2012 New England Patriots season The New England Patriots season was the franchise ' s 43rd season in the National Football League and 53rd overall . The Patriots did not improve upon their 13 - 3 record , finishing at 12 – 4 , but did win the AFC East for the fourth season in a row , and a first - round bye as one of the top two seeds in the AFC for the third consecutive year . This season marks head coach Bill Belichick ' s 13th season as Patriots head coach , and the 11th season in which the Patriots played all of their home games at Gillette Stadium . The 2012 Patriots featured a prolific offense that broke the record for first downs in a season , with 444 , and finished third all - time in scoring , with 557 points , finishing only behind the 2011 Green Bay Packers and their previous 2007 record setting season . Additionally , this was the third consecutive season that the Patriots exceeded 500 points scored , which tied the record set by the 1999 - 2001 St . Louis Rams . The Patriots also ranked first in the league with a turnover margin of + 25 . The Patriots ' 12 - win season marked their tenth consecutive 10 - win season , a feat exceeded only by the San Francisco 49ers ' streak of 16 , from 1983 to 1998 , and their twelfth consecutive winning season . However , on January 20 , 2013 , they were defeated by the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC Championship Game , marking their first AFC title game loss at home . Offseason . On May 15 , Wes Welker signed his franchise tender of 1 year for $ 9 . 5 million . He was still permitted to negotiate a long term deal until July 15 , which passed , and a new contract cannot be negotiated until the end of the season . 2012 NFL Draft . The Patriots traded their fifth - round selection and a 2013 sixth - round selection to the Cincinnati Bengals in exchange for wide receiver Chad Johnson . They also tried to improve their defense when they traded their fifth - round selection to the Washington Redskins for defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth and their sixth - round selection to the Philadelphia Eagles in exchange for linebacker Tracy White and the Eagles ' seventh - round selection . The Patriots also traded two seventh - round selections — one to the Kansas City Chiefs in exchange for safety Jarrad Page , and another to the Minnesota Vikings along with Randy Moss in exchange for a 2011 third - round selection . NOTES : Schedule . Regular season . The team ' s schedule was announced on April 17 . Based solely on 2011 records , the Patriots had the easiest schedule in the league , with opponents compiling a total record of 116 - 140 ( . 453 ) . Regular season results . Week 1 : at Tennessee Titans . With the win , the Patriots not only started the season at 1 - 0 but they also won their ninth straight season opener . Tom Brady threw for 236 yards and two touchdowns , and the defending AFC champion Patriots routed the Tennessee Titans at LP Field by a score of 34 - 13 . Stevan Ridley ran for 125 yards on 21 carries and the Patriots Offense was nearly flawless . Rookies Chandler Jones and Dont ' a Hightower combined for a game changing defensive touchdown when Jones beat his blocker and strip sacked Titans Quarterback Jake Locker . Rookie Strong Safety Tavon Wilson also had an interception deep in Patriots territory to preserve a Patriots lead with the Titans before the half . Week 2 : vs . Arizona Cardinals . With the loss the Patriots fell to 1 - 1 , 10 - 1 in home openers at Gillette Stadium , and 18 - 3 against NFC opponents at Gillette Stadium . The Patriots offense was lethargic all day long against a dominant Arizona defense , until late in the 4th Quarter , as Tom Brady hit TE Rob Gronkowski for a chance to tie the game . However , the 2 point conversion attempt failed , and the scoreline retained a 2 - point lead to the visitors , 20 - 18 . On the ensuing drive , however , Cardinals RB Ryan Williams fumbled with 1 : 01 left , giving the Patriots the ball on the Cardinals 30 yard line . Danny Woodhead took a 30 yard rushing play into the endzone , but the score was nullified by a holding call on Gronkowski . The Patriots elected to attempt a seemingly routine 42 yard field goal to win the game , but Stephen Gostkowski ' s kick went wide left , sealing an upset win for Arizona , and a rare loss at home for Bill Belichick ' s side . Week 3 : at Baltimore Ravens . The Patriots were hoping to stave off a losing streak and rebound from their loss to the Cardinals . In this rematch of the AFC Championship , the Patriots started off fast , with the score 13 - 0 after the first quarter . The Ravens then scored two straight touchdowns to take a 14 - 13 lead with 1 : 47 left in the half . Right before the half Brady scored a touchdown to retake the lead , 20 - 14 . In the second half Ray Rice scored a touchdown to allow Baltimore to retake a 21 - 20 lead . Then the Patriots scored another touchdown to take a 27 - 21 lead . On a subsequent drive Baltimore ' s defense held New England to a field goal to make the score 30 - 21 New England . Then Joe Flacco engineered a touchdown drive to trim the lead to 30 - 28 New England . New England attempted to increase their lead , but Brady was sacked and the Patriots were forced to punt . In the end Baltimore was able to run out the clock , with Justin Tucker kicking a controversial field goal to take the game 31 - 30 just as time expired . With this loss New England fell to 1 - 2 . The Ravens not only avenged the AFC Championship defeat by winning their first - ever regular season meeting against their opponent , but the Patriots faced their first sub - . 500 record in 145 games since starting the 2003 season 0 - 1 against the Buffalo Bills , and also stumbled to their first 1 - 2 start since 2001 . This was the fourth time in the previous ten seasons the Pats had lost consecutive games . Also , in what turned out to be the replacement officials ' next - to - last game officiating , the game was marred by a series of questionable calls that eventually provoked the Ravens fans to start chanting derogatory words towards the referees ; Patriots coach Bill Belichick was seen to try to grab one of the officials as they were scurrying from the field . The Patriots were one of six 2011 season playoff teams to be under . 500 after their first three games ; the others were the Steelers , Broncos , Lions , Packers , and Saints ( who were sitting at 0 - 3 by this time ) . Week 4 : at Buffalo Bills . In the Patriots ' 52 – 28 win over the Buffalo Bills , they became only the second team in NFL history — after the 2008 Green Bay Packers — to have two players with 100 yards receiving ( Welker and Gronkowski ) " and " two players with 100 yards rushing ( Bolden and Ridley ) in the same game . The Patriots were losing just under 4 minutes into the 2nd half after a Donald Jones 68 yard touchdown for the Bills but the Patriots recovered scoring 35 unanswered points and 45 points in the 2nd half total to crush the Bills . Brady threw for 340 yards and 3 touchdowns while Bolden ( 137 yards , 1 touchdown ) and Ridley ( 106 yards , 2 touchdowns ) chimed in to make it the most points the Patriots had scored since 2009 as the team improved to 2 - 2 . Week 5 : vs . Denver Broncos . Coming off their win in Buffalo against the Bills , the Patriots returned to Foxborough to host the Denver Broncos , and Peyton Manning . This was the 13th meeting between quarterbacks Peyton Manning and Tom Brady since 2001 . The Patriots grabbed the early lead , with Brady connecting on an 8 - yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Wes Welker . The Broncos responded early in the second quarter , with Manning tossing a 1 - yard touchdown pass to tight end Joel Dreessen . However , the Patriots reeled off 24 unanswered points , with running back Shane Vereen rushing for a 1 - yard touchdown , a 23 - yard field goal by placekicker Stephen Gostkowski just before halftime , followed in the third quarter by Brady scoring a 1 - yard touchdown on a quarterback sneak and running back Stevan Ridley rushing for an 8 - yard touchdown . The latter touchdown occurred after a Manning fumble deep in Broncos ' territory . The Broncos responded , with Manning throwing a pair of touchdown passes — a 2 - yarder to wide receiver Eric Decker , followed in the fourth quarter by a 5 - yarder to wide receiver Brandon Stokley to close the gap to 31 – 21 with 6 : 43 remaining . Following a Patriots ' fumble , the Broncos were attempting to rally . However , running back Willis McGahee fumbled the football at the Patriots ' 14 - yard line with 3 : 48 remaining , halting the Broncos ' rally attempt . The Patriots subsequently ran out the clock . Tom Brady improved his head - to - head record against Peyton Manning to 9 – 4 . With the legendary QB battle between Tom Brady and Peyton Manning renewed , the Patriots would take the first game as the team improved to 3 - 2 . Week 6 : at Seattle Seahawks . Coming off their win against Denver , the Patriots flew to Seattle to play their only game on the west coast of the season . After starting the first half with a 17 - 10 lead , the Patriots would only score two field goals in the second half . With 7 : 21 remaining in the fourth quarter , Russell Wilson connected with Braylon Edwards for a 10 - yard TD run to get the Seahawks to 23 - 17 . After forcing the Patriots to go three and out twice , the Seahawks got the ball back and Wilson connected with Sidney Rice for a 46 - Yard TD , taking the lead 24 - 23 with 1 : 18 remaining . With the surprising loss , the Patriots fell to 3 - 3 . The loss also leaves them 0 - 2 against the NFC West . Week 7 : vs . New York Jets . With the win , the Patriots improved to 4 - 3 . Week 8 : at St . Louis Rams . With the huge win , the Patriots went into their bye week at 5 - 3 . 1 - 2 against the NFC West . Week 9 Bye Week . On November 1 in a deadline deal , New England shipped a 2013 4th round pick to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for cornerback Aqib Talib and a 2013 7th round pick . Week 10 : vs . Buffalo Bills . With the win , the Patriots improved to 6 - 3 on the season and 11 - 0 against the Buffalo Bills at Gillette Stadium . Week 11 : vs . Indianapolis Colts . The 6 - 3 Patriots played the 6 - 3 Indianapolis Colts and their rookie quarterback Andrew Luck . Luck led two touchdown drives that put the Colts up 14 - 7 after the first quarter , but from there the Patriots took over . Julian Edelman ran back a 68 - yard punt - return touchdown , then Aqib Talib in his first game with New England following a trade from Tampa Bay intercepted Luck and ran back a 59 - yard touchdown . Tom Brady threw three touchdowns and Alfonzo Dennard intercepted Luck at the Patriots 13 - yard line and ran back another pick - six touchdown . Luck threw a 43 yard touchdown to T . Y . Hilton to cut the score to 45 - 24 . Rob Gronkowski caught a 24 - yard score from Brady but suffered a freak arm injury on kick - protection on a late PAT in the 59 - 24 Patriots win . The win put the Patriots at 7 - 3 and dropped the Colts to 6 - 4 . Week 12 : at New York Jets . The Patriots scored three touchdowns in a span of 53 seconds , becoming the third team since the AFL - NFL merger to do so . ( The 2002 Seahawks did it in 52 seconds while the 1998 Falcons in 49 seconds . ) For the second week in a row , the Patriots tied a franchise record set in their 2009 Week 6 game against the Tennessee Titans — in this case , 35 second - quarter points . Unlike the Titans game , though , where the Patriots held the ball for 9 minutes and 22 seconds , in this quarter the Patriots held the ball for just 2 minutes and 14 seconds , with the offense running just six plays in the entire quarter . Also , the Patriots scored the most points in consecutive weeks ( 108 ) and in a four - week period ( 190 ) since the 1950 Los Angeles Rams . Week 13 : at Miami Dolphins . With the win , the Patriots improved to 9 - 3 , and clinched their 15th AFC East title . Week 14 : vs . Houston Texans . Tom Brady threw four touchdowns in New England ' s first home game against the Houston Texans since 2006 . Donte Stallworth played his first game with the Patriots since August training camp ( and first official game since 2007 ) and caught a 63 - yard touchdown , but following the game was diagnosed with an ankle injury and placed on IR . The win pushed the Patriots to 10 - 3 while the Texans fell to 11 - 2 . Week 15 : vs . San Francisco 49ers . In a bitterly fought affair in cold rain , the Patriots fell to 10 - 4 and snapped their 21 - game winning streak at home in December , the longest such winning streak in the NFL at the time . The Patriots fell to 18 - 4 at Gillette Stadium against NFC teams and have lost three straight home contests in interconference games . The 49ers raced to a 31 - 3 lead in the third quarter off four Patriots turnovers ( two of them Brady interceptions ) , but the Patriots rallied to score four touchdowns . A 63 - yard kick return set up Colin Kaepernick ' s fourth touchdown pass of the game and a failed fourth - down conversion attempt led to a Niners field goal . Week 16 : at Jacksonville Jaguars . The Patriots ground out a 23 - 16 win sealed on two late interceptions by Patrick Chung . The win , however , left the Patriots angry ; Tom Brady criticized his teammates following the game , saying " We didn ' t compete , " and his postgame press conference was unusually short . Week 17 : vs . Miami Dolphins . With the shutout win , the Patriots ended their regular season at 12 - 4 , and they swept their AFC East rivals for the first time since 2007 . The win also clinched the AFC ' s No . 2 seed , following the Texans ' loss to the Colts earlier that day . Postseason results . Divisional Round vs . Houston Texans . Tom Brady became the winningest quarterback in NFL playoff history with his 17th postseason win , breaking a tie with Joe Montana ; it was also the 450th victory ( regular season and playoffs ) in franchise history . The win put the Patriots into the AFL - AFC Title Game for the tenth time in franchise history ( ninth under the AFC banner ) and a rematch of the 2011 title game ( as well as a rematch of Week 3 ) with the Baltimore Ravens . AFC Championship vs . Baltimore Ravens . The Patriots lead 13 - 7 in the first half , but were shutout for the entire second half by the Ravens . With the loss , the Patriots concluded their season with a record of 13 – 5 , and dropped to 1 - 2 against the Ravens during the postseason ( all 3 playoff meetings have occurred at Gillette Stadium ) . This would also be the first time Tom Brady would lose a home game after leading at halftime . Statistics . " Updated through Week 17 "