Patriots 2011 Schedule Includes Home Matchup With Colts, Road Battles at Pittsburgh, Philadelphia

The 2011 NFL schedule won’t be announced until the spring, but the Patriots already know their opponents.

The NFL uses a rotational schedule, and the AFC East drew the AFC West and NFC East for next season’s games. Because the Patriots finished in first place, they’ll also play two other first-place teams from the AFC: the Colts and Steelers.

Of course, we must also play along and assume the 2011 schedule includes 16 games. Under that assumption, here are the Patriots’ opponents:

Home: Bills, Dolphins, Jets, Chiefs, Chargers, Colts, Cowboys, Giants

Away: Bills, Dolphins, Jets, Broncos, Raiders, Steelers, Eagles, Redskins

NFL Kickoff 2011 Weekend will begin Sept. 8 with a Thursday night game, and the regular season will conclude Jan. 1, 2012. Super Bowl XLVI will be played Feb. 5, 2012, at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.