What are the worst New England Patriots teams in franchise history? The Patriots have been the model of success in the NFL over the last two decades, but it went downhill after Tom Brady left for Tampa Bay, Florida. The Patriots and Bill Belichick never made it out of the Wild Card Round and had a horrendous season in 2023.
New England finished the season with a 4-13 record, eventually leading to Belichick’s departure from the organization. Now, former Patriots linebacker Jerod Mayo will look to bring the team back to the top of the NFL mountain.
Below, we dive into the 10 worst New England Patriots teams in franchise history.
10. 2000 Patriots, Record: 5-11
The 2000 Patriots team was Belichick’s first run in New England. The former Patriots head coach came from Cleveland and put together an abysmal offensive season. The team had the 25th-best offense and 17th-best defense out of 31 teams. Led by Drew Bledsoe, the offense couldn’t get much going as he threw 17 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. Belichick’s first season in New England wasn’t great, but it only got better moving forward.
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9. 1991 Patriots, Record: 6-10
The 1991 Patriots team closely resembles the 2000 team but with a better record. Overall, the defense was 15th best, while the offense was 25th best out of 28 teams. New England may have won one more game with Dick MacPherson as the head coach, but the points differential was worse than in 2000. Hugh Millen led the Patriots offense with only eight touchdowns and 18 interceptions. It was a horrible year for the offense, carried by an average defense.
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8. 1981 Patriots, Record: 2-14
The 1981 Patriots team had a 2-14 record; however, it wasn’t that horrible. New England lost several close games, including two in overtime, and had an average offense and below-average defense. The numbers don’t align with the record, but it’s hard to rank them any higher, with only two wins on the resume. Head coach Ron Erhardt could have gotten this team to more wins, but the quarterback play didn’t help, with 34 interceptions.
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7. 1989 Patriots, Record: 5-11
The 1989 Patriots team had a slow start, better middle, and slow finish. The team had a 5-11 record, but a negative 94-point differential is really hard to ignore. When New England won, it was close; however, most of the losses came in at 10 points or more. The offense only had 17 passing touchdowns compared to 27 interceptions, and with the sixth-worst defense in the NFL, it’s understandable why some games were not close.
6. 1975 Patriots, Record: 3-11
The 1975 Patriots team was pretty early in the franchise’s NFL tenure, but that excuse is not good enough. New England had an average offense and the fifth-worst defense in the NFL. In fact, the Patriots had a negative 100-point differential with six games allowing 30 points or more. The team got hot in late October by winning three out of four games, but the rest of the year featured a putrid defense that couldn’t stop anyone.
5. 2023 Patriots, Record: 4-13
The 2023 Patriots team will forever go down as Belichick’s last year in New England. The team had a 4-13 record with an average defense that carried one of the worst offenses in franchise history. The offense was second-worst in the NFL, scoring only 13.9 points per game. The Patriots were lucky they only had a negative 130-point differential because it could’ve been worse. The passing game wasn’t horrible overall, but mistakes came at the worst times.
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4. 1992 Patriots, Record: 2-14
The 1992 Patriots team was another MacPherson-led squad with little to no offense. New England was shut out three times and scored 10 or fewer points on seven occasions. The team had the second-worst offense and sixth-worst defense in the NFL. Unsurprisingly, MacPherson was let go after the 1992 season after both of his teams made this list. However, that is bound to happen when four different quarterbacks start two or more games.
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3. 1970 Patriots, Record: 2-12
The 1970 Patriots team was the organization’s first time playing in the NFL, so it’s easy to give them some slack. However, the team ranked dead last in both offense and defense, scoring 10.6 points per game and allowing 25.8 points per game. The passing attack was nothing but a defensive feast. The quarterbacks had seven touchdowns compared to 28 interceptions, and the defense wasn’t any better by allowing 30-plus points six times in 14 games.
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2. 1972 Patriots, Record: 3-11
The 1972 Patriots may have won one more game than in 1970, but the defense was even worse. The defense allowed 30-plus points in nine of 14 games while allowing 40-plus points three times. Meanwhile, the offense didn’t produce much after being held to three or fewer points on three separate occasions. The one extra victory compared to 1970 is a positive, but the overall output from the team is much worse.
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1. 1990 Patriots, Record: 1-15
What is the worst Patriots team in the franchise’s history? The 1990 Patriots team made this an easy choice. The team has the worst points differential in New England’s history, barely beating the 1972 Patriots team by 11 points. However, the organization only won one game in 1990 in a two-point victory over the Indianapolis Colts. The defense allowed 30-plus points seven times and was blown out by more than 20 points seven times. Increase that to 25 points, and it happened four times.
The Patriots had the worst offense in the NFL, scoring 11.3 points per game and the second-worst defense, allowing 27.9 points per game. Somehow, the Patriots barely scored more points than they did in their original NFL season. To make it even worse, only six offenses have scored less than this Patriots team since 1990.
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