The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. The Patriots compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team plays its home games at Gillette Stadium in the town of Foxborough, Massachusetts, which is located southwest of downtown Boston. The Patriots are also headquartered at Gillette Stadium. Founded in 1959 as the Boston Patriots, an original member of the American Football League (AFL), the team joined the NFL in the leagues' 1970 merger, then changed its name when it moved to Foxborough in 1971. The New England Patriots played their home games at Foxboro Stadium through 2001, then moved to Gillette Stadium at the start of the 2002 season. The Patriots' rivalry with the New York Jets is considered one of the most bitter rivalries in the NFL. Since the arrival of head coach Bill Belichick and quarterback Tom Brady in 2000, the Patriots have become one of the most successful teams in NFL history, claiming 16 AFC East titles as part of 18 consecutive winning seasons since 2001. The franchise has since set numerous notable records, including most wins in a ten-year period (126, in 2003–2012), an undefeated 16-game regular season in 2007, the longest winning streak consisting of regular season and playoff games in NFL history (a 21-game streak from October 2003 to October 2004), and the most consecutive division titles won by a team in NFL history (11 straight division titles from 2009 to 2019). The team owns the record for most Super Bowl appearances (nine) and wins (six) by a head coach–quarterback tandem, most conference championships overall (11), most Super Bowl appearances overall (11). The Patriots are tied with the Pittsburgh Steelers for the most Super Bowl wins (six), and with the Denver Broncos for the most Super Bowl losses (five). Following the 2019 season, Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski left for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.