Will Patriots Go Undefeated?
N.E. Has Weak Remaining Schedule but Still a Long Shot to Go 16-0
With Brady-Moss connection clicking pundits are now predicting an undefeated season, but odds are stacked against the Pats.
When the Patriots defeated the Colts last Sunday on two Tom Brady fourth quarter touchdown passes, the talk began in earnest: Will the Patriots go undefeated this season?
It’s not surprising the question is being asked. Since the 1972 Dolphins went undefeated, there have been plenty of near-misses. It seems every couple of years some team strings together a bunch of wins to start the season and the hype begins all over again. In recent years, Chicago and Indianapolis both flirted with it by going 7-0 and 13-0, respectively.
The most surprising thing about the current hype is not that the question is being asked, but that it is being answered in the affirmative by so many. Professional and amateur pundits alike are now predicting with alarming regularity that these ’07 Patriots will in fact go undefeated at 16-0, something that has never been done before (remember, the ’72 Dolphins were 14-0).
With the Brady-Moss connection clicking and an offense that is averaging over 39 points per game, the Patriots appear to be an unstoppable force.
There is no doubt this team has the potential to go down in sports history as one of the best NFL teams of all time. Let’s stop the madness, though. The season isn’t over and this team hasn’t accomplished anything yet. To predict near the midway point that the Pats will go undefeated borders on insanity.
Granted, there are only seven games remaining, four of which are at Gillette Stadium and only two against teams currently with a winning record. Statistically, however, the odds are stacked against the Pats. For every other team that has come close to the feat, something always seems to go wrong. There are simply too many things that can happen over the next few weeks to prevent an undefeated season.
First, there’s this little thing called ‘Any Given Sunday.’ Pittsburgh and the NY Giants pose big obstacles. Even with some of the lesser teams you never know when they’ll pull themselves together and put in an inspired performance. There’s simply too much parity across the league to expect that won’t happen at some point.
There’s also the prospect of an impact player going down with an injury. What happens if Brady takes a late hit and has to miss three games with a concussion? What if Moss tears an ACL and sits the rest of the season? What if a rash of injuries on defense weakens an aging corps that has already been somewhat suspect at times? The Patriots have been fortunate thus far to avoid serious injuries but that could all change in the course of a single weekend.
Finally, what about all the other things outside the control of the team? How about a December blizzard a la 1982? Ah yes, the infamous Snow Plow Game. The heavily favored Miami Dolphins, who would later beat the Patriots in the playoffs and go on to the Super Bowl, dropped a 3-0 decision in New England when a snow plow operator cleared a spot for the Patriot placekicker’s late 4th quarter field goal. It may have been a John Deere that made the difference for the Pats that day but it was Mother Nature that allowed them to stay in the game in the first place. That can work both ways.
Will the Patriots go undefeated? They’re still a long shot.
