Scary shit if your a Pats fan.
http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/7902338/There-has-to-be-more-to-the-Spygate-storyHello Josey,
Now that "Spygate" has fizzled out, I hope you remember the bet we have where you bet $160 against me that the Patriots would not make the Playoffs this year. Here is something to think about:
http://www.whatifsports.com/beyondtheboxscore/default.asp?article=20080610
2008 AFC East Preview
Patriots still strong; Bills in Playoffs
By Paul Bessire, WhatIfSports.com
June 10th 2008
We will preview an NFL division each day for eight days, before presenting final standings, fantasy and statistical leaders, award winners, playoff results and power rankings. This analysis is part of a broader endeavor with FOXSports.com's Fantasy Football. For this analysis, each regular season game is simulated 1,000 times, with the sum of the winning percentages of those games being our final predicted record. As can be noted, sometimes a team is "favored" (wins more than 50% of the time) in a different number of our games than the expected record shows. We list this record as the Absolute Record. The assumption of the Absolute Record is that the more likely scenario always happens. Since we know that it does not (see Super Bowl XLII), our expected record (in parentheses next to each team) is far more accurate. Also, especially since we are rounding, it is possible for a team to win a game more often, yet score the same or fewer points on average. In those cases, for Absolute Records, we always take higher winning percentage and are not predicting a tie or a win by an underdog. This is another reason why the expected records are more accurate, as the teams are so evenly matched, the game could easily go either way.
Rosters and depth charts are up-to-date and as accurate as possible as of June 8, 2008. A schedule of upcoming NFL preview content including links to other previews that have already been posted is located here.
Today we will preview the AFC East.
New England Patriots (13-3)
It is hard to write a regular season preview about the New England Patriots without immediately thinking about whether that will translate to post-season success. We will get to that on June 20th. Either way, New England was an historically great and lucky team in 2007 that saw its luck run out in the Super Bowl. In 2008, the Patriots return almost all of the offense and overcome two key defections from the secondary to reign again in the regular season with the league's best record. The Patriots average 32.1 points per game (#1 in the NFL) and only allow 19.3 points (#3) against a schedule featuring just four 2007 playoff teams.
Absolute Record: 16-0
Most Significant Newcomer: Jerod Mayo, LB - The rookie out of Tennessee adds youth and more play-making ability to an aging linebacking corps. We project him to make 73 tackles with two sacks and an interception, putting him at #2 in our impact rookie
rankings.
Biggest Strength: The System - The brain trust of Bill Belichick and Tom Brady
Most Exploitable Weakness: Run Defense - Pressure on Brady was a concern in the Super Bowl, but that should be an anomaly. Even with Mayo, the biggest weakness of this team is actually its run defense. Teams were behind and having to throw the ball so much last season that the Patriots' 4.4 yards per carry allowed were not as exploited as they could have been.
Possible Fantasy Sleeper: Chad Jackson, WR - The projections have the oft-injured wide receiver ahead of Jabar Gaffney and Sam Aiken with 29 catches for 509 yards and four touchdowns.
Closest Game: @ Indianapolis Colts (Week 9) - No, these teams will not tie; but, this game is so close again this year that it is too close to call at this point.
Fantasy Notables (fantasy rank at position in parentheses): Tom Brady (1) 4,657 yards, 40 TDs, 13 INTs; Laurence Maroney (17) 1,340 total yards, 13 TDs; Randy Moss (1) 93 receptions, 1,563 yards, 12 TDs; Wes Welker (6) 106 receptions, 1,150 yards, 10 TDs; Ben Watson (19) 32 receptions, 386 yards, 4 TDs; Stephen Gostkowkski (9) 61/61 XPs, 22/28 FGs
Projected 2008 Results:
WeekOpponentWin%Avg Score 1Kansas City Chiefs9838-12 2@New York Jets8130-22 3Miami Dolphins9135-14 5@San Francisco 49ers7829-20 6@San Diego Chargers6626-22 7Denver Broncos7834-19 8St. Louis Rams8536-17 9@Indianapolis Colts5228-28 10Buffalo Bills7029-17 11New York Jets9032-15 12@Miami Dolphins9438-20 13Pittsburgh Steelers7133-21 14@Seattle Seahawks8127-18 15@Oakland Raiders7834-25 16Arizona Cardinals8337-18 17@Buffalo Bills7930-21
Cheerio pal,
Korbel
