# 1987 New England Patriots season

The 1987 New England Patriots season was the franchise's 18th season in the National Football League and 28th overall. They failed to improve on their 11–5 record from 1986, in the strike-shortened season, finishing 8–7, tied for second in the AFC East Division, and missing the playoffs for the first time since 1984.

## Offseason
### NFL draft

1987 New England Patriots draft :
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College |
| 1 | 23 | Bruce Armstrong * | T | Louisville |
| 3 | 79 | Bob Perryman | FB | Michigan |
| 4 | 98 | Rich Gannon * | QB | Delaware |
| 4 | 102 | Derrick Beasley | DB | Winston-Salem State |
| 4 | 107 | Tim Jordan | LB | Wisconsin |
| 5 | 113 | Danny Villa | T | Arizona State |
| 5 | 116 | Tom Gibson | DE | Northern Arizona |
| 6 | 163 | Gene Taylor | WR | Fresno State |
| 11 | 302 | Carlos Reveiz | K | Tennessee |
| 11 | 330 | Elgin Davis | RB | UCF |
| Made roster † Pro Football Hall of Fame * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career ||||||

## Personnel
### NFL replacement players

After the league decided to use replacement players during the NFLPA strike, the following team was assembled:

### Roster
## Regular season
### Schedule

| Week | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance |
| 1 | Miami Dolphins | W 28–21 | 1–0 | Sullivan Stadium | 54,642 |
| 2 | at New York Jets | L 24–43 | 1–1 | Giants Stadium | 70,847 |
| – | at Washington Redskins | canceled | 1–1 | RFK Stadium | |
| 3 | Cleveland Browns | L 10–20 | 1–2 | Sullivan Stadium | 14,830 |
| 4 | Buffalo Bills | W 14–7 | 2–2 | Sullivan Stadium | 11,878 |
| 5 | at Houston Oilers | W 21–7 | 3–2 | Astrodome | 26,294 |
| 6 | at Indianapolis Colts | L 16–30 | 3–3 | Hoosier Dome | 48,850 |
| 7 | Los Angeles Raiders | W 26–23 | 4–3 | Sullivan Stadium | 60,664 |
| 8 | at New York Giants | L 10–17 | 4–4 | Giants Stadium | 73,817 |
| 9 | Dallas Cowboys | L 17–23 | 4–5 | Sullivan Stadium | 60,567 |
| 10 | Indianapolis Colts | W 24–0 | 5–5 | Sullivan Stadium | 56,906 |
| 11 | Philadelphia Eagles | L 31–34 | 5–6 | Sullivan Stadium | 54,198 |
| 12 | at Denver Broncos | L 20–31 | 5–7 | Mile High Stadium | 75,795 |
| 13 | New York Jets | W 42–20 | 6–7 | Sullivan Stadium | 60,617 |
| 14 | at Buffalo Bills | W 13–7 | 7–7 | Rich Stadium | 74,945 |
| 15 | at Miami Dolphins | W 24–10 | 8–7 | Joe Robbie Stadium | 61,192 |
| Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text. ||||||

## Season summary
### Week 1

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Dolphins | 7 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 21 |
| • Patriots | 7 | 7 | 14 | 0 | 28 |
Miami Dolphins punter Reggie Roby injured in the game, forcing Don Strock to punt in the emergency situation. Additionally, with 2:22 left in the game Dan Marino was injured forcing Strock to fill in at the quarterback position as well, nearly mounting a winning comeback drive.

### Standings

AFC East :
| viewtalkedit | W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | STK |
| Indianapolis Colts$^{(3)}$ | 9 | 6 | 0 | .600 | 5–3 | 8–6 | 300 | 238 | W2 |
| New England Patriots | 8 | 7 | 0 | .533 | 6–2 | 8–4 | 320 | 293 | W3 |
| Miami Dolphins | 8 | 7 | 0 | .533 | 2–6 | 5–7 | 362 | 335 | L1 |
| Buffalo Bills | 7 | 8 | 0 | .467 | 4–4 | 6–6 | 270 | 305 | L2 |
| New York Jets | 6 | 9 | 0 | .400 | 3–5 | 6–5 | 334 | 360 | L4 |