2012 New England Patriots season

The  New England Patriots season was the franchise's 43rd season in the National Football League and 53rd overall. The Patriots did not improve upon their 13-3 record, finishing at 12–4, but did win the AFC East for the fourth season in a row, and a first-round bye as one of the top two seeds in the AFC for the third consecutive year. This season marks head coach Bill Belichick's 13th season as Patriots head coach, and the 11th season in which the Patriots played all of their home games at Gillette Stadium.

The 2012 Patriots featured a prolific offense that broke the record for first downs in a season, with 444, and finished third all-time in scoring, with 557 points, finishing only behind the 2011 Green Bay Packers and their previous 2007 record setting season. Additionally, this was the third consecutive season that the Patriots exceeded 500 points scored, which tied the record set by the 1999-2001 St. Louis Rams. The Patriots also ranked first in the league with a turnover margin of +25.

The Patriots' 12-win season marked their tenth consecutive 10-win season, a feat exceeded only by the San Francisco 49ers' streak of 16, from 1983 to 1998, and their twelfth consecutive winning season. However, on January 20, 2013, they were defeated by the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC Championship Game, marking their first AFC title game loss at home.

Offseason
On May 15, Wes Welker signed his franchise tender of 1 year for $9.5 million. He was still permitted to negotiate a long term deal until July 15, which passed, and a new contract cannot be negotiated until the end of the season.

2012 NFL Draft
The Patriots traded their fifth-round selection and a 2013 sixth-round selection to the Cincinnati Bengals in exchange for wide receiver Chad Johnson. They also tried to improve their defense when they traded their fifth-round selection to the Washington Redskins for defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth and their sixth-round selection to the Philadelphia Eagles in exchange for linebacker Tracy White and the Eagles' seventh-round selection. The Patriots also traded two seventh-round selections—one to the Kansas City Chiefs in exchange for safety Jarrad Page, and another to the Minnesota Vikings along with Randy Moss in exchange for a 2011 third-round selection.

NOTES:
 * undefined The Patriots traded up to acquire pick 21 from the Bengals
 * undefined The Patriots traded up to acquire pick 25 from the Broncos
 * undefined The Patriots acquired the Raiders' second-round selection and a 2011 seventh-round selection in a trade for the Patriots' 2011 third- and fourth-round selections. ProFootballWeekly.com summary
 * undefined Third, sixth and seventh round picks from the Packers.
 * undefined From Jets through Packers.

Regular season
The team's schedule was announced on April 17. Based solely on 2011 records, the Patriots had the easiest schedule in the league, with opponents compiling a total record of 116-140 (.453).
 * Simulcast on WCVB-TV.

Week 1: at Tennessee Titans
With the win, the Patriots not only started the season at 1-0 but they also won their ninth straight season opener. Tom Brady threw for 236 yards and two touchdowns, and the defending AFC champion Patriots routed the Tennessee Titans at LP Field by a score of 34-13. Stevan Ridley ran for 125 yards on 21 carries and the Patriots Offense was nearly flawless. Rookies Chandler Jones and Dont'a Hightower combined for a game changing defensive touchdown when Jones beat his blocker and strip sacked Titans Quarterback Jake Locker. Rookie Strong Safety Tavon Wilson also had an interception deep in Patriots territory to preserve a Patriots lead with the Titans before the half.

Week 2: vs. Arizona Cardinals
With the loss the Patriots fell to 1-1, 10-1 in home openers at Gillette Stadium, and 18-3 against NFC opponents at Gillette Stadium. The Patriots offense was lethargic all day long against a dominant Arizona defense, until late in the 4th Quarter, as Tom Brady hit TE Rob Gronkowski for a chance to tie the game. However, the 2 point conversion attempt failed, and the scoreline retained a 2-point lead to the visitors, 20-18. On the ensuing drive, however, Cardinals RB Ryan Williams fumbled with 1:01 left, giving the Patriots the ball on the Cardinals 30 yard line. Danny Woodhead took a 30 yard rushing play into the endzone, but the score was nullified by a holding call on Gronkowski. The Patriots elected to attempt a seemingly routine 42 yard field goal to win the game, but Stephen Gostkowski's kick went wide left, sealing an upset win for Arizona, and a rare loss at home for Bill Belichick's side.

Week 3: at Baltimore Ravens
The Patriots were hoping to stave off a losing streak and rebound from their loss to the Cardinals. In this rematch of the AFC Championship, the Patriots started off fast, with the score 13-0 after the first quarter. The Ravens then scored two straight touchdowns to take a 14-13 lead with 1:47 left in the half. Right before the half Brady scored a touchdown to retake the lead, 20-14. In the second half Ray Rice scored a touchdown to allow Baltimore to retake a 21-20 lead. Then the Patriots scored another touchdown to take a 27-21 lead. On a subsequent drive Baltimore's defense held New England to a field goal to make the score 30-21 New England. Then Joe Flacco engineered a touchdown drive to trim the lead to 30-28 New England. New England attempted to increase their lead, but Brady was sacked and the Patriots were forced to punt. In the end Baltimore was able to run out the clock, with Justin Tucker kicking a controversial field goal to take the game 31-30 just as time expired.

With this loss New England fell to 1-2. The Ravens not only avenged the AFC Championship defeat by winning their first-ever regular season meeting against their opponent, but the Patriots faced their first sub-.500 record in 145 games since starting the 2003 season 0-1 against the Buffalo Bills, and also stumbled to their first 1-2 start since 2001. This was the fourth time in the previous ten seasons the Pats had lost consecutive games. Also, in what turned out to be the replacement officials' next-to-last game officiating, the game was marred by a series of questionable calls that eventually provoked the Ravens fans to start chanting derogatory words towards the referees; Patriots coach Bill Belichick was seen to try to grab one of the officials as they were scurrying from the field.

The Patriots were one of six 2011 season playoff teams to be under .500 after their first three games; the others were the Steelers, Broncos, Lions, Packers, and Saints (who were sitting at 0-3 by this time).

Week 4: at Buffalo Bills
In the Patriots' 52–28 win over the Buffalo Bills, they became only the second team in NFL history—after the 2008 Green Bay Packers—to have two players with 100 yards receiving (Welker and Gronkowski) and two players with 100 yards rushing (Bolden and Ridley) in the same game.

The Patriots were losing just under 4 minutes into the 2nd half after a Donald Jones 68 yard touchdown for the Bills but the Patriots recovered scoring 35 unanswered points and 45 points in the 2nd half total to crush the Bills. Brady threw for 340 yards and 3 touchdowns while Bolden (137 yards, 1 touchdown) and Ridley (106 yards, 2 touchdowns) chimed in to make it the most points the Patriots had scored since 2009 as the team improved to 2-2.

Week 5: vs. Denver Broncos
Coming off their win in Buffalo against the Bills, the Patriots returned to Foxborough to host the Denver Broncos, and Peyton Manning. This was the 13th meeting between quarterbacks Peyton Manning and Tom Brady since 2001. The Patriots grabbed the early lead, with Brady connecting on an 8-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Wes Welker. The Broncos responded early in the second quarter, with Manning tossing a 1-yard touchdown pass to tight end Joel Dreessen. However, the Patriots reeled off 24 unanswered points, with running back Shane Vereen rushing for a 1-yard touchdown, a 23-yard field goal by placekicker Stephen Gostkowski just before halftime, followed in the third quarter by Brady scoring a 1-yard touchdown on a quarterback sneak and running back Stevan Ridley rushing for an 8-yard touchdown. The latter touchdown occurred after a Manning fumble deep in Broncos' territory. The Broncos responded, with Manning throwing a pair of touchdown passes—a 2-yarder to wide receiver Eric Decker, followed in the fourth quarter by a 5-yarder to wide receiver Brandon Stokley to close the gap to 31–21 with 6:43 remaining. Following a Patriots' fumble, the Broncos were attempting to rally. However, running back Willis McGahee fumbled the football at the Patriots' 14-yard line with 3:48 remaining, halting the Broncos' rally attempt. The Patriots subsequently ran out the clock.

Tom Brady improved his head-to-head record against Peyton Manning to 9–4.

With the legendary QB battle between Tom Brady and Peyton Manning renewed, the Patriots would take the first game as the team improved to 3-2.

Week 6: at Seattle Seahawks
Coming off their win against Denver, the Patriots flew to Seattle to play their only game on the west coast of the season. After starting the first half with a 17-10 lead, the Patriots would only score two field goals in the second half. With 7:21 remaining in the fourth quarter, Russell Wilson connected with Braylon Edwards for a 10-yard TD run to get the Seahawks to 23-17. After forcing the Patriots to go three and out twice, the Seahawks got the ball back and Wilson connected with Sidney Rice for a 46-Yard TD, taking the lead 24-23 with 1:18 remaining. With the surprising loss, the Patriots fell to 3-3. The loss also leaves them 0-2 against the NFC West.

Week 7: vs. New York Jets
With the win, the Patriots improved to 4-3.

Week 8: at St. Louis Rams
With the huge win, the Patriots went into their bye week at 5-3. 1-2 against the NFC West.

Week 9 Bye Week
On November 1 in a deadline deal, New England shipped a 2013 4th round pick to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for cornerback Aqib Talib and a 2013 7th round pick.

Week 10: vs. Buffalo Bills
With the win, the Patriots improved to 6-3 on the season and 11-0 against the Buffalo Bills at Gillette Stadium.

Week 11: vs. Indianapolis Colts
The 6-3 Patriots played the 6-3 Indianapolis Colts and their rookie quarterback Andrew Luck. Luck led two touchdown drives that put the Colts up 14-7 after the first quarter, but from there the Patriots took over. Julian Edelman ran back a 68-yard punt-return touchdown, then Aqib Talib in his first game with New England following a trade from Tampa Bay intercepted Luck and ran back a 59-yard touchdown. Tom Brady threw three touchdowns and Alfonzo Dennard intercepted Luck at the Patriots 13-yard line and ran back another pick-six touchdown. Luck threw a 43 yard touchdown to T.Y. Hilton to cut the score to 45-24. Rob Gronkowski caught a 24-yard score from Brady but suffered a freak arm injury on kick-protection on a late PAT in the 59-24 Patriots win.

The win put the Patriots at 7-3 and dropped the Colts to 6-4.

Week 12: at New York Jets
The Patriots scored three touchdowns in a span of 53 seconds, becoming the third team since the AFL-NFL merger to do so. (The 2002 Seahawks did it in 52 seconds while the 1998 Falcons in 49 seconds.) For the second week in a row, the Patriots tied a franchise record set in their 2009 Week 6 game against the Tennessee Titans—in this case, 35 second-quarter points. Unlike the Titans game, though, where the Patriots held the ball for 9 minutes and 22 seconds, in this quarter the Patriots held the ball for just 2 minutes and 14 seconds, with the offense running just six plays in the entire quarter.

Also, the Patriots scored the most points in consecutive weeks (108) and in a four-week period (190) since the 1950 Los Angeles Rams.

Week 13: at Miami Dolphins
With the win, the Patriots improved to 9-3, and clinched their 15th AFC East title.

Week 14: vs. Houston Texans
Tom Brady threw four touchdowns in New England's first home game against the Houston Texans since 2006. Donte Stallworth played his first game with the Patriots since August training camp (and first official game since 2007) and caught a 63-yard touchdown, but following the game was diagnosed with an ankle injury and placed on IR. The win pushed the Patriots to 10-3 while the Texans fell to 11-2.

Week 15: vs. San Francisco 49ers
In a bitterly fought affair in cold rain, the Patriots fell to 10-4 and snapped their 21-game winning streak at home in December, the longest such winning streak in the NFL at the time. The Patriots fell to 18-4 at Gillette Stadium against NFC teams and have lost three straight home contests in interconference games. The 49ers raced to a 31-3 lead in the third quarter off four Patriots turnovers (two of them Brady interceptions), but the Patriots rallied to score four touchdowns. A 63-yard kick return set up Colin Kaepernick's fourth touchdown pass of the game and a failed fourth-down conversion attempt led to a Niners field goal.

Week 16: at Jacksonville Jaguars
The Patriots ground out a 23-16 win sealed on two late interceptions by Patrick Chung. The win, however, left the Patriots angry; Tom Brady criticized his teammates following the game, saying "We didn't compete," and his postgame press conference was unusually short.

Week 17: vs. Miami Dolphins
With the shutout win, the Patriots ended their regular season at 12-4, and they swept their AFC East rivals for the first time since 2007. The win also clinched the AFC's No. 2 seed, following the Texans' loss to the Colts earlier that day.

Divisional Round vs. Houston Texans
Tom Brady became the winningest quarterback in NFL playoff history with his 17th postseason win, breaking a tie with Joe Montana; it was also the 450th victory (regular season and playoffs) in franchise history. The win put the Patriots into the AFL-AFC Title Game for the tenth time in franchise history (ninth under the AFC banner) and a rematch of the 2011 title game (as well as a rematch of Week 3) with the Baltimore Ravens.

AFC Championship vs. Baltimore Ravens
The Patriots lead 13-7 in the first half, but were shutout for the entire second half by the Ravens. With the loss, the Patriots concluded their season with a record of 13–5, and dropped to 1-2 against the Ravens during the postseason (all 3 playoff meetings have occurred at Gillette Stadium). This would also be the first time Tom Brady would lose a home game after leading at halftime.

Statistics
Updated through Week 17

Statistical league rankings

 * Total Offense (YPG): 426.9 (1st)
 * Passing (YPG): 292.4 (4th)
 * Rushing (YPG): 134.5 (8th)


 * Total Defense (YPG): 381.1 (27th)
 * Passing (YPG): 275.5 (29th)
 * Rushing (YPG): 105.5 (12th)