As we move forward into the season, here are several milestones to look out for in 2015 for Bill Belichick, Tom Brady and other Patriots.
PATRIOTS
- The Patriots can match the Oakland Raiders (1973-1977) as only the second team in NFL history to advance to five straight AFC Championship games.
- The Patriots will look to become the ninth team to repeat as Super Bowl champions and the first team to do so since New England won back-to-back Super Bowls in 2003 and 2004. The Patriots will try to match Pittsburgh as the only other NFL team with back-to-back Super Bowl wins two separate times.
- The Patriots have won six straight division titles (2009-14) and can match the Los Angeles Rams (1973-79) for the most consecutive division titles in NFL history if they win the AFC East in 2015.
BILL BELICHICK
- Bill Belichick (6) needs to
reach one more Super Bowl as a head coach to break a tie with Don Shula (6) for the most conference titles. * Belichick has four Super Bowl wins as a head coach to match Pittsburgh's Chuck Noll for the most wins. With one more Super Bowl win, Belichick will have the most wins by a head coach in Super Bowl history. * Belichick (14 straight) needs to lead the Patriots to one more winning season to break a tie with Curly Lambeau (14) for the second most consecutive winning seasons all-time to the 20 by Tom Landry. * Belichick is one of five head coaches to win six consecutive division titles (2009-14) - Paul Brown (1950-55), Tom Landry (1966-71), Bud Grant (1973-78) and Chuck Noll (1974-79) - and needs one more division title in 2015 to have seven, the most consecutive division titles among all head coaches. * Belichick has 12 division titles as a head coach and needs one more to tie Tom Landry and Don Shula for 13, the most division titles among all head coaches.
TOM BRADY
CONSISTENT WINNER
Tom Brady has 168 career regular-season wins with the Patriots, the most wins by a starting quarterback with one team.
- Brady is in his 16th season with the Patriots, tying former Patriots QB Steve Grogan (1975-90) for most seaons with the Patriots.
- Brady became the fourth NFL player to ever reach 400 career touchdown passes on a second quarter TD pass vs. Jacksonville (9/27/15).
- If Brady reaches 30 or more touchdown passes in 2015, he will become just the fourth player in NFL history with at least 30 or more touchdown passes in six seasons.
- If Brady reaches 4,000 passing yards in 2015, he will be just the third player in NFL history with at least eight 4,000-yard passing seasons.
- Brady has played in 217 career games with the Patriots, moving past Bruce Armstrong (212) for most games played in Patriots history. He has started in 215 games and moved past Armstrong (212) for most starts in Patriots history.
- Tom Brady made his 14th opening day start with the Patriots in 2015. The only NFL quarterbacks with more opening day starts with one team are John Elway (16 with Denver), Dan Marino (16 with Miami) and Brett Favre (15 with Green Bay).
STEPHEN GOSTKOWSKI
- Stephen Gostkowski has led
the NFL in scoring in each of the last three seasons (2012-14). He can become just the third NFL player to lead the NFL in scoring in at least four consecutive seasons, joining Don Hutson (1940-44) and Gino Cappelletti (1963-66). * If Stephen Gostkowski leads the NFL in scoring in 2015, he will join Don Hutson (5) and Gino Cappelletti (5) as the only NFL players to lead the NFL in scoring in five seasons. Gostkowski has led the NFL in scoring in 2008, 2012, 2013 and 2014. * Gostkowski has 262 career field goals and needs two field goals in 2015 to move past Adam Vinatieri (263) for the most field goals in team history. * Gostkowski moved past Matt Stover (422) and is first in NFL history with 442 consecutive extra points.
ROB GRONKOWSKI
EXCLUSIVE COMPANY
Rob Gronkowski became the second Patriots player with 60 career touchdowns and the fifth NFL tight end with 60 touchdowns. he reached 60 touchdowns in 70 games, the fastest among all tight end.
- Rob Gronkowski has 62 overall touchdowns and needs seven touchdowns to move past Stanley Morgan (68) to become the all-time leader in touchdowns scored for the Patriots.
- Gronkowski (61) needs seven receiving touchdowns to move past Stanley Morgan (67) to become the all-time leader in receiving touchdowns for the Patriots.
- Gronkowski became the seventh Patriots player to reach 5,000 receiving yards (5,072). He reached 5,000 yards in his 72nd NFL game to become the second fastest tight end to reach 5,000 yards. Kellen Winslow reached 5,000 yards in his 69th game.
