Last year when the Patriots still had Wes Welker and Aaron Hernandez, as well as a healthy Rob Gronkowski, Vince Wilfork, and Jerod Mayo, they finished 12-4 and earned the 2nd seed in the AFC playoffs behind a 13-3 Denver squad. Sound familiar?Maybe even more impressive than repeating the same level of success this season without all those guys is the fact that during the thirteen-year span of the Tom Brady/Bill Belichick era in New England, 12-4 is actually a subpar record for the Patriots. Take a look at the table on the right: Since 2001 the Pats have averaged 12.15 wins per season (not counting the playoffs), and that includes both the 0-2 start in 2001 before Brady got the job, and the 11-5 Matt Cassel campaign of 2008.
As I mentioned a couple years ago, I wish somebody with more resources and research capability than me would find out how many NFL teams have never had a twelve-win season over the 13 years that New England has averaged more than 12.
1/2 UPDATE: Over the last 13 seasons, 9 of the NFL's 32 teams (28%) have never won 12 games in a single year: Miami, NY Jets, Buffalo (all the other teams in the AFC East, which New England has led in wins every time), Cleveland, Cincinnati, Oakland, Washington, Arizona, and Detroit.
Thanks to TeddyO for researching.
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