Bye.

These next three months, only one word need be on the lips of the fastest-growing Randy Moss Fan Club in the world, otherwise known as Patriot Nation. We should greet each other and send each other off with it.

Bye.

If it isn’t clear after the last two years, let me explain. It is absolutely vital the Patriots get a first-round bye in the playoffs.

Their defense needs the break. They also need to avoid places like Denver, Indianapolis and yes, San Diego in the divisional round. In the AFC Championship, I’ll take my chances wherever they want to play it. But the extra week of rest and at least one game at Gillette Stadium is a proven formula for success in Foxborough, no?

So we need, what, a 13-win team here, wouldn’t you say? Should get the job done in a top-heavy conference. Do we have a 13-win team here?

We know we have a 13-win coach and a 13-win quarterback. The passing game could dominate, eventually. Randy Moss and Donte Stallworth aren’t going to just step in, especially with so much time spent off the field, and turn into Rice and Taylor all of a sudden. Still, with Wes Welker, “Don’t Forget” Jabar Gaffney (my new nickname for him) and an emerging (Maybe? This year? Eventually?) Ben Watson, there are going to be some worn out secondaries around the NFL this year, I’m certain.

The running game comes down to one guy, really, Laurence Maroney. The talk lately is that maybe Maroney won’t get more than 20 carries a game, and no doubt Sammy Morris and Kevin Faulk will be hitched up to the team, but it will be up to Maroney to get the running game going every single game. If he stays healthy, he should be able to do it.

The other question marks entering the season involve the age of the linebackers and the depth of the secondary.

The former will be tested pretty early by the Chargers, the latter immediately due to the suspension of Rodney Harrison. Asante Samuel is back in the fold, and Ellis Hobbs is poised to possibly supplant him as the team’s No. 1 corner. After that, it’s the brittle Randall Gay and slipping Tory James. The safeties are now a concern without Harrison back there. Given that, is the talent and depth up front enough to get them through the first quarter of the season until reinforcements arrive? That will determine whether this is a 13-win defense.

The timing of Harrison and Richard Seymour’s absence couldn’t have been worse, simply because they won’t be there to play against the Jets, Chargers, Bengals, and in Seymour’s case, the Cowboys and possibly Dolphins. If the Patriots come out of the first seven weeks any worse than 5-2, they’re not winning 13 games this year. They play at Indy and Baltimore and home against the Eagles and Steelers in the second half.

But at least Harrison and Seymour will be rested. Rest is a good thing. This team needs it, the weekend of Jan. 5 and 6, particularly.

Bye.