 Despite finishing the regular season with an 11–5 record, the Patriots did not qualify for the playoffs—becoming the first 11-win team since the expansion to a 12-team playoff in 1990 to "not" make the playoffs, as well as only the second team (after the 1985 Denver Broncos) since the NFL expanded to a 16-game regular season in 1978.They were the first team to go undefeated in the previous season and miss the playoffs the next season.In the season opener, quarterback Tom Brady, the NFL's MVP in 2007, suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament against the Chiefs and missed the remainder of the season.