1984 New England Patriots season

1984 New England Patriots season
Head coach	Ron Meyer Raymond Berry
General manager	Patrick Sullivan
Owner	Billy Sullivan
Home field	Sullivan Stadium
Results
Record	9–7
Division place	2nd AFC East
Playoff finish	did not qualify
Pro Bowlers	G John Hannah T Brian Holloway LB Steve Nelson LB Andre Tippett
AP All-Pros	G John Hannah (2nd team)

The 1984 New England Patriots season was the team's 35th, and 25th in the National Football League. 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 44–22 loss to Miami in Week 8, Meyer fired popular defensive coordinator Rod Rust; Meyer himself was fired by Patriots management shortly thereafter.^[1]

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.^[2]

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 – Raymond Berry Offensive Coaches Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks – Lew Erber Offensive Backfield – Cleve Bryant Receivers – Steve Endicott Offensive Line – Bill Muir			Defensive Coaches Defensive Coordinator – Rod Rust Linebackers – Tommy Brasher Linebackers – Steve Sidwell Defensive Backs – Steve Walters Special Teams Coaches Special Teams/Tight Ends – Dante Scarnecchia Strength and Conditioning Strength and Conditioning – LeBaron Caruthers

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Notes	Attendance
1	September 2, 1984	at Buffalo Bills	W 21–17	Steve Grogan threw two touchdowns	48,528
2	September 9, 1984	at Miami Dolphins	L 28–7		66,083
3	September 16, 1984	Seattle Seahawks	W 38–23	Patriots erased 23–0 gap	43,140
4	September 23, 1984	Washington Redskins	L 26–10	Tony Eason's first start	60,503
5	September 30, 1984	at New York Jets	W 28–21		68,978
6	October 7, 1984	at Cleveland Browns	W 17–16		53,036
7	October 14, 1984	Cincinnati Bengals	W 20–14		48,154
8	October 21, 1984	Miami Dolphins	L 44–24	Ron Meyer fired following game	60,711
9	October 28, 1984	New York Jets	W 30–20	Raymond Berry took over as coach	60,513
10	November 4, 1984	at Denver Broncos	L 26–19		74,908
11	November 11, 1984	Buffalo Bills	W 38–10		43,313
12	November 18, 1984	at Indianapolis Colts	W 50–17	First trip to Indianapolis	60,009
13	November 22, 1984	at Dallas Cowboys	L 20–17	Patriots' first Thanksgiving Day game	55,341
14	December 2, 1984	St. Louis Cardinals	L 33–10		53,558
15	December 9, 1984	at Philadelphia Eagles	L 27–17		41,581
16	December 16, 1984	Indianapolis Colts	W 16–10		22,383

Notable Games

Week 1

The Patriots behind two Steve Grogan touchdown throws raced to a 21–0 lead and withstood a second-half Bills comeback to win 21–17.

Week 2

Grogan had a miserable day as he was intercepted four times; William Judson ran back one for a 60-yard touchdown. The Dolphins behind two Dan Marino scores 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 38–23 win was the largest comeback in Patriots history until 2013.

Week 9

New York Jets at New England Patriots

1 2 3 4 Total Jets 10 10 0 0 20 • Patriots 0 6 10 14 30 Date: October 28 Location: Sullivan Stadium, Foxboro, Massachusetts Game start: 1:00 p.m. EST Game weather: 59°F, wind 13 mph Source: Pro-Football-Reference.com

Scoring summary 1 Jets Pat Leahy 46-yard field goal Jets 3–0 1 Jets Rocky Klever 7-yard pass from Ken O'Brien (Pat Leahy kick) Jets 10–0 2 Patriots Tony Franklin 20-yard field goal Jets 10–3 2 Jets Pat Leahy 18-yard field goal Jets 13–3 2 Jets Marion Barber 2-yard run (Pat Leahy kick) Jets 20–3 2 Patriots Tony Franklin 27-yard field goal Jets 20–6 3 Patriots Tony Franklin 47-yard field goal Jets 20–9 3 Patriots Craig James 25-yard run (Tony Franklin kick) Jets 20–16 4 Patriots Stephen Starring 5-yard pass from Tony Eason (Tony Franklin kick) Patriots 23–20 4 Patriots Tony Collins 4-yard run (Tony Franklin kick) Patriots 30–20

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

Standings

AFC East
	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Miami Dolphins^(1)	14	2	0	.875	8–0	10–2	513	298	W2
New England Patriots	9	7	0	.563	6–2	9–3	362	352	W1
New York Jets	7	9	0	.438	3–5	7–7	332	364	L1
Indianapolis Colts	4	12	0	.250	2–6	4–8	239	414	L5
Buffalo Bills	2	14	0	.125	1–7	1–11	250	454	L2

Roster

New England Patriots 1984 roster
Quarterbacks 11 Tony Eason 14 Steve Grogan 19 Mike Kerrigan Running Backs 33 Tony Collins 32 Craig James FB 30 Mosi Tatupu FB 24 Robert Weathers 44 Jon Williams Wide Receivers 80 Irving Fryar 83 Cedric Jones 86 Stanley Morgan 81 Stephen Starring 82 Clarence Weathers Tight Ends 87 Lin Dawson 40 Greg Hawthorne FB 88 Derrick Ramsey 41 Bo Robinson FB		Offensive Linemen 58 Pete Brock C 66 Paul Fairchild G 73 John Hannah G 68 Darryl Haley T 76 Brian Holloway T 67 Steve Moore T 75 Guy Morriss C 61 Ron Wooten G Defensive Linemen 85 Julius Adams DE 60 Luther Henson NT 98 Dennis Owens NT 65 Doug Rogers DE 77 Kenneth Sims DE 70 Scott Virkus DE 72 Lester Williams NT 90 Toby Williams DE		Linebackers 55 Don Blackmon OLB 59 Tim Golden LB 51 Brian Ingram LB 50 Larry McGrew ILB 57 Steve Nelson ILB 52 Johnny Rembert ILB 95 Ed Reynolds LB 56 Andre Tippett OLB 53 Clayton Weishuhn ILB 54 Ed Williams LB Defensive Backs 26 Raymond Clayborn CB 47 Paul Dombroski S 43 Ernest Gibson CB 38 Roland James SS 22 Keith Lee CB 42 Ronnie Lippett CB 31 Fred Marion FS 31 Rod McSwain S 25 Rick Sanford FS 27 Ricky Smith CB Special Teams  3 Rich Camarillo P  1 Tony Franklin K 17 Luke Prestridge P

References

1. Neft, David S.; Cohen, Richard M.; and Korch, Rich The Sports Encyclopedia: Pro Football, 12th Edition, p. 486, Martin's Press, August 1994, ISBN 0-312-11073-1
2. Quoted in Tales From The Patriots Sideline (Illinois:Sports Publishing LLC, 2006) by Michael Felger, p. 76