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The 2007 New England Patriots season was the 38th season for the team in the National Football League and franchise's 48th season overall. The Patriots were looking to improve on their 12–4 record from 2006 and win the AFC East for the sixth time in seven years. The Patriots finished the 2007 regular season by winning all sixteen of their games. They became only the fourth team in NFL history to complete a regular season in such a manner and first since the 1972 Miami Dolphins to accomplish the feat. The Patriots became the first team to do it since the NFL expanded its schedule to sixteen games in 1977 and thus broke the record for victories in a single season that had been shared by the 1984 San Francisco 49ers, the 1985 Chicago Bears, the 1998 Minnesota Vikings, and the 2004 Pittsburgh Steelers who each finished with fifteen victories against one defeat, though the 1984 49ers and 1985 Bears would win Super Bowl XIX and Super Bowl XX, respectively. In spite of this, the Patriots could not complete what would have been a historic 19–0 undefeated season with their fourth Super Bowl victory, which would have made them the fourth team to accomplish such a feat (joining the 49ers, Steelers, and Dallas Cowboys, each of whom had won five at the time). In Super Bowl XLII, the New York Giants upset the Patriots 17–14 to hand the team its third defeat in a Super Bowl. The Patriots previously had lost Super Bowl XX and Super Bowl XXXI, and would lose Super Bowl XLVI, coincidentally, to the Giants, four years later. The Patriots wouldn't get their fourth Super Bowl title until Super Bowl XLIX, seven years later. == Background == The Patriots entered the offseason following a stunning loss to the rival Indianapolis Colts in the AFC Championship after blowing a 21–3 first half lead. After having lost their two starting wide receivers in the previous offseason, the Patriots added Donté Stallworth in free agency and traded for Wes Welker from the Miami Dolphins and Randy Moss from the Oakland Raiders in the spring; Welker would tie for the NFL lead in receptions with T.J. Houshmandzadeh in 2007 while Moss would set an NFL regular season record with 23 touchdown catches (part of his 98 receptions). The season began with controversy, when in Week Two Patriot head coach Bill Belichick and the team were penalized by the NFL for their involvement in the videotaping of opponents' defensive signals from an unauthorized location in their Week 1 game against the New York Jets, referred to in the press as Spygate. Early in the season, the Patriots won their first two games by identical scores of 38–14, and followed up the next game with a score of 38–7. Despite the media scrutiny, the Patriots continued to gain momentum, winning mid-season games by scores such as 49–28, 52–7 and 56–10, as quarterback Tom Brady iterated the team's desire to blow out and "kill teams." The Patriots set the record for most points in a season with 589, shattering the previous record by 33 points. The Patriots won 12 games in which they surpassed the 30-point mark, four games in which they surpassed the 40-point mark and two in which they surpassed the 50-point mark.〔(Pro Football Reference.com )〕 The Patriots clinched the AFC East after their eleventh game (in Week 12), the fourth time since the NFL introduced the 16-game schedule in 1978 which a team had clinched a division title by the eleventh game. In the season finale, the Patriots sought to finish the regular season with the first 16–0 record in NFL history, and did so successfully. In that game, Brady and Moss connected on two touchdown passes, with Moss setting his 23 catch record, breaking Pro Football Hall of Fame member Jerry Rice's 22 touchdown receptions and with Brady setting an NFL record with 50 touchdown passes on the season. It was the first undefeated regular season in the NFL since the 1972 Miami Dolphins finished 14–0. Brady earned his first NFL MVP award, while the Patriots' offense destroyed numerous NFL records, including those for touchdowns (75), points scored and point differential. With the first seed in the AFC playoffs, the Patriots defeated both the Jacksonville Jaguars 31–20 and San Diego Chargers 21–12 to advance to Super Bowl XLII their sixth in franchise history; according to the Elias Sports Bureau, with this accomplishment, they became the first professional sports team since 1884 in any of the four major American sports (football, basketball, baseball, hockey) to win the first 18 games of their season. Facing the prospect of a perfect 19–0 season with a victory over the underdog New York Giants, analysts saw the 2007 Patriots as being the greatest team in NFL history. Despite being the overwhelming favorites to win the game, the Patriots failed to protect a four-point lead on a Giants drive late in the fourth quarter. A dramatic pass from scrambling Eli Manning combined with an unbelievable catch by wide receiver David Tyree put the Giants deep in Patriots territory, and a Manning touchdown pass to Plaxico Burress gave the Giants a lead with just 35 seconds left. The Patriots could not score again and came out on the losing end of what is considered one of the greatest upsets in sports history. The Patriots ended the season at 18–1, becoming one of only three teams in NFL history to finish their season (including postseason) 18–1.〔The others were the Super Bowl XIX champion 1984 San Francisco 49ers and the Super Bowl XX champion 1985 Chicago Bears.〕 The NFL Network named the 2007 Patriots the #1 team on their list of "Top 10 Teams That Didn't Win A Super Bowl." 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「2007 New England Patriots season」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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