They'll always be heard from when the subject of perfection is raised. The events of this season only reinforce the magnitude of their accomplishment. The Patriots couldn't do it.
To me, the '72 Dolphins are about the same as the '84 BYU Cougars. They went undefeated, but they will never go down in my book as one of the best teams ever.
The one, ONE, lasting impression I (and probably thousands of others) have of the '72 Dolphins is the bonehead play by Garo Yepremian. That is the signature play of the '72 Dolphins, so it's hard to regard them as the best ever.
IMHO, the '85 Bears were a better team than the '08 Pats.
Defense wins Championships, baby !
P.S. I thought the commercials almost totally sucked ass. The only 2 things between the plays (and Good God Almighty, there seemed like a lot of breaks) that I can remember were the Terminator busting through and owning the Fox robot (Cleatus), and the Bud Light commercial by Will Ferrell as that basketball character: "Bud Light, suck one."
Let me elaborate: I was only one year old back then. Since I started watching football, the one highlight I have seen the most of the '72 Dolphins, and especially of that Super Bowl, was the play by Garo.
That, plus the fact that all their playoff wins were by narrow margins, leads me to believe they were not the best team ever.
The only undefeated team? Yes. The best team? Not even close.
The 1972-73 Dolphins make themselves even more ridiculous with every passing year. As much as I loathe New England, what the Pats did this year, and have done as a franchise over the last 7 years so utterly dwarfs what that feeble collection of Miami midgets did during their supposed heyday that it isn't really even worth typing this. But because I typed it, let's go on...
Yes, the Patriots lost. Yes, they are cheaters. But if anyone outside of the state of Florida or the state of denial thinks that being 17-0 in 1973 is a better team than one going 18-1 in 2008 is, I've got another crack pipe for you to smoke on.
The fact is, these Patriots do belong in the discussion of greatest teams ever. They will now always come up short in comparison to the '85 Bears, the '89 49'ers, the '79 Steelers, for example. But the 1973 Dolphins do not even merit inclusion in this discussion. Too bad those Dolphin geriatrics don't recognize their true standing in the context of many other teams which came after them.
I still can't believe the escape by Manning and the unbelievable catch by what's-his-face. I got off the couch and let out some expletives on that one. So did most of America I reckon.
...Crap...have to go to work in the morning. Back to reality.
You are right that the 73 and 74 Dolphins don't deserve consideration.
The 72 Dolphins had the 3rd easiest schedule of all the Super Bowl champs, didn't play any of the other playoff teams during the regular season and none of the teams they beat during the regular season finished above .500.
No they don't. It's simple logic: If you LOSE the championship game in a given year, then by definition you are not the greatest team that year. So you are eliminated from "greatest team ever" consideration, just as the Baltimore Colts team that lost to the Jets is eliminated.
I see you're quoting Jan. More of the hate-filled drivel he was posting a couple of weeks ago. Do yourself a favor, put him on your ignore list. I did. His posts aren't worth responding to.
Patriots still have 3 SB trophies since 2001. I'll take it. Again, congrats to the Giants.
The 2007 Patriots will be remembered alongside the 2004 USC Trojans as being hyped up as one of the greatest teams of all time before the championship game and then blowing it. They don't deserve mention as one of the greatest of all time because they lost the Super Bowl.
I agree. They are up there with the late 80s or early 90s UNLV Runnin' Rebels who lost to Duke in the Final Four.
The Patriots, just like the Dallas Cowboys, peaked too early this season. The Cowboys peaked a little earlier and fell a lot harder, but nevertheless, the Pats of the past 6-8 weeks were nothing like the Pats of weeks 1-10.
Man, I can't believe I'm making excuses for the Patriots (and I also think that the USC and UNLV comparisons are apt), but something tells me that all was not physically right with Brady from the start. He just didn't look right to me, but of course the Giants may have had something to do with that. It'll be interesting to know more in the days to come.
Well, I'm a Pats fan and I'm not going to make any excuses for them. The Pats defense was crap, the offensive line was crap, and Brady played like crap. They obviously had no interest in winning this game and the Giants came very well prepared to do just that. Congrats Giants!
Well Malcolm, not being contrary just for the sake of contradicting, but when the Pats needed a score the most, they got it together and marched down the field and scored to take the lead. The only problem with that drive was they left 2 mins on the clock and the Giants had 3 TOs + the 2 min warning. I thought they had won it (I suspect most others did too). The Giants D was visibly gassed on that drive. Still, you're right; there were numerous problems for the Pats today.
I dont think we'll see an undefeated regular season for a long time. Its got to be so rare with injuries and parity and free agency and on and on.
then including the playoffs...wow. Look at my childhood favorite team, the '85 Bears. They had a one defeat regular season and shut out their 2 opponents in the playoffs and they are talked about as one of the greatest teams. I dont want to turn this into a "greatest team or not" debate, but their run up to this point (however meaningless it may be to Pats' fans right now) is truly legendary in its own right.