I've got a schedule to keep

The 2010 regular season schedule came out yesterday. It's gonna be a great year of tailgating. Before the team started winning championships, the day the schedule came out was a big one for me and Mark. We'd bring the Globe to our Quincy bar of choice (Cronin's, Nally's, the High Rise) and go over each game and decide if the Patriots had any chance of winning it. When Mark moved to NY we'd break it down over the phone. Before the 2001 season, any year we could predict a 9-7 wildcard finish was a year of optimism. As I've said before, things have sure changed.

Mark and I don't call each other when the schedule comes out anymore. After a decade of 16-0, 14-2, and 12-4 seasons I guess we don't feel the need to convince each other that there's hope. We know that we will return to doing that some day.

So, absent Mark's input, here's the week-by-week 2010 Patriots season as I see it. It's not going to be a cake walk to the playoffs, but I'm feeling positive.

WEEK 1 vs. Cincinnati
A good test to start. The Bengals were the surprise team in the AFC last year, sweeping both the Steelers and the Ravens to win the North. But they lost three out of their last five games and were one and done in the playoffs thanks to a lot of blown chances at home against the Jets. It's a home opener the Pats should win.

WEEK 2 @ NY Jets

The first of three straight divisional games. Seems the schedule makers don't want to wait long to see who really is the best team in the AFC East. A road win at NY would be a good way to shut up Mt. Ryan early. But that's a tall order against the best D in the league. You have to figure the Jets will take this one and then make sure you get even with them at home later.

WEEK 3 vs. Buffalo

A must-win home game. The Bills have dumped coach (and Belichick loyalist) Dick Jauron so we can no longer count on him gift wrapping two wins a year. That's too bad. The Bills almost upset the Pats in the opener last season. And they might be better this year. But I don't see new coach Chan Gailey having them that much improved by the third week.

WEEK 4 @ Miami

A Monday nighter against the Dolphins. It's great that games against Miami mean something again. It's the way it should be. Another thing we can thank the Tuna for. The Dolphins started to move away -- wisely -- from the Wildcat offense that won them the division in '08. They lost some tough games last year and dropped to 7-9 but there will be many who will predict that the Dolphins finish ahead of the Patriots. Not me. I can see the Pats going down to Miami and winning a big one on the road.

WEEK 5 Bye

Are games two through four way too early to say the success (or lack thereof) of the Patriots season will mostly be decided heading into an early bye? No. We will know quite a bit about the Patriots already. If they win their two home games and split on the road they will be at 3-1 (2-1 in the division). Anything more than that will be a sign that the team is starting to make the transition from the Bruschi/Harrison years to the Mayo/Wilfork years. Anything less than 3-1 and we're probably looking at another up and down year. Especially with the brutal schedule from here on.

WEEK 6 vs. Baltimore

The rematch. Regardless of the Pats record this will be a huge game. The Ravens crushing playoff win in Gillette is still fresh in my mind and I'm sure it will be for the Pats come Week 6. The fact that the Pats get their bye right before this game will make for quite a build-up, especially if both teams are playing well. And unlike the playoff game there will be Don Julio margaritas being poured on this day. I can't wait. I think the Pats are still the type of team that won't lose a grudge match like this.

WEEK 7 @ San Diego

If the Pats come into this game at 4-1 or better and go to SD and win on the road... well let's just say we will all start thinking the Pats are back. (Not that they have really gone anywhere). But that's a tall order. The Chargers won 11 straight games to finish at 13-3 last year but still managed to choke in the playoffs -- again. LT is gone. But Phillip Rivers isn't. He's the guy that wins games. This one likely goes to SD.

WEEK 8 vs. Minnesota

The Ravens, the Chargers, and then the Vikings? It's a hell of a schedule. 2010 is either going to be a lot fun or very ugly. The schedule won't allow much in between. I never thought I would say this but... I hope Brett Favre doesn't retire one more time. Can't you already get psyched at the thought of the NFL career interception leader coming to Foxborough on Halloween? Favre or no, Pats roll at home against a slightly overrated NFC team.

WEEK 9 @ Cleveland

This is one of the road games the team has to win. The Browns scored only 245 points last season and gave up 375 for one of the largest differentials in the league. Simply put the Browns are bad. Yet they still will win five or six times next season. The Pats have to make sure they aren't one of them. And they better because the next two games are going to be probably the toughest back-to-back games of the season.

WEEK 10 @ Pittsburgh

The Steelers have won two Super Bowls in the last five years and followed each by missing the playoffs. They've been an interesting team the past decade. And one of the Pats' main rivals. Going into Pittsburgh on a Sunday night and winning is not easy. I expect the Steelers to return to form and be a playoff team. Unless Big Ben is suspended. This is one of those games that will play a large role in who gets a playoff bye and who doesn't.

WEEK 11 vs. Indianapolis

As will this one. The Pats and Colts meet yet again. This time back at Gillette. You might remember last year's game for that little fourth down play near the end of the game. That might come up during the week before this one. Colts almost won their second Super Bowl with Peyton Manning but lost in a great game against the Saints. Will there be a hangover for them? I think so. Pats get the upper hand in this one.

WEEK 12 @ Detroit

Pass the gravy please. I have the Pats coming into their Turkey Day matchup with Detriot at 7-3. That means they should leave here 8-3. The Lions were 2-14 last year and should not be much better than that. The last time the Pats played the Lions on Thanskgiving was the 2000 season, Belichick's first with the team. I worked on Sundays when the Pats weren't at home so I didn't get to see any of the road games that year. "This is the first game I've gotten to sit on the couch and watch on TV this year,'' I told my nephew Pete. "I can't wait." Lions 34, Pats 9. I expect it to be different this time.

WEEK 13 vs. NY Jets

So in my perfect-world scenario the Pats come into this huge Monday night home game against the hated Jets at 8-3 or better. The beauty of it is that even if they are 6-5 this will still be a great night of tailgating if they can win. But I expect this to be a clash of division leaders. And I expect, like last year, for the Pats to even the score at home. As I expect, like last year, for the Pats to win the AFC East.

WEEK 14 @ Chicago

The team enters a string of three very winnable games. If their record is around 9-3 (as I hope), then these three games are where they can put away a first-round bye and then get healthy and rested for the playoffs. A cold-weather road trip to Chicago should give the Pats their 10th win.

WEEK 15 vs. Green Bay

Can the Patriots finish another year with a perfect record against the NFC? Yes. They've gone 15-1 against the other conference in the last four years. They should finish up a 4-0 campaign with a win over the Pack. If this was a road game I would have to give the nod to Green Bay, a definite playoff contender. But it's at home in December.

WEEK 16 @ Buffalo

This is a key division game for the Pats. A sweep of the Bills would go a long way towards winning the East. They have played some ugly late-season games in Ralph Wilson Stadium recently. This one probably won't be too pretty either. But an ugly win is a win nonetheless.

WEEK 17 vs. Miami

I'm predicting the Pats will strut into this game at 12-3 and the division wrapped up. Hey, what's the point of being a fan if you can't be positive? It's very possible this game could decide the division, or decide who goes to the playoffs and who doesn't. So in either case Foxborough will be the place to be on a cold January 2 day. What a schedule it is. What a season it could be.