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The New England Patriots may have missed the playoffs in each of the last three seasons, but the six-time Super Bowl champions are still the team of the millennium, according to ESPN.
Senior NFL writer Bill Barnwell revealed his list of the 25 best teams since 2000 on Tuesday, and the Patriots are the most represented group in the league. Not only that, but all four of their appearances on the ranking come inside the top 11 and the 2001, 2014 and 2018 New England teams were all honorable mentions.
The first Patriots team to appear on the countdown is the 2016 squad, which finished 17-2 (including the playoffs) and won Super Bowl LI against the Atlanta Falcons, 34-28. Barnwell ranks this New England unit as the 11th-best team of the 21st century and called head coach Bill Belichick’s effort that year his “best coaching job” of his career with the organization.
The 2003 Patriots come next. That group also finished 17-2 and won the Super Bowl, capturing the championship over the Carolina Panthers, 32-29.
The 2004 iteration is the third team to make the ranking, as Barnwell places them at No. 3 on the list. This group went 17-2, captured the organization’s second straight Super Bowl and third in four years, cementing the first Patriots dynasty.
“This was the best Super Bowl-winning team of the Brady era,” Barnwell wrote. “Though its winning streak was disrupted by a midseason loss to the Steelers and its December interrupted by an inexplicable collapse in a loss to a Dolphins team that would finish 4-12, the Patriots were otherwise brilliant on both sides of the ball.”
Unlike the other three Patriots teams to make the list, the top-ranked one (and No. 1 overall group) on the countdown didn’t end the campaign hoisting the Lombardi Trophy.
The 2007 Patriots featured an historic offense, led by quarterback Tom Brady in his first MVP season. Brady finished the year with a record 50 touchdown passes and Hall of Fame wideout Randy Moss hauled in 23 scores on the season.
From star wide receiver Wes Welker and leading rusher Laurence Maroney on offense and the likes of Asante Samuel, Mike Vrabel and Vince Wilfork on defense, the 2007 roster was loaded.
New England’s 2007 bunch finished 16-0 in the regular season and defeated the Jacksonville Jaguars and San Diego Chargers in the first two round of the playoffs before facing the New York Giants in Super Bowl XLII.
Patriots fans are well aware of what happened next. New York pulled off an upset of historic proportions, downing New England 17-14 in a Super Bowl classic.
Despite the defeat, Barnwell had no hesitation in naming the 18-1 finishers as the best team of the last 25 years.
“Over a full year, it’s tough to find a team that can realistically compete with the 2007 Pats, even with Super Bowl wins on their résumé. They were the only one-loss team of the era. They had the largest average margin...
