FOXBORO -- There are a variety of permutations of the Thanksgiving saying at One Patriots Place.
"Coach always says football doesn't start until after Thanksgiving," James White said earlier this month.
"It's after Thanksgiving, where the games really count," Rob Gronkowski said last year.
"We all have a job to do, and we all can continue to try to improve and hopefully do our best work here coming down the stretch and playing games after Thanksgiving, which is always our goal," Josh McDaniels said.
They all essentially mean the same thing: This is the time of year that can make or break your season. And for the Patriots, they've experienced more of the former than the latter.
Here's one simple, yet incredible, statistic that was brought to my attention via the Locked On Patriots Podcast hosted by Mark Schofield.
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At Gillette Stadium, since Tom Brady became the starting quarterback in 2001, the Patriots have lost just four games in December. That's four games out of 37, including a home win in 2008 with Brady out injured.
New England Patriots
One of those four home December losses? A 2014 loss to the Bills, in which Jimmy Garoppolo out-snapped Brady 35-to-32 because the Patriots already already had the No. 1 seed in the conference locked up.
The Patriots fell at home in 2002 to the Jets, 30-17, and didn't make the playoffs. In 2012, Colin Kaepernick beat the Patriots in Foxboro in December. In 2015, the Patriots dropped one to Chip Kelly and the Eagles, which in some corners is still remembered most because of the Nate Ebner drop-kick kickoff the Patriots couldn't recover.
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Brady was asked on Friday what made the team better this time of year.
"I think we understand our team better and I think we understand the other teams better," he said. "And I think just the mark of a good team is one that improves as the season goes.
"I don't think we ever take the foot off the pedal. We're trying to play well in December. All these games, they all count the same, but this time of year you gotta be playing your best. I think that's what we all realize.
"And we're playing against a really good team so I think there's just gonna be no margin of error for us on Sunday. They've got a good defense. They've got a very good high scoring offense. Good in the kicking game so it's a good matchup."
He's not wrong. But given the Patriots' history in December, the Vikings are going to have to overcome long odds to win in Foxboro this time of year.
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