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In this series, I will be looking at the history of coaches, quarterbacks, rushers, and receivers for all 32 franchises. For coaches and quarterbacks, I will be looking at how much their franchise’s career records (regular season only) would change if we removed the games with that person. For rushers and receivers, I will note how many times that player was the team’s leading rusher/receiver over the course of their time with that franchise (regular plus postseason).

Previous Teams:

Dolphins
Cowboys
Bills
Eagles
Jets
Giants

We have now reached the Bill Belichick and Tom Brady version of this series, which will yield no surprises. There is nothing to say about those two that has not been said, except perhaps how they have changed the Patriots career winning percentages!

New England has won 56.1% of games over the course of the franchise’s history, but that’s very Belichick-influenced. Under his watch, New England has won 74.0% of its regular season games; with someone other than Belichick on the sidelines, the Patriots have won just 46.9% of their games. Under Dick MacPherson, the Patriots also went 8-24 in two seasons. In one 7-year stretch from 2006 to 2012, the Patriots also lost 24 games…. but went 88-24.

The most interesting thing to analyze here is Belichick vs. Don Shula. Without Belichick, New England has a 0.469 winning percentage. Without Shula, Miami has a 0.462 winning percentage. Belichick has an insane 0.740 winning percentage but over “only” 304 games. Shula has a 0.658 winning percentage over 392 games. New England has a franchise winning percentage of 0.561, while Miami is at 0.556 — in fact, it wasn’t until October 2018 that the Patriots finally surpassed the Dolphins in franchise winning percentage!

Right now, Shula has the edge. Miami entered the AFL in 1966, which means the Dolphins have fewer non-Shula games, which helps Shula in this regard. Through 2018, Shula has still coached 48% of all games for the Dolphins, while Belichick is only at 34%. But even still, Belichik is getting close: a 12-4 season in 2019 would vault him into #1 in this category.

Ovr RkCoachGWLTHC Win %FrGFrWFLFrTFr W%Win% w/o HCDiff
2Bill Belichick3042257900.7490050039190.5610.4699.2%
185Pete Carroll48272100.56390050039190.5610.560%
213Ron Meyer33181500.54590050039190.5610.561-0.1%
214Hank Bullough1010090050039190.5610.561-0.1%
232Raymond Berry87483900.55290050039190.5610.562-0.1%
275Phil Bengtson51400.290050039190.5610.563-0.2%
276Chuck Fairbanks85463900.54190050039190.5610.563-0.2%
360Lou Saban1971200.36890050039190.5610.565-0.4%
365Mike Holovak107524690.52890050039190.5610.565-0.4%
372Bill Parcells64323200.590050039190.5610.565-0.5%
425Ron Erhardt48212700.43890050039190.5610.567-0.7%
435Clive Rush2151600.23890050039190.5610.568-0.8%
459John Mazur3092100.390050039190.5610.57-0.9%
460Rod Rust1611500.06390050039190.5610.57-0.9%
485Dick MacPherson3282400.2590050039190.5610.572-1.1%

When it comes to the quarterback, there is no race for the top spot. Tom Brady has a massive lead over everyone else in this regard: without him, the Patriots have won only 47.0% of their games; meanwhile, New England has won 56.1% of its games overall (and an insane 77.5% of their games with Brady); that’s a +9.1% increase, by far the most of any quarterback in history. I’ll spoil the fun for now: Drew Brees is number two, at 61.0%–45.4%–40.1%–5.3% — that is, under Brees, New Orleans has won 61.0% of their games, the franchise has a 45.4% career win rate overall, and have won 40.1% of their games without Brees, meaning “games with Brees” has improved the Saints winning percentage by 5.3%. And remember, he’s #2 all-time. Yes, Brady laps the field here.

What’s also interesting is because of how good Brady has been, the baseline is now really high for the Patriots. You might be surprised to see Matt Cassel at #2 on the Patriots list despite a 10-5 (0.667) mark, but someone like Tony Eason (28-21, 0.571) is barely above average now.

Ovr RkQBGWLTQB Win %FrGFrWFLFrTFr W%Win% w/o QBDiff
1Tom Brady2672076000.77590050039190.5610.4709.1%
205Matt Cassel1510500.66790050039190.5610.5590.2%
241Babe Parilli83443270.57290050039190.5610.5590.1%
261Jimmy Garoppolo22001.00090050039190.5610.5600.1%
285Doug Flutie138500.61590050039190.5610.5600.1%
301Tony Eason49282100.57190050039190.5610.5600.1%
396Tom Yewcic53200.60090050039190.5610.5600%
448Eddie Wilson10010.50090050039190.5610.5610%
461Tom Greene21100.50090050039190.5610.5610%
462Bob Bleier21100.50090050039190.5610.5610%
463Jacoby Brissett21100.50090050039190.5610.5610%
482Tom Ramsey42200.50090050039190.5610.5610%
653Tom Owen10100.00090050039190.5610.561-0.1%
703Steve Grogan135756000.55690050039190.5610.561-0.1%
744Scott Zolak73400.42990050039190.5610.562-0.1%
800Neil Graff20200.00090050039190.5610.562-0.1%
801Jeff Carlson20200.00090050039190.5610.562-0.1%
919Don Trull30300.00090050039190.5610.562-0.2%
989Scott Secules40400.00090050039190.5610.563-0.3%
1027Butch Songin1871010.41790050039190.5610.563-0.3%
1053Tom Sherman71600.14390050039190.5610.564-0.3%
1081Matt Cavanaugh1551000.33390050039190.5610.564-0.4%
1126Joe Kapp101900.10090050039190.5610.566-0.5%
1127Marc Wilson101900.10090050039190.5610.566-0.5%
1155Tom Hodson1211100.08390050039190.5610.567-0.6%
1162Mike Taliaferro2581700.32090050039190.5610.567-0.7%
1168Hugh Millen2051500.25090050039190.5610.568-0.7%
1175Drew Bledsoe123636000.51290050039190.5610.568-0.8%
1214Jim Plunkett61233800.37790050039190.5610.574-1.3%

Under Belichick and Brady, the Patriots have had a rotating stable of lead backs. As a result, it’s AFL star Jim Nance who holds the record for most games as the leading rusher of the Patriots. Three players — Curtis Martin, Terry Allen, and Sony Michel (who did so in 15 of 16 games last year, playoffs included) — led the Patriots in rushing in 90% of their games.

RusherFirst YrLast YrLeading RusherTotal Games%
Jim Nance19651971639467%
Sam Cunningham197319825310949%
Antowain Smith20012003455188%
Tony Collins198119874410841%
Curtis Martin19951997434890%
LeGarrette Blount20132016425774%
Corey Dillon20042006395176%
John Stephens19881992397651%
Larry Garron196019683510135%
Leonard Russell19911993344379%
Craig James19841988335758%
Laurence Maroney20062009325262%
Stevan Ridley20112014315754%
Kevin Faulk199920113018017%
Don Calhoun19751981239424%
BenJarvus Green-Ellis20082011195733%
Dion Lewis20152017193653%
Carl Garrett19691972195137%
Robert Edwards19981998151788%
Sony Michel20182018151694%
Terry Allen19991999151694%
Ron Burton19601965147120%
Mosi Tatupu19781990132016%
Sammy Morris20072010124924%
Mack Herron19731975113531%
Jim Crawford19601964115520%
Horace Ivory19771981104721%
Marion Butts19941994101663%
Bob Perryman19871990104920%

When it comes to receiving leaders, Stanley Morgan is the obvious winner here. Morgan was one of the great deep threats in the history of pro football. He led the Patriots in receiving yards 83 times in his career, nearly double the next highest player. After him you have a number of Brady Patriots: Rob Gronkowski, Troy Brown, Wes Welker, and Julian Edelman, with Irving Fryar and Terry Glenn joining that group as well.

ReceiverFirst YrLast YrLeading ReceiverTotal Games%
Stanley Morgan197719898318744%
Rob Gronkowski201020184413134%
Troy Brown199320074221220%
Wes Welker200720124110240%
Irving Fryar198419923813329%
Julian Edelman200920183513326%
Terry Glenn19962001327344%
Deion Branch200220123010329%
Gino Cappelletti196019702715517%
Ben Coates199119992314915%
Russ Francis19751988229423%
Jim Colclough196019682212817%
Shawn Jefferson19961999216930%
Randy Moss20072010205636%
Harold Jackson19781981206531%
Art Graham19631968207726%
Vincent Brisby19931999188920%
Reggie Rucker19711974174340%
Randy Vataha19711976178121%
Ron Sellers19691971153543%
Larry Garron196019681410114%
David Patten20012004136022%
David Givens20022005136121%
Jim Whalen19651969137019%
Michael Timpson19891994127117%
Ben Watson20042009118014%
Tony Collins19811987101089%
Sam Cunningham19731982101099%
Cedric Jones19821990101268%

That’s it for the New England version of this series. Please leave your thoughts in the comments.

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