Big Win

Despite the shpankings delivered by Carolina and San Diego, the injury-riddled Pats will have pulled off road wins in Pittsburgh and Atlanta during this current stretch-of-death.  To recap, here's weeks 2 through 6 for the Pats:

1. @ CAR: L 17-27
2. @ PIT: W 23-20
3. SD: L 17-41
4. @ ATL: W 31-28
5. @ DEN: this week

If they come out 2-3 from this stretch, I think that's perfectly OK.  After Denver, their schedule is littered with patsies like Miami, New Orleans, and Indianapolis.  I think, considering their injuries and the filthy pile of poop they call a defensive backfield, they will need to sweep their division in order to win 10 games, cause the rest of their non-division schedule is atrocious too.  Compare it to Indianapolis' non-division schedule:

NE's non-division opponents: OAK, CAR, PIT, SD, ATL, DEN, IND, NO, KC, TB (combined Week 5 record: 29-18)
Indy's non-division opponents: BAL, CLE, SF, STL, NE, CIN, PIT, SD, SEA, ARZ (combined Week 5 record: 24-25)

Since when does it benefit someone to choke games away like a bitch?  Apparently since this schedule came out.  This doesn't help the Pats in any way whatsoever... they can survive and still make the playoffs, but just having lost to some of these tough opponents will mean the Pats potentially lose a head-to-head tiebreaker against that team as well... given that 5 of the 6 non-division teams are going to contend for a playoff spot, they can't afford that.  If they win, all this is moot, but that's only one of many possible outcomes at this point.  With no pass defense, merely-good run defense up the middle, and no running attack to speak of until yesterday, how much can one reasonably demand from them?  They could still pull off 12-4, but they look awfully mortal right now.  10-6 and the division title is probably what will happen.