Most of us recall the glory days of Gillette Stadium, when the home of the New England Patriots was a house of horrors for opposing teams. Nowadays, whenever opponents come into Foxborough, it feels more like a glorified bye week.
The embarrassing home losses have outweighed the dramatic wins over the last few years. Brady is no longer running under the Gillette bridge, pumping his fist. The quarterback's 121-24 record in Foxborough feels like a lifetime ago.
The problems that have plagued the Patriots in recent years resurfaced in Sunday's loss to Pittsburgh.
Can the Patriots regain a home field advantage at Gillette Stadium?
The Patriots have suffered some disappointing losses at Gillette Stadium over the last couple of seasons. A few that stand out include a 34-0 pasting by the Saints in 2023, a rain-soaked 17-3 loss to the Jets in Bill Belichick's final game as New England's head coach - New York's first win over the Patriots in 15 tries - and a 40-7 drubbing by the Chargers late last season.
The sad irony of Sunday's game is this. The Patriots wore their throwback Pat Patriot uniforms. Given how much New England was shooting itself in the foot - five turnovers, including four lost fumbles - it gave fans flashbacks to the days of the late 1980s and early 1990s when the team stunk. Thankfully, Drake Maye is no Hugh Millen.
The throwback #Patriots unis were appropriate for the early ‘90s-style gaffe-fest New England hosted today.
— Chris Warner (@cwarn89) September 21, 2025
Getting things right at home for the Patriots begins in Week 4, when the Carolina Panthers come to Foxborough. New England is staring down the barrel of a three-game road trip on the other side of this game, and the Panthers aren't exactly world-beaters.
This represents the ideal opportunity for Mike Vrabel and company to start giving fans reason to come to the stadium and stick around the full 60 minutes. There have been too many fourth quarters with fans heading to the parking lots early in the last few seasons.
Gillette Stadium used to be a house of horrors for the rest of the NFL. Now, it's a house of horrors for Patriots' fans, and that needs to change. Fast.