- Joined
- Aug 13, 2005
- Messages
- 19,317
- Reaction score
- 12,930
Today in Patriots History
The Patriots have not fared well on December 15, going 1-5 in games on this date. There have been a pair of games where neither team scored a touchdown, including the one 12/15 game that the Pats won.
Sun Dec 15, 2013 at 1:00
Week 15, Game 14 at Sun Life Stadium
Dolphins 24, Patriots 20
Head Coaches: Bill Belichick, Joe Philbin
QBs: Tom Brady, Ryan Tannehill
Odds: New England favored by 2½
Pats drop to 10-4, one game behind Denver/KC for #1 seed
Miami improves to 8-6, tied with Baltimore for top wild card slot
The Patriots entered this game with a 7-game winning streak and an opportunity to clinch the AFC East. Second half rallies had propelled the Pats to three consecutive victories, and it appeared that would be the case again when Tom Brady's 24-yard pass to Julian Edelman with 4:14 to play gave New England a 20-17 lead.
Stephen Gostkowski's kickoff went out of bounds though, giving Miami the ball at the 40. A sack by Sealver Siliga set up 3rd and 16, but Ryan Tannehill converted on 4th down to keep the drive alive. The Miami quarterback went 6-8 on the drive, finished by a 14-yard TD to Marcus Thigpen with 1:15 left to play.
Brady drove the Pats into scoring position on passes of 11, 12 and 24 yards to Danny Amendola. A 12-yard completion to Julian Edelman gave the Pats 1st-and-ten on the 19 with 27 seconds remaining. With no timeouts left Brady threw to the end zone for Amendola, Edelman and Michael Hoomanawanui, with no success. On 4th down his pass to Austin Collie was intercepted, and the game was over.
The Pats settled for field goals after a 16-play, 83 yard opening drive, and a 4th quarter 15-play, 81 yard drive. The team seemed to miss the presence of Gronk, who tore his ACL on a low hit by TJ Ward a week earlier.
Sun Dec 15, 1996 at 1:00
Week 16, Game 15 at Texas Stadium
Cowboys 12, Patriots 6
Head Coaches: Bill Parcells, Barry Switzer
QBs: Drew Bledsoe, Troy Aikman
Odds: Dallas favored by 5½
Pats drop to 10-5; one game lead over Bills and Colts
Dallas improves to 10-5; one game lead over Eagles
The Patriots had already clinched the AFC East the previous week, and with this win Dallas clinched the NFC East. The Cowboys maintained possession for 35:03, with an edge on third downs of 6-for-16 to 3-12 for the Pats. Drew Bledsoe had a rough day, going 20-40 for just 178 yards, with three interceptions - for a 31.0 passer rating. Ty Law helped keep things close with two picks off Troy Aikman, and Curtis Martin averaged 4.5 yards per carry with 91 yards rushing.
For a full in depth drive-by-drive review of the game please check out:
1996: Cowboys Shut Down Patriots & Clinch NFC East
Sun Dec 15, 1991 at 1:00
Week 16, Game 15 at Giants Stadium
Patriots 6, Jets 3
Head Coaches: **** MacPherson, Bruce Coslet
QBs: Hugh Millen, Ken O'Brien
Odds: New York favored by 7
Pats improve to 6-9, 4th in AFC East
Jets drop to 7-8, five games behind Buffalo
Charlie Baumann's two field goals on a cold, windy day gave the Pats their sixth victory, one year after a one-win season. The Jets were eliminated from the playoffs later in the day after Miami won. The only offense of note for either team was provided by Leonard Russell, who ran for 112 yards on 26 carries and added another ten yards receiving.
Sat Dec 15, 1990 at 4:00
Week 15, Game 14 at Foxboro Stadium
Redskins 25, Patriots 10
Head Coaches: Rod Rust, Joe Gibbs
QBs: Tom Hodson, Mark Rypien
Odds: Washington favored by 14
Pats drop to 1-13, worst record in NFL
Washington improves to 9-5, in line for top wild card spot
On a cold, rainy miserable day that was emblematic of the 1990 season, the Patriots lost their 12th straight game in Rod Rust's one and only year as head coach. The Lisa Olsen incident had left the team unfocused and in disarray, in a season that could not end soon enough
Redskins defeat Patriots 25-10 | Baltimore Sun
On the third play of the game, quarterback Tom Hodson botched a handoff to John Stephens. The ball bounced into the arms of linebacker Kurt Gouveia, who ran 39 yards for a touchdown.
Three plays later, center Chris Gannon sailed a snap over the head of punter Brian Hansen into the end zone for a safety that made it 9-0.
The conditions were so bad that running back Earnest Byner said, "I was getting the chills. I was literally shaking out there."
He still ran 39 times for 149 yards while becoming the fifth player in the history of the Redskins to run for 1,000 yards in a season. He's at 1,031 yards.
Safety Todd Bowles said: "Oh, man, it was cold. It was wet. It was hard. It was a cross between freezing and ice skating."
Despite falling behind 9-0, the Patriots (1-13) refused to fold and trailed only 19-10 early in the fourth quarter before Chip Lohmiller kicked a pair of field goals to enable the Redskins to cover the 13-point spread.
Three plays later, center Chris Gannon sailed a snap over the head of punter Brian Hansen into the end zone for a safety that made it 9-0.
The conditions were so bad that running back Earnest Byner said, "I was getting the chills. I was literally shaking out there."
He still ran 39 times for 149 yards while becoming the fifth player in the history of the Redskins to run for 1,000 yards in a season. He's at 1,031 yards.
Safety Todd Bowles said: "Oh, man, it was cold. It was wet. It was hard. It was a cross between freezing and ice skating."
Despite falling behind 9-0, the Patriots (1-13) refused to fold and trailed only 19-10 early in the fourth quarter before Chip Lohmiller kicked a pair of field goals to enable the Redskins to cover the 13-point spread.
Redskins barge through Patriots, into playoffs | Washington Post
Their finest moment in almost three years came this afternoon in a cold, relentless rain and in front of the NFL's smallest turnout of the season. It ended, not with a Gatorade shower, but a dead sprint to the warmth of the visiting locker room and a flight home.
The Washington Redskins had taken a lot of unpredictable turns in a season that only a month ago looked to be going nowhere, and took another today in a 25-10 dismantling of the tattered New England Patriots before 22,286 at Foxboro Stadium.
Running back Earnest Byner gained 149 yards on a workhorse 39 carries to become a 1,000-yard rusher, linebacker Kurt Gouveia scored his first career touchdown and the Redskins led 9-0 after three minutes and 19-0 at the half.
That was the quick cushion they needed and had discussed in a players-only meeting Friday night. "We didn't want to give them any encouragement," Gouveia said. "We wanted to come out and say, 'This is how it's going to be.' They're so hungry for a win, you don't want to give them a chance to taste one."
The Washington Redskins had taken a lot of unpredictable turns in a season that only a month ago looked to be going nowhere, and took another today in a 25-10 dismantling of the tattered New England Patriots before 22,286 at Foxboro Stadium.
Running back Earnest Byner gained 149 yards on a workhorse 39 carries to become a 1,000-yard rusher, linebacker Kurt Gouveia scored his first career touchdown and the Redskins led 9-0 after three minutes and 19-0 at the half.
That was the quick cushion they needed and had discussed in a players-only meeting Friday night. "We didn't want to give them any encouragement," Gouveia said. "We wanted to come out and say, 'This is how it's going to be.' They're so hungry for a win, you don't want to give them a chance to taste one."
Sun Dec 15, 1974 at 1:00
Week 14, Game 14 at the Orange Bowl
Dolphins 34, Patriots 27
Head Coaches: Chuck Fairbanks, Don Shula
QBs: Jim Plunkett, Earl Morrall
Pats drop to 7-7, T-3rd in AFC East
Miami improves to 11-3, with two game lead over Buffalo
The Patriots had shocked the defending Super Bowl champions in week one with a 34-24 victory in Foxboro, en route to a 5-0 start. Injuries caught up with the Pats in the second half of the season though. In this game the Patriots jumped out to a 24-0 lead that began with John Hannah scoring the only touchdown of his career when he recovered a fumble in the end zone.
John Sanders added a 23-yard pick-six off Earl Morrall, then Mack Herron's 4-yard reception gave the Patriots a 21-0 lead in the first quarter. Miami rallied to cut the lead to seven at the half, and tied it on Morrall's second touchdown pass of the game in the third quarter. The Pats regained the lead early in the fourth quarter on John Smith's second field goal, but Don Nottingham's two-yard rush gave Miami the lead for good.
Sun Dec 15, 1968 at 1:00
Week 15, Game 14 at the Houston Astrodome
Oilers 45, Patriots 17
Head Coaches: Mike Holovak, Wally Lemm
QBs: Tom Sherman, Don Trull
Pats drop to 4-10, 4th in AFL East
Oilers improve to 7-7, in 2nd place
This game was close for a while, with the Patriots closing the gap to 21-17 in the third quarter on a 27 yard pass from Tom Sherman to Jim Whalen. The fourth quarter was all Oilers though, as they capped off a 17-0 period with a 22-yard pick-six for the final score of the game. The infamous King Corcoran even got on the field in garbage time, throwing four passes. Two fell to the ground; the other two were intercepted by Houston.