Kneejerk Schedule Reax 1.0: NFL Wants Pats To Roll On

The Patriots are set up to come out of the gates hot in 2008. In the first four weeks of the season, they face the Chiefs, Jets, Dolphins and 49ers - teams that combined for 14 wins in 2007. New England, you may recall, won 16 games itself in the 2007 regular season before realizing a little toe stubbage in the Super Bowl against the Giants.

The Pats don't face a playoff team until their fifth game when they go to San Diego on Sunday Oct. 12 for a Sunday Night rematch of the AFC Championship game. The Patriots also get to play the Raiders (4-12 in 2007) and Rams (3-13).

The Patriots have a record regular season winning streak of 19 games entering the year. Their marquee games are Sunday night, Nov. 2 on NBC at Indy in the final year of the RCA Dome and, possibly, Tony Dungy.

The only wrenches in the Patriots schedule are a Sunday night game in Seattle on Dec. 7 on NBC followed by another West Coast trip on Dec. 14 to play the Raiders. That's 12,000 miles of flying in a week - a full day on a plane between Dec. 6 and Dec. 14. And, after the Chargers game, the Pats won't be wheeling back in to pick up their cars at the stadium until 7 a.m. Monday morning.

They get the same deal on October 5 and 12, traveling back and forth to San Francisco then San Diego. Cross-country flights for East Coast teams mean they return to their stadiums around 3 a.m. after afternoon games.