Can the New England Patriots go the whole season undefeated?
After the Patriots defeated the Super Bowl Champion Indianapolis Colts Sunday night we can now start asking the question of whether anybody will beat the New England Patriots during the 2007 regular season? The Patriots are now 8-0 as they head into their bye week and by defeating the previously undefeated Colts in Indianapolis the Pats have probably passed their toughest test in the way of a perfect season. Can anybody beat these guys this year? Let's go through the rest of the season and try to handicap the Patriots chances.
First I'll add that I've been on the Pats bandwagon from game one. I've bet them against the spread every week by wiring money to my friend in Las Vegas and collected every week except for last night when the Pats only won by 4 points and the spread was 4 1/2. So I've been watching the Pats closely and most of their upcoming opponents.
The Buffalo Bills are up next for the Patriots after the bye week. The Bills are currently 4-4 after defeating the Cincinnati Bengals Sunday and I could see them beating the Patriots if everything broke their way. The Bills have some explosive players who can put points on the board. Lee Evans is always a deep threat at WR with his great speed. Rookie RB Marshawn Lynch took the ball 59 yards for a score in the 4th quarter against the Bengals to ice the game for the Bills. And Terrence McGee is still a big special teams threat to score a TD off any kick.
Even though the game is in Buffalo facing the Bills off their bye week is a break for the Patriots in my opinion. How many times in sports have we seen teams get up for big games and win those games and then come back flat the next week versus a lesser opponent. Happens in sports all the time and it could have happened to the Patriots except for the bye week. They could also come out flat after the bye week but I think the break came just at the right time for this team. The Bills could beat the Pats but need a lot of breaks and I think the Patriots win this game.
After the Bills, the Patriots play the Philadelphia Eagles in Foxboro. The Eagles are having a bad year and would need a minor miracle to make the playoffs. Despite that they do play hard but unless Donovan McNabb has one of his great 4 or 5 TD games I don't think the Eagles will win and you know New England head coach Bill Belichick will be focused on preventing McNabb from beating his team.
The Patriots then go on the road and play the Baltimore Ravens in week 13. You know the Ravens will play hard if the Pats are undefeated but I don't think they have enough offense to win the game. After the Ravens would come the Patriots next biggest challenge to an undefeated season, the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Steelers are currently 5-2 and have given up only 91 points on the season. If the Patriots are undefeated coming into this matchup it would make for a great game. The Pats currently have scored the most points in the NFL by a wide margin and would likely be facing the NFL's stingiest defense in this matchup. The Patriots are home for this game which gives them a decided edge.
If the Patriots get through the Steelers game undefeated they face two of the weakest teams in their division and the entire NFL in weeks 15 and 16 in the New York Jets and Miami Dolphins. The Jets and Dolphins have but one win between them in 17 games so far this year. Both teams would probably treat their games against the Patriots as if it was the Super Bowl should the Pats some into these two games undefeated but neither team would likely win as both games are in Foxboro.
Which means the Patriots would come into week 17 needing to beat the New York Giants for an undefeated season. The Giants have been on a roll lately having won six games in a row, all against weak opponents. But the Giants do have a tremendous pass rush featuring Osi Umenyiora, Michael Strahan and Mathias Kiwanuka that currently leads the NFL in sacks with 30. And anybody who watched the Colts-Pats game knows that the Colts were able to stay in the game because of the pressure they were able to put on Patriots QB Tom Brady. So you would have to give the Giants a decent chance of being able to win the game.
This is a Saturday night game on the 29th of December in the Meadowlands and if the Patriots come into it undefeated a lot of NFL fans will be planted in their easy chairs in front of their wide-screen HDTV plasma television's hoping for a great show. The game would do a monster rating and I am personally hoping it happens and think there is a pretty good chance it will.
