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- The 2001 season was the New England Patriots' 32nd in the National Football League (NFL) and their 42nd season overall. They finished with an 11–5 record and a division title before advancing to and winning Super Bowl XXXVI. Coming off a fifth-place finish in the AFC East during head coach Bill Belichick's first season in 2000, the Patriots were not expected to fare much better in 2001. On August 6, quarterbacks coach Dick Rehbein died of cardiomyopathy at the age of 45. In the second game of the regular season, nine-year starting quarterback Drew Bledsoe, who had received a 10-year contract extension in March, was injured on a hit by New York Jets linebacker Mo Lewis, causing backup Tom Brady, a sixth-round draft pick in 2000, to enter the game after serving as the Patriots' 4th string rookie the season before. The Patriots lost the game to fall to 0–2, but Brady started the final 14 games of the season and compiled an 11–3 record as a starter, helping the Patriots clinch the 2nd seed in the AFC playoffs and a first round bye. As a result, the Patriots became the first team in NFL history to win the Super Bowl after starting the season 1–3, and only the 2nd team in NFL history to win the Super Bowl after starting the season 2–3, after the 1980 Oakland Raiders. With the second seed in the AFC playoffs, the Patriots faced the Oakland Raiders at home following a first-round bye in the final game at Foxboro Stadium; in a snowstorm, a Patriots drive late in the fourth quarter was kept alive in an application of the now-infamous tuck rule that was used in overturning a Brady fumble into an incomplete pass. Shortly after, a 45-yard Adam Vinatieri field goal through the snow, considered one of the most clutch field goals in NFL history, sent the game into overtime, when Vinatieri scored another field goal to win the game. After defeating the top-seeded Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC Championship Game, the Patriots faced the heavily favored St. Louis Rams, known as "The Greatest Show on Turf", in Super Bowl XXXVI. Once again, Vinatieri kicked a game-winning field goal; the 48-yard kick sailed through the uprights as time expired, and gave the Patriots their first ever Super Bowl victory in what has been considered by many to be a "Cinderella" season. As it would turn out, the 2001 season served as a launching pad for the team. In the next 18 seasons, they would win 16 more division titles, win 8 more AFC Championship out of their next 12 appearances, win 5 more Super Bowl titles out of their next 8 appearances, and achieve an undefeated regular season (followed by a 2–1 playoff record) in 2007. (en)
- La stagione 2001 dei New England Patriots è stata la 32ª della franchigia nella National Football League, la 42ª complessiva. Con un record di 11-5 andò a vincere la propria division, conquistando il 3 febbraio 2002 il Super Bowl XXXVI, il primo della sua storia. In arrivo da un quinto posto nella prima stagione sotto la direzione di Bill Belichick nel 2000, le aspettative attorno ai Patriots non erano molto diverse nel 2001. Nella seconda gara della stagione, quello che era da nove anni il quarterback titolare della squadra, Drew Bledsoe (che aveva ricevuto un'estensione contrattuale di dieci anni nel marzo 2001) si infortunò a causa di un colpo subito dal linebacker dei New York Jets Mo Lewis, portando la riserva Tom Brady, una scelta del sesto giro del 2000, ad entrare in campo. I Patriots persero la gara scendendo a un record di 0–2, ma Brady iniziò come titolare tutte le restanti 14 gare, portando la squadra a un record parziale di 11–3, assicurandosi il secondo posto nel tabellone della AFC e la possibilità di saltare il primo turno di playoff. In tale modo, i Patriots divennero solamente la seconda squadra della storia della NFL a vincere il Super Bowl dopo avere iniziato la stagione con un record di 2–3, dopo gli Oakland Raiders del 1980. Nel divisional round dei playoff, in quella che divenne nota come Tuck Rule Game, i Patriots batterono gli Oakland Raiders in casa in mezzo a una bufera di neve, nell'ultima gara della storia disputata al Foxboro Stadium, grazie a un field goal di Adam Vinatieri nei tempi supplementari. Dopo avere superato i Pittsburgh Steelers, numero 1 del tabellone, nella finale della AFC, i Patriots affrontarono gli ampiamente favoriti St. Louis Rams, conosciuti come "The Greatest Show on Turf", nel Super Bowl XXXVI. Ancora una volta, Vinatieri calciò il field goal della vittoria da 48 yard mentre il tempo andava esaurendosi. Fu la prima di tre vittorie del Super Bowl nell'arco di quattro anni. (it)
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- The 2001 season was the New England Patriots' 32nd in the National Football League (NFL) and their 42nd season overall. They finished with an 11–5 record and a division title before advancing to and winning Super Bowl XXXVI. As it would turn out, the 2001 season served as a launching pad for the team. In the next 18 seasons, they would win 16 more division titles, win 8 more AFC Championship out of their next 12 appearances, win 5 more Super Bowl titles out of their next 8 appearances, and achieve an undefeated regular season (followed by a 2–1 playoff record) in 2007. (en)
- La stagione 2001 dei New England Patriots è stata la 32ª della franchigia nella National Football League, la 42ª complessiva. Con un record di 11-5 andò a vincere la propria division, conquistando il 3 febbraio 2002 il Super Bowl XXXVI, il primo della sua storia. (it)
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