| << Front page | Sports | December 7, 2007 |
NFL: Undefeated vs. Winless
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Steady Hand: Junior Mike Loll shoots a free throw in Oberlin’s conference opener against The College of Wooster on Wednesday. Loll had 16 points | ||
It’s not uncommon to find two teams in the NFL that have a combined record of .500. The NFL, after all, is a league built on parity.
But who would ever have thought that the two teams you could select for an overall .500 record would both be, in a sense, perfect? The New England Patriots are perfect at 12-0 while the Miami Dolphins are perfectly awful at 0-12.
Both teams have four regular season games remaining on their road to perfection. Each team has a chance for its perfect season to be snapped in one of those games, but I do not see it happening.
New England has one team remaining on its schedule that has a realistic chance of winning. The Pittsburgh Steelers pose the biggest remaining threat to the Patriots because of their strong running game and physical defense.
The Steelers have the leading rusher in the AFC in Willie Parker and have a physical defense that is the top scorer in the league. On top of that, the Steelers actually have a good quarterback.
All of this would point to a Steelers upset, right?
It’s possible, but unlikely.
First off, New England is playing at home. Secondly, the Steelers have lost games to the Cardinals, Broncos and Jets, which is not a very good sign. Also, the Patriots are the best in the NFL at making adjustments, so they will counter whatever is thrown at them.
Though during the past two weeks, the Patriot receivers’ have struggled with dropped ball, they are just too good to keep this trend going.
Much has been made of the match-up of the best offense against the best defense, and rightly so. However, the Patriots have allowed the third fewest yards per game and the Steelers have only gained the 14th most.
The Patriots offense will score, no matter how good the defense. Will the Steelers offense be able to keep up? Probably not.
And let’s not count out the Tom Brady factor. Brady is 19-0 at home after week 10 since 2003, and he has willed his team to wins during the past two weeks by capitalizing on mistakes, which his teammates will continue to make.
As for the remaining games, all three are at home, and New York is the only team that isn’t in the midst of a terrible season. The Giants, however, have a porous secondary unit and may be resting players for the playoffs. The Pats won’t rest players if it’s the difference between 15-1 and 16-0.
It’s possible the Pats will run into trouble in the playoffs, but they will have all their games at home. You would not believe it, but Brady has never lost a home playoff game. Also, New England has already beaten the next best teams in the league this season, Indy and Dallas, both on the road.
The Dolphins, on the other hand, are hoping to win a single game to avoid the embarrassment of going winless.
Miami’s best chance to end the perfect season will also come this week in Buffalo. The Dolphins lost their first meeting with the Bills by three, but there are two big differences in this encounter.
Since the team’s last meeting, Miami’s running back core has been sustaining more and more injuries. Also, this game is in Buffalo, and Miami has — even when it was decent — struggled in cold weather games.
Miami’s best chance is to win a mistake-filled, sloppy game. If Miami gets into a game where it lucks into a few interceptions and fumble recoveries, and if Ted Ginn, Jr. can have a huge day in the return game and John Beck can play the game of his life, an upset is entirely possible.
But I just don’t think Miami has the potential to do all those things in a single game.
The amazing thing about the runs of these two division “rivals” is how rare it is for their records to remain “perfect. Since the merger, only one team” (ironically, the ’72 Dolphins) has gone undefeated and only one team (’76 Buccaneers) has gone winless.
We are four weeks away from both happening in the same year. On top of that, the Dolphins’ organization is on the verge of having to share the undefeated record in a year where it may go winless. Ouch.
If you get a chance to watch the Patriots-Dolphins game in week 16, I suggest doing so. Yes, it will be a Patriots rout, but from a historical perspective, it is a game all sports fans should see.
When else will you get a chance to see the best and worst teams of all time in the same game? It’s just too bad that game isn’t happening in week 17.
We’re just seven games away from 16-0 and 0-16.
But who would ever have thought that the two teams you could select for an overall .500 record would both be, in a sense, perfect? The New England Patriots are perfect at 12-0 while the Miami Dolphins are perfectly awful at 0-12.
Both teams have four regular season games remaining on their road to perfection. Each team has a chance for its perfect season to be snapped in one of those games, but I do not see it happening.
New England has one team remaining on its schedule that has a realistic chance of winning. The Pittsburgh Steelers pose the biggest remaining threat to the Patriots because of their strong running game and physical defense.
The Steelers have the leading rusher in the AFC in Willie Parker and have a physical defense that is the top scorer in the league. On top of that, the Steelers actually have a good quarterback.
All of this would point to a Steelers upset, right?
It’s possible, but unlikely.
First off, New England is playing at home. Secondly, the Steelers have lost games to the Cardinals, Broncos and Jets, which is not a very good sign. Also, the Patriots are the best in the NFL at making adjustments, so they will counter whatever is thrown at them.
Though during the past two weeks, the Patriot receivers’ have struggled with dropped ball, they are just too good to keep this trend going.
Much has been made of the match-up of the best offense against the best defense, and rightly so. However, the Patriots have allowed the third fewest yards per game and the Steelers have only gained the 14th most.
The Patriots offense will score, no matter how good the defense. Will the Steelers offense be able to keep up? Probably not.
And let’s not count out the Tom Brady factor. Brady is 19-0 at home after week 10 since 2003, and he has willed his team to wins during the past two weeks by capitalizing on mistakes, which his teammates will continue to make.
As for the remaining games, all three are at home, and New York is the only team that isn’t in the midst of a terrible season. The Giants, however, have a porous secondary unit and may be resting players for the playoffs. The Pats won’t rest players if it’s the difference between 15-1 and 16-0.
It’s possible the Pats will run into trouble in the playoffs, but they will have all their games at home. You would not believe it, but Brady has never lost a home playoff game. Also, New England has already beaten the next best teams in the league this season, Indy and Dallas, both on the road.
The Dolphins, on the other hand, are hoping to win a single game to avoid the embarrassment of going winless.
Miami’s best chance to end the perfect season will also come this week in Buffalo. The Dolphins lost their first meeting with the Bills by three, but there are two big differences in this encounter.
Since the team’s last meeting, Miami’s running back core has been sustaining more and more injuries. Also, this game is in Buffalo, and Miami has — even when it was decent — struggled in cold weather games.
Miami’s best chance is to win a mistake-filled, sloppy game. If Miami gets into a game where it lucks into a few interceptions and fumble recoveries, and if Ted Ginn, Jr. can have a huge day in the return game and John Beck can play the game of his life, an upset is entirely possible.
But I just don’t think Miami has the potential to do all those things in a single game.
The amazing thing about the runs of these two division “rivals” is how rare it is for their records to remain “perfect. Since the merger, only one team” (ironically, the ’72 Dolphins) has gone undefeated and only one team (’76 Buccaneers) has gone winless.
We are four weeks away from both happening in the same year. On top of that, the Dolphins’ organization is on the verge of having to share the undefeated record in a year where it may go winless. Ouch.
If you get a chance to watch the Patriots-Dolphins game in week 16, I suggest doing so. Yes, it will be a Patriots rout, but from a historical perspective, it is a game all sports fans should see.
When else will you get a chance to see the best and worst teams of all time in the same game? It’s just too bad that game isn’t happening in week 17.
We’re just seven games away from 16-0 and 0-16.
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