The New England Patriots played the Los Angeles Rams at Sofi Stadium on Thursday. Both teams came in with hopes of the postseason. The Rams are looking to win the NFC West. The Patriots were hoping to find their way to an AFC Wild-Card berth.
Instead, New England fell to 6-7, with the 24-3 loss. Got us to thinking: What was going on the last time the Patriots lost seven games in a regular season?
The year was 2002
New England started 3-0 and lost four in a row. It did eventually get to 8-5 but the Pats came into the season finale with the Miami Dolphins needing a win — or a tie — to avoid a .500 season. Adam Vinatieri kicked a field goal with less than two minutes left then another one in overtime to give New England a 9-7 season. Oh, these were the defending Super Bowl champs.
Tom Brady
The G.O.A.T. wasn’t super in 2002. He did throw for 3,764 yards with 28 TD passes and 14 interceptions.
3 AFC East teams finished 9-7
Talk about parity. The New York Jets won the AFC East at 9-7. The Patriots placed second with the same record and the Dolphins fell to that mark with the loss to the Pats in overtime. The Buffalo Bills? They were a game back at 8-8. The entire division was 35-29. That season was the last time the Jets won the AFC East.
Cam Newton was 13
Newton, the current Patriots’ QB was all of 13 years old the last time the Pats lost seven games in a regular season. He was replaced against the Rams by Jarrett Stidham in the fourth quarter. Stidham was 6 in 2002. Sean McVay, whose Rams dealt the Patriots’ loss seven at Sofi Stadium, was 16.
Romeo Crennel was the Pats’ DC
The same Romeo Crennel who is the interim head coach of the Houston Texans was the defensive coordinator for Bill Belichick.
Charlie Weis was the OC
Charlie Weis was the offensive coordinator. He would remain with New England until after the 2004 season. He went to Notre Dame after that, where he was 35-27 in five seasons.
