denver or Baltimore; neither of which is a cakewalk IMO. But for Indy, I'd say Denver is the preferred matchup for them. But I think both of these teams have shown signs of wear the last couple of weeks with hard wins. Because of that, I don't think their chances of going deep in the Playoffs are high.

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-Loved the beat downs by the Seahawks, Giants, and Niners GG

-LOLtexans

-Chargers playing good once the rumors of norv being fired surface LOL

-Bengals turn into the Bungles and completely beat themselves with no thanks to the head official

-Detroit choking once again, there's no reason they shouldn't have been up 3 scores going into half other than being of course Detroit

-Falcons continue to look like one of the weakest top seeds in recent memory.

-Giants and Redskins playing like the 2 top teams in the NFC east like they should.

-Browns surprisingly playing for a low draft pick

-LOLjets even in victory

-AP showing more proof why he should be MVP

and next week will be crazy.

Originally Posted by bvharris By the way, this is the Patriots offense playing without their best receiver. Just some food for thought.

Best redzone receiver maybe but i still give the title of best to Welker

Almost all of this week's games are going to be good - most have playoff implications. This is why the NFL is so popular - just about every team can suck on year and be relevant or even good the next unlike baseball where I cal already name 20 teams that have no shot at the post season next year.

Hope the Packers can do it this week and with a little help from San Fran might be able to get a #2 seed.

Originally Posted by packerfan10 Hope the Packers can do it this week and with a little help from San Fran might be able to get a #2 seed.

I think the 49ers can beat New England by punching them right in the mouth. They are a tough team who won't have to blitz to get to Tommy Boy. Although, the Patriots offense is pretty sick - historic even - so who knows. They lost to the Cardinals which seems seriously impossible and like it happened 2 years ago.

Originally Posted by Javery I think the 49ers can beat New England by punching them right in the mouth. They are a tough team who won't have to blitz to get to Tommy Boy. Although, the Patriots offense is pretty sick - historic even - so who knows. They lost to the Cardinals which seems seriously impossible and like it happened 2 years ago.

You mean the 49ers/Patriots game hasn't been played yet? Listening to all the experts discuss the game, I thought they already had.