When was the last time the New England Patriots made the Super Bowl?

The New England Patriots are back in the Super Bowl for an NFL-leading 12th time.

The Tom Brady-led dynasty that lasted from 2001-2019 has come and gone, but the Patriots only needed five rebuilding years to get back to the top.

After Brady departed, the Patriots went through a bunch of middling quarterbacks and average defensive play before quarterback Drake Maye fell into their lap with the No. 3 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft.

Maye was up and down in his rookie year, but he showed plenty of flashes reminiscent of a franchise quarterback. His ability to extend plays with his legs, throw on the run, and make every pass in the book showed that he could potentially be a superstar. He just needed a QB-guru to make him feel comfortable in the pocket in these early years of his career.

In year two, all of that came to fruition. He's a top-two MVP candidate after he completed 72.0% of his passes for 4,394 yards, 31 touchdowns, and just eight interceptions.

Maye has been terrific, but perhaps the Patriots' most substantial acquisitions were the hiring of former Patriot linebacker Mike Vrabel as head coach, and Josh McDaniels as offensive coordinator.

The final years of Bill Belichick, and the first (and only) year of Jerod Mayo at head coach last year were, quite frankly, a joke. Vrabel has come in and made this team serious about winning again, and his hard-nosed energy is demonstrated throughout the team.

More pickups throughout the last couple of seasons on the defensive end, such as Milton Williams, Christian Gonzalez, Carlton Davis, Kaden Elliss, and more have made that unit one of the best in football.

The defense was ranked No. 4 in points allowed and No. 8 in yards allowed in the regular season and are No. 1 in each category in the playoffs (min. two games played).

Offensively, the aforementioned QB-guru McDaniels has made the game easy for Maye with his creative concepts that leave plenty of receivers open. The offense ranked No. 2 in points scored and No. 3 in yards per game.

This style of complementary football is what made the Brady era so great. In Brady's 20 seasons in New England, the Patriots defense finished outside the top-five in points allowed just six times, while obviously sporting a terrific offense.

With the combo of offense, defense, and some luck sprinkled in, the Pats are back and are knocking at the door for their unprecedented seventh Super Bowl ring.

Read more about how the Patriots organization turned itself around on site.

When was the last time the Patriots made the Super Bowl?

The last time the Patriots made the Super Bowl was in 2018 - Brady's second-to-last year.

Of course, New England went on to defeat the Los Angeles Rams in a 13-3 defensive battle. Julian Edelman won Super Bowl MVP after hauling in 10 receptions for 141 yards.

This year's version of the Patriots in the playoffs have exemplified that exact game - dominant defense.

New England's defense has flat out carried them to the championship game - it has only allowed 19 net points on 35 possessions in three playoff games. The defensive line hounds quarterbacks, the linebackers are fast and hit hard, and the secondary locks down receiver at every level.

Facing the Los Angeles Chargers in the Wild Card round and the Houston Texans in the Divisional round, the defense stepped up in a massive way.

Quarterbacks Justin Herbert and C.J. Stroud had a couple of their worst games of their career, as the former couldn't see the field, and the latter was turning the ball over at a historic rate.

In the AFC Championship, the Pats forced backup Denver Broncos quarterback Jarrett Stidham to make a critical mistake, fumbling at his own 12-yard-line which led to the Patriots only touchdown of the game.

The defense has been historically good, while interestingly, the offense has been historically bad. The young 23-year-old Maye has certainly struggled in the playoffs.

He's only throwing for 177 yards per game, and his completion percentage has dipped to 55.8%. He's thrown four touchdowns, two picks, fumbled six times, and has been sacked 15 times in those games.

The Patriots -0.73 EPA per drive in the playoffs is the lowest out of any Conference Champion since 2000.

Their -0.171 EPA per play is a tad better than the New York Jets' -0.172 EPA per play number this season.

To be fair to Maye, this is his first time in the playoffs and he's matched up against three of the NFL's top five defenses in terms of yards allowed per game. On top of that, Will Campbell has been a turnstile at left tackle, hardly giving Maye any time in the pocket.

Football is the ultimate team sport, and after he carried the offense throughout the regular season, the defense has helped him out in a huge way in the playoffs.

He'll have another difficult challenge in the rematch of Super Bowl 49 between the Seattle Seahawks and Patriots, which famously ended in a goal-line interception by Pats corner Malcolm Butler.

Seattle's defense ranks No. 1 in points allowed per game and No. 7 in yards allowed per game, but perhaps New England's defense can step up once again just like they did in 2014 to pull off the upset.

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