1994 New England Patriots season
The 1994 New England Patriots season was the team's 35th season, and 25th in the National Football League (NFL). It was the first under owner Robert Kraft, who purchased the team after preventing previous owner James Orthwein from moving the Patriots to St. Louis. The Patriots finished the season with a record of ten wins and six losses, and finished tied for first in the AFC's East division.
1994 New England Patriots season
The Patriots began the 1994 season with a 3–6 record before winning their final seven games, finishing 10–6 and qualifying the playoffs (their first winning season in 6 years). The Patriots were just two seasons removed from a 2-win season, and made the playoffs for the first time since 1986 and only the seventh time in the team's history. It was also their first winning season since 1988. The winning streak started with a 26–20 overtime win over the Minnesota Vikings. In the Wild Card round of the playoffs the Cleveland Browns defeated the New England Patriots 20–13.
Drew Bledsoe and offensive imbalance[edit]
In just his second NFL season, Patriots quarterback Drew Bledsoe threw the ball more than any quarterback in history in 1994. He set NFL records for pass attempts in a season (691 – this record was later broken by Matthew Stafford in 2012), pass completions and attempts in a game (45-for-70 with no interceptions, Week Eleven vs. Minnesota in overtime), and most games in a season with 50+ attempts (five). Bledsoe also led the NFL in passing in 1994, with 4,555 yards, and was fourth in touchdowns (25).[1] Bledsoe also led the league in interceptions (27) and his passer rating was tied for 19th in the league, at 73.6. New England's 699 team pass attempts in 1994 is the third-most in NFL history, and the most ever for a team with a winning record.[2]
In an odd statistical quirk, the Patriots' running game was one of the most inefficient in modern football. Their rushing game only gained 2.79 yards per attempt,[3] the worst of any NFL team since the merger. (The average ground gain in 1994 was 3.7 yards per carry.)[4] New England's 1,332 yards were dead-last in the AFC, and the second-fewest in the NFL to Atlanta.
Ownership changes[edit]
The team's 35th season in football, 1994 marked the debut of Robert Kraft as team owner. A long-time season-ticket holder, Kraft has steadily built up a business empire to where in the late 1980s he was able to purchase the land around Sullivan Stadium and then the stadium itself – which he renamed "Foxboro Stadium" – and thus got control of the lease the team held with the stadium. This gave him a level of control over the team that new owners Victor Kiam and James Orthwein underestimated, so much that in January 1994, Orthwein sold his share of the team to Kraft, for nearly $200 million.
The selling of the team to Kraft led to an explosion of ticket sales, to where all home games were sold out well before the season began.
As part of the NFL's 75th anniversary celebration the Patriots wore throwback uniforms in games against the Cincinnati Bengals, Green Bay Packers, and New York Jets; the uniforms dated to the team's AFL days and marked the return of the Pat Patriot logo in the second season the team sported the more streamlined "Flying Elvis" look.