1993 New England Patriots season

1993 New England Patriots season
Head coach	Bill Parcells
Owner	James Orthwein
Home field	Foxboro Stadium
Results
Record	5–11
Division place	4th AFC East
Playoff finish	did not qualify
Pro Bowlers	none
AP All-Pros	none
Uniform

The New England Patriots finished the National Football League's 1993 season with a record of five wins and eleven losses, and finished fourth in the AFC East division.

Season summary

Amid year-long rumors that the team would move to St. Louis and become the Stallions (even to the point of a team logo being unveiled and hats being printed), the Patriots ran through the year, the first for coach Bill Parcells, who'd been a linebackers coach in Foxboro in 1980 under Ron Erhardt. The Patriots drafted Drew Bledsoe as the #1 pick and he was named starter.

Sweeping changes had been made in the organization before the season. All coaches from the 1992 season with the exception of Dante Scarnecchia and Bobby Grier were fired and replaced with new ones. Scarnecchia would become a special assistant while Grier would move to the front office. The roster had undergone substantial changes; among the holdovers from the 1992 season were Marv Cook, Ben Coates, Kevin Turner, Michael Timpson, Sam Gash, Greg McMurtry, Vincent Brown, Maurice Hurst, Leonard Russell, Bruce Armstrong, Mike Arthur, and Pat Harlow. The 1993 season was also the first season the current Patriots logo and font was used (though the current variation would undergo a color change in 2000).

The Patriots lost their first four games, even after forcing overtime against the Lions and seeing a last-minute field goal attempt against Seattle bounce off the crossbar. In Week 5 Bledsoe was injured, Scott Secules was named the starting quarterback, and won the game with two passing touchdowns passing and one rushing score in the team's 23–21 win over the Cardinals. Scott Secules was then benched after a 28–14 loss to the Oilers. Bledsoe started for the Patriots then lost seven straight before eking out a 7–2 win against the Bengals (it was the last occurrence until the 2013 Jaguars of a team scoring only a safety in a game).^[1] This win led to a 20–17 win over the Cleveland Browns coached by Parcells' longtime assistant Bill Belichick and a 38–0 massacre of the Indianapolis Colts in brutal windchill.

The season ended on January 2, 1994 with many in the sellout crowd at Foxboro Stadium believing it would be the final ever game for the New England Patriots before moving to St. Louis; unknown to most, though, was that stadium owner Robert Kraft was working to force the selling of the team to him, and his control of the team's lease ensured no move could take place until 2002 at the earliest.

The season finale itself became one of the most dramatic games in the club's history. The Patriots were hosting the Dolphins, who'd fallen to 9–6 with starter Dan Marino out for the year after Week Five and needing a win to make the playoffs. The Patriots led 10–7 at halftime and twice stopped the Dolphins on downs, but early in the third a Bledsoe fumble led to a Dolphins field goal. A blocked punt by the Dolphins' Darrell Malone led to a touchdown by Scott Mitchell to Mark Ingram. The game lead tied or changed five times in the fourth quarter. In the fourth the Dolphins completed a drive ending in a Terry Kirby touchdown run, this despite Andre Tippett's sack of Mitchell for a ten-yard loss – it was the 100th career sack for the future Hall Of Fame linebacker.

In the final 3:40 Bledsoe drove the Patriots down to a Ben Coates touchdown catch, but the Dolphins forced overtime on a Pete Stoyanovich field goal. In the overtime the Dolphins punted after Chris Slade forced a fumble, then Bledsoe was picked off by J.B. Brown before the Dolphins had to punt again. Vincent Brisby caught a ten-yard pass but fumbled; teammate Leonard Russell recovered the ball and ran 22 yards; Bledsoe then absorbed a Dolphins blitz and launched a 36-yard touchdown to Michael Timpson, ending a wild 33–27 Patriots win and finishing their season at 5–11, but with four straight wins to close it out.

Several weeks later owner James Orthwein completed sale of the team to Robert Kraft.

Personnel

Staff

1993 New England Patriots staff
	Front office Chairman of the Board – James Orthwein Vice Chairman of the Board – Michael O'Hallaron Executive Vice President of Football Operations – Patrick Forte Vice President – Bucko Kilroy Director of College Scouting – Charley Armey Director of Pro Scouting – Bobby Grier Head coaches Head Coach – Bill Parcells Offensive coaches Offensive Coordinator – Ray Perkins Running Backs – Dave Atkins Wide Receivers – Chris Palmer Tight Ends – Charlie Weis Offensive Line – Fred Hoaglin			Defensive coaches Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers – Al Groh Defensive Line – Romeo Crennel Defensive Backs – Bob Trott Special Assistant – Dante Scarnecchia Special teams coaches Special Teams – Mike Sweatman Strength and conditioning Strength and Conditioning – Johnny Parker

^[2]

Roster

1993 New England Patriots roster
	Quarterbacks 11 Drew Bledsoe 10 Scott Secules 16 Scott Zolak Running backs 26 Corey Croom 33 Sam Gash FB 35 Burnie Legette FB 40 Scott Lockwood 32 Leonard Russell 34 Kevin Turner FB Wide receivers 82 Vincent Brisby 80 Troy Brown 81 Ray Crittenden 84 Ronnie Harris 86 Greg McMurtry 83 Michael Timpson		Tight ends 87 Ben Coates 85 Marv Cook 88 Rich Griffith Offensive linemen 78 Bruce Armstrong T 65 Mike Arthur C 74 Rich Baldinger G 69 Eugene Chung G 63 Mike Gisler G 77 Pat Harlow T 63 Todd Jones T 75 Bill Lewis C 70 Brandon Moore T 71 Todd Rucci G		Defensive linemen 92 Ray Agnew DE/NT 91 Chris Gannon DE 72 Tim Goad NT 98 Mario Johnson NT 97 Aaron Jones DE 93 Mike Pitts DE 76 John Washington DE 96 Brent Williams DE Linebackers 52 David Bavaro ILB 59 Vincent Brown ILB 99 Jason Carthen OLB 54 Todd Collins ILB 95 Dwayne Sabb OLB 55 Chris Singleton ILB 53 Chris Slade OLB 56 Andre Tippett OLB 51 David White ILB		Defensive backs 42 Harlon Barnett FS 30 Corwin Brown SS 36 Jerome Henderson CB 37 Maurice Hurst CB 28 Dion Lambert FS 43 Vernon Lewis CB 23 Terry Ray FS/SS 22 Rod Smith CB 21 Reyna Thompson CB 38 Adrian White SS 27 Darryl Wren CB Special teams  3 Matt Bahr K  7 Mike Saxon P  9 Scott Sisson K Rookies in italics

^[3]

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Attendance
1	September 5, 1993	at Buffalo Bills	L 38–14	79,751
2	September 12, 1993	Detroit Lions	L 19–16 (OT)	54,151
3	September 19, 1993	Seattle Seahawks	L 17–14	50,392
4	September 26, 1993	at New York Jets	L 45–7	64,836
5	Bye
6	October 10, 1993	at Phoenix Cardinals	W 23–21	36,115
7	October 17, 1993	Houston Oilers	L 28–14	51,037
8	October 24, 1993	at Seattle Seahawks	L 10–9	56,526
9	October 31, 1993	at Indianapolis Colts	L 9–6	46,522
10	November 7, 1993	Buffalo Bills	L 13–10	54,326
11	Bye
12	November 21, 1993	at Miami Dolphins	L 17–13	59,982
13	November 28, 1993	New York Jets	L 6–0	42,810
14	December 5, 1993	at Pittsburgh Steelers	L 17–14	51,358
15	December 12, 1993	Cincinnati Bengals	W 7–2	29,794
16	December 19, 1993	at Cleveland Browns	W 20–17	48,618
17	December 26, 1993	Indianapolis Colts	W 38–0	26,571
18	January 2, 1994	Miami Dolphins	W 33–27 (OT)	53,883

Standings

AFC East
	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA	STK
^(1) Buffalo Bills	12	4	0	.750	329	242	W4
Miami Dolphins	9	7	0	.563	349	351	L5
New York Jets	8	8	0	.500	270	247	L3
New England Patriots	5	11	0	.313	238	286	W4
Indianapolis Colts	4	12	0	.250	189	378	L4

References

1. All Game Scores in Pro Football History
2. "1993 Club Directory, Administration, and Coaching Staff". 1993 New England Patriots Media Guide. pp. 2, 4–20.
3. "1993 New England Patriots starters and roster". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved November 22, 2014.

External links

• 1993 New England Patriots at Pro-Football-Reference.com