The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston town of Foxborough, Massachusetts. They play in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. Originally called the Boston Patriots, the team was founded as one of eight charter members of the American Football League (AFL) in 1960 under the ownership of Billy Sullivan. The team became part of the NFL when the two leagues merged in 1970. The following year, they moved from Boston to nearby Foxborough, and changed their name to the New England Patriots.

The modern NFL championship game, the Super Bowl, was founded in the 1966 season; the first four were contested between the champions of the AFL and the NFL. After the merger, the Super Bowl became the united league's championship. The Patriots made the 1963 AFL Championship Game, but struggled severely in the early years of the united league, not making the postseason until 1976. After a stretch of only one losing season in 13 years, including a Super Bowl appearance against a champion Bears outfit, the Patriots reached a nadir between 1989 and 1993 when they won only 19 of 80 games.

During Bill Belichick's tenure as the team's head coach from 2000 to 2023, the Patriots won six Super Bowls, nine AFC Championship Games, and sixteen AFC East titles, earning an overall regular season record of 266–121. Tom Brady, who was the team's quarterback from 2000 until 2019, was awarded the NFL Most Valuable Player (MVP) three times, and the Super Bowl Most Valuable Player four times (he later won another Super Bowl MVP with the Buccaneers); he is one of only five players named Super Bowl MVP more than once, and the only one named more than three times.

The Patriots have won six Super Bowl championships (XXXVI, XXXVIII, XXXIX, XLIX, LI, and LIII). They also played in and lost Super Bowls XX, XXXI, XLII, XLVI, and LII. During the 2007 regular season, the Patriots became the only NFL team in history to win 16 games, and the first since the 1972 Miami Dolphins (in a 14-game season) to complete the regular campaign undefeated. Belichick's Patriots are one of only two teams to win three Super Bowls in four years (the other being the Dallas Cowboys from 1993 to 1996).

Overall, the Patriots have made 27 playoff appearances, one of which was before the merger. Since the merger, they have played fifteen AFC Championship Games, winning eleven of them to advance to the Super Bowl. In the Patriots' 58-year history, they have an overall regular season record of 500 wins, 391 losses, and 9 ties, plus an overall postseason record of 37 wins and 20 losses. In the 2018 NFL season, the Patriots reached their 11th Super Bowl, breaking their own record for most Super Bowl appearances by any organization of all time. The Patriots had 19 consecutive winning seasons from 2001–2019, the 2nd-longest streak in NFL history, behind the Dallas Cowboys' record of 20.

Seasons

AFL champions (1960–1969)

Super Bowl champions (1966–present)

Conference champions

Division champions

Wild Card berth

One-Game Playoff Berth

Season	Team	League	Conference	Division	Regular season				Postseason results	Awards	Head coaches
					Finish	W	L	T
Boston Patriots
1960	1960	AFL	—	Eastern	4th	5	9	0			Lou Saban
1961	1961	AFL	—	Eastern	2nd	9	4	1			Lou Saban (2–3) Mike Holovak (7–1–1)
1962	1962	AFL	—	Eastern	2nd	9	4	1			Mike Holovak
1963	1963	AFL	—	Eastern	1st	7	6	1	Won Divisional playoffs (at Bills) 26–8 Lost AFL Championship (at Chargers) 10–51
1964	1964	AFL	—	Eastern	2nd	10	3	1		Gino Cappelletti (MVP)
1965	1965	AFL	—	Eastern	3rd	4	8	2
1966	1966	AFL	—	Eastern	2nd	8	4	2		Jim Nance (MVP)
1967	1967	AFL	—	Eastern	5th	3	10	1
1968	1968	AFL	—	Eastern	4th	4	10	0
1969	1969	AFL	—	Eastern	3rd	4	10	0			Clive Rush
1970	1970	NFL	AFC	East	5th	2	12	0			Clive Rush (1–6) John Mazur (1–6)
New England Patriots
1971	1971	NFL	AFC	East	3rd	6	8	0			John Mazur
1972	1972	NFL	AFC	East	5th	3	11	0			John Mazur (2–7) Phil Bengtson (1–4)
1973	1973	NFL	AFC	East	3rd	5	9	0			Chuck Fairbanks
1974	1974	NFL	AFC	East	3rd	7	7	0
1975	1975	NFL	AFC	East	5th	3	11	0
1976	1976	NFL	AFC	East	2nd	11	3	0	Lost Divisional playoffs (at Raiders) 21–24	Mike Haynes (DROY)
1977	1977	NFL	AFC	East	3rd	9	5	0
1978	1978	NFL	AFC	East	1st	11	5	0	Lost Divisional playoffs (Oilers) 14–31
1979	1979	NFL	AFC	East	2nd	9	7	0			Ron Erhardt
1980	1980	NFL	AFC	East	2nd	10	6	0
1981	1981	NFL	AFC	East	5th	2	14	0
1982	1982	NFL	AFC		7th	5	4	0	Lost First Round playoffs (at Dolphins) 13–28		Ron Meyer
1983	1983	NFL	AFC	East	2nd	8	8	0
1984	1984	NFL	AFC	East	2nd	9	7	0			Ron Meyer (5–3) Raymond Berry (4–4)
1985	1985	NFL	AFC	East	3rd	11	5	0	Won Wild Card playoffs (at Jets) 26–14 Won Divisional playoffs (at Raiders) 27–20 Won AFC Championship (at Dolphins) 31–14 Lost Super Bowl XX (vs. Bears) 10–46		Raymond Berry
1986	1986	NFL	AFC	East	1st	11	5	0	Lost Divisional playoffs (at Broncos) 17–22
1987	1987	NFL	AFC	East	2nd	8	7	0
1988	1988	NFL	AFC	East	3rd	9	7	0		John Stephens (OROY)
1989	1989	NFL	AFC	East	4th	5	11	0
1990	1990	NFL	AFC	East	5th	1	15	0			Rod Rust
1991	1991	NFL	AFC	East	4th	6	10	0		Leonard Russell (OROY)	Dick MacPherson
1992	1992	NFL	AFC	East	5th	2	14	0
1993	1993	NFL	AFC	East	4th	5	11	0			Bill Parcells
1994	1994	NFL	AFC	East	2nd	10	6	0	Lost Wild Card playoffs (at Browns) 13–20	Bill Parcells (COY)
1995	1995	NFL	AFC	East	4th	6	10	0		Curtis Martin (OROY)
1996	1996	NFL	AFC	East	1st	11	5	0	Won Divisional playoffs (Steelers) 28–3 Won AFC Championship (Jaguars) 20–6 Lost Super Bowl XXXI (vs. Packers) 21–35
1997	1997	NFL	AFC	East	1st	10	6	0	Won Wild Card playoffs (Dolphins) 17–3 Lost Divisional playoffs (at Steelers) 6–7		Pete Carroll
1998	1998	NFL	AFC	East	4th	9	7	0	Lost Wild Card playoffs (at Jaguars) 10–25
1999	1999	NFL	AFC	East	5th	8	8	0
2000	2000	NFL	AFC	East	5th	5	11	0			Bill Belichick
2001	2001	NFL	AFC	East	1st	11	5	0	Won Divisional playoffs (Raiders) 16–13 (OT) Won AFC Championship (at Steelers) 24–17 Won Super Bowl XXXVI (1) (vs. Rams) 20–17	Tom Brady (SB MVP)
2002	2002	NFL	AFC	East	2nd	9	7	0
2003	2003	NFL	AFC	East	1st	14	2	0	Won Divisional playoffs (Titans) 17–14 Won AFC Championship (Colts) 24–14 Won Super Bowl XXXVIII (2) (vs. Panthers) 32–29	Tom Brady (SB MVP) Bill Belichick (COY)
2004	2004	NFL	AFC	East	1st	14	2	0	Won Divisional playoffs (Colts) 20–3 Won AFC Championship (at Steelers) 41–27 Won Super Bowl XXXIX (3) (vs. Eagles) 24–21	Deion Branch (SB MVP)
2005	2005	NFL	AFC	East	1st	10	6	0	Won Wild Card playoffs (Jaguars) 28–3 Lost Divisional playoffs (at Broncos) 13–27	Tedy Bruschi (CBPOY)
2006	2006	NFL	AFC	East	1st	12	4	0	Won Wild Card playoffs (Jets) 37–16 Won Divisional playoffs (at Chargers) 24–21 Lost AFC Championship (at Colts) 34–38
2007	2007	NFL	AFC	East	1st	16	0	0	Won Divisional playoffs (Jaguars) 31–20 Won AFC Championship (Chargers) 21–12 Lost Super Bowl XLII (vs. Giants) 14–17	Tom Brady (MVP, OPOY) Bill Belichick (COY)
2008	2008	NFL	AFC	East	2nd	11	5	0		Jerod Mayo (DROY)
2009	2009	NFL	AFC	East	1st	10	6	0	Lost Wild Card playoffs (Ravens) 14–33	Tom Brady (CBPOY)
2010	2010	NFL	AFC	East	1st	14	2	0	Lost Divisional playoffs (Jets) 21–28	Tom Brady (MVP, OPOY) Bill Belichick (COY)
2011	2011	NFL	AFC	East	1st	13	3	0	Won Divisional playoffs (Broncos) 45–10 Won AFC Championship (Ravens) 23–20 Lost Super Bowl XLVI (vs. Giants) 17–21
2012	2012	NFL	AFC	East	1st	12	4	0	Won Divisional playoffs (Texans) 41–28 Lost AFC Championship (Ravens) 13–28
2013	2013	NFL	AFC	East	1st	12	4	0	Won Divisional playoffs (Colts) 43–22 Lost AFC Championship (at Broncos) 16–26
2014	2014	NFL	AFC	East	1st	12	4	0	Won Divisional playoffs (Ravens) 35–31 Won AFC Championship (Colts) 45–7 Won Super Bowl XLIX (4) (vs. Seahawks) 28–24	Rob Gronkowski (CBPOY) Tom Brady (SB MVP)
2015	2015	NFL	AFC	East	1st	12	4	0	Won Divisional playoffs (Chiefs) 27–20 Lost AFC Championship (at Broncos) 18–20
2016	2016	NFL	AFC	East	1st	14	2	0	Won Divisional playoffs (Texans) 34–16 Won AFC Championship (Steelers) 36–17 Won Super Bowl LI (5) (vs. Falcons) 34–28 (OT)	Tom Brady (SB MVP)
2017	2017	NFL	AFC	East	1st	13	3	0	Won Divisional playoffs (Titans) 35–14 Won AFC Championship (Jaguars) 24–20 Lost Super Bowl LII (vs. Eagles) 33–41	Tom Brady (MVP)
2018	2018	NFL	AFC	East	1st	11	5	0	Won Divisional playoffs (Chargers) 41–28 Won AFC Championship (at Chiefs) 37–31 (OT) Won Super Bowl LIII (6) (vs. Rams) 13–3	Julian Edelman (SB MVP)
2019	2019	NFL	AFC	East	1st	12	4	0	Lost Wild Card playoffs (Titans) 13–20	Stephon Gilmore (DPOY)
2020	2020	NFL	AFC	East	3rd	7	9	0
2021	2021	NFL	AFC	East	2nd	10	7	0	Lost Wild Card playoffs (at Bills) 17–47
2022	2022	NFL	AFC	East	3rd	8	9	0
2023	2023	NFL	AFC	East	4th	4	13	0
Total						541	433	9	All-time regular season record (1960–2023)
						37	22	—	All-time postseason record (1960–2023)
						578	455	9	All-time regular & postseason record (1960–2023)

Key for the "Awards" section

ASG MVP	American Football League All-Star Game Most Valuable Player Award
CBPOY	National Football League Comeback Player of the Year Award
DROY	National Football League Defensive Rookie of the Year Award
OROY	National Football League Offensive Rookie of the Year Award
COY	National Football League Coach of the Year Award
OPOY	National Football League Offensive Player of the Year Award
DPOY	National Football League Defensive Player of the Year Award
MVP	National Football League Most Valuable Player Award
SB MVP	Super Bowl Most Valuable Player Award

See also

• History of the New England Patriots