The 2017 season was the New England Patriots' 48th in the National Football League (NFL), their 58th overall and their 18th under head coach Bill Belichick.

[2] Despite that, in Week 15, the Patriots secured their 9th consecutive AFC East title, their 15th of the last 17 seasons, with their victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers.

In addition, they had the chance to tie the Pittsburgh Steelers for the record of most Super Bowl wins by a team in NFL history with 6.

As of the Patriots' first training camp practice at Gillette Stadium on July 27, they had the NFL maximum of 90 players signed.

Rookies in italics 53 active, 11 inactive, 10 practice squad Running backs (RB) Wide receivers (WR) Tight ends (TE) Defensive linemen (DL) Defensive backs (DB) Special teams Reserve Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

In the second quarter, the Pats moved ahead by double digits as Stephen Gostkowski kicked a 25-yard field goal followed up by Gillislee running for another 2-yard touchdown to make the score 10–7 and increased it to 17–7.

Brandin Cooks returned to the Bayou while the controversy for the Saints was around backs Adrian Peterson and Mark Ingram II competing for touches.

(Alvin Kamara, who would go on to win 2017 NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year, was not yet getting significant playing time in week 2.)

Tom Brady completed three first-quarter touchdown passes to Rex Burkhead, Rob Gronkowski, and Chris Hogan.

The Patriots scored first on a 7-play drive ending with a Tom Brady 5-yard throw to Rob Gronkowski, who was playing with a groin injury that took him out of the previous week's game.

Tom Brady's attempted comeback in the fourth quarter was not enough to beat Cam Newton and the Panthers as Carolina upset New England 33–30 with a last second 48-yard field goal courtesy of Graham Gano.

[153] In this rematch of Super Bowl XXXVIII, this was the second consecutive time, after the 2013 season, that the Pats lost a heartbreaker to Cam Newton.

Buccaneers place kicker Nick Folk missed all three field goal attempts in this game, which proved fatal to any chance they had at a comeback.

Brady surpassed Brett Favre and Peyton Manning as the NFL's sole all-time leader in regular season wins.

[156] While missing two key components of their defensive secondary, the Patriots were able to overcome a two touchdown deficit in the first half and were able to hold on to secure the victory on a final drive surge from the Jets.

Star tight end Rob Gronkowski made his return to the lineup, and contributed two touchdowns as well as several other key catches in the victory.

During this game, in the 4th quarter, a controversial play caused a Jets touchdown to be reversed by official review when it was found that Jets tight end Austin Seferian-Jenkins juggled the ball after being hit, resulting in a fumble, and didn't regain control until he was out of bounds which, by rule, is enforced as a turnover and a touchback.

For the first time since Week 3 of last season, the Patriots wore their all-blue Color Rush uniforms, for this Super Bowl LI rematch.

[154] The Patriots defense, for the first time this season, were able to hold an opposing quarterback under 300 passing yards, with Matt Ryan only logging 233.

During the game, an extremely dense fog covered the stadium for most of the contest, resulting in the television broadcast being forced to use their on-field cameras much more than normal.

Later in the second quarter, the Chargers returner Travis Benjamin caught a Ryan Allen punt at his own 8-yard line and ran backwards into his own endzone in an attempt to evade the Patriots coverage team.

Fellow running back Dion Lewis led the Patriots in ground yardage for the fourth straight week, with Mike Gillislee also contributing to key short-yardage situations.

The Broncos answered with a field goal, and on the ensuing kickoff, Pats special teams came through again with a Dion Lewis kick return for a touchdown.

The Broncos next drive stalled out short of midfield, and Burkhead found a hole in the line to block the Riley Dixon punt, once again giving the Patriots good field position.

The Broncos only sustained touchdown drive came at the start of the second half, ending in a Brock Osweiler-to-Demaryius Thomas seven-yard pass.

Two more touchdowns by the Patriots (a run by Lewis and a reception by James White) would seal the deal, with Brady taking a rest at the end of the game to give new acquisition Brian Hoyer some game-time reps. For his performance, Brady was named the AFC Offensive Player of the Week, his third this season and the 30th of his career.

In addition, running back Dion Lewis also earned honors, receiving the AFC Special Teams Player of the Week award.

Tom Brady passed for a pair of touchdowns and the New England Patriots stayed on track to claim home-field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs with a 37–16 win over the Buffalo Bills on Sunday and also with the Jacksonville Jaguars losing late in the day, the Patriots clinched a first round bye for the 8th consecutive season.

With the win, the New England Patriots gained the #1 seed and home-field advantage throughout the entire AFC playoffs for the second year in a row.

The Patriots held Titans RB Derrick Henry to only 28 yards on 12 carries the week after he went for 156 yds against the Chiefs.