| Team: | New England Patriots |
| Year: | 1982 |
| Record: | 5–4 |
| Division Place: | 7th AFC |
| Coach: | Ron Meyer |
| General Manager: | Bucko Kilroy |
| Owner: | Billy Sullivan |
| Stadium: | Schaefer Stadium |
| Playoffs: | Lost Wild Card Playoffs (at Dolphins) 13–28 |
| Pro Bowlers: | G John Hannah CB Mike Haynes |
| Ap All-Pros: | G John Hannah (2nd team) CB Mike Haynes (2nd team) |
| Uniform: | Image:AFC-1982-1983-Uniform-NE.PNG |
| Shortnavlink: | Patriots seasons |
The 1982 New England Patriots season was the franchise's 13th season in the National Football League and 23rd overall. They finished the National Football League's strike-shortened season with a record of five wins and four losses and finished seventh in the American Football Conference. Due to the format of the playoffs adopted for the season due to the strike, the Patriots qualified as the #7 seed and were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by the eventual conference champion Miami Dolphins 28–13.
After firing Ron Erhardt after a dismal 2-14 season in 1981, the Patriots hired Southern Methodist University head coach Ron Meyer to be their new coach. Meyer led the Patriots to the playoffs for the first time since 1978, where they won the division under Chuck Fairbanks but were defeated in their opening playoff game.
One of the most notable games in NFL history occurred during the season, when the Patriots hosted the Dolphins in a game played in frozen conditions and under a blanket of snow at Schaefer Stadium. The Patriots won the game 3–0 doing so after a stadium worker used a snowplow to assist kicker John Smith in making the winning field goal.
See also: 1982 NFL draft.
| Week | Original Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Recap | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | September 12 | at Baltimore Colts | W 24–13 | 1–0 | Memorial Stadium | Recap | |
| 2 | 2 | September 19 | New York Jets | L 7–31 | 1–1 | Schaefer Stadium | Recap | |
| — | 3 | Seattle Seahawks | Cancelled due to players’ strike | |||||
| — | 4 | at Buffalo Bills | ||||||
| — | 5 | Cincinnati Bengals | ||||||
| — | 6 | at Miami Dolphins | ||||||
| — | 7 | St. Louis Cardinals | ||||||
| — | 8 | at New York Jets | ||||||
| — | 9 | Baltimore Colts | ||||||
| — | 10 | Buffalo Bills | Postponed due to players’ strike | |||||
| 3 | 11 | November 21 | at Cleveland Browns | L 7–10 | 1–2 | Cleveland Stadium | Recap | |
| 4 | 12 | November 28 | Houston Oilers | W 29–21 | 2–2 | Schaefer Stadium | Recap | |
| 5 | 13 | December 5 | at Chicago Bears | L 13–26 | 2–3 | Soldier Field | Recap | |
| 6 | 14 | December 12 | Miami Dolphins | W 3–0 | 3–3 | Schaefer Stadium | Recap | |
| 7 | 15 | December 19 | at Seattle Seahawks | W 16–0 | 4–3 | Kingdome | Recap | |
| 8 | 16 | December 26 | at Pittsburgh Steelers | L 14–37 | 4–4 | Three Rivers Stadium | Recap | |
| 9 | 17 | January 2 | Buffalo Bills | W 30–19 | 5–4 | Schaefer Stadium | Recap | |
| Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text. | ||||||||