I was rolling around Facebook this morning, and came across an article about the Patriots possibly being allowed to go back to wearing their old “Pat the Patriot” helmet. As a fan of their throwback look, I was thrilled.

And then I saw the comment, “Our win count with it ain’t that great.”

While it is true that the Patriots record in those as their primary jersey’s wasn’t stellar (216-256-9), keep in mind that most of that hole was dug in just the last four years they wore the uniforms – before that, they were 202-209-9. Again, not steller, but not horrible either.

However, the last four years saw the Patriots go 14-50, and Pat was on the way out, along with many, many other things, as Bill Parcells took over the club in 1993.

But how have the Patriots done with them as throwback uniforms? Let’s take a look.

Pat Patriot Throwback

Ironically, Pat wasn’t gone all that long before he was back. In 1994, the NFL was celebrating it’s 75th season, and for that, every team would wear their throwback uniforms regularly throughout the season. The 49ers liked their so much that they wore it through the playoffs, and in the Super Bowl.

1994 (2-1)

The Patriots were an up-and-coming team in 1994, having ended off the 1993 season with four straight winds (after having started off 1-11.)[footnote]including a raucous 33-27 overtime win over the Dolphins to end the season, on a walkoff Bledsoe to Michael Timpson bomb that kept the Scott Mitchell-led Dolphins out of the playoffs[/footnote]

After having started off the ’94 season 0-2, the Patriots debuted the throwback uniforms in week three at Cincinnati (who also came into the game 0-2). Here’s a picture. Marion Butts ran for two touchdowns, Matt Bahr kicked four field goals, and Drew Bledsoe threw for 365 yards, one TD, and two interceptions as the Patriots defeated the David Klingler-led Bengals 31-28.

They broke them out two weeks later against Bret Favre and the Packers in Foxboro. The Patriots were in their whites, and the Packers in blue and yellow.

The Patriots led 14-10 on a couple of Bledsoe to Vincent Brisby touchdowns. Bret Favre led the Packers on a 73-yard touchdown drive, culminating on a Reggie Cobb one-yard scoring run with 1:14 to play. The Packers two-point conversion try failed. Chris Jacke’s ensuing kickoff went out of bounds, giving Bledsoe and the Patriots the ball at their own 40-yard-line. Bledsoe hit passes to Leroy Thompson, Ray Crittenden, Ben Coates and Michael Timpson to give you a trip down memory lane, and the Patriots the ball with four seconds to play at the Packers 15-yard line. Matt Bahr his a 33-yard field goal to give the Patriots the 17-16 win.

The last game that Pat the Patriot throwbacks would see for eight years would come against the New York Jets in week seven. The Boomer Esiason-led Jets roared out to a 21-7 halftime lead, and though the Patriots would get it with a touchdown at 24-17, the Jets’ Marcus Turner recovered Bahr’s onside kick, and the Jets were able to run out the clock. Here’s a picture of rookie Willie McGinest from that game.

2002 (1-0)

Tom Brady’s first game in the ol’ Pat the Patriot throwback came not in Foxboro, but at Ford Field in Detroit in a 20-12 win over the Lions on Thanksgiving Day. The Pats defense held the Joey Harrington-led Lions without a touchdown. Tedy Bruschi scored on a 27-yard interception return.

2009 (2-2)

The 2009 season was the 50th anniversary of the American Football League. All the old AFL teams donned throwback uniforms four times during the season. Most of these were good looks. Not so much for the Denver Broncos, or the referees.

The Patriots opened the season against Buffalo Bills in Foxboro in the throwbacks. It was Brady’s first game back after tearing his Achilles tendon against the Chiefs in 2008.

The Bills led for most of the game, and were up 24-13 with 5:32 left in the game. Brady threw two touchdowns to Ben Watson in the last 2:06 of the game to give the Pats a dramatic 25-24 win. The biggest play came on the kickoff after the first score. The Bills line up for an onside kick – but Stephen Gostkowski kicked it deep. Leodis McKelvin fumbled on the return. Gostkowski recovered the fumble, and Brady hit Watson for the winner three plays later.

In week five, the Patriots traveled to Denver, and a meeting with Josh McDaniels. The Patriots got out to a 17-7 halftime lead – but then gave up 20 unanswered points to lose 20-17 in overtime.

The third game was truly memorable. A rare October snowstorm hit New England. But Brady and the Pats offense hit the Tennessee Titans much harder than the weather did. The Titans came in with a depleted secondary – so Brady went off for six touchdowns and 380 yards as the Patriots destroyed the Titans 59-0. Randy Moss had eight catches for three touchdowns and 129 yards. Wes Welker’s line was 10 catches, two touchdowns and 150 yards. Backup quarterback Brian Hoyer was in for long enough to go 8-11 with a rushing touchdown. If you’ve got NFL Gamepass, this is one to watch in its entirety.

The third time wasn’t the charm in the throwbacks in 2009, as the Patriots lost a 22-21 game at Miami on a 41-yard field goal with 1:02 left in the game. The Patriots failed on a fourth-and-one from the Dolphins 6-yard-line late in the second quarter, and Brady threw an interception from the Miami 5-yard-line in the fourth quarter.

2010 (2-0)

As they had done the last time they’d played in Detroit on Thanksgiving in 2002 the Pats came out in their throwbacks against the Lions. The Patriots actually trailed in this one 14-3, and 17-10, and 24-17. Devin McCourty started off his trend of making big plays in red jerseys with an interception of Shaun Hill; and Brady threw for four touchdowns as the Patriots won going away, 45-24.

Later that same season, they wore them again for a 28-18 win over Vikings in Randy Moss’s return to Foxboro. Bret Favre started for Minnesota. The big plays included a fourth-and-one stop against Adrian Petersen. (Of course, we all know that you always score from the one when you run instead of throw, right?) It was also the greatest receiving day of Brandon Tate’s career. He caught three passes for 101 yards, including a 65-yarder from Brady. McCourty came up with a huge interception, taking the ball away from Percy Harvin. Two touchdown runs from Benjarvus Green-Ellis touchdowns put the game out of reach.

2011 (1-0)

In the 2011 season, the wore them in their 30-21 win over the Jets in week 5.  Brady threw for 321 yards, Green-Ellis ran for 136 yards and two TDs. It did feature Brady’s first ever red zone interception at home – on a ball that Aaron Hernandez should have caught. He later found Deion Branch for a touchdown pass, and the game was never really in doubt.

2012 (1-0)

The last time the Patriots donned the Pat the Patriot helmets was in week 7 of the 2012 season. They beat the Jets 29-26 in overtime. This was in the new overtime format, so the Patriots took the lead on a Stephen Gostkowski field goal, and won when Rob Ninkovich strip-sacked Mark Sanchez to end the game. The game featured a McCourty kickoff return for a touchdown, and a Sanchez failed handoff that turned into a safety. The teams each kicked field goals inside two minutes to play.

The End of the Pats Throwbacks

The NFL went to the single-shell rule in 2013, limiting each team could only have one set of helmets. The rule was intended to increase player safety, by limiting each player to one helmet that they would be comfortable wearing. Teams could change the decals on the helmet, but not the helmet itself. So teams like the Steelers and Rams could go with throwbacks. Their helmet color didn’t change with the old style uniforms, but teams like the Patriots and Buccaneers wouldn’t be able to.

Pat the Patriots Throwback Record

So, what’s the Pats record in the throwback uniforms… it’s 9-3. They’ve outscored opponents by a 339-235 count, and two of those losses were during the disappointing 2009 campaign.

It’s time to bring back Phil Bissell’s creation for some more cameo appearances.

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Brady Photograph by Jeffrey Beall, creative commons license, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/