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Originally Posted by duckie
They only played two regular season teams with winning records and none of them made the playoffs. No wonder they went undefeated that year, they played a cupcake schedule.
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It would be VERY tough to put together an easier schedule than the Dolphins had in 1972.
Still, lots of teams have had easy schedules, and no one else has gone undefeated.
Green Bay was set up to go unbeaten this year, and they lost to Kansas City. That shouldn't have happened.
In 2007, when the Patriots went 16-0 in the regular season, they blew out the Cowboys in Week 6 (Dallas was 5-0 at the time) 48-27 in Dallas. Then, in Week 9, the Patriots played the Colts, who were 7-0 at the time. That game was at Indy, and the Pats won 24-20. No other team has ever handed TWO teams their first loss that late into a season.
The Patriots also destroyed the Steelers 34-13 in week 14. That was at New England. The Steelers were 9-3 at the time. I've been a Steelers fan since the early 70s, but that's the only time I've ever rooted against them.
The Patriots went through a very difficult schedule that year. They also beat the Chargers during the reg season (and would meet them again in the AFC title game). And of course, they beat the Giants in a great Week 17 matchup, 38-35, coming back from a 12 point deficit. The Giants were 10-5 going into that game.
The Patriots also dodged a couple of real bullets during the season in their victories over the Eagles and Ravens. Against the Ravens, I think Brady hit Jabbar Gaffney with a TD pass in the final minute to win 27-24 (week 13). And in Week 12, they beat the Eagles 31-28 and I think they intercepted an Eagle pass at the goal line on the final play of the game. The Eagles led 28-24 during the 4th quarter of that game.