1984 New England Patriots season

The New England Patriots season was the franchise's 15th season in the National Football League and 25th overall. The Patriots finished the season with a record of nine wins and seven losses, and finished second in the AFC East Division.

1984 New England Patriots season
OwnerBilly Sullivan
Head coachRon Meyer
Raymond Berry
General managerPatrick Sullivan
Home fieldSullivan Stadium
Results
Record9–7
Division place2nd AFC East
Playoff finishDid not qualify
Pro BowlersG John Hannah
T Brian Holloway
LB Steve Nelson
LB Andre Tippett
AP All-ProsG John Hannah (2nd team)
The Patriots hosting the Cardinals in December 1984.

Head coach Ron Meyer, who had coached the Patriots for the previous two seasons, was fired halfway through the season. Meyer had angered several of his players with public criticism. After a 44–22 loss to Miami in Week 8, Meyer fired popular defensive coordinator Rod Rust; Meyer himself was fired by Patriots management shortly thereafter.[1]

The Patriots went outside the organization to hire Raymond Berry, who had been New England's receivers coach from 1978 to 1981 under coaches Chuck Fairbanks and Ron Erhardt. Berry had been working in the private sector in Medfield, Massachusetts, when the Patriots called him to replace Meyer. Berry's first order of business was to immediately rehire Rust.

Under Berry's leadership, the Patriots won four of their last eight games. Berry's importance to the team was reflected less in his initial win-loss record than in the respect he immediately earned in the locker room – "Raymond Berry earned more respect in one day than Ron Meyer earned in three years," according to running back Tony Collins.[2]

Staff
New England Patriots 1984 staff
Front Office

Head Coaches

Offensive Coaches

  • Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks – Lew Erber
  • Offensive Backfield – Cleve Bryant
  • Receivers – Steve Endicott
  • Offensive Line – Bill Muir
  

Defensive Coaches

Special Teams Coaches

Strength and Conditioning

  • Strength and Conditioning – LeBaron Caruthers

Roster
New England Patriots 1984 roster
Quarterbacks

Running Backs

Wide Receivers

Tight Ends

 Offensive Linemen

Defensive Linemen

 Linebackers

Defensive Backs

Special Teams

 Reserve lists

Regular season

Schedule
Week Date Opponent Result Notes Attendance
1 September 2, 1984 at Buffalo Bills W 21–17 Steve Grogan threw two touchdowns
48,528
2 September 9, 1984 at Miami Dolphins L 28–7
66,083
3 September 16, 1984 Seattle Seahawks W 38–23 Patriots erased 23–0 gap
43,140
4 September 23, 1984 Washington Redskins L 26–10 Tony Eason's first start
60,503
5 September 30, 1984 at New York Jets W 28–21
68,978
6 October 7, 1984 at Cleveland Browns W 17–16
53,036
7 October 14, 1984 Cincinnati Bengals W 20–14
48,154
8 October 21, 1984 Miami Dolphins L 44–24 Ron Meyer fired following game
60,711
9 October 28, 1984 New York Jets W 30–20 Raymond Berry took over as coach
60,513
10 November 4, 1984 at Denver Broncos L 26–19
74,908
11 November 11, 1984 Buffalo Bills W 38–10
43,313
12 November 18, 1984 at Indianapolis Colts W 50–17 First trip to Indianapolis
60,009
13 November 22, 1984 at Dallas Cowboys L 20–17 Patriots' first Thanksgiving Day game
55,341
14 December 2, 1984 St. Louis Cardinals L 33–10
53,558
15 December 9, 1984 at Philadelphia Eagles L 27–17
41,581
16 December 16, 1984 Indianapolis Colts W 16–10
22,383

Week 1

Behind two Steve Grogan touchdown throws, the Patriots raced to a 21–0 lead. They withstood a second-half Bills comeback attempt, and won 21–17.

Week 2

Grogan had a miserable day as he was intercepted four times; William Judson ran back one for a 60-yard touchdown. The Dolphins, led by two Dan Marino touchdown passes, won 28–7.

Week 3

The first home game of the season ended Grogan's season as he failed to complete any of his four passes and Kenny Easley ran back his interception for a 25-yard touchdown. The Seahawks scored three touchdowns marred by a missed PAT. Tony Eason replaced Grogan with six minutes left in the first half and in the final minute ran in a 25-yard touchdown. From there three Patriots backs rushed for 189 yards and three touchdowns and Eason tossed scores to Derrick Ramsey and Irving Fryar while Dave Krieg of the Seahawks was bullied into two interceptions. The Patriots came back to win 38–23. The 23-point comeback was the largest in Patriots franchise history, a team record held until 2013.[3]

Week 9
New York Jets at New England Patriots
1 234Total
Jets 10 1000 20
• Patriots 0 61014 30

Raymond Berry's first game as Patriots' head coach.

Standings
AFC East
W L T PCT DIV CONF PF PA STK
Miami Dolphins(1) 14 2 0 .875 8–0 10–2 513 298 W2
New England Patriots 9 7 0 .563 6–2 9–3 362 352 W1
New York Jets 7 9 0 .438 3–5 7–7 332 364 L1
Indianapolis Colts 4 12 0 .250 2–6 4–8 239 414 L5
Buffalo Bills 2 14 0 .125 1–7 1–11 250 454 L2

References
  1. Neft, David S.; Cohen, Richard M.; and Korch, Rich The Sports Encyclopedia: Pro Football, 12th Edition, p. 486, Martin's Press, August 1994, ISBN 0-312-11073-1
  2. Quoted in Tales From The Patriots Sideline (Illinois:Sports Publishing LLC, 2006) by Michael Felger, p. 76
  3. "Watch Denver Broncos vs. New England Patriots [11/24/2013] - NFL.com". www.nfl.com. Retrieved September 12, 2017.
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