New England Patriots Milestones

Order these New England Patriots franchise moments by the year they happened. You place all 30 cards on one timeline, one at a time. Three wrong guesses ends the run.

New England Patriots Milestones
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Order these New England Patriots franchise moments by the year they happened. Drag or tap it onto the line
New England Patriots
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New England Patriots
30
Cards
3
Lives per run
release years and dates
Ordered by
Cards only
Card reveal

How to play the New England Patriots history timeline

Patriots history is laid out here as thirty franchise moments, each with a short description under its headline, and you place them in order by year. One card sits on the line at the start with its year visible. Every new card goes into the gap you pick. When the spot is right, the year comes up; get it wrong and the card slides into its real spot, costing you one of your three lives.

The Patriots spent a long time as an ordinary franchise before becoming the dominant team of the modern era, and the deck covers both sides of that story. The dynasty years are packed with Super Bowl cards, wins and losses alike, and they are the hardest to order. Read the descriptions for opponents and other details. Cards from the team's original league and original name have traps of their own.

Want a longer game? On the deck tree you can tick this deck alongside any other one measured in release years and dates, and they shuffle into a single timeline together.

What's in the deck

Here are 28 of the 30 cards you might be dealt, with 2 more in the deck. Their values stay hidden until you place them.

  • Franchise founded as the Boston Patriots Billy Sullivan landed the AFL's eighth and final charter team
  • Played their first AFL season Lost the new league's first-ever game to the Broncos
  • Won the AFL Eastern Division Beat Buffalo in a divisional playoff, then got routed by San Diego for the title
  • Joined the NFL in the AFL merger Placed in the new AFC East with the Bills, Dolphins, and Jets
  • Became the New England Patriots Left Boston for brand-new Schaefer Stadium in Foxborough
  • Went 11-3 and returned to the playoffs The season ended in Oakland on a disputed roughing-the-passer call
  • Won their first AFC East crown Chuck Fairbanks was suspended for taking the Colorado job as the season closed
  • Won the Snowplow Game John Smith kicked the only points after Mark Henderson cleared him a spot
  • Drafted Irving Fryar first overall The Nebraska wingback went at the very top of the draft
  • Lost Super Bowl XX to the Bears 46-10 in the Superdome against the Shufflin' Crew
  • Drafted Drew Bledsoe first overall New coach Bill Parcells took the Washington State QB with the top pick
  • Robert Kraft bought the team A then-record $172 million purchase kept the franchise in New England
  • Lost Super Bowl XXXI to the Packers Desmond Howard's kickoff return broke it open in New Orleans
  • Hired head coach Bill Belichick Months later the same regime spent pick 199 on a Michigan quarterback
  • Won Super Bowl XXXVI Beat the Rams on Adam Vinatieri's 48-yarder as time expired
  • Won Super Bowl XXXVIII Another late Vinatieri kick edged Carolina 32-29
  • Won Super Bowl XXXIX Beat the Eagles in Jacksonville for a third title in four seasons
  • Finished the regular season 16-0 Brady threw 50 touchdown passes, 23 of them to Randy Moss
  • Lost Super Bowl XLII David Tyree's helmet catch helped the Giants end the perfect-season bid
  • Gronkowski set the tight end touchdown record 17 receiving scores in a single season
  • Lost Super Bowl XLVI The Giants did it to them again, this time in Indianapolis
  • Won Super Bowl XLIX Malcolm Butler's goal-line interception sealed it against Seattle
  • Brady served his Deflategate suspension He sat the first four games, then won it all that same season
  • Won Super Bowl LI Rallied from 28-3 down to beat Atlanta in overtime
  • Lost Super Bowl LII The Eagles ran the Philly Special on Nick Foles
  • Won Super Bowl LIII A 13-3 defensive grind against the Rams for ring number six
  • Tom Brady left for Tampa Bay Six rings in New England, then a free-agent goodbye in March
  • Parted ways with Bill Belichick The split came after a 4-13 season, ending a 24-year run

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