Team records within reach for 2015

The Patriots are approaching some notable records in 2015. They will not be easy to achieve but are very impressive and speak to the consistency of the franchise in the salary cap era.

Most Consecutive Division Titles
1973-79 Los Angeles Rams (7)
2009-present New England Patriots (6)

If the only the Patriots had gotten in the playoffs in 2008 with 11 wins under their backup quarterback!! They would be going for their 13th consecutive division title right now! Even despite the '08 Brady injury and incredible bad luck in missing the playoffs that year, the Patriots still have a chance to tie this record.

Most Consecutive Conference Championship Game Appearances
1973-77 Oakland Raiders (5)
2011-present New England Patriots (4)
1990-93 Buffalo Bills (4)
1970-73 Dallas Cowboys (4)
1992-95 Dallas Cowboys (4)
2001-04 Philadelphia Eagles (4)

The Patriots are the 5th team and 6th incidence of appearing in four consecutive conference title games. Of the other 5, only one, the 1977 Oakland Raiders made it for the fifth straight time. The McNabb Eagles and Kelly Bills are the only teams not to win a Super Bowl from this group. The Kelly Bills are the only team to win all four games. Although the Raiders made it to five straight, they went 1-4 in those games. With another championship game appearance, the Patriots can tie the Raiders with their fifth consecutive appearance.

Many said the Patriots loss to the Jets in the 2010 AFCDG could be a learning experience for a very young team who had many inexperienced players. I would say that appearing in four straight conference title games backs up that optimism.

And I was one of the ones touting Sanchez getting to 2 AFC title GMs in a row as evidence the nyj had passed the pats...wow was I wrong and thankfully so! 09/10 were the "bad" years for the pats.....

FCB02062 said:

And I was one of the ones touting Sanchez getting to 2 AFC title GMs in a row as evidence the nyj had passed the pats...wow was I wrong and thankfully so! 09/10 were the "rebuilding" years for the pats.....

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Fixed it for you.

Most Consecutive Conference Championship Game Appearances
1973-77 Oakland Raiders (5)
2011-present New England Patriots (4)
1990-93 Buffalo Bills (4)
1970-73 Dallas Cowboys (4)
1992-95 Dallas Cowboys (4)
2001-04 Philadelphia Eagles (4)

Note that the leading team in contention for tying the Bills losing 4 SBs in a row is the SeaHawks!

Another Div title should be cake if Brady, Gronk and JE11 are healthy all year even with no secondary

Let's all thank Jet Favre for giving the Dolphins the division title in 2008. That streak would be untouchable had he not insisted on keeping his consecutive games started streak going.

FCB02062 said:

And I was one of the ones touting Sanchez getting to 2 AFC title GMs in a row as evidence the nyj had passed the pats...wow was I wrong and thankfully so! 09/10 were the "bad" years for the pats.....

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2010 had a bad result, obviously. But throughout the season they were terrific and were front runners to win the SB. That's why it was such a shock and disappointment to be knocked out by the Jets.

This list focuses on consecutive season records, which is nice of course. The record I'd like to see them set in 2015 is not a consecutive one, though -- Most Super Bowl appearances (9). They're currently tied with the Cowboys and Steelers at 8. All but one of those have been in the salary cap era.

With the exception of Philadelphia all of these records happened prior to the salary cap era... that makes this even more remarkable..

Kdo5 said:

2010 had a bad result, obviously. But throughout the season they were terrific and were front runners to win the SB. That's why it was such a shock and disappointment to be knocked out by the Jets.

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This, 2010 was an SB caliber team who had a bad day. Nobody knows if they woulda beat GB but they definitely should have been in the game that year. That was a fantastic team compared to the competition that season.

2009 and 2013 were the only "bad" teams over the stretch. 2009 because it just lacked talent, 2013 because half the roster was on IR entering the playoffs.

strngplyr said:

This, 2010 was an SB caliber team who had a bad day. Nobody knows if they woulda beat GB but they definitely should have been in the game that year. That was a fantastic team compared to the competition that season.

2009 and 2013 were the only "bad" teams over the stretch. 2009 because it just lacked talent, 2013 because half the roster was on IR entering the playoffs.

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2010 was my favorite Patriots team of all-time. They didn't win the Super Bowl, but from after they lost to Cleveland through the end of the season, they were almost as dominant as the '07 offense, with an amazing amount of efficiency.

That team had so many awesome newcomers, and I consider 2010 to be the start of the New Patriots Era. After cutting Moss, the media said Belichick was throwing in the towel and was "crazy" to deprive Brady of his weapons. Gronkowski and Hernandez were rookies, performing at an exceptionally high level. We got Branch back from Seattle. We grabbed Woodhead from the Jets practice squad. McCourty dominated the CB position, Chung also played great in the secondary, and the Patriots picked up some scrubs like Eric Moore and just kept pulverizing offenses. That 45-3 game was the greatest non-postseason game in Patriots history, with all the buildup and hype and trash talking. I still get chills thinking about it.

So tragic they lost that game to the Jets and threw away an amazing, all-time great season. The next year, I didn't like the team so much, even though they almost won the SB. They were more like front-runners with a bunch of new veterans. Had they won that SB, maybe I would think differently.