| After the disater of 1981, Ron Meyer was hired as Coach of the Patriots and ushered in the foundation for a future run at the Superbowl. 1982 will forever be remembered for the players strike that cut the season from 16 games to 9 games. After the strike was settled, the division and playoff structure was changed to accomodate the nine game season. One team that benefitted from this the most, was the New England Patriots as the number of playoff teams was increased from 5 to 8. Along with the change at Coach, came a change at QB as Matt Cavanaugh supplanted Steve Grogan at QB. This change would only last half a season until Steve Grogan was given back the starting job. The Meyer ERA kicked off in spectacular fashion as the Patriots defeated the Baltimore Colts 24-13 on opening day to give the Patriots a share of the AFC East lead with Miami and Buffalo. After the Jets thumped the Patriots 31-7, the strike delayed game three for seven weeks. Upon the players return, the Patriots would lose two of their first three to fall to 2-3 heading into the stretch playoff run when one of the greatest games in Patriots history occured. With playoffs still a possibility in the expanded playoffs, the 4-1 Miami Dolphins came to New England along with a snowstorm for a showdown. The weather slowed both offenses down to a crawl as the teams battled to a scoreless tie through three quarters. With five minutes left in the fourth, the Patriots finally started to drive on the Dolphins when the drive stalled. Coach Ron Meyer called a timeout and directed Mark Henderson, a prisoner on a work release program, to clear a spot on the field for John Smith. John Smith would kick the game winning field goal and spur the Patriots to the playoffs. Fresh off the 3-0 win, the Patriots would shutout back-to-back opponents for the first time in franchise history when they blanked Seattle 16-0 to raise the Patriots record to 4-3. The Patriots shutout streak came to crashing halt as the Steelers beat the Patriots 37-14. This set-up a showdown with the Bills for the one of the final playoff spots in the AFC East. A loss would cause the Patriots to lose out on playoff tie breakers. Tied at 16 entering the fourth, unlike teams past, this Patriots' team took the game as Tony Collins gave the Patriots a 23-16 lead and Don Hasselback sealed the 30-19 victory by catching a 2-yard Steve Grogan pass. One year after finishing 2-14, the Patriots would qualify as the seventh seed in the playoffs. The playoff run would be short as the Dolphins gained revenge for the loss in the snow by crushing the Patriots 28-13 in Miami. |
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| Passing Cmp Att Pct. Yards TDs INTs QBRtg Steve Grogan 66 122 54.1 930 7 4 84.4 Matt Cavanaugh 27 60 45.0 490 5 5 66.7 Tom Flick 0 5 0.0 0 0 0 39.6 |
| Rushing Att. Yards AVG TDs Tony Collins 164 632 3.9 1 Mark Van Eeghen 82 386 4.7 0 Mosi Tatupu 30 168 5.6 0 Robert Weathers 24 83 3.5 1 Steve Grogan 9 42 4.7 0 Sam Cunningham 9 21 2.3 0 Vagas Ferguson 1 5 5.0 0 Ken Toler 1 4 4.0 0 Matt Cavanaugh 2 3 1.5 0 Stanley Morgan 2 3 1.5 0 Receiving Rec Yards AVG TDs Stanley Morgan 28 584 20.9 3 Tony Collins 19 187 9.8 2 Don Hasselbeck 15 158 10.5 1 Lin Dawson 13 160 12.3 1 Morris Bradshaw 6 111 18.5 1 Preston Brown 4 114 28.5 1 Robert Weathers 3 24 8.0 0 Ken Toler 2 63 31.5 2 Mark Van Eeghen 2 14 7.0 1 Cedric Jones 1 5 5.0 0 Interceptions Mike Haynes 4, Roland James 3, Rick Sanford 2, Don Blackmon 2, Raymond Clayborn 1 Sacks Don Blackmon 4.5; Kenneth Sims 3; Lester Williams 2; Roland James 2; Clayton Weishuhn 2; Julius Adams 2; Larry McGrew 1.5; John Zamberlin 1; Luther Henson 1; George Crump 1 Kicking XP XPA FG FGA PTS John Smith 6 7 5 8 21 Rex Robinson 5 5 1 2 8 |
| AFC W L T .Pct PF PA Raiders 8 1 0 .889 260 200 Wildcard Dolphins 7 2 0 .778 198 131 Los Angeles 27 Cleveland 10 Bengals 7 2 0 .778 232 177 N.Y. Jets 44 Cincinnati 17 Steelers 6 3 0 .667 204 146 San Diego 31 Pittsburgh 28 Chargers 6 3 0 .667 288 221 Miami 28 New England 13 - BX Jets 6 3 0 .667 245 166 Division Playoffs Patriots 5 4 0 .556 143 157 Miami 34 San Diego 13 Browns 4 5 0 .444 140 182 N.Y. Jets 17 Los Angeles 14 Bills 4 5 0 .444 150 154 AFC Championship Seahawks 4 5 0 .444 127 147 Miami 14 New York Jets 0 Chiefs 3 6 0 .333 176 184 Broncos 2 7 0 .222 148 226 Superbowl XIII Oilers 1 8 0 .111 136 245 Washington 27 Miami 17 Colts 0 8 1 .056 113 236 |
| 1982 |
| @Baltimore 24-13 1-0 @N.Y. Jets 7-31 1-1 @Cleveland 7-10 1-2 Houston 29-21 2-2 @Chicago 13-26 2-3 Miami 3-0 3-3 @Seattle 16-0 4-3 @Pittsburgh 14-37 4-4 Buffalo 30-19 5-4 Conference Playoffs - Recap/Boxscore New England 0 3 3 7 - 13 Miami 0 14 7 7 - 28 Offense Ranking Points: 143 (21 of 28) Run: 324-1347 (2 of 28) Pass: 1420 (27 of 28) Defense Ranking Points: 157 (7 of 28) Run: 315-1289 (25 of 28) Pass: 1691 (5 of 28) |
| Roster QB- Matt Cavanaugh QB - Steve Grogan QB - Tom Flick HB - Tony Collins HB - Larry Cowan HB - Vagas Ferguson HB - Greg Taylor FB - Sam Cunningham FB - Mosi Tatupu FB - Mark van Eeghen FB - Robert Weathers WR - Morris Bradshaw WR -Preston Brown WR - Cedric Jones WR - Stanley Morgan WR - Ken Toler TE - Lin Dawson TE - Don Hasselbeck TE - Brian Williams T - Darryl Haley T - Brian Holloway T - Shelby Jordan G - Bob Cryder G - John Hannah G - Ron Wooten C - Dwight Wheeler C - Pete Brock DE - Julius Adams DE - George Crump DE - Kenneth Sims DE - Ron Spears NT - Luther Henson NT - Dennis Owens NT - Lester Williams LB - Don Blackmon LB - Tim Golden LB - Brian Ingram LB - Larry McGrew LB - Steve Nelson LB - Andre Tippett LB - Clayton Weishun LB - John Zamberlin DB - Raymond Clayborn DB - Paul Dombroski DB - Mike Haynes DB - Roland James DB - Keith Lee DB - Fred Marion DB - Rick Sanford P - Rich Camarillo K - Rex Robinson K - John Smith Injury DE - Steve Clark (Ankle) |
| Pro Bowlers: G - John Hannah DB - Mike Haynes |
| 1983 |
| Coach: Ron Meyer |
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