The 1997 New England Patriots were in an odd dynamic. On the one hand, they were coming off a Super Bowl appearance in 1996, had a rising star at quarterback in Drew Bledsoe and a future Hall of Fame running back in Curtis Martin. On the other hand, they were in transition. Bill Parcells, who […]
A playoff season in 1994 made it appear that the rebuilding program under head coach Bill Parcells and quarterback Drew Bledsoe had turned a corner. A disappointing regression in 1995 called that into question. Parcells, Bledsoe and the 1996 New England Patriots responded decisively–with a run to the Super Bowl, something the pre-Tom Brady franchise […]
When the tandem of head coach Bill Parcells and young quarterback Drew Bledsoe led the Patriots to their first playoff berth in nine years in 1994, it looked like the franchise had turned a corner. It had, but the 1995 New England Patriots did represent a disappointing—albeit temporary–step backwards. What makes the regression of the […]
Once upon a time, in a land far, far away, the football fans of New England knew nothing of names like Tom Brady and Bill Belichick. A mid-to-late 1980s run that included a trip to the Super Bowl in 1985 and an AFC East title in 1986 constituted a veritable golden age for Patriots fans. […]
The 1991 New England Patriots represented the opportunity for a fresh start. The franchise hadn’t made the playoffs since 1986 and hadn’t produced a winning season since 1988. The 1990 season was a 1-15 disaster in Foxboro. The Patriots went into the college ranks to tap a new head coach, Dick MacPherson from Syracuse. They […]
After a disappointing playoff miss in 1987, the New England Patriots were looking to get back on track. Under head coach Raymond Berry, the latter part of this decade had been what was—to that point—the most successful in franchise history. The Patriots reached their first Super Bowl in 1985 and won the AFC East in […]
The 1987 New England Patriots came into the season on what was, for the franchise in the era prior to Bill Belichick and Tom Brady, a high point. They had reached the Super Bowl for the first time in 1985 and followed that up with an AFC East title in 1986. Head coach Raymond Berry […]
It isn’t often a season can be both successful and tumultuous all at once. The 1984 New England Patriots managed it. They went through internal turmoil and midstream changes at head coach and quarterback. But they also won more games than they lost, flirted with playoff contention in a tough AFC and set the stage […]
Today, the New England Patriots are the gold standard of the NFL, with their five Super Bowl titles in the Bill Belichick-Tom Brady era. To say that wasn’t always the case would be an understatement. The 1990 New England Patriots are a case study of the franchise’s bad old days—they were a hideous football team […]
In the days before Bill Belichick and Tom Brady, even before Bill Parcells and Drew Bledsoe, the expectations for the New England Patriots were a lot more modest. Raymond Berry had taken the franchise to what was then its heights in the late 1980s. They reached the Super Bowl in 1985, won an AFC East […]
The 1986 New England Patriots didn’t make a Super Bowl run like they had in 1985. But in its own way, the ’86 Patriots were just as impressive. While the 1985 AFC Championship had a magical quality to it, with three straight road playoff wins, the 1986 team showed its mettle by winning the franchise’s […]
The Patriot fan base was getting accustomed to near misses. In 1977, 1979 and 1980 they just missed the postseason on the final week of the season. The 1983 New England Patriots continued that “legacy”, coming up just short. GREAT 1980s SPORTS MOMENTSStart reading today. Ron Meyer had taken over the team the previous year and had […]