The New England Patriots finished the 2015 regular season with a 12-4 record for the fourth straight season. The Patriots clinched a bye in 2015 for an NFL-record sixth-straight season and lead the NFL with 11 first-round byes since the current NFL playoff format was instituted in 1990.
PATRIOTS TO HOST DIVISIONAL PLAYOFF GAME
The New England Patriots will host a Divisional Playoff game on Saturday, January 16 at 4:30pm ET and will be broadcasted on CBS. The opponent will be the highest remaining seeded Wild Card survivor -- Cincinnati, Houston or Kansas City.
PATRIOTS IN THE PLAYOFFS
The Patriots have qualified for the playoffs 23 times in their 56-year history. Seventeen of those playoff berths have come in the 22 seasons since Robert Kraft purchased the team in 1994, a dramatic contrast to the six total playoff berths the team earned in its first 34 years of existence.
ALL-TIME PLAYOFF RESULTS
The Patriots have compiled a 28-18 record in their 46 playoff games and their .609 playoff winning percentage is the second-best in NFL history among teams that have played at least 15 playoff games. New England has qualified for eight Super Bowls (XX, XXXI, XXXVI, XXXVIII, XXXIX, XLII, XLVI and XLIX) and one AFL Championship Game in 1963.
PATRIOTS PLAYOFF RECORD BY ROUND
| **ROUND** | **RECORD** |
| First Round* | 0-1 |
| Wild Card Round | 4-3 |
| Divisional Round | 12-6 |
| AFC Championship | 8-3 |
| AFL Championship | 0-1 |
| Super Bowl | 4-4 |
| Total | 28-18 |
| *1982 Strike Season | |
2015 FINAL RANKINGS
| **2015 REGULAR SEASON** | **NEW ENGLAND** |
| Record: | 12-4 |
| Divisional Standings: | 1ST |
| Total Yards Gained: | 5,991 |
| Total Offense (Rank): | 365.5 (6) |
| Rush Offense: | 87.8 (30) |
| Pass Offense: | 286.7 (5) |
| Points Per Game: | 29.1 (3) |
| Total Yards Allowed: | 5,431 |
| Total Defense: | 339.4 (9) |
| Rush Defense: | 98.8 (9) |
| Pass Defense: | 240.7 (17) |
| Points Allowed/Game: | 19.7 (10) |
| Possession Avg.: | 30:08 |
| Sacks Allowed/Yards Lost: | 38/225 |
| Sacks Made/Yards: | 49/358 |
| Passing TD/Int (off.): | 36/7 |
| Passing TD/Int (def.): | 24/12 |
| Total Touchdowns: | 52 |
| Penalties Against/Yards: | 96/859 |
| Punts/Avg.: | 74/45.4 |
| Field Goals Made/Att.: | 33/36 |
| Takeaway/Giveaway Ratio (Rank): | +7 (5t) |
WHAT TO WATCH FOR IN THE 2015 POSTSEASON
TEAM
- The New England Patriots (28) need two more postseason victories to become the fifth team in NFL history with 30 postseason wins, joining Dallas (34), Pittsburgh (33), Green Bay (31) and San Francisco (30).
- The Patriots (4) can tie the Oakland Raiders (5) for most consecutive conference championship game appearances. The Raiders appeared in the AFC Championship Game for five straight seasons from 1973-77.
- New England (8) can break a tie with Dallas and Pittsburgh for most Super Bowl berths in NFL history.
ROBERT KRAFT
- Robert Kraft (24) needs one more postseason win to move out of a third-place tie with the Mara family for postseason wins by an ownership group, behind 33 by the Rooney family and 31 by Green Bay.
BILL BELICHICK
- Bill Belichick has won four Super Bowls as a head coach and needs one more championship to pass Chuck Noll for most Super Bowl wins in NFL history.
- Belichick (9) can tie Tom Landry (10) for most conference championship game appearances by a head coach.
- Belichick (6) needs to earn one more Super Bowl berth to pass Don Shula for most appearances all time.
TOM BRADY
- Tom Brady is currently tied in second place with Jerry Rice with 29 career postseason appearances and needs to play in one more playoff game to tie Adam Vinatieri for the all-time lead with 30 postseason appearances.
- Brady's eight 300-yard postseason passing performances are one behind Peyton Manning's nine, good for most in NFL history.
- Brady (8) needs one more playoff game with three-or-more touchdown passes to tie Joe Montana (9) for most three-plus TD playoff games since the NFL merger.
- Brady (4) needs one more Super Bowl victory to break a tie with Terry Bradshaw and Joe Montana for most Super Bowl wins by a quarterback in NFL history.
- If Tom Brady (3) wins one more Super Bowl MVP Award, he will pass Joe Montana for most Super Bowl MVP Awards in NFL history.
STEPHEN GOSTKOWSKI
- Stephen Gostkowski (117) is tied with Adam Vinatieri for most postseason points in team history.
- Gostkowski currently sits in seventh place with 117 career postseason points, nine points behind Emmitt Smith and Thurman Thomas.
2015 HONORS & AWARDS
QB TOM BRADY
- NFL Pro Bowl (11th selection)
- AFC Offensive Player of the Month (September)
- AFC Offensive Player of the Week (8)
CB MALCOLM BUTLER
- NFL Pro Bowl (1st selection)
LB JAMIE COLLINS
- NFL Pro Bowl (1st selection)
K STEPHEN GOSTKOWSKI
- NFL Pro Bowl (4th selection)
- AFC Special Teams Player of the Month (September)
- AFC Special Teams Player of the Week (7)
- AFC Special Teams Player of the Week (10)
TE ROB GRONKOWSKI
- NFL Pro Bowl (4th selection)
DE CHANDLER JONES
- NFL Pro Bowl (1st selection)
ST MATTHEW SLATER
- NFL Pro Bowl (5th selection)
