The Patriots have won seven consecutive games coming off their bye week, dating back to their last loss in 2002, and they’re 8-2 after their scheduled regular-season bye weeks since Belichick took the reins in 2000.
What’s more, the Pats are 14-4 under Belichick after a week off, and they have won 12 of their last 13 such games. However, that one loss came against the Giants in Super Bowl XLII, so that’s a pretty serious blemish against an otherwise solid record.
Those 18 games following a week off include 10 regularly scheduled byes, plus the league’s 2001 break after Sept. 11, four AFC divisional games (2001 against the Raiders, 2003 against the Titans, 2004 against the Colts and 2007 against the Jaguars) and three Super Bowls (XXXVIII against the Panthers, XXXIX against the Eagles and XLII against the Giants).
The Patriots are 7-3 in home games after a week off, 5-0 on the road and 2-1 in the Super Bowl (there was no extra week of preparation leading up to Super Bowl XXXVI between the Patriots and Rams). New England has also gotten a bit of luck after the bye week, as four of its last six victories after the bye have come at the expense of the Bills.
Still, there is merit to these statistics.
“The coaches do a good job of getting us prepared and making sure we’re not only focusing on the team we’re playing, but what we’re doing as a team ourselves and making sure that we’re correcting mistakes that we’ve made in the previous weeks,” Pats linebacker Tully Banta-Cain said. “It’s a good week to reflect on what we’ve got and really get some extra preparation in.”
Belichick gave the players an extra day off last Wednesday before they resumed practice Thursday and Friday. The players then broke for the weekend, returned to Gillette Stadium on Monday for treatment and will practice every day, Tuesday through Friday, before conducting a walkthrough Saturday.
That gives the Patriots six full practices to prepare for Sunday’s highly anticipated showdown with the Ravens, who blew the lighthouse off Gillette during last season’s 33-14 playoff victory. Now, the Patriots will be plenty well-prepared in a game in which revenge and AFC standings will both be held in the highest regard.
“Hopefully, we can be a little more competitive against them than we were last year in the playoffs,” Belichick said. “[We had] a little extra time to prepare, which is good, because we’ll need it against these guys. They’re a real good football team.”
