Our NFL Thursday miniseries is getting closer to the end of the parade here, as we travel from the Windy City to the Northeast, where we have to address the cheating New England Patriots. This is tough for us, since everything the franchise has done since Bill Belichick took over is illegitimate to us—a circumstance we have not yet encountered in this sequence of columns we’ve been writing on the history of NFL teams.

Overall, including the cheating, the Patriots have a .560 winning percentage since their incarnation in the AFL—this includes 28 postseason appearances, 22 division titles, 11 Super Bowl appearances, and 6 Super Bowl titles. However, the vast majority of these “successes” came under Belichick. This means we won’t recognize those as valid accomplishments. Thus, this list represents the non-cheating eras of the franchise.

No. 5: 1986 New England Patriots

One year after reaching the team’s first Super Bowl, these Pats won the AFC East Division with an 11-5 record. That was possible thanks to the No. 2 offense, the No. 10 defense, and the No. 6 SRS ranking overall. However, New England had lost its playoff mojo, and the Patriots were unable to hold on to a slim, third-quarter lead on the road against the Denver Broncos, the eventual AFC champions. Season over early, sadly.

This team didn’t have a lot of talent at the top; only wide receiver Stanley Morgan (15 Approximate Value) stood out, truly. But the quality was spread far and wide on this team with a lot of role players contributing to overall success. That does not play well in the postseason, however, where stars win the games on their own. Morgan caught 2 scoring passes against Denver, but the Broncos gained 441 total yards to win, 22-17.

No. 4: 1985 New England Patriots

Sadly, people don’t remember this team for its own accomplishments—just those of its Super Bowl opponent. But this Patriots squad went 11-5 to finish third in the AFC East, and then it ran the table in the conference postseason to reach Super Bowl XX. Three straight road upsets against the New York Jets, the Los Angeles Raiders, and the Miami Dolphins should be this team’s legacy, in fact. We’re bummed it’s not.

The No. 10 offense, the No. 6 defense, and the No. 5 SRS ranking tell the story better; linebacker Andre Tippett (18 AV) was the team leader. After beating the Jets, 26-14, the Pats took down the Raiders, 27-20, with a second-half comeback. Against the Dolphins, looking to reach their second straight Super Bowl, the Patriots dominated, 31-14. Forget the championship loss against an all-time great team, if possible, please.

No. 3: 1961 Boston Patriots

The way-back machine takes us to this team, before the organization made itself more regionally friendly for financial purposes. Boston posted a 9-4-1 record to finish second in the AFL East, thus missing the playoffs despite the No. 2 offense, the No. 3 defense, and the No. 3 overall SRS ranking (out of 8 teams). Two losses came by a combined 8 points, and with the tie thrown in, the close ones really cost these Pats a lot.

End Gino Cappelletti (17 AV)—who would win the 1964 AFL MVP vote—was the undisputed leader of this group. But the Patriots started the season with just two wins in their first six games, and even though Boston closed with a 7-1 sprint to the finish, it wasn’t enough to overcome the eventual league champions, the Houston Oilers. The Pats tied the Oilers in Week 6 at home before losing on the road in Week 10.

No. 2: 1980 New England Patriots

This team didn’t even make the postseason, sadly enough, giving you the idea about perhaps why the NFL let the Patriots cheat so much later on. With the No. 2 offense, the No. 17 defense, and the No. 5 overall SRS ranking, New England went 10-6 to finish second in the AFC East. But all five AFC playoff teams won 11 times, leaving the Pats out. Overall, New England lost 4 games by a combined 14 points. You know the price.

Guard John Hannah (17 AV) was the value god here, and he’s in the Hall of Fame for a lot of reasons. Like a lot of these teams on this list, the “star power” was minimal—but the coaching was excellent, enabling the middling talent to exceed its potential and perform at pretty solid levels, roster-wide. But after a 6-1 start, the Patriots struggled to close out the close games down the stretch, and it cost them a playoff appearance.

No. 1: 1976 New England Patriots

The best non-cheating team in franchise history posted a 11-3 record to finish second in the AFC East, thanks to the No. 2 offense, the No. 11 defense, and the No. 6 overall SRS ranking. In the playoffs, though, the Pats had the misfortune of playing the eventual Super Bowl champion Oakland Raiders on the road. But New England had the Sulver & Black on the ropes, leading 21-10 in the fourth quarter. Alas … yeah.

Three players topped the team wuth 15 AV: quarterback Steve Grogan, rookie cornerback Mike Haynes, and Hannah again. Haynes won the ROTY voting, and all seemed to be in order entering that fourth quarter in Oakland. Enter Ben Dreith, one of the worst NFL officials ever. There were so many bad penalties in this game (both called and uncalled) against the Pats that Dreith never worked another N.E. game until 1980.