Breaking Down the 2008 New England Patriots Schedule

With tax day invoking a feeling of dread across the country, the National Football League decided that they needed to do something else to take the dubious date off of people's minds. So, in the spirit of creating something else to think about, the NFL released the 2008 Regular Season schedule to the public. allowing their fans to pour over the upcoming season of each of their favorite teams.

Being a fan of the New England Patriots, I was curious as to what sort of path the Pats would have to walk on the road to Super Bowl redemption. To be honest with you, aside from a few dates, the schedule looks fairly mild for the defending AFC Champions. That being said, let's take a look at each of the match-ups:

Week 1 - September 7, 2008 - Kansas City Chiefs

New England will open its 2008 campaign against the Chiefs at Gillette Stadium. A year ago, the Chiefs were supposed to make a big move, but after losing Larry Johnson in the early part of the season and their inability to generate offense elsewhere, the Chiefs finished 4-12 on the season. Still, their defense, specifically Jared Allen (16 sacks) and Tamba Hali (8 sacks) gives them a focal point to build. If Johnson returns healthy and they can find a downfield threat to compliment Tony Gonzalez. Still, this should be a relatively opening game for the Patriots and should result in a win.

Week 2 - September 14, 2008 - at New York Jets
Week 13 - November 13, 2008 - New York Jets

The Jets just never got themselves going last year, ranking 25th or worse in points, yards, and passing. The passing game suffered as a result of their inability to settle on a quarterback, juggling between Chad Pennington and Kellen Clemens for much of the season. Because of their struggles a year ago, the Jets have been as busy as any team in the off-season, making their big splash by shoring up their offensive line with the signing of Alan Faneca to a five-year deal. They also brought in Bubba Franks and Jesse Chatman to provide depth at Tight End and Running Back respectively. In the continuing saga that was Spygate, the Patriots will most likely look to continue to send messages to the Jets and should be able to win both of these match-ups, as New York just doesn't possess the fire power to keep up with New England.

Week 3 - September 21, 2008 - Miami Dolphins
Week 12 - November 23, 2008 - at Miami Dolphins

With a new President in Bill Parcells and a new coach in Tony Sparano, these are no longer your dad's Miami Dolphins. After an off-season that saw more heads roll in Miami than baskets fall across town for the Heat, the Dolphins are perhaps in for a long season. In all regards, it appears that John Beck will be given the reigns as the starting quarterback to start the season, but it remains to be seen who will be the fall back if Beck doesn't develop. All signs are pointing toward Miami retaining the first pick in the draft, as they have begun negotiations with Jake Long with the intention of making him the first pick of the upcoming draft.

Week 4 - Bye Week

Giving a bye week this early in the season to a team that will most likely be making a post season trip is a huge handicap that New England will have to overcome, which will make the need to get a first round bye in the playoffs that much more important.

Week 5 - October 5, 2008 - at San Francisco 49ers

Including San Francisco, New England will not play a single opponent who won more than 5 games in 2007 until week 6, which will allow New England to get out of the gates strong. For a team with many areas to improve on, especially on the offensive side of the ball, the 49ers were extremely quiet during free agency, signing only Justin Smith to a 5-year deal to shore up the defensive line. With Alex Smith regressing last year, this is a team in trouble unless they make some serious draft day moves. Regardless, it most likely won't be enough to slow down the Patriots in the early going.

Week 6 - October 12, 2008 - at San Diego Chargers

A rematch of last year's AFC Championship game will finally pit New England against a possible playoff opponent. Unlike that last game, the Chargers should be completely healthy during this match-up. The only significant change for San Diego is the loss of Uber-back-up Michael Turner behind LaDanian Tomlinson. If both sides are at full strength, this could be one of New England's tougher match-ups of the season and will be an excellent gauge to determine what the Patriots will truly be about in 2008.

Week 7 - October 20, 2008 - Denver Broncos

For their only Monday night game of the season, New England will return to face yearly nemesis Denver, but with the comforts of knowing it isn't at Mile High Stadium. Denver is a team that is poised to do great things, but just seems to be missing a piece or two. Add to that the team's decision to do a lot of internal bickering during the offseason, as well as top receiver Brandon Marshall's odd injury that will put him behind in training, and the Broncos could be in for another long season. That's good news for New England, who would like nothing more than an easy match-up with a traditionally tough club.

Week 8 - October 26, 2008 - St. Louis Rams

I for one am happy to see this game on the home schedule, as the prospects of playing this game in front of a hostile St. Louis crowd in the wake of the newest Spygate allegations weren't all that appealing. Like many of the Patriots early match-ups, the Rams are a team that is in flux. Their offense relies heavily on Stephen Jackson, as the passing game has proven to be inconsistent in recent years. They added veteran depth to their offensive line, signing Jacob Bell away from Tennessee to a six-year pact. Still, this is not an elite team, and probably isn't capable of hanging with New England either.

Week 9 - November 2, 2008 - at Indianapolis Colts

Every season, New England and Indianapolis go to war, and this year shouldn't be any different. Unlike last year, the Colts should have a healthy Marvin Harrison available, which will allow them a lot more flexibility on offense, and with Joseph Addai emerging as a big threat last season, any additional depth will spell trouble for the Patriots in a game where there won't be room for mistakes. Given New England's age on defense, this will pose an extremely difficult task for New England to go in and pull out a victory in this game and could possibly be one of their few losses of the season.

Week 10 - November 9, 2008 - Buffalo Bills
Week 17 - December 28, 2008 - at Buffalo Bills

Do you want to talk about a team turning the corner, then let's talk about Buffalo. The breakout rookie season for Marshawn Lynch was tremendous after dealing away Willis McGhee the year prior. Going into camp and declaring Trent Edwards the starter is the first step to gaining offensive stability on a club that scored the second fewest points in the AFC last season. However, this team went up and above the call of duty when rebuilding their defense, adding Marcus Stroud and Spencer Johnson at Defensive Tackle, and then made a huge splash at Linebacker when they stole Kawika Mitchell from the New York Giants. Buffalo is what could be the classic trap game for the Patriots, as they are a team that is on the verge of making a move.

Week 13 - November 30, 2008 - Pittsburgh Steelers

The loss of Willie Parker left the Steelers without an identity when they rolled into the post season, so it came as no surprise that they made an early exit at the hands of the Jacksonville Jaguars. Having Parker back will make the offense dangerous once again, and with Ben Rothlisberger developing into an elite Quarterback last season, Pittsburgh is poised to be powerful again in 2008. New England's ability to stop the run, something they struggled with at times against elite backs in 2007, will determine the winner of this game.

Week 14 - December 7, 2008 - Seattle Seahawks

It appears that the Shawn Alexander days in Seattle are over, as Seattle went out and brought in the tandem of T.J. Duckett and Julius Jones to carry the rushing load in 2008. Seattle will have a lot of motivation to win it all, as this has already been declared Mike Holmgren's swan song as head coach. If Seattle can drastically improve its running game, this is another dangerous team to contend with. However, if they remain a team that has to rely on Matt Hasselbeck's arm to carry them, this could be a fairly easy match-up for New England.

Week 15 - December 14, 2008 - Oakland Raiders

More than any other team in the NFL, the Raiders hit the free agent market with the intention of buying improvement. Regardless of who they signed, the biggest questions will be answered by just how much this team is going to rely on JaMarcus Russell, the team's top pick in 2007. Russell would appear to be ready to take over the team, and with the addition of many new weapons to throw to, now might be the time to start the road to recovery. Al Davis is not going to stand by and wait much longer for this team to show it can be a winner again. That being said, will they be able to play up to New England's level? Probably not, but at the game has a chance of being a little more entertaining than in year's past.

Week 16 - December 21, 2008 - Arizona Cardinals

It was strange to see this team blossom at mid-season last year, after the injury to Matt Leinart. After Kurt Warner took over the team, they reminded a lot of folks of Warner's "Greatest Show On Turf" teams in St. Louis, which will make the Quarterback situation interesting when Leinart returns this season. Then again, their defense, which ranked in the bottom half of most categories in 2007, reminded a lot of folks about those St. Louis teams also. There wasn't a lot of off-season movement on their roster, aside from the addition of Travis LaBoy, that will make a major impact on this team. That being said, this is a team that will need to continue developing if it wants to make the post season in 2008. This should be a welcome match-up for the Pats before closing their season against Buffalo.

So, as you can see, New England doesn't necessarily have the toughest schedule in the world, thanks mostly to playing most of their games against a generally weak AFC East. Still, to expect the Patriots to run through the regular season undefeated as they did in 2007 wouldn't be wise. If i had to go on record now, I would say they finish the regular season with a 14-2 record, with losses to Indianapolis and Pittsburgh, but since I don't want to curse them, I won't go on the record. Instead, I'll sit back and anticipate a season of great football.

Sources:
NFL 2008 Schedule By Conference, NFL.com
2007 NFL Standings, NFL.com