Ikenna Ike
Ikenna Ike- Who are The New England Patriots? A team that broke records
The New England Patriots are one of the most successful and popular teams in the National Football League (NFL). They’ve won six Super Bowl titles, the most by any team in the 21st century, and have appeared in 11 Super Bowls, the most by any team in NFL history. They have also dominated their division, the American Football Conference (AFC) East, winning 22 titles since 1970. The Patriots are known for their excellence, consistency, and resilience, as well as their loyal and passionate fan base.
The Patriots were founded in 1959 as the Boston Patriots, a charter member of the American Football League (AFL), a rival league to the NFL. They played their home games at various stadiums in Boston until 1971, when they moved to Foxborough, Massachusetts, and changed their name to the New England Patriots. They joined the NFL in 1970 as part of the AFL-NFL merger. The Patriots struggled for much of their early history, reaching the playoffs only six times in their first 25 seasons. Their first Super Bowl appearance was in 1986, when they lost to the Chicago Bears 46-10.
The Patriots’ fortunes changed in 1994, when Robert Kraft, a Massachusetts native and lifelong fan, bought the team for $172 million, the highest price ever paid for an NFL franchise at the time Kraft hired Bill Parcells as head coach in 1996, and the team improved to reach their second Super Bowl that year, losing to the Green Bay Packers 35-21. Parcells left after the season, and was replaced by Pete Carroll, who led the team to two more playoff appearances in 1997 and 1998, but failed to win a division title or a playoff game.
In 2000, Kraft hired Bill Belichick, a former assistant coach under Parcells, as the new head coach. Belichick, a defensive mastermind, had a reputation for being a strict disciplinarian and a genius strategist. He also had a knack for finding and developing talent, often signing players who were overlooked or discarded by other teams. Belichick’s most famous discovery was Tom Brady, a sixth-round draft pick in 2000, who became the starting quarterback in 2001 after an injury to Drew Bledsoe. Brady would go on to become one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time, winning three NFL Most Valuable Player awards and four Super Bowl Most Valuable Player awards.
The Patriots’ dynasty began in 2001, when they shocked the football world by winning their first Super Bowl, defeating the heavily favored St. Louis Rams 20-17 on a last-second field goal by Adam Vinatieri. The Patriots repeated as champions in 2003 and 2004, beating the Carolina Panthers 32-29 and the Philadelphia Eagles 24-21, respectively. The Patriots became the second team in NFL history to win three Super Bowls in four years, after the Dallas Cowboys in the 1990s.
The Patriots continued to be a dominant force in the NFL, setting several records and milestones along the way. In 2007, they became the first team to finish the regular season with a perfect 16-0 record, and the first to score more than 500 points in a season. They reached their fourth Super Bowl under Belichick and Brady, but lost to the New York Giants 17-14, in one of the biggest upsets in Super Bowl history. The Patriots would face the Giants again in the Super Bowl four years later, and lose again, 21-17.
The Patriots bounced back from their Super Bowl losses and won their fourth title in 2015, defeating the Seattle Seahawks 28-24, in a thrilling game that featured a dramatic goal-line interception by Malcolm Butler in the final seconds. The Patriots added two more championships in 2017 and 2019, both against the Atlanta Falcons and the Los Angeles Rams. The Patriots overcame a 28-3 deficit in the third quarter to beat the Falcons 34-28 in overtime, the largest comeback and the first overtime game in Super Bowl history. The Patriots beat the Rams 13-3, the lowest-scoring game in Super Bowl history, and tied the Pittsburgh Steelers for the most Super Bowl wins with six.
The Patriots’ dynasty came to an end in 2020, when Brady left the team as a free agent and signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, ending his 20-year tenure with the Patriots. The Patriots missed the playoffs for the first time since 2008, finishing with a 7-9 record. The Buccaneers, meanwhile, won the Super Bowl in 2021, giving Brady his seventh title and his fifth Super Bowl MVP award.
The Patriots are currently in a rebuilding phase, with Belichick still at the helm and Mac Jones, a rookie quarterback drafted in the first round in 2021, as the new starter. The Patriots have a rich history and a bright future, and they will always be remembered as one of the greatest teams in sports history.