You were referring to the benefit of the Pats getting a home game against the Chiefs. But if that game had been on the road, the TEXANS game would have been at home, which could have been painted just as difficult. This isn't a schedule advantage. They have to face the 1 seed from the two AFC divisions we don't face, two presumably great teams, one at home, one on the road, every season. We do the same, but split them between 2nd, 3rd, or 4th ranked teams in their division. You weren't talking about bye weeks, and are ignoring the fact that there's no way NE would want to waste a bye week before a team they can historically beat in their sleep over one they could actually use preparation for.