The New England Patriots, nicknamed the "Pats" by sports writers and fans,[1] are a professional American football team based in Foxborough, Massachusetts. They are currently part of the Eastern Division of the American Football Conference (AFC) in the National Football League (NFL). The team's ownership changed the name, originally the Boston Patriots, after relocating the team to Foxborough in 1971.

An original member of the American Football League (AFL), the Patriots joined the NFL in the 1970 merger of those leagues. The team advanced to the playoffs four times before appearing in Super Bowl XX in January 1986. This Super Bowl appearance resulted in a loss to the Chicago Bears. The team also appeared in Super Bowl XXXI in 1997, losing to the Green Bay Packers.

Between 2001 and 2004, the Patriots became the second team in NFL history (after the Dallas Cowboys) to win three Super BowlSuper wins four years (Super Bowl XXXVI, XXXVIII, and XXXIX), and the eighth (and to date, most recent) to win consecutive Super Bowls. Their dominance in the early part of the decade has some dubbing them as the modern NFL dynasty.