The Patriots and a Lesson in NFL History

Say all you want about the New England Patriots and their stunning loss in Super Bowl XLII; they still deserve a tip of the hat for what they accomplished during the season, and in the postseason for that matter. And say what you want about Bill Belichick, whether you think he's a cheater or not — the man knows how to get a group of guys to play together every week to the best of their ability and achieve success. And for 18 straight weeks, the Pats were successful. Had it not been for one miraculous escape, and equally miraculous catch and a wrong guess on pass coverage, and the Patriots would have joined the 1972 Dolphins as the only undefeated champions in league history.

But enough about that game. We all watched, we all either cried tears of joy for the Giants or tears of lament for the Patriots, we all gasped in awe at David Tyree's catch that kept the winning drive alive. What we might not have done, though, is understood how monumental a season New England really had in the annals of pro football.

If you've watched the NFL for longer than a couple weeks, you probably are familiar with the story of the '72 Miami Dolphins, the league's only perfect team. But did you know that they weren't the only team in NFL history to have an unbeaten season? Or that they were not the first team in pro football to have a perfect season? Well, then, it's time for Football History 101 — The Lossless Teams.

When thumbing through the dusty archives of the National Football League, not counting the Dolphins, there have been six teams that finished the regular season without losing a game. In the early years of the league, before the powers decided a playoff was the way to go (hello, NCAA? sorry, I digress), four teams ended the season with a goose egg in the "L" column, but none of them were quite perfect. In the very first installment of the league, when it was called the American Professional Football Association, the Akron Pros finished the year with an 8-0-3 record. That was 1920. Two years later, when the league was renamed, the Canton Bulldogs claimed the title with a 10-0-2 record. The next season, 1923, Canton would again finish the year without a loss at 11-0-1. Between the last game of the 1921 season and their next loss — the third game in 1925 (the team was inactive in 1924) — the Bulldogs avoided losing in 27 consecutive games. Then, the last team to end the year without a loss prior to the divisional split was the 1929 Green Bay Packers at 12-0-1.

When the NFL saw the benefit of a championship game after its 1932 season, when the Chicago Bears and Portsmouth Spartans played a game indoors at Chicago Stadium under modified rules, it decided to split into two divisions, have a uniform schedule, and a regular title game; and thus, the modern NFL was born. It didn't take long before the league would see its first unbeaten and untied team.

The 1934 Bears were loaded with talent. Aside from the Father of Modern Football, George Halas, at the helm, the team would boast six future Hall of Fame players, including Red Grange and Bronko Nagurski. Beattie Feathers would become the league's first 1,000-yard rusher when he galloped for 1,004 yards (despite the previously mentioned backfield mates), and the league's leading scorer was Bear back/kicker Jack Manders. That talent screamed through the rest of the league, posting three shutouts and holding opponents to less than 10 points in 10 of its 13 games. Their championship game opponent, the New York Giants, lost 27-7 and 10-9 to the Bears in their two regular season meetings. But as it is said, the third time's a charm, and the Giants handled Chicago — minus an injured Feathers — easily in the title game 30-13, the first of several "sneaker" games (the Giants had an advantage over the Bears in the second half by wearing sneakers on the icy field).

One other NFL team would finish the regular season unbeaten, but lose in the championship game. Again, it was the Chicago Bears, this time in 1942. This installment of the Monsters of the Midway was very similar to the '34 team in that it had five future Hall of Fame players, including Sid Luckman, Bulldog Turner, and Joe Stydahar, and lineman George Musso, who was on the Bears' previous unbeaten team. And with "Papa Bear" Halas still on the sidelines, the team notched four shutouts and held teams to less than 10 points in eight of its 11 games. But, as was the case eight years earlier, the Bears would not realize the dream of a perfect season. In the championship game, the Washington Redskins would dash Chicago's hopes, 14-6. The teams did not play during the regular season, which may have accounted somewhat to the Redskins' upset.

That would be it until the 1972 season when Miami would go 17-0 and claim the league's only "perfect" season. But they weren't the first team to see perfection in a pro football season.

The first was the 1937 Los Angeles Bulldogs of the second American Football League. The league did not have a playoff, nor a symmetrical schedule, and the season ended with L.A. Sporting a 9-0 record. The other occurred in one of the NFL's "legacy" leagues, the All-America Football Conference, or AAFC.

The Cleveland Browns of 1948 were a very good football team. With five future NFL Hall of Famers in the fold, the Browns dominated the league. In a 14-game schedule, just five games were decided by less than 10 points. The championship game was a joke, with Cleveland whipping a hapless Buffalo Bills team, 49-7. With that, the Browns became the first pro football team to finish the regular season undefeated and win out in the post-season. Twenty-four years later, after the AAFC was but a distant memory in the minds of football fans, the NFL would see it's only team to match that feat.

With all that in mind, while some may say the Patriots' loss in the Super Bowl proved that they weren't "all that" this season, and that until all the members of the '72 Dolphins have gone the way of the AAFC no team will ever be perfect, what they accomplished is still remarkable. And, not to take anything away from Bob Griese, Larry Csonka, Jim Kiick, Paul Warfield, and company, the Patriots actually did have a better season than Miami did 35 years ago. New England went 18-0 this year before its Super Bowl loss; the Dolphins were 17-0 including the postseason. Plus, the Dolphins, counting the last game of 1971 and the first game of 1973, had a 16-0 regular season record between losses. With New England's three wins in a row to end the 2006 season, they're now at a streak of 19 consecutive regular season wins, and that number could grow next season.

So, let the debate continue. Who was better? Which team will be remembered in the annals of pro football as being the more dominant team? Are you old school, or new school? Griese or Brady? Warfield or Moss? Scott or Harrison? Even if the Pats had beaten the Giants, would we all be convinced they were better than Miami or Cleveland? Think about it.

Class dismissed.