Improvement was expected in the 2025 season for the New England Patriots after hiring Mike Vrabel and surrounding Drake Maye with a better offensive line and Stefon Diggs, but who expected this? New England won the AFC East with a 14-3 record and is one win away from getting back to the Super Bowl for the first time since the Tom Brady-Bill Belichick era.
There were reasons to believe Maye could guide New England back to the promised land, but seeing him do this so soon has Patriots fans thinking about the glory days of the organization. With that in mind, let's take a look at the recent Patriots Super Bowl history.
How many Super Bowls have the Patriots won?
The Patriots have won six Super Bowls, tying them with the Pittsburgh Steelers for the most in NFL history. To put into perspective how wild that is, only 10 teams have even won three rings. Only 20 teams have won one. The Patriots have won six of 59 Super Bowls and are two wins away from making that seven of 60.
The Patriots hadn't done much winning in recent years and didn't have much success until winning their first Super Bowl, but thanks largely to the brilliance of the dynamic duo consisting of Tom Brady and Bill Belichick, New England is the standard when looking at winning organizations.
Patriots Super Bowl appearances by year
Super Bowl (Year) | Result |
|---|---|
Super Bowl LIII (2018) | Patriots 13, Rams 3 |
Super Bowl LII (2017) | Eagles 41, Patriots 33 |
Super Bowl LI (2016) | Patriots 34, Falcons 28 |
Super Bowl XLIX (2014) | Patriots 28, Seahawks 24 |
Super Bowl XLVI (2011) | Giants 21, Patriots 17 |
Super Bowl XLII (2007) | Giants 17, Patriots 14 |
Super Bowl XXXIX (2004) | Patriots 24, Eagles 21 |
Super Bowl XXXVIII (2003) | Patriots 32, Panthers 29 |
Super Bowl XXXVI (2001) | Patriots 20, Rams 17 |
Super Bowl XXXI (1996) | Packers 35, Patriots 21 |
Super Bowl XX (1985) | Bears 46, Patriots 10 |
As if being tied for the most Super Bowl wins isn't good enough, the Patriots have also been to the most Super Bowls. In fact, they've participated in the Big Game 11 times, while the next closest teams (Steelers, Cowboys, Broncos, 49ers) are tied with eight. Even if the Broncos beat the Patriots to win the AFC, they'll still be two Super Bowl appearances shy of catching New England.
While most of the Super Bowl appearances came with Brady and Belichick, it's worth noting that the Patriots have gotten there twice without that duo. They lost both of those games, but getting there is no easy feat.
The Patriots dynasty era (2001–2019)
What's crazy about the Patriots' dynasty era is that it wasn't even really supposed to occur. The Patriots used a sixth-round pick in the 2000 draft on Tom Brady out of Michigan. Sixth-round picks, especially at the quarterback position, rarely get to play much. Brady threw a total of three passes in his entire rookie year. The only reason he got to play in 2001 was that the team's starter, Drew Bledsoe, who had recently signed a 10-year, $103 million contract, suffered an injury in Week 2 of that season.
Brady played well in Bledsoe's place, but it was widely assumed that Bledsoe would regain his starting job when he was able to return to action. Belichick had other plans, sticking with Brady and helping lead his team to an unlikely Super Bowl win that season against "The Greatest Show on Turf," the St. Louis Rams.
Bledsoe was later traded to the Buffalo Bills, and the Brady-Belichick duo kept winning. Just look at these figures put up in their 19-year run of utter dominance.
- 19 winning seasons
- 17 playoff appearances
- 17 AFC East titles
- 9 Super Bowl appearances
- 6 Super Bowl wins
The only times the Patriots didn't make the playoffs were in Brady's second full season (they still went 9-7) and in 2008, when Brady tore his ACL in Week 1 (they still went 11-5). The Patriots were practically unbeatable when Brady was healthy, and they even managed to put together winning seasons when he was out or not at his best, speaking to Belichick's ability to coach at an absurdly high level.
The Patriots made nine Super Bowl appearances in this 19-year stretch, having a chance to win it all nearly half the time during a two-decade span despite going up against a gauntlet of superstar quarterbacks in the AFC, including Peyton Manning, Phillip Rivers and Ben Roethlisberger, among others. All six of their Super Bowl wins came in this less-than two-decade span as well. The Steelers' six Super Bowl wins came in a 34-year span.
What the Kansas City Chiefs have done in recent years is insane, yet it doesn't come close to what the Patriots did in their dynasty era. Plus, for all of the success Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid have had, can you imagine the Patriots missing the playoffs at all during the Brady-Belichick era, let alone in one of Brady's prime years?
Never have we seen an organization win as consistently as New England did during the golden era, and I highly doubt we ever will.
The most memorable Patriots Super Bowl moments
Adam Vinatieri's heroics
Each of the first two Super Bowl wins in Patriots history came down to the wire, and each of them ended with Adam Vinatieri field goals.
The first one felt unlikely. The Rams had come back from 17-3 down to tie the game with just 1:30 left in the fourth quarter. John Madden went as far as to say the Patriots should just play for overtime at that point. In typical Brady fashion, though, he led the Pats down the field with enough time for Vinatieri to kick a 48-yard field goal through the uprights as time expired to win it all.
Just two years ago, a similar scenario unfolded. The Patriots allowed the Carolina Panthers to tie the game at 29 all with just 1:16 remaining. Rather than accepting defeat and playing for overtime, Brady led the Patriots down the field and into Vinatieri's range. Vinatieri came through again, drilling his attempt from 41 yards away with just four seconds remaining, and helping to deliver New England its second Super Bowl win in three years.
Kickers are often overlooked, but Vinatieri sinking those field goals in those pressure-packed moments shows how valuable they can be.
28-3 comeback
Of all six Super Bowls the Patriots have won, their fifth one was easily the most unlikely of all. When Brady threw a pick-six with just over two minutes to go in the first half of Super Bowl LI, allowing the Atlanta Falcons to take a commanding 21-0 lead and hilariously missing a tackle in the process, it felt as if that game was over. When the Falcons took a 28-3 lead almost midway through the third quarter, it felt even more over. The Patriots had other thoughts.
This game was full of memorable moments. From Dont'a Hightower's strip sack to Julian Edelman's impossible catch to James White scoring the first-ever Super Bowl-winning touchdown, this Super Bowl was as entertaining as any, especially for Patriots fans. They rallied from a 28-3 deficit. They outscored the Falcons 19-0 in the fourth quarter just to force overtime. They won it in the extra session without even giving Atlanta a chance to touch the football.
In many ways, this game encapsulated the Patriots' dynasty. Nobody believed in Brady, who, again, was a Day 3 selection. Belichick had four losing seasons in five years as a head coach before arriving in New England. Edelman was a seventh-round pick. It's only fitting that the team with those individuals completed the greatest comeback in Super Bowl history, and shut down the nonsense that was the "Deflategate" saga at the same time.
Malcolm Butler's interception
As crazy as the 28-3 comeback was, the Patriots' Super Bowl XLIX win felt even more unlikely late in the fourth quarter. The Patriots took the lead with 2:02 remaining, but the Seahawks were driving. A miraculous catch from Jermaine Kearse, eerily reminiscent of the "helmet catch" from David Tyree in Super Bowl XLII, gave the Seahawks a first and goal opportunity with plenty of time to spare.
The Seahawks were seemingly a Marshawn Lynch touchdown away from winning the Super Bowl, but rather than give "beast mode" the ball, Russell Wilson attempted a pass at the goal line that was intercepted by Malcolm Butler, an undrafted rookie who played in just 34 percent of the defensive snaps that game.
The odds of a guy like Butler even recording an interception in a Super Bowl are practically zero, so seeing him do just that in that moment is nothing short of unbelievable. It's one of the greatest and unlikeliest plays in NFL history, and it decided the winner of that year's Super Bowl.
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