STRONG START
The Patriots have begun the 2006 season with a 4-1 record, marking their second fastest start to a season after five games since Bill Belichick became head coach in 2000. The only time the team has held a better five-game record with Belichick as the head coach was in 2004, when they started the year with a 5-0 record. New England has won as many as four of its first five games for the eighth time in the franchise's 47-season history.

HOMELAND DEFENSE
Since Gillette Stadium opened in 2002, the Patriots have been the NFL's best team at home. New England leads the NFL with a 32-7 (.821) home record in the fourplus years since their state-of-the-art facility opened, and the Patriots defense has allowed an NFL-low 15.6 points per game at home since 2002. The Patriots own 28 victories in their last 32 home games, including regular-season and playoff games.

BEAST OF THE EAST
The New England Patriots own a 28-7 record in AFC East games since the beginning of the 2001 season, compiling the best intra-division record of any team in the NFL over the last five-plus seasons. The Patriots have claimed four of the last five AFC East championships, and along with the Philadelphia Eagles are the only teams in the NFL to have won four division titles in the last five years. Since 2001, the Patriots are 15-3 in home divisional games.

PATRIOTS TO PLAY IN INAUGURAL CHINA BOWL IN AUGUST, 2007
On Sept. 24, 2006, the NFL announced that the Patriots will take part in a preseason game in Beijing, China on Aug. 8, 2007. New England will play the Seattle Seahawks at Workers Stadium to kick off the one-year countdown to the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. The game will be televised live in China at 8:30 p.m. on Aug. 8, 2007, and will also be seen live in the United States on NBC at 8:30 a.m. that same day. The venue will serve as the site of the soccer competition in the 2008 Summer Olympics.

UPCOMING EVENTS
October 10 - Hometown Huddle: New England Patriots players will spend the afternoon coaching local teens through football training basics as a part of United Way of Massachusetts Bay's annual Hometown Huddle. The program will take place at Boys & Girls Clubs of Boston's Yawkey Club of Roxbury from 3:30 - 5:00 p.m. Hometown Huddle is a league-wide day of service that provides NFL players and coaches from each team the opportunity to take part in a variety of community-service activities. The Hometown Huddle partnership between the New England Patriots and United Way of Massachusetts Bay began in 1999.

October 21 - New England Patriots/Dana-Farber Blood Drive: The Patriots will host a fall kick-off blood drive on Saturday, October 21 at the Dana-Farber Field House at Gillette Stadium. Donors will be entered into a raffle to win Patriots prizes. Appointments are required and will be scheduled from 1:45 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. To be eligible to donate you must be at least 17 years old and weigh a minimum of 110 pounds. For details and appointments, call (617) 732-6286. Blood donations collected will benefit patients treated at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Children's Hospital Boston.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

WHERE THEY RANK

1
The Patriots' NFL rank in sacks allowed per pass play, allowing just five total sacks on 162 pass plays.

1
The Patriots' NFL rank in punt return defense, allowing opponents an average of just 3.4 yards per punt return.

1
Kevin Faulk's NFL rank in punt return average, recording a 13.5- yard average on his 10 punt returns.

1
Laurence Maroney's rank among all NFL rookie running backs, totaling 332 yards on 78 carries (4.3 avg) through five games. Indianapolis' Joseph Addai is second with 281 yards.

2
The Patriots' NFL rank in first downs per game, recording a total of 108 first downs through five games.

2Jarvis Green's AFC rank in sacks, totaling 4.5 sacks in five games. He trails Baltimore's Bart Scott (5.0 sacks) by just 0.5 sacks).

3
The Patriots' NFL rank in touchbacks on kickoffs, having recorded seven touchbacks through five games.

4
Tom Brady's NFL rank in touchdown passes, having tossed eight scoring passes through five games. He is tied for the mark with Indianapolis' Peyton Manning.

5
The Patriots' NFL rank in rushing yards per game, averaging 139.0 rushing yards per contest.

MR. PATRIOT

6,150
The number of career receiving yards for Troy Brown, making him the second player in franchise history to reach the 6,000- yard mark (Stanley Morgan, 10,352).

6
The number of receptions Brown needs to pass Stanley Morgan (534 career receptions) to become the Patriots' all-time leader.

14
The number of seasons in which Brown has donned a Patriots uniform, tying Bruce Armstrong and Steve Nelson for the second longest Patriots tenure, trailing only Steve Grogan (16 seasons).

2
The number of current NFL players who have been with their respective teams for more than the 14 seasons Brown has been a Patriot (Brett Favre, GB, and Jason Hanson, DET;15 seasons).

THE HEAD COACH

32The number of years Bill Belichick has been an NFL coach, making him the longest tenured coach among the NFL's 32 head coaches.

7The number of head coaches in the NFL or college who were assistant coaches under Belichick (Romeo Crennel, Eric Mangini, Nick Saban, Charlie Weis, Kirk Ferentz, Pat Hill and Al Groh).

38-2Belichick's record in New England when the Patriots score 25 points or more.

59-5Belichick's record in New England when the Patriots score 21 points or more.

STREAKING

54
The number of consecutive games the Patriots have played since they last lost back-to-back games, dating back to December 2002. The streak is the second longest in NFL history. The San Francisco 49ers set the NFL record by going 60 games without losing two in a row from 1995-99.

5
The number of consecutive 9 win seasons for the Patriots, the longest current streak in the NFL.

8
The number of consecutive Patriots overtime victories, the longest current streak in the NFL.

8
The number of career receptions by Patriots linebacker Mike Vrabel (including playoffs). All eight receptions have been for touchdowns.

94
The number of consecutive games, including playoffs, that Tom Brady has started at quarterback.

131
The number of consecutive home games that the Patriots have sold out. The streak includes preseason, regular-season and playoff games and dates back to the 1994 regular-season opener.

THE DILLON FACTOR

10,710
Corey Dillon's career rushing yardage total, the highest total among any player on a current 53-man active roster.

27-5
The Patriots' record in games in which Dillon has played since joining the Patriots prior to the 2004 season.

1-4
The Patriots record in games Dillon has missed during his Patriots tenure.

4.3
Corey Dillon's average yards per carry since joining the Patriots (2,649 yards on 622 rushes).

THE KRAFT ERA

4The number of times the Patriots have appeared in the Super Bowl since Robert Kraft bought the team in 1994. No other team has made more than two Super Bowl appearances in that span.

13
The number of playoff victories for the Patriots since 1994, more than any other team in the NFL during that span.

134-81
The Patriots' overall record since Robert Kraft purchased the team in 1994 (including postseason), a .623 winning percentage.

76-31
The Patriots' record at home since 1994, including regularseason and postseason games, a winning percentage of .710.

32-7
The Patriots' record at Gillette Stadium, including regular-season and postseason games (.821 win pct).

8-0
The Patriots' home playoff record since Robert Kraft purchased the team in 1994. In the franchise's first 34 seasons, the team was 0-1 at home in the playoffs.