The 1984 New England Patriots season was the franchise's 15th season in the National Football League and 25th overall. The Patriots finished the season with a record of nine wins and seven losses, and finished second in the AFC East Division.

Head coach Ron Meyer, who had coached the Patriots for the previous two seasons, was fired halfway through the season. Meyer had angered several of his players with public criticism. After a 44–24 loss to Miami in week 8, Meyer fired popular defensive coordinator Rod Rust; Meyer himself was fired by Patriots management shortly thereafter.Neft, David S.; Cohen, Richard M.; and Korch, Rich The Sports Encyclopedia: Pro Football, 12th Edition, p. 486, Martin's Press, August 1994,

The Patriots went outside the organization to hire Raymond Berry, who had been New England's receivers coach from 1978 to 1981 under coaches Chuck Fairbanks and Ron Erhardt. Berry had been working in the private sector in Medfield, Massachusetts, when the Patriots called him to replace Meyer. Berry's first order of business was to immediately rehire Rust.

Under Berry's leadership, the Patriots won four of their last eight games. Berry's importance to the team was reflected less in his initial win–loss record than in the respect he immediately earned in the locker room – "Raymond Berry earned more respect in one day than Ron Meyer earned in three years," according to running back Tony Collins.Quoted in Tales From The Patriots Sideline (Illinois:Sports Publishing LLC, 2006) by Michael Felger, p. 76

Offseason

NFL draft

Staff New England Patriots 1984 staff Front office President – Billy Sullivan Executive vice president – Chuck Sullivan Vice-president – Bucko Kilroy General manager – Patrick Sullivan Director of player development – Dick Steinberg Director of college scouting – Joe Mendes Director of pro scouting – Bill McPeak

Head coaches Head coach – Ron Meyer Interim head coach – Raymond Berry

Offensive coaches Offensive coordinator/quarterbacks – Lew Erber Offensive backs – Cleve Bryant Receivers – Steve Endicott Offensive line – Bill Muir Defensive coaches Defensive coordinator – Rod Rust Defensive line – Tommy Brasher Linebackers – Steve Sidwell Secondary – Steve Walters

Special teams coaches Special teams/tight ends – Dante Scarnecchia

Strength and conditioning Strength and conditioning – LeBaron Caruthers

Roster New England Patriots 1984 roster Quarterbacks Tony Eason Steve Grogan Mike Kerrigan

Running backs Tony Collins Greg Hawthorne Craig James Mosi Tatupu Robert Weathers

Wide receivers Irving Fryar Cedric Jones Stanley Morgan Stephen Starring Clarence Weathers

Tight ends Lin Dawson Derrick Ramsey Bo Robinson Offensive linemen Pete Brock C Paul Fairchild G John Hannah G Darryl Haley T Brian Holloway T Steve Moore T Guy Morriss C Ron Wooten G

Defensive linemen Julius Adams DE Luther Henson NT Dennis Owens NT Doug Rogers DE Kenneth Sims DE Toby Williams DELinebackers Don Blackmon OLB Tim Golden ILB Brian Ingram OLB Larry McGrew ILB Steve Nelson ILB Johnny Rembert ILB Ed Reynolds ILB Andre Tippett OLB Ed Williams OLB

Defensive backs Raymond Clayborn CB Ernest Gibson CB Roland James SS Keith Lee CB/S Ronnie Lippett CB Fred Marion FS Rod McSwain CB Rick Sanford FS

Special teams Rich Camarillo P Tony Franklin KReserve lists John Andredi LB (IR) Smiley Creswell DE (IR) George Crump DE (PUP) Paul Dombroski CB/S (IR) Tom Ramsey QB (IR) Clayton Weishuhn LB (IR) Craig Williams RB (IR) Derwin Williams WR (IR) Jon Williams RB (IR) Lester Williams NT (IR) Darryal Wilson WR (PUP) David Windham LB (IR)

Rookies in italics

Regular season

Schedule Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance 1 September 2 at Buffalo Bills W 21–17 1–0 Rich Stadium 48,528 2 September 9 at Miami Dolphins L 7–28 1–1 Miami Orange Bowl 66,083 3 September 16 Seattle Seahawks W 38–23 2–1 Sullivan Stadium 43,140 4 September 23 Washington Redskins L 10–26 2–2 Sullivan Stadium 60,503 5 September 30 at New York Jets W 28–21 3–2 Giants Stadium 68,978 6 October 7 at Cleveland Browns W 17–16 4–2 Cleveland Municipal Stadium 53,036 7 October 14 Cincinnati Bengals W 20–14 5–2 Sullivan Stadium 48,154 8 October 21 Miami Dolphins L 24–44 5–3 Sullivan Stadium 60,711 9 October 28 New York Jets W 30–20 6–3 Sullivan Stadium 60,513 10 November 4 at Denver Broncos L 19–26 6–4 Mile High Stadium 74,908 11 November 11 Buffalo Bills W 38–10 7–4 Sullivan Stadium 43,313 12 November 18 at Indianapolis Colts W 50–17 8–4 Hoosier Dome 60,009 13 November 22 at Dallas Cowboys L 17–20 8–5 Texas Stadium 55,341 14 December 2 St. Louis Cardinals L 10–33 8–6 Sullivan Stadium 53,558 15 December 9 at Philadelphia Eagles L 17–27 8–7 Veterans Stadium 41,581 16 December 16 Indianapolis Colts W 16–10 9–7 Sullivan Stadium 22,383 Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Season summary Week 1 Behind two Steve Grogan touchdown throws, the Patriots raced to a 21–0 lead. They withstood a second-half Bills comeback attempt, and won 21–17.

Week 2 (Sunday, September 9, 1984): at Miami Dolphins The Football Database. Retrieved 2022-Jul-09.

Point spread: Dolphins by 6 Over/under: 43.0 (under) Time of game: 3 hours, 3 minutes

PatriotsGame statisticsDolphins18 First downs 1728–127 Rushes–yards 30–74217 Passing yards 26920–42–4 17–28–22–12 Sacked–yards 0–0205 Net passing yards 269332 Total yards 34374 Return yards 1838–39.6 5–41.62–1 Fumbles–lost 0–06–53 Penalties–yards 6–4630:46 Time of Possession 29:14

Grogan had a miserable day as he was intercepted four times; William Judson ran back one for a 60-yard touchdown. The Dolphins, led by two Dan Marino touchdown passes, won 28–7.

Week 3 The first home game of the season ended Grogan's season as he failed to complete any of his four passes and Kenny Easley ran back his interception for a 25-yard touchdown. The Seahawks scored three touchdowns marred by a missed PAT. Tony Eason replaced Grogan with six minutes left in the first half and in the final minute ran in a 25-yard touchdown. From there three Patriots backs rushed for 189 yards and three touchdowns and Eason tossed scores to Derrick Ramsey and Irving Fryar while Dave Krieg of the Seahawks was bullied into two interceptions. The Patriots came back to win 38–23. The 23-point comeback was the largest in Patriots franchise history, a team record held until 2013.

Week 8 (Sunday, October 21, 1984): vs. Miami Dolphins The Football Database. Retrieved 2022-Jul-09.

Point spread: Dolphins by 4 Over/under: 42.0 (over) Time of game: 3 hours, 13 minutes

DolphinsGame statisticsPatriots33 First downs 1837–236 Rushes–yards 27–102316 Passing yards 31324–39–1 19–29–00–0 Sacked–yards 1–7316 Net passing yards 306552 Total yards 40875 Return yards 1131–38.0 3–57.00–0 Fumbles–lost 1–16–36 Penalties–yards 6–3631:59 Time of Possession 28:01

Week 9

Source: Pro-Football-Reference.com

Raymond Berry's first game as Patriots' head coach.

Standings

References