The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. The Patriots play their home games at Gillette Stadium in the town of Foxborough, Massachusetts. The team is part of the East division of the American Football Conference (AFC) in the National Football League (NFL). An original member of the American Football League (AFL), the Patriots joined the NFL in the 1970 merger of the two leagues.

Since the arrival of head coach Bill Belichick in 2000, the Patriots have become one of the most successful teams in NFL history. They are tied with the Pittsburgh Steelers and Dallas Cowboys as the teams with the most Super Bowl appearances overall (eight each), and have the most appearances in the last 25 years. They have twelve AFC East titles in fourteen seasons since 2001, and have not had a losing season since 2000.