By Mark Vandeusen on

Last year Buffalo, Cincinnati, Oakland, Washington, Detroit, and San Francisco finished with a combined record of 34-62.  Those same 6 teams got off to a 25-10 start this season.  NFL teams that are good one year are often bad the next, and visa-versa.  Except for the Patriots.  They’ve been good for eleven straight years now.  Since the ’01-’02 season New England is 126-40.  Think about that; it’s totally absurd.  It means their AVERAGE record for the past decade+ is a little better than 12-4.  They have also finished with the best record in their division in each of the last ten years.  There were two seasons during that stretch when the Pats didn’t make the playoffs, but in both those years they still tied for the best record in the AFC East (including the 2008 Brady-less 11-5 season).

In recent years Boston’s dominance has also spread beyond the NFL to the other professional sports teams.  Out of the Patriots, Red Sox, Celtics, and Bruins, no team has finished with a losing record since ’06-’07.  Assuming the Pats don’t collapse this year, it’ll be 18 straight winning seasons and counting for Boston pro sports.  Not bad.
     *As a side note, I wish I had enough time on my hands to calculate the data on A: how many NFL teams haven’t had ANY twelve win seasons during the span in which the Pats have averaged more than 12 a year, and B: whether or not any other cities currently, or ever, can match Boston’s 18 consecutive winning seasons across all 4 sports.  That info could make both stats way more impressive.  So if you happen to work for Elias or ESPN or something and have access to those numbers, feel free to comment.

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