Patriots' close Week 12 win revived a long-lost record fans forgot existed

The New England Patriots' 26-20 win over the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday propels the team to a 10-2 record, the best in the NFL. They are the first team to double-digit wins across the league, and now sit atop the AFC playoff picture.

Their hard-fought, injury-riddled win in Cincinnati extended New England's win streak to nine games in a row, and they also broke a record with that victory, one set in the 1961 season.

This Patriots squad joins the 1961 Houston Oilers, who won the AFL championship, as the only teams to ever score 23-plus points and allow 23-or-fewer points in nine straight games within a single season.

For all the questions surrounding the legitimacy of this year's team, it's the consistent record-breaking that proves the Patriots are the real deal. That doesn't happen with just any team, but it still hasn't slowed down the "easy schedule" narrative as they inch closer to the playoffs.

Regardless, it's quite a feat for this young team to have accomplished.

The 1961 Houston Oilers and the 2025 New England Patriots share a record, but could potentially share a similar end of season result

Led by Hall of Fame quarterback George Blanda, the 1961 Oilers led the league with 36.6 points per game, allowing them to win their second straight AFL championship. The 34-year-old quarterback threw for 3,330 passing yards and 36 touchdowns in 11 games, and won league MVP, an accomplishment Patriots fans would undoubtedly like to see from Drake Maye.

On top of that, the team sneaked into the NFL's "NFL 100 Greatest" teams list at No. 100 in 2019. According to Kevin Clark, former NFL staff writer for The Ringer, the 1961 Oilers "were an offensive juggernaut in an era where that was increasingly hard to do," which only exemplifies the types of teams the Patriots are being compared to.

This historical parallel suggests a positive omen for the 2025 Patriots, considering their championship aspirations that have surprised fans across the league. Furthermore, the Super Bowl-winning 1984 San Francisco 49ers nearly broke the Oilers' record 41 years ago, but they were short of 23 points twice in their 12-game win streak that led San Francisco and quarterback Joe Montana to raise the Lombardi Trophy.

With these two teams in mind, the Patriots will look not only to continue their win streak into double digits this coming week versus the New York Giants, but also to set themselves up to repeat history and, hopefully, become victorious in another championship.