Yesterday, the New England Patriots beat the New York Jets 22-17 to improve their record to 9-2. As a result, the team will be able to celebrate its 16th straight winning season – the first time a team has had this many consecutive winning seasons since the salary cap was introduced in 1993.
The Patriots were also able to celebrate two other milestones. The first is Tom Brady reaching his 200th win as a starting quarterback, which ties him with Peyton Manning for the most in NFL history. Simultaneously, the team also was able to get its 500th overall victory.
Thus, the franchise becomes the first originating in the American Football League to reach the 500-win plateau. While the Patriots were one of the least successful teams in the old AFL, they have turned the corner significantly over the last two decades and now lead their 10 former league-mates in championships and victories.
Let’s take a look against whom the 500 victories were accomplished:
Buffalo Bills: 70
New York Jets (New York Titans): 60
Indianapolis Colts (Baltimore Colts): 51
Miami Dolphins: 49
Tennessee Titans (Houston Oilers): 24
San Diego Chargers (Los Angeles Chargers): 23
Denver Broncos: 21
Oakland Raiders (Los Angeles Raiders): 18
Cincinnati Bengals: 16
Kansas City Chiefs (Dallas Texans): 14
Pittsburgh Steelers: 14
Cleveland Browns: 11
Jacksonville Jaguars: 10
Baltimore Ravens: 9
Chicago Bears: 9
New Orleans Saints: 9
Seattle Seahawks: 9
Minnesota Vikings: 8
Arizona Cardinals (St. Louis Cardinals, Phoenix Cardinals): 7
Atlanta Falcons: 7
Detroit Lions: 7
Houston Texans: 7
Los Angeles Rams (St. Louis Rams): 7
New York Giants: 6
Philadelphia Eagles: 6
Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 6
Dallas Cowboys: 5
Green Bay Packers: 5
San Francisco 49ers: 5
Washington Redskins: 4
Carolina Panthers: 3
29 of the franchise’s 500 victories appeared in the playoffs. Four of which came on the grandest stage and resulted in a Super Bowl title.
Broken down by head coaches, the Patriots’ victories are distributed as follows:
Bill Belichick: 218
Mike Holovak: 53
Raymond Berry: 51
Chuck Fairbanks: 46
Bill Parcells: 34
Pete Carroll: 28
Ron Erhardt: 21
Ron Meyer: 18
John Mazur: 9
Dick MacPherson: 8
Lou Saban: 7
Clive Rush: 5
Phil Bengtson: 1
Rod Rust: 1
It is no surprise to see Bill Belichick as the most successful of the Patriots’ head coaches. In fact, 43.6% of the franchise’s all time victories have come with Belichick at the helm (and 40.0% with Tom Brady as the quarterback).
While the milestone is a great accomplishment, the lone goal this season is to finish the year with 208 victories under the belt – and a fifth Lombardi Trophy.