1982 New England Patriots season

Last updated

1982 New England Patriots season
Owner Billy Sullivan
General manager Bucko Kilroy
Head coach Ron Meyer
Home field Schaefer Stadium
Results
Record5–4
Division place7th AFC
Playoff finishLost Wild Card Playoffs
(at Dolphins) 13–28
Pro Bowlers G John Hannah
CB Mike Haynes
All-Pros G John Hannah (2nd team)
CB Mike Haynes (2nd team)
Uniform
AFC-1982-1983-Uniform-NE.PNG

The 1982 New England Patriots season was the franchise's 13th season in the National Football League and 23rd overall. They finished the National Football League's strike-shortened season with a record of five wins and four losses and finished seventh in the American Football Conference. Due to the format of the playoffs adopted for the season due to the strike, the Patriots qualified as the #7 seed and were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by the eventual conference champion Miami Dolphins 28–13.

Contents

After firing Ron Erhardt after a dismal 2–14 season in 1981, the Patriots hired Southern Methodist University head coach Ron Meyer to be their new coach. Meyer led the Patriots to the playoffs for the first time since 1978, where they won the division under Chuck Fairbanks but were defeated in their opening playoff game.

One of the most notable games in NFL history occurred during the season, when the Patriots hosted the Dolphins in a game played in frozen conditions and under a blanket of snow at Schaefer Stadium. The Patriots won the game 3–0 doing so after a stadium worker used a snowplow to assist kicker John Smith in making the winning field goal.

Offseason

NFL draft

1982 New England Patriots draft
RoundPickPlayerPositionCollegeNotes
11 Kenneth Sims   Defensive end Texas
127 Lester Williams   Nose tackle Miami (FL) acquired from San Francisco
240 Robert Weathers   Running back Arizona State from Green Bay via San Diego
241 Andre Tippett  * †  Linebacker Iowa from Washington via San Francisco
255 Darryl Haley   Offensive tackle Utah from San Francisco
356 Cedric Jones   Wide receiver Duke
360 Clayton Weishuhn   Linebacker Angelo State
485 George Crump   Defensive end East Carolina
4111 Brian Ingram   Linebacker Tennessee
5112 Fred Marion  *  Safety Miami (FL)
6141 Ricky Smith   Cornerback Alabama State
7168Jeff Roberts  Linebacker Tulane
8197Ken Collins  Linebacker Washington State
9224Kelvin Murdock  Wide receiver Troy State
10253Brian Clark  Placekicker Florida
11296Steve Sandon  Quarterback Northern Iowa
12308Greg Taylor  Wide receiver Virginia
      Made roster    †    Pro Football Hall of Fame     *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Staff

New England Patriots 1982 staff
Front office

Head coaches

Offensive coaches

 

Defensive coaches

Special teams coaches

Strength and conditioning

Roster

1982 New England Patriots roster
Quarterbacks (QB)

Running backs (RB)

Wide receivers (WR)

Tight ends (TE)

 Offensive linemen (OL)

Defensive linemen (DL)

 Linebackers (LB)

Defensive backs (DB)

Special teams


Rookies in italics

Regular season

Schedule

WeekOriginal
Week		DateOpponentResultRecordVenueRecap
11September 12at Baltimore Colts W 24–131–0 Memorial Stadium Recap
22September 19 New York Jets L 7–311–1 Schaefer Stadium Recap
—3 Seattle Seahawks Cancelled due to players’ strike
—4at Buffalo Bills
—5 Cincinnati Bengals
—6at Miami Dolphins
—7 St. Louis Cardinals
—8at New York Jets
—9 Baltimore Colts
—10 Buffalo Bills Postponed due to players’ strike
311November 21at Cleveland Browns L 7–101–2 Cleveland Stadium Recap
412November 28 Houston Oilers W 29–212–2Schaefer Stadium Recap
513December 5at Chicago Bears L 13–262–3 Soldier Field Recap
614December 12 Miami Dolphins W 3–0 3–3Schaefer Stadium Recap
715December 19at Seattle Seahawks W 16–04–3 Kingdome Recap
816December 26at Pittsburgh Steelers L 14–374–4 Three Rivers Stadium Recap
917January 2 Buffalo Bills W 30–195–4Schaefer Stadium Recap
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Standings

AFC East
WLTPCTDIVCONFPFPASTK
Miami Dolphins (2)720.7786–16–1198131W3
New York Jets (6)630.6672–22–3245166L1
New England Patriots (7)540.5563–15–3143157W1
Buffalo Bills 450.4441–33–3150154L3
Baltimore Colts 081.0560–5–00–7–0113236L2
AFC
#TeamWLTPCTPFPASTK
Seeded postseason qualifiers
1 Los Angeles Raiders 810.889260200W5
2 [a] Miami Dolphins 720.778198131W3
3 [a] Cincinnati Bengals 720.778232177W2
4 [b] [c] Pittsburgh Steelers 630.667204146W2
5 [b] [c] San Diego Chargers 630.667288221L1
6 [c] New York Jets 630.667245166L1
7 New England Patriots 540.556143157W1
8 [d] Cleveland Browns 450.444140182L1
Did not qualify for the postseason
9 [d] Buffalo Bills 450.444150154L3
10 [d] Seattle Seahawks 450.444127147W1
11 Kansas City Chiefs 360.333176184W1
12 Denver Broncos 270.222148226L3
13 Houston Oilers 180.111136245L7
14 Baltimore Colts 081.056113236L2
Tiebreakers
  1. 1 2 Miami finished ahead of Cincinnati based on better conference record (6–1 to Cincinnati’s 6–2).
  2. 1 2 Pittsburgh finished ahead of San Diego based on better record against common opponents (3–1 to Chargers' 2–1). Conference tiebreak was initially used to eliminate New York Jets.
  3. 1 2 3 Pittsburgh and San Diego finished ahead of New York Jets based on conference record (Pittsburgh and San Diego 5–3 against Jets’ 2–3)
  4. 1 2 3 Cleveland finished ahead of Buffalo and Buffalo ahead of Seattle based on conference record (4–3 to Buffalo’s 3–3 to Seattle’s 3–5).

Playoffs

RoundDateOpponent (seed)ResultRecordVenueRecap
AFC first roundJanuary 8, 1983at Miami Dolphins (2)L 13–280–1 Miami Orange Bowl Recap

See also

References

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