No Nfl Team Will Ever Be Undefeated Again
Ever since the Miami Dolphins completed the perfect 17-0 flavor dorsum in 1972, teams have been trying to friction match that feat. With the NFL in an era filled with parity, it is harder than ever for a team to dominate the landscape of the NFL, making it all the more remarkable with regards to what the Patriots take washed. Speaking of them, they came the closest of matching or fifty-fifty surpassing what the Dolphins did when they went 18-0 all the way to Super Bowl XLII before their loss to the Giants. Others had quite an undefeated streak going throughout their season, but finally dropped a game en road to a Super Bowl. Others felt that resting their starters before a playoff run was more than of import than a shot at history.
Many teams have flirted with perfection, but since those Dolphins, nobody has been able to finish the job. Many people would probably love to run across someone shut up the '72 Dolphins, merely the fact is until somebody matches the feat, they tin boast all they want.
This flavor, a record five teams were undefeated after Week 7, every bit the Bengals, Broncos, Patriots, Packers and Panthers were all perfect heading to the halfway signal of the flavor. The Packers would fall in Week 8 to the Broncos, just for Denver to autumn to Indy in Week 9, while the Bengals suffered their first loss in Week 10. The Patriots suffered their commencement loss in Week 12, an overtime thriller in Denver, leaving Carolina as the alone undefeated team.
For this list, we'll be looking at teams in the Super Bowl era that came the closest to going perfect. The list volition include teams that suffered just one loss en route to a Lombardi Bays or teams that got off to a not bad start, only for a team to finally break through their armor. Here are the teams that were almost perfect.
15 15. Pittsburgh Steelers - 2004
While the Steelers were 15-1, which is actually a ameliorate regular flavor tape than many teams on this list, their lone loss came in Week 2, so there was never any perfect flavour hype surrounding them. Fielding a rookie by the name of Ben Roethlisberger, the Steelers tore through opponents following their loss to Baltimore, knocking off the undefeated Eagles and snapping New England's 21-game winning streak.
With the route to the Super Bowl going through Steel Town, information technology seemed Jerome Bettis was riding into retirement on a runaway train. Withal the Steelers would come up flat in the AFC Championship, with the Pats solving their defence force en route to a 41-27 victory. Pittsburgh would terminate the task for Bettis the following year.
14 xiv. New York Giants - 1990
The 1990 Giants got every bit far as 10-0 before suffering their showtime loss of the flavor to the Eagles. They would also lose against the 49ers and the Bills, but they would take their revenge in the playoffs. These Giants had the top defense in football game, allowing merely 211 points and they were also a very disciplined team, only committing 14 turnovers all season. They would get on to dethrone the defending champion 49ers and stalled the Bills offense in the Super Bowl, all while doing information technology without starting quarterback Phil Simms, who broke his foot in Week 15.
13 xiii. Baltimore Colts - 1967
The 1967 Colts are a special case hither, as the squad tied two games in their 1967 flavor. Technically if those were their only blemishes, it would still be anundefeatedseason, just not a perfect game. They headed into their final regular season game without any losses, but would get blown out past the Rams 34-10 in the flavor finale.
Astonishingly that one loss would cost them a playoff spot, as they finished with an identical tape to Los Angeles, but lost the tiebreaker on point differential in head-to-head games. The reason the Colts are on this listing and not the Rams is considering the Rams lost their alone regular season game early on, back in Week 4.
12 12. Minnesota Vikings - 1998
Almost would be the perfect word to depict the Minnesota Vikings' 1998 flavour. They were nearly perfect, equally was their kicker Gary Anderson. The Vikings had i of the almost prolific offenses in NFL history with Randall Cunningham enjoying a career resurgence and an amazing tandem of Cris Carter and Randy Moss. Minnesota'south solitary regular season loss was a 27-24 defeat in Tampa Bay back in Calendar week 9. Their side by side loss would come in the NFC Championship game, after Gary Anderson missed his just field goal of the year tardily in the game, which would take sealed a spot in the Super Bowl for the Vikes.
eleven 11. Miami Dolphins - 1984
Dan Marino'south celebrated 1984 season immune the Dolphins to start their season on a tear, start at xi-0, before Week 12 and xiv losses to the Chargers and Raiders ruined their risk to match the franchise's 1972 team. Marino would set up league records with 5,084 passing yards and 48 touchdowns and led Miami through the AFC playoffs in just his second year, getting by the Seahawks and Marino's hometown Steelers. They would be defeated by our side by side entry.
10 ten. San Francisco 49ers - 1984
The 49ers' undefeated streak in 1984 was ended in Week 7, but information technology was a narrow twenty-17 loss to the Steelers that proved to be the just blemish on their season. The Niners would coast through the flavor from there and continued to build on their 80s dynasty. They rolled past the Giants and Bears en route to the Super Bowl, where they would shut downwards Marino and the Dolphins, blowing them out for a 38-16 victory. Information technology was their 2d of four 80s Super Bowls.
9 9. Los Angeles Rams - 1969
The Fifty.A. Rams flirted with success many times simply had trouble finding consistency equally a franchise. They began the 1969 season with the franchise'due south longest winning streak, starting xi-0 in a 14-game regular season. Subsequently losing their first game of the yr to the Vikings, the Rams elected to residuum their starters going into the playoffs, resulting in the Rams losing their final three games. The Vikings would defeat the Rams again in the playoffs. The Rams lost iv directly to close out their season, but found themselves approaching history.
viii 8. Washington Redskins - 1991
The 1991 Washington Redskins were about as well-rounded a team you could ask for. They led the league in points with 485 and they allowed the second fewest points at 224. They began the season at 11-0, looking unstoppable earlier an emerging Cowboys team beat them in their own edifice, 24-21. Washington's other loss would come equally a result of resting starters in Week 17 with the no.one seed locked upwardly.
Washington would proceed to blow everybody out in the playoffs, with Atlanta, Detroit and Buffalo non looking similar they belonged in the same league as Washington.
seven 7. Green Bay Packers - 2011
Aaron Rodgers seemed to be on a mission in the 2011 flavor, putting up the greatest passer rating in a season in NFL history with 122.5. The Packers offense set records including nine games in which they scored at least 35 points. Their defense would stop dead final, but always seemed to brand the large play when they had to. The squad would start thirteen-0 before a shocking upset to the iv-8 Chiefs would stop their bid for perfection. Their defense would show to be their undoing, equally they were one and out in the playoffs, losing to the eventual champion New York Giants.
half-dozen 6. Indianapolis Colts - 2005
Starting strong was never a problem for the Peyton Manning's Colts. It was their finishes that left many disappointed. The Colts got off to their best first in franchise history (to that point) in 2005, when they started 13-0. They would fall to a team that often had their number in the San Diego Chargers, who snapped their perfection with a 26-17 win in Week xv, a win sealed by an 83-yard touchdown run by Michael Turner. The Colts would lose again in Week sixteen, mainly due to resting their starters.
The Colts would then go one and done in the playoffs, as the wild card Steelers knocked them off 21-18 after Mike Vanderjagt missed his first home field goal in a playoff game.
5 five. Denver Broncos - 1998
The 1998 Broncos had a very identical season to the 2005 Colts, but they finished with a Super Bowl, and so putting them ahead was an easy phone call. As the defending Super Basin champions and Elway being in what was obviously his concluding flavour and the Broncos were fifty-fifty better than the previous year'southward Super Bowl team. Their thirteen-0 first had many talking of a perfect 19-0 season, simply a nailbiting 20-16 loss to the Giants concluded that talk. They would lose to the Dolphins in Calendar week sixteen, resulting in a fourteen-two end. No matter to the Broncos, as they would blow out the Fins in the divisional round, followed by victories over the Jets and Falcons to seal a second straight Super Bowl.
iv 4. Indianapolis Colts - 2009
People thought that the Colts would suffer following the retirement of Tony Dungy, but Jim Caldwell took over and the Colts helped give their rookie caput coach one of the best starts to a coaching career ever. Manning would evangelize perhaps his finest season in a Colts uniform, winning the MVP accolade and leading the Colts to a 14-0 start. A controversial decision was made by the Colts to balance their starters in Calendar week 16, opening the door to a Jets victory at Lucas Oil Stadium. The Colts would residual their starters again in Calendar week 17, leading to their second loss.
The motion to residual their starters has long been debated every bit to whether they made the correct choice or should have gone for history. They would lose in the Super Bowl to our side by side entry.
3 3. New Orleans Saints - 2009
There was talk in the 2009 flavour of the possibility that two undefeated teams could run across in the Super Bowl. The Saints got as far as thirteen-0, one brusque of the Colts, earlier suffering a Thursday dark loss to the Cowboys in the Superdome.
The Saints had a prolific offense, much like the Colts, led by Drew Brees, Marques Colston and a good RB tandem of Pierre Thomas and Reggie Bush and an opportunistic defense. The Saints would lose their final three regular season games, but recovered in the playoffs, bravado out the Cardinals, before winning a classic NFC Championship against the Vikings. They would cap their season with a win over the Colts in the Super Bowl.
2 2. Chicago Bears - 1985
While our previous two entries got off to their long undefeated starts on the backs of their offense, the 1985 Bears finished at 18-one due to their dominant defense. The Bears couldn't be stopped all year, with no one being able to solve the Monsters of the Midway. Dan Marino finally did solve them, as he lit up the Bears en route to a 38-21 victory on Monday Night Football game, ending the Bears' run at 12-0. The defence force would recover and won their remaining games, as well equally earning two shutouts in the NFC playoffs, before demolishing the Patriots in the Super Bowl.
i 1. New England Patriots - 2007
No other team could take taken the no.1 spot. They're the number ane "almost" in any sport'due south history. The Patriots became the first squad since the inception of the 16-game schedule to complete a perfect regular season. Tom Brady and Randy Moss tore the league apart, along with Wes Welker enjoying a breakout season. The defense wasn't likewise shabby either, led by Rodney Harrison, Junior Seau, Tedy Bruschi, Vince Wilfork and Asante Samuel. The Patriots made it all the manner to a fourteen-10 lead in the dying moments of the Super Bowl before David Tyree'south miracle helmet grab, followed past a Plaxico Burress touchdown putting an end to the perfect Patriots.
About The Writer
Source: https://www.thesportster.com/football/top-15-nfl-teams-that-almost-went-undefeated/
0 Response to "No Nfl Team Will Ever Be Undefeated Again"
Post a Comment