Patriots haven’t had a losing record after 5 or more games since 2002

The New England Patriots are 2-2 and have to go on the road to face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on a short week. The Patriots are at risk of falling below .500 after five games for the first time since 2002.

The Patriots have lost season openers under Bill Belichick (2000, 2001, 2003, 2014, 2017) and they’ve twice lost the first two games of the year (2000, 2001). The 2012 Patriots actually started out the season 1-2, too.

But the Patriots have not had a losing record after five games in a really long time.

Those 2002 Patriots started off the year 3-0 before losing four straight and falling to 3-4. That was the last time the Bill Belichick-led Patriots have had a losing record after the first quarter of the season was in the books.

The 2001 Patriots were 3-4 through seven games, too, while the 2000 Patriots never had a winning record.

Hopefully the 2017 Patriots can defeat the Buccaneers and remain over .500 on the season- and hopefully New England can stay away from a losing record for the rest of the year.