1990 New England Patriots season

1990 New England Patriots season
Head coach Rod Rust
General manager Patrick Sullivan
Owner Victor Kiam
Home field Foxboro Stadium
Results
Record 1–15
Division place 5th AFC East
Playoff finish did not qualify
Pro Bowlers T Bruce Armstrong
AP All-Pros none

The 1990 New England Patriots season was the team's 31st, and 21st in the National Football League. It was the first and only season for head coach Rod Rust.

The Patriots finished the season with a record of 1–15, the worst record in franchise history. They finished last in the AFC East Division and dead last in the NFL. Notably, they lost a nationally televised game to the Washington Redskins in which they were down 9–0 before the Redskins even ran an offensive play. The Redskins' two first-quarter scores came on a Kurt Gouveia fumble return for a touchdown, and the Patriots snapping the ball out of the end zone for a safety.[1] The announced crowd for the game, played in a driving rain, was 22,286. In a humiliating Week 9 blowout loss in Philadelphia, Eagles' QB Randall Cunningham scored on a long run where the defense was split between Patriots who did not even try to tackle Cunningham and a few who completely whiffed on such attempts; this highlight was shown on all the national NFL-related TV shows (including ESPN's NFL Primetime and Monday Night Football) and made the 1990 Patriots' incompetence both a national story and a collective joke.

The Patriots’ final game of the season, against the eventual Super Bowl champion New York Giants, drew a sellout crowd to Foxboro, but over 40,000 fans were rooting for the visitors, as tickets to Giants home games were nearly impossible to come by for non-season-ticket holders.

The Patriots’ negative-265 point-differential (181 points scored, 446 points surrendered) was the worst total of the 1990s.[2] It is notable that like the previous season's Dallas Cowboys, the Patriots played only three teams with non-winning records – divisional rivals the Indianapolis Colts and New York Jets plus one game against the Phoenix Cardinals – all season.[3]

The 1990 Patriots and 1981 Baltimore Colts are the only NFL teams since 1940 to have eleven losses during which they never led in one season.[4]

The 1990 Patriots became the third team to end a season at 1-15, and were matched by the 1991 Colts the next year. They also tied the 1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers for most consecutive losses inside one season (the Buccaneers lost all 14 games at a time when the NFL had not adopted a 16-game schedule yet), a record later eclipsed by the 15-straight losing 2001 Carolina Panthers. It was then topped by the 0-16 2008 Detroit Lions and 0-16 2017 Cleveland Browns.

Sexual harassment incident against female reporter

The day after the Patriots' only victory of the season, tight end Zeke Mowatt, running back Robert Perryman and wide receiver Michael Timpson allegedly stood in front of Boston Herald reporter Lisa Olson semi-naked and sexually harassed her in the Patriots locker room at Foxboro Stadium.[5] The incident proved a major embarrassment for the franchise, and the team lost its final 14 games, and was accused in the media of quitting in most of the losses.

Personnel

Staff

1990 New England Patriots staff
Front office

Head coaches

  • Head coach – Rod Rust
  • Special Assistant to the Head Coach – John Polonchek

Offensive coaches

 Defensive coaches

Special teams coaches

  • Special Teams – Steve Crosby

Strength and conditioning

Roster

1990 New England Patriots roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

 Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

 Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

 Reserve lists

{{{reserve_lists}}}


Rookies in italics

Regular season

Schedule

Week Opponent Result Stadium Record Attendance
1Miami DolphinsL 24–27Foxboro Stadium0–1
45,305
2at Indianapolis ColtsW 16–14Hoosier Dome1–1
49,256
3at Cincinnati BengalsL 7–41Riverfront Stadium1–2
56,470
4New York JetsL 13–37Foxboro Stadium1–3
36,724
5Seattle SeahawksL 20–33Foxboro Stadium1–4
39,735
6 Bye
7at Miami DolphinsL 10–17Joe Robbie Stadium1–5
62,630
8Buffalo BillsL 10–27Foxboro Stadium1–6
51,959
9at Philadelphia EaglesL 20–48Veterans Stadium1–7
65,514
10Indianapolis ColtsL 10–13Foxboro Stadium1–8
28,924
11at Buffalo BillsL 0–14Rich Stadium1–9
74,270
12at Phoenix CardinalsL 14–34Sun Devil Stadium1–10
30,110
13Kansas City ChiefsL 7–37Foxboro Stadium1–11
26,280
14at Pittsburgh SteelersL 3–24Three Rivers Stadium1–12
48,354
15Washington RedskinsL 10–25Foxboro Stadium1–13
22,286
16at New York JetsL 7–42The Meadowlands1–14
30,250
17New York GiantsL 10–13Foxboro Stadium1–15
60,410

Season summary

Week 1

1 234Total
• Dolphins 3 1077 27
Patriots 7 1430 24

Week 2

1 234Total
• Patriots 0 736 16
Colts 7 007 14
  • Date: September 16
  • Location: Hoosier Dome
  • Game weather: Indoors (dome)

[6]

Week 3

1 234Total
Patriots 0 700 7
• Bengals 17 1437 41

Week 4

1 234Total
• Jets 7 17103 37
Patriots 3 307 13
  • Date: September 30
  • Location: Foxboro Stadium

Week 5

1 234Total
• Seahawks 13 6014 33
Patriots 3 773 20
  • Date: October 7
  • Location: Foxboro Stadium

Standings

AFC East
W L T PCT DIV CONF PF PA STK
(1) Buffalo Bills 13 3 0 .813 7–1 10–2 428 263 L1
(4) Miami Dolphins 12 4 0 .750 7–1 10–2 336 242 W1
Indianapolis Colts 7 9 0 .438 3–5 5–7 281 353 L1
New York Jets 6 10 0 .375 2–6 4–10 295 345 W2
New England Patriots 1 15 0 .063 1–7 1–11 181 446 L14

See also

References

  1. ↑ https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/199012150nwe.htm
  2. ↑ Pro-Football-Reference.com: In a single season, from 1990 to 1999, in the NFL, in the regular season, sorted by ascending Points Differential
  3. ↑ In a single game, in 1990, playing for the New England Patriots, in the regular season, opponent with non-winning record for season
  4. ↑ Pro-Football-Reference.com: In a single season, from 1940 to 2011, in the regular season, team never had a lead during the game, sorted by most games in season matching criteria.
  5. ↑ https://www.nytimes.com/1990/11/28/sports/patriots-and-3-players-fined-in-olson-incident.html
  6. ↑ The Football Database. Retrieved 2018-Sep-19.
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