Patriots are just fourth Super Bowl team with this stunning distinction

In just 10 days, the New England Patriots will be playing in Super Bowl LX, but when the season started, the Patriots definitely didn’t look like a team that was going to eventually be playing for the Lombardi Trophy. Back in Week 1, the Patriots lost to the Raiders in what now looks like the most shocking result of the entire regular season. 

The Patriots defense carried New England through the playoffs, but the unit didn’t show up for the season opener, a game where Geno Smith threw for 362 yards and a touchdown in a 20-13 win for the Raiders. In the loss to the Raiders, the Patriots were plagued by mistakes in the game: Drake Maye threw an interception and Andy Borregales missed a short field goal (40 yards), which would end up being the only field goal attempt he would miss through the first 10 weeks of the season. 

One reason the eventual outcome now looks so shocking is because the Raiders ended up with the worst record in the NFL. They ended up finishing 3-14, which clinched the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft. The Pete Carroll era got off to a hot start with the win over New England and it looked like the Raiders might be a force in 2025, but instead, Carroll was fired and Las Vegas ended up with the worst record in the NFL. 

2026 Super Bowl uniforms revealed: Patriots to debut new big-game look, Seahawks wearing jersey they’re 0-2 in

John Breech

In the 60 years of the Super Bowl era, there have only been three previous instances in history where a Super Bowl team lost to the team that ended up clinching the No. 1 overall pick (via the AP). 

Let’s check those out: 

• 1968: Bills 37-35 over Jets. In 1968, the Bills only won a ONE game and it came against a Jets team that would eventually win Super Bowl III. Joe Namath, who would lead the Jets to a stunning upset win over the Colts in the Super Bowl, threw five interceptions in this Week 4 loss to the Bills, who would eventually finish 1-12-1. They earned the No. 1 overall pick for 1969, which they ended up using on O.J. Simpson. 
• 1987: Atlanta 21-20 over Washington. Gerald Riggs scored a fourth-quarter touchdown for the Falcons that ended up providing the game-winning points in this Week 2 win. The loss clearly sparked Washington, a team that would end up destroying the Broncos, 42-10, in Super Bowl XXII. As for the Falcons, who went 3-12 in 1987, they ended up with the No. 1 overall pick in 1988 and they used it on Audray Bruce. He never became a household name, but he did last 11 seasons in the NFL. 
• 1997: Colts 41-38 over Packers. The Colts were a 13.5-point underdog in this game, but they managed to pull off the upset when Cary Blanchard hit a 20-yard field goal to give Indy the win on the final play of the game. Colts’ QB Paul Justin (340 yards) outdueled Brett Favre, who threw two interceptions. The Packers ended up getting to the Super Bowl XXXII, where they would lose to the Broncos, 31-24. As for the Colts, who finished the season 3-13, they ended getting the No. 1 overall pick in 1998 and they used it on someone named Peyton Manning. 

If the Patriots beat the Seahawks in Super Bowl LX, they’d become the first team in 39 years to win a Lombardi Trophy in the same season where they lost to the team with the worst record in the NFL. The Patriots finished 14-3 during the regular season and the fact that one of those three losses came to the Raiders definitely qualifies as one of the biggest surprises of the regular season.