Patriots heading west
Schedule calls for two sets of back-to-back Coast tilts
The good news for the Patriots is that they won't be opening their season overseas, like the Red Sox - they get to do it at home against the Kansas City Chiefs Sept. 7 at 1 p.m. The bad news is that with all the frequent-flier miles they'll rack up for games against West Coast opponents, they might as well be flying to Japan and back.
The NFL released its 2008 schedule yesterday, and the Patriots are again a prime-time staple, with five scheduled night games. But Bill Belichick's guys, who enter the season riding an NFL-record 19-game regular-season win streak, will have to be bicoastal if they want to go 16-0 again. The Patriots have a pair of back-to-back trips to the Left Coast, as they play four games in the Pacific Time Zone for the first time since 1986.
The consecutive West Coast games open up the very real possibility the Patriots will elect to stay and practice out West for a week rather than crisscrossing the continent four times.
Following their bye in Week 4 - their earliest bye since 2004 - the Patriots travel to San Francisco to face the 49ers Oct. 5. The following Sunday, they head down the California coast to play their first prime-time game, a "Sunday Night Football" rematch of the last season's AFC Championship game against the San Diego Chargers.
The Patriots played the maximum six prime-time games last season, as their pursuit of perfection became ratings gold, and they are guaranteed at least four this season. (Games in Weeks 11 through 17 are subject to "flex" scheduling, meaning they can be moved to prime time.)
The fifth scheduled prime-time game, which comes in Week 14, kicks off the second of the back-to-back West Coast sets, as the Patriots travel to Seattle for the first time since 1993 to face the Seahawks Dec. 7. On Dec. 14, the Patriots enter the "Black Hole," battling the Oakland Raiders at McAfee Coliseum.
On the home front, the crusade of chairman and CEO Robert Kraft to secure more 1 p.m. games for his team paid off, as the Patriots are schedule to play five 1 o'clock home games, including the opener.
The Patriots will host a "Monday Night Football" game for the first time since 2005 when the Denver Broncos come to Gillette Stadium Oct. 20. That is part of a stretch in which the Patriots play four prime-time games in six weeks.
The Patriots play their first game at Indianapolis's new home field, Lucas Oil Stadium - a.k.a. Peyton's New Place - Nov. 2 in prime time on NBC. It will be the fourth straight season the Patriots and Colts have locked horns in the first weekend of November.
The Jets venture into enemy territory Nov. 13 for a Thursday night tilt at Gillette Stadium that will be broadcast by the NFL Network. However, the first renewal of the blood feud/border war comes in Week 2 (Sept. 14), as the Patriots face the Jets at Giants Stadium for the first time since they were caught illegally filming New York's defensive signals there last September.
Hopefully, by then, the league will have some sort of agreement with alleged informant Matt Walsh, allowing him to come forward and conclude the "Spygate" saga.
Other highlights of the slate:
Big Bill vs. Little Bill - Bill Parcells, Miami's football honcho, won't be on the sideline, but he'll be part of the story line. Belichick, who once served as Parcells's defensive coordinator with the Giants, will face his former boss's new team Sept. 21, when the Dolphins visit Gillette Stadium.
Just visiting - The St. Louis Rams (Oct. 26) and Arizona Cardinals (Dec. 21) make their initial regular-season visits to Gillette Stadium, which opened in 2002.
Anthony Smith returns - The mouthy Steelers safety who predicted that Pittsburgh would end the Patriots' perfect season and then proceeded to get torched gets a shot at redemption Nov. 30, assuming he is still a Steeler then.
The Patriots close out the regular season on the road Dec. 28 against the Buffalo Bills and coach Dick Jauron, of Swampscott High fame.
