The 1985 New England Patriots season was the franchise's 16th season in the National Football League (NFL) and 26th overall. The Patriots had a record of eleven wins and five losses and finished third 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 at the Miami Orange Bowl since 1966. The win over the Dolphins in the game has gone down as one of the greatest upsets in NFL history, as the Dolphins (the only team to defeat the Chicago Bears that year) 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 seven rushing yards and their quarterbacks, Tony Eason and Steve Grogan, were sacked a combined seven times by the Bears defense.

Offseason

NFL draft

Personnel Staff

Roster

Schedule Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance 1 September 8 Green Bay Packers W 26–20 1–0 Sullivan Stadium 49,488 2 September 15 at Chicago Bears L 7–20 1–1 Soldier Field 60,533 3 September 22 at Buffalo Bills W 17–14 2–1 Rich Stadium 40,334 4 September 29 Los Angeles Raiders L 20–35 2–2 Sullivan Stadium 60,686 5 October 6 at Cleveland Browns L 20–24 2–3 Cleveland Municipal Stadium 62,139 6 October 13 Buffalo Bills W 14–3 3–3 Sullivan Stadium 40,462 7 October 20 New York Jets W 20–13 4–3 Sullivan Stadium 58,163 8 October 27 at Tampa Bay Buccaneers W 32–14 5–3 Tampa Stadium 34,661 9 November 3 Miami DolphinsW 17–13 6–3 Sullivan Stadium 58,811 10 November 10 Indianapolis Colts W 34–15 7–3 Sullivan Stadium 54,176 11 November 17 at Seattle Seahawks W 20–13 8–3 Kingdome 60,345 12 November 24 at New York Jets L 13–16 8–4 Giants Stadium 74,100 13 December 1 at Indianapolis Colts W 38–31 9–4 Hoosier Dome 56,740 14 December 8 Detroit Lions W 23–6 10–4 Sullivan Stadium 59,078 15 December 16 at Miami Dolphins L 27–30 10–5 Miami Orange Bowl 69,489 16 December 22 Cincinnati Bengals W 34–23 11–5 Sullivan Stadium 57,953 Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Game summaries

Week 1

Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2014-Aug-01. Gainesville Sun. 1985 Sept 9. Retrieved 2017-Nov-01.

Week 2

Week 3

Pro-Football-Reference.com

Week 4

Week 5

Week 6

Pro-Football-Reference.com

Week 7 vs Jets

Week 8

Week 9

Week 10

Week 11

Week 12

Week 13

Week 14

Week 15

Week 16

Pro-Football-Reference.com

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 Round Date Opponent (seed) Result Record Venue Attendance Wild card December 28 at New York Jets (4) W 26–14 1–0 Giants Stadium 70,958 Divisional January 5, 1986 at Los Angeles Raiders (1) W 27–20 2–0 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum 88,936 AFC Championship January 12, 1986 at Miami Dolphins (2) W 31–14 3–0 Miami Orange Bowl 74,978 Super Bowl XX January 26, 1986 Chicago Bears (N1) L 10–46 3–1 Louisiana Superdome 73,818

Wild card

This was only the second postseason win in Patriots history, and the first since 1963.

Divisional

Conference championship

In the 1985 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.100 Things Dolphins Fans Should Know and Do Before They Die, Armando Salguero, Triumph Books, Chicago, 2020, ISBN 978-1-62937-722-3, p.147

The New England Patriots became the first team in NFL history to win three playoff games on the road in the same postseason.

Super Bowl

Standings

Notes

References