Best of Social Media: The 2015 New England Patriots

The New England Patriots 2015 season ended one game shorter than most expected coming off their fourth Super Bowl championship. Despite mounting injuries as the season progressed, 2015 saw the franchise win 12 games or better for the sixth consecutive season and a berth in the AFC Championship for the fifth straight year. Fans were witness to the emergence of a growing young defense and quarterback Tom Brady, at age 38, chasing yet another MVP award following the Deflategate story that occupied his off season. Now, we take a look back on the season that was through its best social media posts.

The season began with two celebrations in Patriots Nation. The first was the unveiling of the fourth Super Bowl championship banner in Foxboro on Opening Night. The second, was the vacated four game suspension of quarterback Tom Brady allowing him back on the field where he belonged.

The national audience was treated to this card showing by the Foxboro Faithful.

A friendly reminder from the @Patriots that they are the Super Bowl XLIX Champs #NFLKickoff #PITvsNE pic.twitter.com/rOEBBjbxHA

— Sunday Night Football on NBC (@SNFonNBC) September 11, 2015

THIS is the banner the @Patriots would have unveiled tonight if Tom Brady did not play @nflnetwork pic.twitter.com/VemK9oNyY6

— melissa stark (@melissastark) September 10, 2015

The Patriots would win the game against the Pittsburgh Steelers 28-21, but Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin made these very bizarre accusations following the game that gave berth to yet another “cheating” story #HeadsetGate. He said to the media “its always something here” stating he heard the Patriots radio broadcast in his head phones during the game.

The cheating accusations and jokes would become a common theme moving forward in 2015, no matter where the Patriots played on the road, their reputation as the villain continued but they defended themselves by continuing to win on the field.

Silly as it sounds, Bills selling air pumps (get it, Deflategate?) at their official pro shop will (trust me) infuriate/motivate Tom Brady.

— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) September 18, 2015

https://twitter.com/raydowns/status/645252377797349376?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

https://twitter.com/SportsNation/status/648217543052795904?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

https://twitter.com/ESPNNFL/status/655729780516630528

What really became a fan favorite on social media, was the creativity and wit of Tom Brady’s Facebook pregame postings every week.

By Halloween, Commissioner Roger Goodell became the inspiration for some creative decorations.

https://twitter.com/PatskriegDotCom/status/652196756176941056?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

The Week 6 matchup with the Indianapolis Colts saw one of the most embarrassing plays in NFL history unfold when Colts head coach Chuck Pagano tried and failed miserably on this fake punt.

Colts gonna raise a new banner post game. #NFL #Football pic.twitter.com/JLhWOBIixK

— Matthew Henderson (@mhenderson95) October 19, 2015

A Rob Gronkowski video from when he was five years old was shown on CBS showing him smashing a pinata.

Patriots fans on board an airline celebrated the team moving to 9-0 when Stephen Gostkowski nailed a 54-yard field goal to defeat the New York Giants.

It's good! @JetBlue flight ORL-BOS #NEvsNYG pic.twitter.com/WidZQY8UQw

— Danny in Billerica (@DJSullySullivan) November 16, 2015

VIDEO: Gostkowski and the #Patriots remain perfect after beating the #Giants. #NFL https://t.co/ra6QydkdXk

— Clinton Cole (@cdcole55) November 16, 2015

When Rob Gronkowski was injured following the teams first loss of the year versus the Denver Broncos, he assured fans “I’ll be back”

By Week 15, Gronkowski was healthy again and the Patriots were sitting at 11-2 going into the Tennessee Titans game when it was learned Gronk had tragically learned that a friend of his had passed away. He posted this tribute to Facebook and dedicated a touchdown pass in his honor.

(Courtesy @PP_Rich_Hill)

The Patriots ended the regular season 12-4 for the third consecutive season with the number 2 seed and faced the Kansas City Chiefs in the Divisional Round. The game marked the return of Julian Edelman to the field after sustaining a foot injury against the New York Giants.

Julian Edelman leads the team out of the tunnel and sprints to the end zone with a fist pump for the crowd pic.twitter.com/odDFBAM81L

— Ryan Hannable (@RyanHannable) January 16, 2016

https://twitter.com/justRVB/status/688493730517532672?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

The Patriots were victorious 27-20, where they moved on to Denver the following week for a chance at the AFC title.

The Patriots fell a two point conversion short of Overtime and lost 20-18. Tom Brady shared this personal, hand-written letter with fans over Facebook thanking them for their support all year.