It was a busy year from beginning to end for New England, starting with its shocking loss at the hands of the rival New York Jets and ending with the beginning of another playoff push to try to exorcise those demons.
And in between, there was never any shortage of news coming out of Foxboro.
As the calendar shifts to 2012, let's recount the 11 best storylines surrounding the Patriots in 2011.
Click here to see the Patriots' top 11 storylines from an eventful 2011 >>