Can the Patriots Go 16-0 Again?

After Spy Gate, after the AFC teams proved they could keep up, after the Giants proved that they could pull off a huge upset, can the Patriots go 16-0 again?

Of course the first thing to consider is if they really want to. Winning 16 straight games in the regular season put a lot of pressure on the team to sweep the playoffs. Of course, after the Chargers and Jaguars made a couple of games too close for comfort, the Patriots lost a nail biter to the Giants.

Perhaps entering the post season with the ’72 Dolphins monkey on the back is not great for the psych of a football team under a great dealt of pressure in the first place. Still, it seems wrong to say that losing a game is good just seems wrong. The struggle the Boston Celtics had during the 2008 playoffs did not help. It just scared every basketball fan in Boston.

Similarly it seems ridiculous to ask the fans with Patriots tickets to accept a loss at Gillette Stadium. The loss does not guarantee a Super Bowl victory, so that argument seems to come up only when people think too much about every single game.

These players always want to win. The 2008 schedule basically gives the Patriots 12 wins. The division schedule is going to be as easy as last season, so the challenging games probably stop New England from having the easiest strength of schedule in the league.

The first challenge is against the Chargers in Week 6, followed by Week 9 against the Colts, and Week 13 against the Steelers. The only possible challenging game from the NFC is the Seahawks in week 14.

The 16-0 season is difficult to do against the easiest of schedules so the chance that the Chargers, Colts, or Steelers will not put an end to the weekly romping by the Patriots is slim. Still the schedule almost guarantees a first round bye.