New England Patriots: Memories of last time team did not win AFC East
A look at life the last time the New England Patriots did not win the AFC East.
The Buffalo Bills victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers on Friday night didn’t clinch the division for them quite yet, but it did ensure one thing: for the first time since 2008, the New England Patriots will not win the AFC East.
In case you forgot, 2008 was the year that Tom Brady got hurt during the Patriots’ season opener against the Kansas City Chiefs and missed the remainder of the year. Backup quarterback Matt Cassel filled in admirably for Brady, leading the Patriots to an 11-5 record. However, the Miami Dolphins, who also finished the season 11-5, won the AFC East on a tiebreaker, and the Patriots missed the postseason for the only time over the last 17 seasons.
But what else happened in 2008? Let’s take a look back at twelve notable things about what the world looked like twelve years ago, the last time that the Patriots failed to win the AFC East.
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1. The top song of the year was “Low,” by Flo-Rida and T-Pain.
2. The year’s highest-grossing film was The Dark Knight, starring Christian Bale as Batman.
3. The iPhone 3G, the second generation of the iPhone, was introduced.
4. Barack Obama was elected as the 44th President of the United States, becoming the first black president.
5. The financial crisis ravaged through the United States, causing the housing market to collapse.
6. Michael Phelps won eight gold medals at the Summer Olympics in Beijing, breaking the record for the most gold medals won by an athlete at a single Olympic Games.
7. On November 21, Florida backup quarterback Cam Newton was arrested on charges of burglary, larceny, and obstruction of justice, based off of the accusation that he allegedly stole another student’s laptop. Newton was subsequently suspended from the Gators’ football team, and he left the university less than two months later, in the wake of an academic cheating scandal. Newton would wind up transferring to Blinn College, where he would lead the Buccaneers to the junior college national championship in 2009, before finally winding up at Auburn. You probably already know what he did there.
8. Senior quarterback Julian Edelman lead the Kent State Golden Flashes to a 4-8 record. On the season, Edelman completed 55.6 percent of his passes for 1,820 yards, 13 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions, while also rushing for 1,370 yards and 13 touchdowns.
9. Arizona sophomore tight end Rob Gronkowski had an excellent season, catching 47 passes for 672 yards and 10 touchdowns, despite playing in just ten games.
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10. Matthew Slater—who is currently the longest-tenured member of the Patriots—was drafted by New England in the fifth round. Slater appeared in 14 games during his rookie season, returning 11 kickoffs for 155 yards and recording 12 tackles on special teams.
11. Current Patriots running back Damien Harris was in the sixth grade.
12. All but three of the Patriots’ 2020 draft picks—Kyle Dugger, Justin Rohrwasser, and Justin Herron—were still in elementary school.
Feel old, yet?