10 moments that defined the 2017 Patriots

BLOOMINGTON, Minn. — The Patriots have put together more than their share of memorable moments on the road to Super Bowl LII, but after watching every snap from the preseason, through the regular season and into the playoffs, we’ve put together our list of the 10 moments that helped define this team as it heads into Sunday's finale.


10. Dominating in Denver, 11.12.17. The Patriots were 6-2, and coming off the bye week when they went to Denver for a clash with the Broncos. And while New England had occasionally stumbled in Colorado, they were overwhelming that Sunday night at Sports Authority Field. Dion Lewis ran back a kickoff and added 55 rushing yards, Tom Brady threw for three touchdowns and Brandin Cooks added six catches for 74 yards in the 41-16 blowout that fundamentally ended the Denver season before Thanksgiving.

9. Gronk vs. Tre’Davious White, 12.3.17. Late in the win over the Bills in Buffalo, Brady lofted one for Rob Gronkowski, but White came away with the pick. In frustration, Gronkowski came crashing down on White, drawing an unnecessary roughness call. After the game, Gronkowski apologized, but was still hit with a one-game suspension. It wasn’t the only reason, but his absence the following week in Miami likely contributed to the road loss against the Dolphins. While some were worried later in the year about retribution on the part of the Bills, nothing happened. Both sides have since appeared to make up.

8. Acquisition of James Harrison, 12.26.17. The veteran was picked up the day after Christmas, and made an immediate impact as a part-time edge presence, stepping in and filling a much-needed role in the New England defense. He had two sacks in his Patriots’ debut against the Jets, and has done well to get pressure on opposing quarterbacks down the stretch and into the postseason.

7. Comeback against the Texans, 9.24.17. The Patriots were staring at a 1-2 start, as they trailed Houston 33-28 with just over two minutes left in the fourth quarter. But a late drive engineered by Brady took eight plays and went 75 yards, and was capped off by a 25-yard touchdown pass to Cooks with 23 seconds left that gave New England the win. Cooks finished the game with five catches on seven targets for 131 yards and a pair of touchdowns, his first impactful game for the Patriots since being acquired in the offseason.

6. Blowout of the Titans, 1.13.18. The Patriots faced a surprisingly feisty Tennessee team at home in the divisional round of the playoffs, and while the Titans were a bit of a handful in the early going (they took a 7-0 lead), a second-quarter surge on New England’s part turned a close game into a blowout. The Patriots put up 21 points between the end of the first quarter and halftime, including a pair of touchdowns from James White. It was more of the same in the second quarter as New England cruised to a 35-14 win over Tennessee.

5. The Super Bowl LI rematch, 10.22.17. In a game that was shrouded in fog for large parts of the evening, the Patriots beat back their old Super Bowl foes, thanks in large part to a 17-point second quarter that included pass plays to Cooks and White. While Julio Jones pondered conspiracy theories about the fog and how it may have helped New England, Brady threw for 249 yards and a pair of touchdowns in the 23-7 win.

4. The trade of Jimmy Garoppolo, 10.31.17. Faced with the possibility of losing their backup quarterback at the end of the year, the Patriots shipped him to San Francisco for a second-round pick. The impact of the trade continues to produce ripples for the franchise, as well as the quarterback market around the rest of the league. While the winners and losers of the deal won’t be fully known for several years, it was as dramatic an in-season move as Bill Belichick and New England have ever made.

3. Brady cuts his hand in practice, 1.17.18. The Patriots quarterback was scheduled to meet the media the Wednesday before the AFC championship game, but he cut his hand, forcing a postponement. He eventually pushed his availability back a couple of days, and while he was incommunicado, he was spotted at practice with a glove, but was later listed as a DNP on the injury report. When he appeared a few days later for the contest against the Jags, he was sporting black tape on his right hand. It didn’t turn out to be a huge issue in the win over Jacksonville — he went 26-for-38 for 290 yards and a pair of touchdowns in the victory — but the whole soap opera injected a surprising amount of drama into the postseason.

2. Stephon Gilmore swatting away a Blake Bortles pass late in the AFC title game, 1.21.18. The Patriots were golding a narrow 24-20 lead on the Jaguars with under two minutes to go when Gilmore got up, up and away to knock away a fourth-down pass attempt from Blake Bortles for Dede Westbrook. The deflection gave the ball back to the Patriots, and while New England had to sweat it out once again, a late Lewis carry for a first-down sealed the AFC title game for the Patriots. It was sweet redemption for Gilmore, who had endured an up-and-down year to that point on the calendar.

1. Duron Harmon’s pick of Ben Roethlisberger, 12.17.17. The biggest game of the year had the craziest ending. After a late Patriots’ touchdown gave New England a 27-24 lead, Roethlisberger found JuJu Smith-Schuster for a 69-yard reception that gave the Steelers a first-and-goal with 34 seconds left. Pittsburgh appeared to take the lead on the next play when Jesse James crashed into the end zone, but a replay showed that the tight end failed to “survive the ground.” That set the stage for a late pass from Roethlisberger into traffic that landed in the waiting arms of Harmon to seal the game.