After winning 18 straight games in the 2007 season, the injury and ravaged Patriots had to struggle to get on a winning streak this season. They opened the season by beating Kansas City and the Jets. They defeated the Broncos, 41-7, in Week 7 and followed that up with a 23-16 win over the St. Louis Rams. But since then, they've alternated losses and wins.
The 2005-2006 New England Patriots appear to be struggling – by the standards of a team that has won three Super Bowl Championships in the previous five years. Despite a mediocre beginning to the season, the Patriots have regained their sense of excellence and will appear in the playoffs for a sixth straight season. After dealing with star linebacker Teddy Bruschi’s heart stroke during the off-season, the team from Foxboro, Massachusetts has returned to give fans at Gillette Stadium another winning season.
While the Patriots made one appearance in the Super Bowl in 1985, the team had only moderate success during its first 30 years. When Bill Parcells was hired to coach the team in 1993, the lack of respect for the Patriots throughout the National Football League began to disappear. With wide receiver Terry Glenn and running back Curtis Martin selected as top draft picks during Parcells’ first three years in Foxboro, the Patriots began to establish one of the strongest offenses in the AFC. Under Parcells’ new game plan, young quarterback Drew Bledsoe led the team’s offensive attack to Super Bowl XXXI in 1996 where they lost to the Green Bay Packers.
After Parcells left New England in 1998, Patriots football tickets slipped to the status they had shared during the team’s first years of misery. The former coach left for the New York Jets where he signed some of the Patriots offensive weapons, including star running back Curtis Martin. However, these difficult times were short lived, and the hiring of Bill Belichick marked another turning point for the team. Because of Belichick’s leadership, the Patriots have become arguably the most consistently strong football team of the past decade. After Bledsoe suffered an injury, virtually unknown Tom Brady took over the team’s offense, and the young quarterback from the University of Michigan set a record with completion of his first 162 passes without an interception. Bledsoe never became the Patriots starter again, and Brady has emerged as one of the game’s top rated passers.
After missing the playoffs following their victory in Super Bowl XXXVI, the Patriots have rarely stumbled in the last three years. The fans at Gillette Stadium, willing to brave the harsh New England winter, have aided the Patriots in closing their regular season schedules in strong fashion. Over the past five years, Brady has been named Super Bowl MVP twice, and the team set an NFL record 19 straight victories between the 2003 and 2004 seasons. The quarterback’s calm under pressure has served as a model for teams around the country in search of a method to copy New England’s high level of achievement.
While the 2005-2006 Patriots lost some of the reasons for their recent success, including offensive coordinator Charlie Weis and accomplished cornerback Ty Law, their appearance in the playoffs confirms the team’s ability to continue its era of dominance. With Brady’s talent and running back Corey Dillon’s speed, fans in Foxboro can look forward to many playoff trips over the coming years. The team’s three championships indicate that the New England Patriots are the team of the millennium.
