Game Plan: The Patriots Bye Week

The NFL schedulers most likely scheduled the early bye to make this as tough a schedule on the Patriots as possible, but I don't think that's too big a deal. While it would have been nice for the bye to occur around the halfway mark of the season or the week before the TNF game against the Dolphins, the Patriots It's how the team is playing in November through February that's more important than in October. The team is off to a 3-0 start and looking in good shape for the rest of the season.

Rest and Relaxation: The bye week is an opportunity for the players to take a mental recharge away from the daily grind of preparing for football games. Whether it's going on a fun vacation with the family, Malcolm Butler going to Disney World, or attending your alma mater's football game, anything that's a change of pace will do. I think the bye week is great for the players to spend a few days away from the game and that the NFL should include a 2nd bye week in the middle of the season the week before the teams play Thursday Night Football. When the Patriots return from the bye week, it's back to business as usual and with the 13 straight weeks of games getting that first round bye in the playoffs is definitely big.

Coaching Staff Figures Out Right Combinations: Hopefully after 3 games, the Patriots know exactly what does and doesn't work for the team. The Patriots should be close to figuring out the right offensive line combo for at least the next 5 weeks as starting center Bryan Stork recovers from his 3rd concussion in 3 years. On the defense, the Patriots should try to find the right combination for the amount of snaps the defensive line plays. It should be interesting to see if Belichick continues rotating players after the bye.

No score predictions for the Bye Week