It’s been a while since the New England Patriots were one of the worst teams in the league like their division-mate New York Jets were in 2020, but they’re still in need of a turnaround after finishing 7-9 last year.
Although it often takes teams a while to climb out of mediocre finishes in the standings, history shows that one-year turnarounds in fortune are possible. Let’s take a look at some of the worst seasons and greatest comeback seasons in Patriots history.
What was the worst season in Patriots history?
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It’s hard to remember after two decades of sustained success and six Super Bowls, but the Patriots once suffered one of the worst seasons in NFL history. In 1990, they went 1-15, becoming one of only 11 teams in the Super Bowl era to win a single game. Despite returning players like future Hall of Famer Andre Tippett, the Pats lost 11 of their games by double digits.
New England rebounded somewhat the following year, going 6-10.
What was the Patriots’ best one-year turnaround in history?
Back when NFL seasons were only 14 games long, the Patriots experienced their greatest one-year turnaround in wins, improving from 3-11 in 1975 to 11-3 in 1976.
New England Patriots
New England’s best one-year rise in the 16-game era was six wins -- which, not coincidentally, happened right at the beginning of the Tom Brady era. The Pats went 5-11 in 2000, Brady’s rookie season, but after he became the starter in 2001, he led the team to an 11-5 record and their first Super Bowl. You know the rest of the story.