You’ve probably heard the debates at the local bar or seen the endless Twitter threads. Everyone knows the New England Patriots were a juggernaut, but when you actually sit down and ask patriots have won how many super bowls, the answer carries a lot of weight.
Six.
The Patriots have won six Super Bowls. Honestly, that number feels almost impossible in a league designed for parity. They aren't alone at the mountain top, though. They share that specific "six-ring" গৌরব with the Pittsburgh Steelers, although the way New England got there was arguably much more condensed and chaotic.
The Six Rings: A Timeline of the Dynasty
If you're looking for the quick list, here is when the magic happened. These aren't just dates; they represent the era when the AFC East was basically a one-team race for two decades.
- Super Bowl XXXVI (2002): The shocker. They beat the "Greatest Show on Turf" Rams 20-17. Adam Vinatieri’s leg became legendary that night.
- Super Bowl XXXVIII (2004): A 32-29 nail-biter against the Carolina Panthers. Back-to-back wasn't the goal yet, but they were halfway there.
- Super Bowl XXXIX (2005): They took down the Eagles 24-21. This officially cemented the first half of the dynasty.
- Super Bowl XLIX (2015): The Malcolm Butler game. 28-24 over the Seattle Seahawks. If you know, you know.
- Super Bowl LI (2017): 28-3. That’s all you have to say to a Falcons fan. The 34-28 overtime win was the greatest comeback ever.
- Super Bowl LIII (2019): A defensive grind. 13-3 over the Rams. It wasn't pretty, but a ring is a ring.
Why the Number Six is Actually Complicated
Numbers don't tell the whole story. While they've won six, they have actually appeared in 11 Super Bowls. That is the NFL record.
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Think about that for a second.
Basically, the Patriots have lost almost as many Super Bowls as they’ve won. They’ve tasted defeat five times on the biggest stage. Some of those losses were heartbreakers, like the 2008 defeat to the Giants that ruined a perfect 18-0 season. If a few plays had gone differently—a helmet catch here, a dropped pass there—we might be talking about eight or nine trophies.
Conversely, they were a yard away from losing to Seattle. They were down by 25 points to Atlanta. Luck is a fickle thing in football, and the Patriots have been on both sides of it.
The Architects: Brady and Belichick
You can't talk about patriots have won how many super bowls without mentioning the two guys who were there for every single one of them. Tom Brady and Bill Belichick.
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It’s rare. In most sports, stars move or coaches get fired. But this duo stayed together for 20 years. Brady wasn't even supposed to play; he was a sixth-round pick, pick number 199. He only got his shot because Drew Bledsoe got hurt in 2001.
Belichick, the defensive mastermind, built a "Do Your Job" culture that was often polarizing. People outside of New England hated them. They were accused of everything from filming signals to deflating footballs. But on the field? They were clinical.
The Forgotten Years and the New Era
Before the 2000s, the Patriots were... well, they weren't great. They made it to the Super Bowl in 1986 and got absolutely destroyed by the Chicago Bears 46-10. They went back in 1997 with Drew Bledsoe and lost to Brett Favre’s Packers.
The team wasn't always the "Evil Empire." They were the underdogs for a long time.
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As of early 2026, the team is in a massive transition. The era of dominance ended when Brady left for Tampa (and won another one, just to prove a point). Since then, the franchise has struggled to find that same spark. Bill Belichick moved on after the 2023 season, and Jerod Mayo took the reigns. Fans are now learning what it's like to be a "normal" football team again. It’s a bit of a reality check for a generation of fans who grew up thinking a Super Bowl parade in Boston was an annual February event.
Key Insights for Fans and Historians
If you’re tracking the legacy of this team, keep these specific points in mind:
- Check the tie: Keep an eye on the Kansas City Chiefs. With Patrick Mahomes winning multiple rings recently, the Patriots' record of six (shared with Pittsburgh) is suddenly under threat.
- The "Loss" Record: The Patriots share the record for the most Super Bowl losses (5) with the Denver Broncos. It’s a weird stat—it shows how often they get there, but also how high the stakes are.
- MVPs: Tom Brady took home the MVP award in four of those six New England victories. Deion Branch (2005) and Julian Edelman (2019) were the only ones to break the streak.
To truly understand the impact, you have to look at the gap between the wins. They won three in four years (2002-2005), then went ten years without a title before winning another three in five years (2015-2019). That longevity is what actually separates them from other "one-hit wonder" teams.
Whether you love them or hate them, the six banners hanging in Foxborough are a permanent part of sports history. The next step for any fan is to keep an eye on the Hall of Fame inductions coming up—many of the players from those 2010s teams are just now becoming eligible, which will keep the conversation about those six wins alive for years to other.