New England Patriots - NESN.com
ESPN’s Mike Reiss delivered his “quick-hit thoughts and notes around the New England Patriots and the NFL” on Sunday morning, hours ahead of the team’s Week 12 road game against the Cincinnati Bengals.
The Patriots insider noted that if the Patriots defeat the Bengals for their ninth straight victory, they’d be making franchise history, in a way.
“If the Patriots beat the Bengals for their ninth win in a row, it would mark the longest New England winning streak ever outside of the Bill Belichick/Tom Brady era. Vrabel’s 2025 Patriots are tied with Bill Parcells’ 1994 Patriots for the longest franchise winning streak outside of the Belichick/Brady years,” Reiss wrote.
Of course, fans can’t ignore the Bill Belichick/Tom Brady era, as their time together miraculously represents more than one-third of the New England Patriots existence.
While Brady didn’t take over as the Patriots starter until the 2001 season, he was drafted and made his NFL debut during the 2000 campaign.
By the time he signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in March 2020, Brady and Belichick had been together for 20 of the now 55 years of New England Patriots football.
The franchise was the Boston Patriots until 1971.
Now, Brady’s former teammate Mike Vrabel is in his first year as New England’s head coach and Drake Maye has taken the leap from Pro Bowler to MVP candidate in 2025.
The Patriots are now Super Bowl contenders and have a great shot at extending their streak to nine on Sunday.
New England faces a Joe Burrow-less Bengals offense, while Cincinnati’s defense is arguably the worst in the league.
Kickoff is at 1 p.m. ET.
