Patriots Season Outlook

The Patriots will have a much clearer image of where there season is going 10 days from now.
Two big matchups, this sunday against the 6-4 Dolphins, and next sunday against the Steelers are two big tests for the Matt Cassel led team from Boston.

Exiting these games at 6-6 would almost guarantee needing a sweep the final four games to even have a shot at the post-season. The general consensus is that one AFC East team will get to 11-5 and win the division outright, and at 7-3 the Jets appear on their way, which leaves a lot of teams fighting for the wildcard.

If the Patriots can get a split from these two games, and the way Pitsburg is playing I suggest beating the Dolphins, then they have games at Seattle and at Oakland, tough places to play, but very winnable games.

The Bills shouldn't have much to play for come week 17, but eliminating New England's playoff hopes is probably enough of a reason, so no gimme there.

That leaves week 16 against the Cardinals as a very decisive game, and to be honest, that passing game worries me, with MVP favorite Kurt Warner under centre, (or in shotgun, whatever) throwing to Boldin and Fitzgerald is a scary thing when the Patriots are starting names like Jonathon Wilhite and Terrence Wheatly in the secondary some weeks.