Andy Hart gives his initial reaction to the newly-released Patriots 2011 schedule, and how he thinks they"ll do.
The meat of the Patriots 2011 schedule is in truly the meat of the season – the eight game stretch from Oct. 9 through Dec. 4 that kicks off hosting the Jets, concludes with a Sunday night game at Gillette against the Colts and in between has the team taking on the Cowboys, Steelers, Giants, Jets again, Chiefs and Eagles. That’s two games against their top AFC East competition, tough trips to Pittsburgh and Philly, home contests with the Giants and Chiefs as well as what should be resurgent Dallas squad. Of the eight games, six are against 2010 playoff teams, while the Giants were a 10-win team a year ago.
If New England successfully navigates the tough middle of the season, things theoretically lighten up down the stretch. The final four games are trips two Washington and Denver followed by hosting division foes Miami and Buffalo. If the postseason is still on the line at that point, a four-game winning streak to end the year certainly wouldn’t be out of the question.
Mike Reiss offers his initial reaction to the Patriots 2011 schedule. Here are a few of them:
Cowboys lone opponent coming off a bye. The Cowboys will be coming off a bye before traveling to face the Patriots, which means they should be fresh for that Week 6 matchup. The Cowboys are the only team coming off a bye to face the Patriots this season.
Weather test in Miami. The Patriots open the season on Monday night (Sept. 12) at the Dolphins. Temperatures in South Florida at that time of year can be challenging, even at night. This brings back memories of the 2004 season when the Patriots played at Arizona in Week 2 of the season and Bill Belichick made constant references to conditioning in the weeks leading up to the game.
First Jets game a good spot. The Jets will be coming off road games at Oakland and Baltimore when they visit the Patriots in Week 5. That's a good spot for New England.
Ian Rapoport gives us a few of his thoughts on the Patriots schedule for this season.
– I thought last year’s schedule was extremely tough, and the Pats ended up 14-2. This time, I’d characterize the slate as very fair. Opponents have a combined record of 129-127, which is 16th toughest. Not bad.
– For those who like holidays, you should be thrilled. There is no road game at Buffalo on Christmas and no Thanksgiving game in Detroit. There are no Thursday games at all. On Christmas Eve, the Pats are home against Dolphins at 1 p.m., which could have you home for presents (if that’s when you do them). Still, the Jan. 1 home game against the Bills at 1 p.m. means hangover hell for a bunch of you.
TEAM TALK
- Patriots 2011 Schedule announced: Team notes and trends.
- Ask PFW: Picking the prospects.
- Andy Hart highlights Bill Belichick's appearance on "Movin' the Chains", talking about the Draft with Pat Kirwan and Jim Miller.
- Patriots Today - 2011 Regular season schedule. (3.09 min. video)
- Patriots Today - 2011 Draft Preview: LB (6.29 min. video)
- PFW in Progress (4/19/11): This edition includes discussion of various mock drafts as well as a wide variety of offseason topics.
- Vote here for the 2011 Patriots Hall of Fame Enshrinee: Fans now have through May 15 to vote.
LOCAL LINKS
- Shalise Manza Young reports the Patriots open their season at Miami on a Monday night, and gives her thoughts on the schedule.
- Greg A. Bedard offers some quickie thoughts on the 2011 schedule: On paper the Patriots have a chance to start and finish the season strong.
- Ian Rapoport notes that if the Patriots want to continue the dominance they displayed during last year’s regular season, they must begin by doing so on the road.
- Christopher Price takes a closer look at the Patriots 2011 schedule.
- Mike Reiss posts his first reaction to the Patriots 2011 schedule.
- Ian Rapoport looks at how much it would cost the Patriots to move up to a top ten spot in the Draft.
- Mike Reiss profiles possible Patriots: CB Brandon Harris (Miami).
- Tom E. Curran previews potential Patriots: DT Nick Fairley (Auburn)
- Mike Reiss analyzes Peter King's first-round mock draft that has the Patriots selecting C/G Mike Pouncey (Florida) and trading the 28th pick to the Titans.
- AP reports the NFL and locked-out players are set for Day 4 of mediated talks today.
NATIONAL NEWS
- Tim Graham (ESPN) New England Patriots schedule analysis.
- NFL.com 2011 NFL Schedule: See who's playing who, sorted by Team or Week.
- Tim Graham (ESPN) Worst officiating call in AFC East history?
- Gregg Rosenthal (ProFootballTalk) Pioli explains needs over value, and Jeff Marriott over Tom Brady.
- Richard Deitsch (SI) March media power list. Includes a story behind "The Brady 6" from James Weiner, NFL Films, senior producer.
- Peter King (SI) MMQB Mail: Why teams set at QB are kicking tires on Dalton, others.
- Mike Florio (ProFootballTalk) Schedule contains no hint that the league plans to miss games.
- Alex Marvez (Fox Sports) Schedule release spoiled by lockout.
- Mike Florio (ProFootballTalk) Sunday Night Football is loaded with great games.
- Don Banks (SI) Seventeen NFL games to watch for.
- Joe Fortenbaugh (Nat'l Football Post) 10 must-see matchups on the 2011 NFL schedule.
- Adam Caplan (Fox Sports) NFL regular season most intriguing matchups.
- Vinnie Iyer (Sporting News) NFL schedule: Top 10 games of 2011.
- Jason Cole (Yahoo! Sports) Ten best/worst games of '11 schedule.
- Paul Kuharsky (ESPN) Power Rankings: Top 10 NFL cornerbacks. Guess who made the list?
- Brian Billick (Fox Sports) Good scouts not enough for draft success.
- Gregg Rosenthal (ProFootballTalk) ESPN expects draft ratings to be higher.
LABOR LUNACY
- Albert Breer (NFL.com) 'Some progress' in labor talks on day NFL schedule released.
- Mike Florio (ProFootballTalk) "Some progress" made Tuesday in mediation.
- Mike Florio (ProFootballTalk) Jeffrey Kessler absent from mediation, too.
- Mike Florio (ProFootballTalk) Goodell, Ryan Clark have different views about schedule release.