19-0 will never happen

Now that the Atlanta Falcons are the NFL’s lone undefeated team and stand at 6-0 heading into their bye week, the question that always arises at some point during every season will start to peak its head this week.

Can the Falcons run the table and go 19-0 this year?

Just like the question, the answer is still the same as ever: No.

The 1972 Miami Dolphins are famously the only team in NFL history to win every single game, postseason included, and every year they celebrate when the last remaining undefeated team loses its first game.

The ’72 Dolphins had a little bit of a scare last year when the Green Bay Packers started 13-0, and they nearly saw their unmatched mark slip away in 2007 when the New England Patriots went 18-0 before losing in the final moments of Super Bowl XLII to the New York Giants by three points.

But that legendary team can rest easily, because no team will ever go 19-0.

The ’07 Patriots were the perfect team to pull it off. Just look at their résumé.

They owned arguably the best offense of all-time, which scored 589 points, still an NFL record.

Their quarterback, Tom Brady, had already won three Super Bowls and can be argued to be the best quarterback in history.

Brady had maybe the most purely talented wide receiver ever to throw in to wide receiver Randy Moss. Although Moss sometimes didn’t live up to his potential, he certainly did in 2007, when his rejuvenation allowed him to catch 98 passes for 1,493 yards and 23 touchdowns, the latter also being an NFL record.

If Moss wasn’t open, Brady could always easily dump it off to wide receiver Wes Welker, who tied for the league-lead with 112 receptions.

Although New England’s high-powered passing attack received all the attention, it’s running game was incredibly solid. The team ranked 11th in yards per rushing attempt and featured third-down back Kevin Faulk, who made countless clutch plays in huge moments.

The Patriots’ defense wasn’t too shabby, either. They ranked fourth in points and yards allowed, and only eight teams forced more turnovers.

Most importantly, New England benefited from a lot of luck in the regular season just to get to 18-0. In back-to-back weeks, the Patriots beat the Philadelphia Eagles and Baltimore Ravens each by only three points, who finished the year 8-8 and 5-11, respectively.

The Patriots would have lost to the Ravens if not for a horrible Baltimore timeout that disallowed its team from stopping New England during a crucial fourth down.
Had the Patriots dropped stink bombs against decent teams, they would’ve easily lost and not even had a chance at 19-0.

The path to 18-0 couldn’t have been laid out more perfectly for the Patriots, and they still couldn’t pull off the final win against the 10-6 Giants.

Unlike the days of the 70s, it’s almost impossible to keep together a corps of great players in today’s NFL, making the 2007 New England season that much more impressive.

Everyone wants to maximize their earnings. The NFL salary cap of about $120 million makes it hard to have more than a few great players who are real game changers.

The ’72 Dolphins featured four First Team All-Pros and nine Pro Bowlers, and that list didn’t include future Hall of Fame quarterback Bob Griese. There’s no way Miami could have assembled that team with today’s collective bargaining agreement.

Those Dolphins also only had to play 14 games in the regular season as opposed to today’s 16, giving current teams two extra chances to throw in a stinker and blow the perfect season.

So sleep tight, ’72 Dolphins. No NFL team will ever go undefeated again. Your record is safe.

­— tlstutzm@indiana.edu