New England Patriots: Season and Game-by-Game Predictions

Aug 22, 2013; New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady (12) . Mandatory Credit: Andrew Weber-USA TODAY Sports

Prognostication and prediction are fickle tools. Be it with software, analysis, guesswork, or picking from a hat, attempting to predict an NFL team’s season win totals is near impossible and merely a form of entertainment. A tipped pass, a twisted ankle, a misstep, a wrong angle taken, a wrong gap chosen, a wrong route run, and games, seasons, and careers can be lost. Remember 2008 to see how one seemingly innocuous drop back to pass can change an entire season.

In addition, these apply to all thirty-two teams around the league.  Every season a media darling tanks and an overlooked team shines. Fan bases rise up and cheer in one city and sit down and pout in another. In addition, with all this unpredictability there is also the inequality of the unbalanced schedule. Though the NFL attempts to manage the strength of schedule by teams playing their ranked counterparts, there are also rotating divisional matchups each year.  For example, who among the media and fan base had the 2012 New England Patriots losing three games to the NFC West prior to the season starting, particularly Arizona? Despite these difficulties with prognostication and prediction, here follows a game-by-game prediction for the 2013 New England Patriots: