2008 Schedule

[Mike]

Not the usual drill of going team by team and predicting W and L's. I hate that useless exercise.

September:
7 - @ Steelers
14 - RAVENS - Liberty White
21 - @ Titans
28 - @ Jags

We somehow need to win at least two of the first four. That means stealing a game on the road. If I could choose, I would take either of Division games.

October
5 - COLTS - Steel Blue
12 - DOLPHINS
19 - LIONS
BYE

Timing wise, it seems this is a good time to get a week off as we had into the latter part of the schedule. 3 of the next 4 on the road, and no roadies in October. If we can play the Colts close without AJ at home, maybe we beat the Colts for the second time ever at home. If we could do that, and beat the Dolphins and Lions, then we are set-up nice.

November
2 -@ Vikings
9 - BENGALS
16 @ Colts
23 - @ Browns
Tough stretch in November. If we are to even think about the playoffs, then we have to win road games

December
1 - JAGS - Battle Red Monday Night
7 - @ Packers
14 - Titans (I think we break out the red jerseys for the second time here).
21 - @ Oakland
28 - Bears

To think playoffs we need to get more wins on the road, and keep our homefield advantage. To take the next step, IMO we need to improve these areas.
1) RUN THE FOOTBALL. We need to pick up third and shorts by running. We need to sustain drives by running and wearing the other team down. I am going to scream if we get stuffed repeatedly this year on third and one.
2) Keep Schaub upright.
3) Third down defense. We need to make stops on third down and get off the field.
3b) -Someone other than MW needs to get pressure. I think these go hand in hand. We have up way to many third down conversions last year.

[Joshua]

First off, nice to be back with the HPF brethren.

As for the schedule, I don't like the first month (and a week) at all. In my opinion, football teams (particularly young teams which haven't had a lot of success) thrive on momentum and confidence. I was hoping we would get either a majority of home games or easy road games (to the extent that such a thing exists) to start off the season and hopefully help the guys build up some confidence. I also hoped any early division games would be at home (and not against Indy) because we have to improve our division record. Unfortunately, we got none of these things. Now, I'm concerned that we could start the season 1-4 (and 0-3 in the division) and it could have a serious impact on the team's psyche. Hopefully, this won't happen but the early schedule does look daunting.

Agree that October is a time we need to capitalize on. Also agree that the timing of the bye week appears to be good, but you never know when injuries will pop up (and they always seem to for this team).

November is another tough stretch, but I like the way December is set up. 3 home games and 2 road games which could be winnable. If we can weather the September and November storms (and not screw up October), that should put them in the driver's seat down the stretch to make a playoff run.

Finally, with regard to things we must do better this year, I'll add turnovers on both sides of the ball. Offense has to quit coughing it up so much and the D has to generate more. I haven't pulled the stats, but I seem to recall stats every year that the playoff-bound teams invariably have positive turnover ratings.

[Mike]

Joshua,

Good add about the turnovers. I agree we threw to many INT's and fumbled way to much. Turnovers always hurt, but our butterfingers seemed to hurt us at the worst time and place on the field. Andre Davis @ the Jags and Owen Danies had a bad stretch of fumblitis last year.

[cadams]

definitely great to have HPF back up and running. i was going through withdrawals. my first thought when i looked at the schedule was "are we ever going to get a freaking break?" man, year after year our schedule seems horrible, but much of that is due to our division. hopefully we can get off to a quick start like we did last year and maybe come out of september with 2 wins. the baltimore game is a must win, no question, so the other will have to come from pitt, tenn, or jax. here's to hoping jax has another start like they did at the beginning of last season. when i initially looked at the schedule i came away thinking 9-7, and that was with the texans going 1-3 in September. hopefully they will surprise me.

agreed on the d-line/pass rush. hopefully mw will continue what he started at the end of last season, and okoye will make the same kind of leap forward in his second season that mw did. if that happens and they get a pass rusher in the draft the defense could look completely different.

turnovers definitely need to be reduced, and also, can we make it through a season one time without losing several of our key players at the same time?

[nero THE zero]

I think going through the schedule is an exercise in futility. Before last season everyone was marking down Denver and New Orleans as losses and Atlanta as a win. The NFL is just too fluid to make any predictions (any bookie in Vegas can tell you that.) And, even if you do have a good grasp on what should happen, there will be games we should lose that we win, and vice versa.

What I think we can get out of the schedule right now is the fact that while our schedule is front loaded with road games, we have a midseason stretch of 3 home games in a row and 3 out of 5 home games in December. If, like me, you already know we will be playing in the playoffs for the first time next year, you have to be happy with the opportunity to play more games at home to end the season. That's where momentum counts the most.

With that being said, I, like most of you, think the two keys to next season are injuries and turnovers. Last season everyone focused on the number of injuries that we have had in our brief existence. While that is unfortunate, I think what really hurt us last year was the people that got hurt. Our starting QB, RB, #1 WR, and #1 CB all missed significant time. Additionally our DROY, pro-bowl MLB played injured the majority of the season and our OL was patchwork at season's end.

We will have injuries next season. I just think we have to get lucky and avoid serious injuries to our best players like what happened last season. Additionally, we have to swing that turnover margin. The turnovers and lack of running game led to short fields and lopsided TOP for our defense and that really hurt their performance. Our defense is young and talented but by keeping them on the field so much we are not doing them any favors.

If we can stay relatively healthy and have a positive turnover margin heading into the playoffs I think we will be in very good shape to make a run.

[Mike]

Yes, we are going to have injuries, that is the NFL. Why do ours always seem to be our best players. Last year we lose AJ who gets hit with a borderline cheap shot when the game is decided. Dunta on a freak hit by Earl Cochran, and McKinney who anchored the run game.