The New England Patriots just went 16-0.
Tonight's game was awesome. The Giants played the Patriots pretty closely almost the whole game, even taking a lead into the fourth quarter. I was surprised the Giants played as well as they did, though evidently not as surprised as Bryant Gumbel and Cris Collinsworth, who were saying things like "The Giants are making a game of this" in the first freakin' quarter. Yes, we're three minutes in and I can't believe they haven't lost already.
The Patriots set a bunch of non-record records, too. Tom Brady, the obvious MVP of the league this year, finished the season with an unbelievable 50 touchdown passes. (Maybe he deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as Peyton Manning after all?) Not to take anything away from Brady, but with the passing numbers guys have put up lately, I wonder how long that record will stand. Then again, Dan Marino's single-year passing yardage record (5,084 yards in 1984) hasn't been seriously threatened yet in twenty-three years, so perhaps passing records aren't in as much danger as I think.
Randy Moss caught both of Brady's scoring passes to set his own NFL record with 23 TD catches. And the way he broke the record, catching a bomb down the sideline right after a potentially costly drop, was sweet. You'll hear many people mention that the old touchdown reception record of 22 was set by Jerry Rice in 1987, when Rice played in just 12 games. And that's very relevant, but hey, it's not Moss' fault no one else could beat Rice's mark in the last twenty years. Besides, it's Jerry Rice, and if it takes you two hundred games to do what he could do in twelve you're still pretty awesome as mere mortals go.
The Patriots also became the highest-scoring team in NFL history, besting the quickly-forgotten 1998 Minnesota Vikings, who had a superstar rookie receiver in Randy Moss. Again, though, there have been so many high-scoring teams in the last ten years that it's hard to put this mark in proper perspective.
Most importantly, though, the game puts us very close to saying: good riddance, 1972 Dolphins. We could have started saying that last week, actually, when New England hit 15-0. The '72 Dolphins, remember, only had to win 14 regular season games, which is way easier than winning 16. And please, never forget they did it against a complete joke of a schedule. (Since this is HPS, I urge you to take note at that somewhat-dated link of how many Broncos teams made it to the Super Bowl despite tough schedules, especially the 1998 team.) Of course, the Patriots still need to win the Super Bowl to wipe away the memory of the Dolphins.
Anyway, what'd y'all think?
9 comments:
I despise the Patriots (and all other Boston sports teams for that matter) but I must say it will be nice to be rid of the '72 Dolphins finally.
I haven't been real impressed with the Patriots over the last few games they've played though. They have certainly looked beatable. If they are really as good as everyone says they are, then no way would they almost lose to Baltimore. (Actually Baltimore should have won that game if it weren't for the ineptitude of Billick calling that timeout.) They didn't really play all that well against the Jets either or the Eagles.
I think the Pats are good, but I also think the rest of the league pretty much sucks this year. I think the 16-0 accomplishment is a combination of both of those factors.
However, even in a watered down league, I think it's pretty tough to be able to go 16-0. I would love to see someone knock them out of the playoffs though so we can stop hearing about how they are the greatest team ever. I could easily see that happening based on how the Pats have played the last quarter of the regular season.
The Patriots have been in a few close games lately, but I don't think that means they're worse than everyone thinks. First, some perspective: yes, the Patriots have had close wins, but basically every other team in history, no matter how great, has had some close wins AND a couple of losses. Second, I think the pressure of the streak probably has the Pats playing down to the level of their competition a bit, and therefore looking worse than they really are. The 98 Broncos sure seemed affected by it. On one hand, I've thought this year that the Patriots were a little better suited to this kind of pressure than that Broncos team was. On the other, since they didn't lose, the Patriots don't get any kind of breather before the playoffs.
I do think they're the most likely eventual champions, but I wouldn't be shocked if someone beats them. A couple weeks ago, I would have agreed that this is a down year for the NFL, and that's a worthy point when discussing how good the 16-0 Pats really are. But I think it's more accurate to say that there are a few really good teams in the NFL this year, and then a whole bunch of teams who are unspectacular.
I mean, the Patriots are probably going to have to beat the Colts again, and Indy's only a 14-2 defending Super Bowl champion with a Hall of Fame quarterback. If they don't face Indy, they could still play the Steelers, who at least have a dangerous QB, or the Chargers, who only have the decade's best running back. (Can New England contain Tomlinson?)
On the Super Bowl side, two teams in the NFC went 13-3 this year. Shoot, according to the stats, Dallas even had a better offense than Indianapolis this year. I don't think any of these teams are better than New England, but the league didn't suck this year-more like about 25 of its teams did.
Anyway, two other things. If the Pats DO lose, the 72 Dolphins aren't going anywhere. And for what it's worth, I would probably go with the '85 Bears as the best team ever, but I haven't really studied this out. But what would that even mean? Today's Patriots would probably beat them considering differences in size/training advances/drugs/whatever. I just liked how the Bears dominated at a time the league was so stacked.
That was the same team I had in mind when I was thinking of the "best team ever."
Mike, did you see the game against the Ravens? The Ravens players DID beat the Pats. They stopped them on that 4th down. The only problem is the Pats got to run another play because one of the idiot coordinators called a time out. And that was the Ravens! They have been terrible all year.
I agree that the Patriots are a great team, I just think that they had the benefit of a ton of bad teams this year. If the Patriots had had this same team in last year's NFL league there is no way they would have gone 16-0. In my opinion, the Pats have only beat 2 good teams this year so far: the Colts and the Cowboys (who are grossly overrated) and the Colts were missing a bunch of their players due to injuries.
They've had a great run, and regardless of the caliber of the competition, it is an impressive feat to go 16-0. I just hope that Indy is healthy when they play in the AFC Championship game and that Indy knocks them out of the playoffs.
I didn't see the Ravens game, but I did hear about it.
The Colts and the Cowboys might be the only good teams New England has played, but they're arguably the two next-best teams in the whole NFL, right? I mean the Patriots can't play themselves. I do think the playoffs will be a great test for New England and I am getting really, really excited for them to start.
That's my point exactly. THOSE are the 2 next best teams. The Cowboys?! To me, the only impressive win the Pats have is against the Colts in Indianapolis.
Okay, but beating the Colts in Indy is the most impressive win anyone's pulled off all season, right? (I said earlier the Colts were 14-2, but they were actually 13-3.) What else could the Patriots have done? I think you're being a little too hard on them. I agree in principle, though, that 16-0 (and assuming an eventual 19-0) doesn't, by itself, automatically make you the greatest team ever.
And why are you so convinced the Cowboys suck? Oh, right, Wade Phillips. Never mind.
Ha ha well I understand your bias towards Phillips.
The Cowboys haven't played anyone that's good at all besides the Pats. They are in the NFC and the only other team in the NFC even worth mentioning is the Packers. The Packers couldn't even beat the lowly Bears when they could've had home field advantage throughout the playoffs. (Favre was true to form and threw some costly interceptions in the game.)
Plus, just like you said, the Cowboys have Phillips. I lost a lot of respect for 'ol JJ when he made that hire.
In the NFC I'm rooting for the Redskins as this years "feel good team" of the playoffs. Go Redskins!
Dallas played Green Bay, the next best team in their conference, and beat them by 10. Yeah, you can just say everyone sucks and point out how bad they were in their worst game, but so what? Everybody has games where they look like crap, but it doesn't mean they suck.
Besides, how many teams are real championship contenders in a normal year? Last year it felt like a lot of teams had a shot (Chargers, Colts, Pats, Saints, maybe Bears), but go back a year before that and I think you'll see this year isn't any lower on quality teams than usual. Besides, looking back on it last year wasn't that great: the Saints had no D, the Chargers had Marty, and the Bears had Rex Grossman.
And I don't get the true to form comment about Favre. He was awesome this year!
the most appealing part of this well crafted article is the "good riddance 72 dolphins."
seriously, every year we start hearing about those geriatrics as soon as some clown of a team is sitting pretty at 4-0.
then we here the oft repeated fable as the living class of 72 gets together when the last undefeated team east crap and they drink a round of champagne.
i hope they got together every patriots game this year, and sobbed like a bunch of babies.
r.i.p. 72 dolphins.
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