Season of National Football League team the New England Patriots; first Super Bowl appearance
Craig James rushes the ball past the Dolphins' defense in the AFC Championship game.
The 1985 New England Patriots season was the franchise's 16th season in the National Football League and 26th overall. The Patriots had a record of eleven wins and five losses and finished tied for second in the AFC East Division. They then became the first team in NFL history ever to advance to the Super Bowl by winning three playoff games on the road, defeating the New York Jets 26–14 in the AFC wild card game, the Los Angeles Raiders 27–20 in the AFC Divisional Game and the Miami Dolphins 31–14 in the AFC Championship game. The Patriots' win in Miami was their first victory in that stadium since 1966 and while they did defeat Miami on the road in 1969 that game was played in Tampa Bay. The win over the Dolphins in the game has gone down as one of the greatest upsets in NFL history, as the Dolphins were heavily favored.
But despite the Patriots' success in the playoffs, they proved unable to compete with the acclaimed 15–1 Chicago Bears in Super Bowl XX, losing 46–10 in what was at the time the most lopsided defeat in Super Bowl history. The Patriots were held to a Super Bowl record of just 7 rushing yards and their quarterbacks, Tony Eason and Steve Grogan, were sacked a combined 7 times by the powerful Bears defense.
"We couldn't protect the quarterback and that was my fault. I couldn't come up with a system to handle the Bears' pass rush," head coach Raymond Berry acknowledged.
Personnel
Staff
1985 New England Patriots staff
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Front office
Head coaches
Offensive coaches
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Defensive coaches
Special teams coaches
Strength and conditioning
- Strength and conditioning – Dean Brittenham
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Roster
1985 New England Patriots final roster
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Quarterbacks
Running backs
Wide receivers
Tight ends
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Offensive linemen
Defensive linemen
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Linebackers
Defensive backs
Special teams
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Reserve lists
Practice squad
Rookies in italics
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Schedule
Regular season
Week |
Date |
Opponent |
Result |
Game site |
Record |
Attendance
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1 |
September 8, 1985 |
Green Bay Packers |
W 26–20 |
Sullivan Stadium |
1–0 |
49,488
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2 |
September 15, 1985 |
at Chicago Bears |
L 20–7 |
Soldier Field |
1–1 |
60,533
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3 |
September 22, 1985 |
at Buffalo Bills |
W 17–14 |
Rich Stadium |
2–1 |
40,334
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4 |
September 29, 1985 |
Los Angeles Raiders |
L 35–20 |
Sullivan Stadium |
2–2 |
60,686
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5 |
October 6, 1985 |
at Cleveland Browns |
L 24–20 |
Cleveland Municipal Stadium |
2–3 |
62,139
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6 |
October 13, 1985 |
Buffalo Bills |
W 28–6 |
Sullivan Stadium |
3–3 |
40,462
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7 |
October 20, 1985 |
New York Jets |
W 20–13 |
Sullivan Stadium |
4–3 |
58,163
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8 |
October 27, 1985 |
at Tampa Bay Buccaneers |
W 32–14 |
Tampa Stadium |
5–3 |
34,661
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9 |
November 3, 1985 |
Miami Dolphins |
W 17–13 |
Sullivan Stadium |
6–3 |
58,811
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10 |
November 10, 1985 |
Indianapolis Colts |
W 34–15 |
Sullivan Stadium |
7–3 |
54,176
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11 |
November 17, 1985 |
at Seattle Seahawks |
W 20–13 |
The Kingdome |
8–3 |
60,345
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12 |
November 24, 1985 |
at New York Jets |
L 16–13 (OT) |
The Meadowlands |
8–4 |
74,100
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13 |
December 1, 1985 |
at Indianapolis Colts |
W 38–31 |
Hoosier Dome |
9–4 |
56,740
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14 |
December 8, 1985 |
Detroit Lions |
W 23–6 |
Sullivan Stadium |
10–4 |
59,078
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15 |
December 16, 1985 |
at Miami Dolphins |
L 30–27 |
Miami Orange Bowl |
10–5 |
69,489
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16 |
December 22, 1985 |
Cincinnati Bengals |
W 34–23 |
Sullivan Stadium |
11–5 |
57,953
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Game summaries
Week 1
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1 |
2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
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Packers |
0 |
6 | 0 | 14 |
20 |
• Patriots |
7 |
12 | 0 | 7 |
26 |
- Date: September 8
- Location: Sullivan Stadium
- Game start: 1:00 p.m.
- Game attendance: 49,488
- Game weather: 74°F; wind 10
- Referee: Bob McElwee
- TV announcers (CBS): Jim Hill and John Dockery
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Scoring summary |
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| Q1 | 9:33 | NE | Collins 11 yard run (Franklin kick) | NE 7–0 |
| Q2 | 11:40 | NE | Franklin 34 yard field goal | NE 10–0 |
| Q2 | 10:24 | NE | Dickey tackled by Blackmon in end zone | NE 12–0 |
| Q2 | 2:20 | GB | Ellis 1 yard run (kick failed) | NE 12–6 |
| Q2 | 0:08 | NE | Jones 3 yard pass from Eason (Franklin kick) | NE 19–6 |
| Q4 | 6:23 | NE | James 65 yard run (Franklin kick) | NE 26–6 |
| Q4 | 3:51 | GB | Coffman 8 yard pass from Dickey (Del Greco kick) | NE 26–13 |
| Q4 | 0:25 | GB | Clark 23 yard run (Del Greco kick) | NE 26–20 |
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Week 2
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1 |
2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
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Patriots |
0 |
0 | 0 | 7 |
7 |
• Bears |
7 |
3 | 10 | 0 |
20 |
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Week 3
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1 |
2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
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• Patriots |
3 |
7 | 7 | 0 |
17 |
Bills |
0 |
7 | 0 | 7 |
14 |
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Week 4
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1 |
2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
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• Raiders |
14 |
0 | 7 | 14 |
35 |
Patriots |
10 |
10 | 0 | 0 |
20 |
- Date: September 29
- Location: Sullivan Stadium
- Referee: Gordon McCarter
- TV announcers (NBC): Marv Albert and Bob Griese
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Week 5
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1 |
2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
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Patriots |
0 |
13 | 7 | 0 |
20 |
• Browns |
7 |
7 | 3 | 7 |
24 |
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Week 6
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1 |
2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
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Bills |
0 |
3 | 0 | 0 |
3 |
• Patriots |
0 |
0 | 7 | 7 |
14 |
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Week 7 vs Jets
Game information
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First quarter
- NE – Tony Franklin 19-yard field goal, 1:56. Patriots 3–0. Drive:
Second quarter
- NYJ – Pat Leahy 53-yard field goal, 9:30. Tie 3–3. Drive:
- NE – Tony Franklin 44-yard field goal, 2:37. Patriots 6–3. Drive:
Third quarter
- NYJ – Pat Leahy 52-yard field goal, 5:48. Tie 6–6. Drive:
Fourth quarter
- NE – Irving Fryar 36-yard pass from Steve Grogan (Tony Franklin kick), 10:22. Patriots 13–6. Drive:
- NYJ – Tony Paige 2-yard run (Pat Leahy kick), 6:50. Tie 13–13. Drive:
- NE – Steve Grogan 3-yard run (Tony Franklin kick), 3:27. Patriots 20–13. Drive:
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- Top passers
- Top rushers
- Top receivers
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Week 8
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1 |
2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
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• Patriots |
0 |
13 | 3 | 16 |
32 |
Buccaneers |
14 |
0 | 0 | 0 |
14 |
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Week 9
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1 |
2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
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Dolphins |
7 |
3 | 3 | 0 |
13 |
• Patriots |
0 |
3 | 0 | 14 |
17 |
- Date: November 3
- Location: Sullivan Stadium
- Referee: Fred Wyant
- TV announcers (NBC): Jay Randolph and Bob Griese
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Week 10
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1 |
2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
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Colts |
0 |
6 | 0 | 9 |
15 |
• Patriots |
0 |
7 | 17 | 10 |
34 |
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Week 11
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1 |
2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
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• Patriots |
0 |
7 | 0 | 13 |
20 |
Seahawks |
0 |
3 | 10 | 0 |
13 |
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Week 12
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1 |
2 | 3 | 4 | OT | Total |
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Patriots |
0 |
3 | 0 | 10 | 0 |
13 |
• Jets |
6 |
0 | 7 | 0 | 3 |
16 |
- Date: November 24
- Location: Giants Stadium
- Referee: Bob Frederic
- TV announcers (NBC): Charlie Jones and Merlin Olsen
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Week 13
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1 |
2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
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• Patriots |
7 |
17 | 0 | 14 |
38 |
Colts |
7 |
10 | 0 | 14 |
31 |
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Week 14
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1 |
2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
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Lions |
3 |
0 | 3 | 0 |
6 |
• Patriots |
7 |
10 | 0 | 6 |
23 |
- Date: December 8
- Location: Sullivan Stadium
- Referee: Gene Barth
- TV announcers (CBS): Jim Hill and John Dockery
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Week 15
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1 |
2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
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Patriots |
7 |
0 | 3 | 17 |
27 |
• Dolphins |
7 |
10 | 3 | 10 |
30 |
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Week 16
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1 |
2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
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Bengals |
3 |
3 | 7 | 10 |
23 |
• Patriots |
10 |
10 | 0 | 14 |
34 |
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Scoring summary |
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| 1 | | NE | Tony Franklin 25 yard field goal | Patriots 3–0 |
| 1 | | CIN | Jim Breech 42 yard field goal | Tie 3–3 |
| 1 | | NE | Stanley Morgan 50 yard pass from Tony Eason (Tony Franklin kick) | Patriots 10–3 |
| 2 | | CIN | Jim Breech 22 yard field goal | Patriots 10–6 |
| 2 | | NE | Tony Collins 9 yard run (Tony Franklin kick) | Patriots 17–6 |
| 2 | | NE | Tony Franklin 30 yard field goal | Patriots 20–6 |
| 3 | | CIN | Eddie Brown 33 yard pass from Boomer Esiason (Jim Breech kick) | Patriots 20–13 |
| 4 | | CIN | Jim Breech 30 yard field goal | Patriots 20–16 |
| 4 | | NE | Craig James 11 yard run (Tony Franklin kick) | Patriots 27–16 |
| 4 | | CIN | Cris Collinsworth 8 yard pass from Boomer Esiason (Jim Breech kick) | Patriots 27–23 |
| 4 | | NE | Robert Weathers 42 yard run (Tony Franklin kick) | Patriots 34–23 |
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After winning against the Bengals, fans stormed the field and tore down the goal posts. Fans proceeded to walk down Route 1 with the goalposts, accidentally hitting an overhead wire and nearly electrocuting themselves.
Postseason
Wild Card
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1 |
2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
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• Patriots |
3 |
10 | 10 | 3 |
26 |
Jets |
0 |
7 | 7 | 0 |
14 |
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This was only the second postseason win in Patriots history, and the first since 1963.
Divisional
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1 |
2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
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• Patriots |
7 |
10 | 10 | 0 |
27 |
Raiders |
3 |
17 | 0 | 0 |
20 |
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Conference Championship
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1 |
2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
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• Patriots |
3 |
14 | 7 | 7 |
31 |
Dolphins |
0 |
7 | 0 | 7 |
14 |
- Date: January 12, 1986
- Location: Orange Bowl
- Referee: Gene Barth
- TV announcers (NBC): Dick Enberg and Merlin Olsen
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In the 1986 AFC Championship Game, the Patriots ran the ball on 59 out of 71 offensive plays, amassing 255 rushing yards in an upset of the favored Dolphins.
Super Bowl
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1 |
2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
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• Bears |
13 |
10 | 21 | 2 |
46 |
Patriots |
3 |
0 | 0 | 7 |
10 |
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Standings
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Franchise | |
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Stadiums | |
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Culture | |
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Lore | |
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Rivalries | |
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Division championships (22) | |
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Conference championships (11) | |
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League championships (6) | |
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Retired numbers | |
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Media | |
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Current league affiliations | |
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Former league affiliation | |
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Formerly the Boston Patriots (1960–1970) |
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