1984 New England Patriots season

Season of National Football League team the New England Patriots November 2013 March 2026 New England Patriots 1984 9–7 2nd AFC East Ron Meyer (fired October 25th; 5-3 record)Raymond Berry (interim; 4-4 record) Patrick Sullivan Billy Sullivan Sullivan Stadium Did not qualify G John HannahT Brian HollowayLB Steve NelsonLB Andre Tippett G John Hannah (2nd team) Patriots seasons thumb|right|The Patriots hosting the Cardinals in December 1984. The 1984 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. 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 44–24 loss to Miami in week 8, Meyer fired popular defensive coordinator Rod Rust; Meyer himself was fired by Patriots management shortly thereafter.Neft, David S.; Cohen, Richard M.; and Korch, Rich The Sports Encyclopedia: Pro Football, 12th Edition, p. 486, Martin's Press, August 1994, 0-312-11073-1 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.Quoted in Tales From The Patriots Sideline (Illinois:Sports Publishing LLC, 2006) by Michael Felger, p. 76 Offseason NFL draft 1984 NFL draft 1984 New England Patriots 1 1 Irving Fryar Wide receiver Nebraska yes yes yes no Staff New England Patriots 1984 staff Front office President – Billy Sullivan Executive vice president – Chuck Sullivan Vice-president – Bucko Kilroy General manager – Patrick Sullivan Director of player development – Dick Steinberg Director of college scouting – Joe Mendes Director of pro scouting – Bill McPeak Head coaches Head coach – Ron Meyer Interim head coach – Raymond Berry Offensive coaches Offensive coordinator/quarterbacks – Lew Erber Offensive backs – Cleve Bryant Receivers – Steve Endicott Offensive line – Bill Muir Defensive coaches Defensive coordinator – Rod Rust Defensive line – Tommy Brasher Linebackers – Steve Sidwell Secondary – Steve Walters Special teams coaches Special teams/tight ends – Dante Scarnecchia Strength and conditioning Strength and conditioning – LeBaron Caruthers Roster New England Patriots 1984 roster Quarterbacks 11 Tony Eason 14 Steve Grogan 19 Mike Kerrigan Running backs 33 Tony Collins 40 Greg Hawthorne 32 Craig James 30 Mosi Tatupu 24 Robert Weathers Wide receivers 80 Irving Fryar 83 Cedric Jones 86 Stanley Morgan 81 Stephen Starring 82 Clarence Weathers Tight ends 87 Lin Dawson 88 Derrick Ramsey 41 Bo Robinson Offensive linemen 58 Pete Brock C 66 Paul Fairchild G 73 John Hannah G 68 Darryl Haley T 76 Brian Holloway T 67 Steve Moore T 75 Guy Morriss C 61 Ron Wooten G Defensive linemen 85 Julius Adams DE 60 Luther Henson NT 98 Dennis Owens NT 65 Doug Rogers DE 77 Kenneth Sims DE 90 Toby Williams DELinebackers 55 Don Blackmon OLB 59 Tim Golden ILB 51 Brian Ingram OLB 50 Larry McGrew ILB 57 Steve Nelson ILB 52 Johnny Rembert ILB 95 Ed Reynolds ILB 56 Andre Tippett OLB 54 Ed Williams OLB Defensive backs 26 Raymond Clayborn CB 43 Ernest Gibson CB 38 Roland James SS 22 Keith Lee CB/S 42 Ronnie Lippett CB 31 Fred Marion FS 31 Rod McSwain CB 25 Rick Sanford FS Special teams  3 Rich Camarillo P  1 Tony Franklin KReserve lists 46 John Andredi LB (IR) 7px 92 Smiley Creswell DE (IR) 7px 91 George Crump DE (PUP) 7px 47 Paul Dombroski CB/S (IR) 7px 12 Tom Ramsey QB (IR) 7px 53 Clayton Weishuhn LB (IR) 7px 46 Craig Williams RB (IR) 7px 21 Derwin Williams WR (IR) 7px 44 Jon Williams RB (IR) 7px 72 Lester Williams NT (IR) 7px 48 Darryal Wilson WR (PUP) 7px 93 David Windham LB (IR) 7px Rookies in italics Regular season Schedule Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance 1 September 2 at Buffalo Bills W 21–17 1–0 Rich Stadium 48,528 2 September 9 at Miami Dolphins L 7–28 1–1 Miami Orange Bowl 66,083 3 September 16 Seattle Seahawks W 38–23 2–1 Sullivan Stadium 43,140 4 September 23 Washington Redskins L 10–26 2–2 Sullivan Stadium 60,503 5 September 30 at New York Jets W 28–21 3–2 Giants Stadium 68,978 6 October 7 at Cleveland Browns W 17–16 4–2 Cleveland Municipal Stadium 53,036 7 October 14 Cincinnati Bengals W 20–14 5–2 Sullivan Stadium 48,154 8 October 21 Miami Dolphins L 24–44 5–3 Sullivan Stadium 60,711 9 October 28 New York Jets W 30–20 6–3 Sullivan Stadium 60,513 10 November 4 at Denver Broncos L 19–26 6–4 Mile High Stadium 74,908 11 November 11 Buffalo Bills W 38–10 7–4 Sullivan Stadium 43,313 12 November 18 at Indianapolis Colts W 50–17 8–4 Hoosier Dome 60,009 13 November 22 at Dallas Cowboys L 17–20 8–5 Texas Stadium 55,341 14 December 2 St. Louis Cardinals L 10–33 8–6 Sullivan Stadium 53,558 15 December 9 at Philadelphia Eagles L 17–27 8–7 Veterans Stadium 41,581 16 December 16 Indianapolis Colts W 16–10 9–7 Sullivan Stadium 22,383 Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text. Season summary 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 (Sunday, September 9, 1984): at Miami Dolphins The Football Database. Retrieved 2022-Jul-09. New England Patriots 1984 2; text-align:center collapsed Week 2: New England Patriots at Miami Dolphins September 9, 1984 1:02 p.m. EDT Patriots (1–1) 0 7 0 0 Dolphins (2–0) 0 7 14 7 Miami Orange Bowl • Miami, Florida 66,083 79 °F °C; relative humidity 65%; wind 10 mph km/h knots Chuck Heberling NBC Jay Randolph (play-by-play) and Bob Griese (color commentator) Pro-Football-Reference.com right New England Patriots NE Miami Dolphins MIA Steve Grogan 20/42, 217 YDS, 1 TD, 4 INTs Tony Collins 20 CAR, 87 YDS Derrick Ramsey 5 REC, 70 YDS Dan Marino 17/28, 269 YDS, 3 TDs, 2 INTs Tony Nathan 10 CAR, 36 YDS Mark Clayton 5 REC, 75 YDS, 2 TDs NE MIA collapsed 2 5:37 Dolphins 2 55 0:16 RecTD Duper Jensen 35 good von Schamann 0 7 2 0:56 Patriots 10 90 4:31 RecTD Dawson Grogan 5 good Franklin 7 7 3 12:38 Dolphins 4 73 2:22 RecTD Clayton Marino 35 good von Schamann 7 14 3 11:02 Dolphins 2 16 0:43 RecTD Clayton Marino 15 good von Schamann 7 21 4 2:53 Dolphins — — — IntTD Judson 60 good von Schamann 7 28 7 28 Point spread: Dolphins by 6 Over/under: 43.0 (under) Time of game: 3 hours, 3 minutes PatriotsGame statisticsDolphins18 First downs 1728–127 Rushes–yards 30–74217 Passing yards 26920–42–4 Passes Completions–Attempts–Interceptions 17–28–22–12 Sacked–yards 0–0205 Net passing yards 269332 Total yards 34374 Return yards 1838–39.6 Punts Number–Average yardage 5–41.62–1 Fumbles–lost 0–06–53 Penalties–yards 6–4630:46 Time of Possession 29:14 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.https://www.nfl.com/gamecenter/2013112411/2013/REG12/broncos@patriots Watch Denver Broncos vs. New England Patriots [11/24/2013] - NFL.com www.nfl.com en 2017-09-12 Week 8 (Sunday, October 21, 1984): vs. Miami Dolphins The Football Database. Retrieved 2022-Jul-09. New England Patriots 1984 2; text-align:center collapsed Week 8: Miami Dolphins at New England Patriots October 21, 1984 1:00 p.m. EDT Dolphins (8–0) 3 13 14 14 Patriots (5–3) 3 7 7 7 Sullivan Stadium • Foxborough, Massachusetts 60,711 58 °F °C; relative humidity 53%; wind 10 mph km/h knots Jim Tunney NBC Charlie Jones (play-by-play) and Bob Griese (color commentator) Pro-Football-Reference.com right Miami Dolphins MIA New England Patriots NE Dan Marino 24/39, 316 YDS, 4 TDs, 1 INT Joe Carter 14 CAR, 92 YDS Mark Clayton 7 REC, 99 YDS, 1 TD Tony Eason 19/29, 313 YDS, 3 TDs Mosi Tatupu 20 CAR, 90 YDS Derrick Ramsey 5 REC, 32 YDS, 1 TD MIA NE collapsed 1 8:33 Dolphins 13 74 3:55 FG 28 von Schamann 3 0 1 2:33 Patriots 12 49 5:54 FG 48 Franklin 3 3 2 14:32 Dolphins 7 65 2:51 RushTD Johnson 1 good von Schamann 10 3 2 1:55 Patriots 8 66 4:03 RecTD Weathers Eason 14 good Franklin 10 10 2 0:06 Dolphins 11 80 1:49 RecTD Moore Marino 19 no good von Schamann 16 10 3 6:40 Dolphins 13 80 8:20 RecTD Johnson Marino 5 good von Schamann 23 10 3 6:22 Patriots 1 76 0:18 RecTD Morgan Eason 76 good Franklin 23 17 3 2:31 Dolphins 7 75 2:51 RecTD Clayton Marino 15 good von Schamann 30 17 4 11:27 Patriots 12 61 7:04 RecTD Ramsey Eason 5 good Franklin 30 24 4 8:24 Dolphins 6 66 3:04 RecTD Moore Marino 15 good von Schamann 37 24 4 1:11 Dolphins 10 69 4:39 RushTD Johnson 3 good von Schamann 44 24 44 24 Point spread: Dolphins by 4 Over/under: 42.0 (over) Time of game: 3 hours, 13 minutes DolphinsGame statisticsPatriots33 First downs 1837–236 Rushes–yards 27–102316 Passing yards 31324–39–1 Passes Completions–Attempts–Interceptions 19–29–00–0 Sacked–yards 1–7316 Net passing yards 306552 Total yards 40875 Return yards 1131–38.0 Punts Number–Average yardage 3–57.00–0 Fumbles–lost 1–16–36 Penalties–yards 6–3631:59 Time of Possession 28:01 Week 9 New York Jets at New England Patriots Jets 10 10 0 0 Patriots 0 6 10 14 October 28 Sullivan Stadium, Foxboro, Massachusetts 1:00 p.m. EST 59 F, wind 13 mph on Chuck Heberling Source: Pro-Football-Reference.com yes 1 Jets Pat Leahy 46-yard field goal Jets 3–0 1 Jets Rocky Klever 7-yard pass from Ken O'Brien (Pat Leahy kick) Jets 10–0 2 Patriots Tony Franklin 20-yard field goal Jets 10–3 2 Jets Pat Leahy 18-yard field goal Jets 13–3 2 Jets Marion Barber 2-yard run (Pat Leahy kick) Jets 20–3 2 Patriots Tony Franklin 27-yard field goal Jets 20–6 3 Patriots Tony Franklin 47-yard field goal Jets 20–9 3 Patriots Craig James 25-yard run (Tony Franklin kick) Jets 20–16 4 Patriots Stephen Starring 5-yard pass from Tony Eason (Tony Franklin kick) Patriots 23–20 4 Patriots Tony Collins 4-yard run (Tony Franklin kick) Patriots 30–20 yes Raymond Berry's first game as Patriots' head coach. Standings References New England Patriots Category:New England Patriots seasons New England Patriots Category:Sports competitions in Foxborough, Massachusetts