# 1982 New England Patriots season

The 1982 New England Patriots season was the franchise's 13th season in the National Football League and 23rd overall. They finished the National Football League's strike-shortened season with a record of five wins and four losses and finished seventh in the American Football Conference. Due to the format of the playoffs adopted for the season due to the strike, the Patriots qualified as the #7 seed and were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by the eventual conference champion Miami Dolphins 28–13.
After firing Ron Erhardt after a dismal 2–14 season in 1981, the Patriots hired Southern Methodist University head coach Ron Meyer to be their new coach. Meyer led the Patriots to the playoffs for the first time since 1978, where they won the division under Chuck Fairbanks but were defeated in their opening playoff game.
One of the most notable games in NFL history occurred during the season, when the Patriots hosted the Dolphins in a game played in frozen conditions and under a blanket of snow at Schaefer Stadium. The Patriots won the game 3–0 doing so after a stadium worker used a snowplow to assist kicker John Smith in making the winning field goal.

## Offseason
### NFL draft

1982 New England Patriots draft :
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College | Notes |
| 1 | 1 | Kenneth Sims | Defensive end | Texas | |
| 1 | 27 | Lester Williams | Nose tackle | Miami (FL) | acquired from San Francisco |
| 2 | 40 | Robert Weathers | Running back | Arizona State | from Green Bay via San Diego |
| 2 | 41 | Andre Tippett * $^†$ | Linebacker | Iowa | from Washington via San Francisco |
| 2 | 55 | Darryl Haley | Offensive tackle | Utah | from San Francisco |
| 3 | 56 | Cedric Jones | Wide receiver | Duke | |
| 3 | 60 | Clayton Weishuhn | Linebacker | Angelo State | |
| 4 | 85 | George Crump | Defensive end | East Carolina | |
| 4 | 111 | Brian Ingram | Linebacker | Tennessee | |
| 5 | 112 | Fred Marion * | Safety | Miami (FL) | |
| 6 | 141 | Ricky Smith | Cornerback | Alabama State | |
| 7 | 168 | Jeff Roberts | Linebacker | Tulane | |
| 8 | 197 | Ken Collins | Linebacker | Washington State | |
| 9 | 224 | Kelvin Murdock | Wide receiver | Troy State | |
| 10 | 253 | Brian Clark | Placekicker | Florida | |
| 11 | 296 | Steve Sandon | Quarterback | Northern Iowa | |
| 12 | 308 | Greg Taylor | Wide receiver | Virginia | |
| Made roster † Pro Football Hall of Fame * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career ||||||

## Regular season
### Schedule

| Week | Original Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Recap |
| 1 | 1 | September 12 | at Baltimore Colts | W 24–13 | 1–0 | Memorial Stadium | Recap |
| 2 | 2 | September 19 | New York Jets | L 7–31 | 1–1 | Schaefer Stadium | Recap |
| — | 3 | Seattle Seahawks | Seattle Seahawks | Cancelled due to players’ strike | Cancelled due to players’ strike | Cancelled due to players’ strike | Cancelled due to players’ strike |
| — | 4 | at Buffalo Bills | at Buffalo Bills | | Cancelled due to players’ strike | Cancelled due to players’ strike | Cancelled due to players’ strike | Cancelled due to players’ strike |
| — | 5 | Cincinnati Bengals | Cincinnati Bengals | | Cancelled due to players’ strike | Cancelled due to players’ strike | Cancelled due to players’ strike | Cancelled due to players’ strike |
| — | 6 | at Miami Dolphins | at Miami Dolphins | | Cancelled due to players’ strike | Cancelled due to players’ strike | Cancelled due to players’ strike | Cancelled due to players’ strike |
| — | 7 | St. Louis Cardinals | St. Louis Cardinals | | Cancelled due to players’ strike | Cancelled due to players’ strike | Cancelled due to players’ strike | Cancelled due to players’ strike |
| — | 8 | at New York Jets | at New York Jets | | Cancelled due to players’ strike | Cancelled due to players’ strike | Cancelled due to players’ strike | Cancelled due to players’ strike |
| — | 9 | Baltimore Colts | Baltimore Colts | | Cancelled due to players’ strike | Cancelled due to players’ strike | Cancelled due to players’ strike | Cancelled due to players’ strike |
| — | 10 | Buffalo Bills | Buffalo Bills | Postponed due to players’ strike | Postponed due to players’ strike | Postponed due to players’ strike | Postponed due to players’ strike |
| 3 | 11 | November 21 | at Cleveland Browns | L 7–10 | 1–2 | Cleveland Stadium | Recap |
| 4 | 12 | November 28 | Houston Oilers | W 29–21 | 2–2 | Schaefer Stadium | Recap |
| 5 | 13 | December 5 | at Chicago Bears | L 13–26 | 2–3 | Soldier Field | Recap |
| 6 | 14 | December 12 | Miami Dolphins | W 3–0 | 3–3 | Schaefer Stadium | Recap |
| 7 | 15 | December 19 | at Seattle Seahawks | W 16–0 | 4–3 | Kingdome | Recap |
| 8 | 16 | December 26 | at Pittsburgh Steelers | L 14–37 | 4–4 | Three Rivers Stadium | Recap |
| 9 | 17 | January 2 | Buffalo Bills | W 30–19 | 5–4 | Schaefer Stadium | Recap |
| Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text. ||||||||

### Standings

AFC East :
| viewtalkedit | W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | STK |
| Miami Dolphins$^{(2)}$ | 7 | 2 | 0 | .778 | 6–1 | 6–1 | 198 | 131 | W3 |
| New York Jets$^{(6)}$ | 6 | 3 | 0 | .667 | 2–2 | 2–3 | 245 | 166 | L1 |
| New England Patriots$^{(7)}$ | 5 | 4 | 0 | .556 | 3–1 | 5–3 | 143 | 157 | W1 |
| Buffalo Bills | 4 | 5 | 0 | .444 | 1–3 | 3–3 | 150 | 154 | L3 |
| Baltimore Colts | 0 | 8 | 1 | .056 | 0–5–0 | 0–7–0 | 113 | 236 | L2 |
AFCvte :
| # | Team | W | L | T | PCT | PF | PA | STK |
| Seeded postseason qualifiers |||||||||
| 1 | Los Angeles Raiders | 8 | 1 | 0 | .889 | 260 | 200 | W5 |
| 2 | Miami Dolphins | 7 | 2 | 0 | .778 | 198 | 131 | W3 |
| 3 | Cincinnati Bengals | 7 | 2 | 0 | .778 | 232 | 177 | W2 |
| 4 | Pittsburgh Steelers | 6 | 3 | 0 | .667 | 204 | 146 | W2 |
| 5 | San Diego Chargers | 6 | 3 | 0 | .667 | 288 | 221 | L1 |
| 6 | New York Jets | 6 | 3 | 0 | .667 | 245 | 166 | L1 |
| 7 | New England Patriots | 5 | 4 | 0 | .556 | 143 | 157 | W1 |
| 8 | Cleveland Browns | 4 | 5 | 0 | .444 | 140 | 182 | L1 |
| Did not qualify for the postseason |||||||||
| 9 | Buffalo Bills | 4 | 5 | 0 | .444 | 150 | 154 | L3 |
| 10 | Seattle Seahawks | 4 | 5 | 0 | .444 | 127 | 147 | W1 |
| 11 | Kansas City Chiefs | 3 | 6 | 0 | .333 | 176 | 184 | W1 |
| 12 | Denver Broncos | 2 | 7 | 0 | .222 | 148 | 226 | L3 |
| 13 | Houston Oilers | 1 | 8 | 0 | .111 | 136 | 245 | L7 |
| 14 | Baltimore Colts | 0 | 8 | 1 | .056 | 113 | 236 | L2 |
| Tiebreakers |||||||||
| 1 2 Miami finished ahead of Cincinnati based on better conference record (6–1 to Cincinnati’s 6–2). 1 2 Pittsburgh finished ahead of San Diego based on better record against common opponents (3–1 to Chargers' 2–1). Conference tiebreak was initially used to eliminate New York Jets. 1 2 3 Pittsburgh and San Diego finished ahead of New York Jets based on conference record (Pittsburgh and San Diego 5–3 against Jets’ 2–3) 1 2 3 Cleveland finished ahead of Buffalo and Buffalo ahead of Seattle based on conference record (4–3 to Buffalo’s 3–3 to Seattle’s 3–5). |||||||||

## Playoffs

| Round | Date | Opponent (seed) | Result | Record | Venue | Recap |
| AFC first round | January 8, 1983 | at Miami Dolphins (2) | L 13–28 | 0–1 | Miami Orange Bowl | Recap |