The 2015 Patriots season, game by game

Sept. 10: Patriots 28, Steelers 21 — First game of the year, first game of what would become a 10 game winning streak. Tom Brady tosses up four touchdowns (three to Rob Gronkowski) and finishes the night with a 143.8 passer rating. The Patriots maintain the lead throughout the night, and readily win their first game of the season.

Sept. 20: Patriots 40, Bills 32– The Bills score first, but only hold onto the lead for six minutes. Brady passes for 466 yards, with 3 TD’s and no INT’s, making mincemeat of the Bills secondary. Jamie Collins and Chandler Jones terrorize Bills quarterback Tyrod Taylor throughout the day, racking up a combined 5.5 sacks.

Sept. 27: Patriots 51, Jaguars 17: Brady notches his 400th career touchdowh, and the Patriots readily handle the Jaguars. Gronkowski has his second consecutive 100-yard receiving game, while Stephen Gostkowski kicks three field goals and six PATS.

Oct. 11: Patriots 30, Cowboys 6 — The Patriots walked into a matchup which they had every reason to win, and did just that. The Tony Romo and Dez Bryant-less Cowboys put up a dismal performance, despite a decent defensive showing early on. The Cowboys were able to put pressure on Brady readily in the first half (five total sacks), but the Patriots offensive line was able to right the ship and allow the team to pull away (no sacks in the final two quarters). New England climbs to 4-0, the Cowboys fall to 2-3.

Oct. 18: Patriots 34, Colts 27 — Revenge? Brady throws his first interception of the season, but continues to impress, throwing for three touchdowns and 312 yards. The Patriots hit the 5-0 mark for the first time since 2007. Chandler Jones (2.5) turns in his 2nd multi-sack performance of the season.

Oct. 25: Patriots 30, Jets 23 — A fairly evenly-matched game that the Patriots are able to pull away in halfway through the 4th quarter thanks to two late Brady passing touchdowns. Brady leads all New England rushers with one touchdown and 15 yards.

Oct. 29: Patriots 36, Dolphins 7 — Stephen Gostkowski breaks Adam Vinatieri’s franchise record for most consecutive field goals, Brady throws for four TDs (two to Julian Edelman), and Jimmy Garropolo takes the final snaps in this blowout win.

Nov. 8: Patriots 27, Redskins 10– New England makes quick work of Washington, keeping the lead for 90 percent of the game, and never trailing. LeGarrete Blount has a field day, rushing for 129 yards on 29 carries, with one TD.

Nov. 15: Patriots 27, Giants 26 — These two championship rivals match up for the first time since since Super Bowl XLVI – and both teams brought their A-game. The past five matchups between the two teams were decided on average by three points, and late game, skin-of-teeth heroics factored in again. New York seemingly had secured the win on a 29-yard chip shot from Josh Brown with less than two minutes to go, but the Pats drove to set up a game-winning 54-yarder by Gostkowski.

Nov. 23: Patriots 20, Bills 13 — The Patriots complete their season sweep of the Bills, and extend their winning streak against Rex Ryan to four straight. With Edelman out, Danny Amendola has a day, racking up 9 catches for 119 yards. New England rolls to 10-0.

Nov. 29: Broncos 30, Patriots 24 — A Peyton Manning-less Broncos team play spoiler to New England’s hopes of an undefeated season. Brady readily outperforms fill-in Brock Osweiler with 3 TD’s and no INT’s, but New England’s inept run game, and the Broncos’ freedom to run proves to be the difference. C.J. Anderson’s 48-yard touchdown run secures the win for the Broncos on a snowy night in Denver.

Dec. 6: Eagles 35, Patriots 28 — A struggling but opportunistic Philadelphia Eagles team storm into Foxborough and hand the reeling Patriots their second loss in as many weeks, the first time the Patriots have lost consecutive games in three years. The Eagles score on a blocked punt, a punt return, and an interception return to take home the improbable win.

Dec. 13: Patriots 27, Texans 6 — Seeking to snap their losing streak and officially secure a playoff berth, the Patriots make quick work of a Texans team which 189 total yards of offense. Brady passes for two TDs and no INT’s, while Brandon Bolden and Blount combine for 104 yards. Jabaal Sheard and Akiem Hicks notch two sacks apiece.

Dec. 20: Patriots 33, Titans 16 — The Patriots sack Marcus Mariota three times in the first half, knocking him out of the game, then force three turnovers to secure a first-round playoff bye. Akiem Hicks scores a defensive touchdown off a fumble forced by Jamie Collins in the end zone, Chandler Jones has another multi-sack game, and Brady throws for two TD’s with no INT’s.

Dec. 27: Jets 26, Patriots 20 — Santa comes two days late for a Jets team hoping to keep their postseason hopes alive. Brandon Marshall has a day with 115 yards and two of Ryan Fitzpatrick’s three touchdowns as the Jets out-gain the Patriots 428 to 284 in total offense. An Eric Decker touchdown reception secures the overtime win for New York.

Jan. 3: Dolphins 20, Patriots 10 — Needing one win to secure the AFC’s No. 1 seed, the Patriots fall to a Dolphins team that fired their head coach and are about to part with their interim one. Miami puts up 438 yards of total offense while holding New England to 196. An Andrew Franks field goal with less than two minutes remaining in the game puts the nail in the coffin for the Pats’ home field hopes.

Jan. 16: Patriots 27, Chiefs 20 — The Chiefs were hot. On an 11-game winning streak and coming off a blowout win against Houston in the Wildcard round, Kansas City seemed prime for an upset against a Patriots team which had lost 4 out of its last 6. But New England took the lead about five minutes in and would not let go. The Patriots’ offensive line held up, allowing no sacks and providing Brady enough of a pocket to throw for 302 yards and two passing touchdowns. Brady adds another score on the ground, and the Patriots hold off KC and head off to the their 10th AFC Championship in the Brady-Belichick era.

Jan. 24: Broncos 20, Patriots 18 — The Denver Broncos succeeded in the exact area that the Kansas City Chiefs failed a week before – they got to Tom Brady, sacking him four times and hitting him 20 times, the most times any quarterback has been hit in a game this season. No. 12 seemed out of sync, completing less than 50 percent of his passes, and throwing two interceptions. Peyton Manning’s stat line of 176 yards for 2 touchdowns proved to give the Broncos just enough offense to maintain their lead for 85 percent of the game. A Stephen Gostkowski missed PAT after the Patriots’ first scoring drive proved to the be the difference in this tight title game.