Guide Note

The New England Patriots are a National Football League team that plays in the East division of the American Football Conference.

Fast Facts

1. Inaugural season: 1960
2. AFC Titles: 6
3. Super Bowl wins: Three (last was Super Bowl XXXIX in 2005)
4. Home: Gillette Stadium, Foxboro, Massachusetts
5. Team Colors: Nautical Blue, New Century Silver, Red, and White
6. Last Season W-L record: 16-0, AFC Champions

The Patriots opened the 2008 NFL season with a September 7 game against the Kansas City Chiefs. Quarterback Tom Brady was injured in the first quarter, forcing backup Matt Cassel to finish the game. Despite the loss of Brady, the Patriots won 17-10. Following the game, the NFL Network reported that Brady had torn his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL).¹ Coach Bill Belichick confirmed that Brady would miss the 2008 season in September 8, 2008.²

The Patriots were one of the eight original franchises of the American Football League; they were known until 1971 as the Boston Patriots. They appeared in just one AFL Championship game, losing in 1962 to the San Diego Chargers.

Following the 1970 merger with the NFL, the Patriots would relocate from Boston to the Massachusetts town of Foxboro. Before the turn of the century, the Patriots appeared in two Super Bowls, losing to the Chicago Bears in Super Bowl XX, and losing to the Green Bay Packers in Super Bowl XXXI.

But over the most recent decade, no team has won more Super Bowls than the Patriots. Led by coach Bill Belichick and quarterback Tom Brady, the Patriots shocked the football world by upsetting the heavily-favored St. Louis Rams to win Super Bowl XXXVI. The win was particularly memorable not because it came in the same football season as the September 11 terrorist attacks, but also because they won on a last-second field goal by Adam Vinatieri.

The Patriots went on to win back-to-back Super Bowls by defeating the Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl XXXVIII and the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl XXIX. In 2007, they became the second team in the modern era to complete a regular season undefeated, joining the 1972 Miami Dolphins. However, they were upset by the New York Giants 17-14 in Super Bowl XLII.

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