16-0 NFL season...what compares?

[xtra]

It would be like the marathon runner that holds a massive lead over the entire field for 26 miles but runs out of gas the last mile and ends up in last place. Did it matter that the runner was in 1st by 1 mile the first 26 miles of the race?

No,its where you finish that counts.

[SuperCharger]

It's my opinion that any season that doesn't end in a Super Bowl win is pretty meaningless. That includes a 16-0 one.

[pig devilz]

16-0 in the regular season is just that, 16-0, undefeated. never been done and would be a new record in the NFL.

it has nothing to do with winning the SB. they have to win their playoff games first to earn the right to

play in the SB....it's really not that hard to figure out.

 

you guys still dont get it, one play at a time, one game at a time.

[Grits and Shins]

16-0 in the regular season is just that, 16-0, undefeated. never been done and would be a new record in the NFL.

it has nothing to do with winning the SB. they have to win their playoff games first to earn the right to

play in the SB....it's really not that hard to figure out.

 

you guys still dont get it, one play at a time, one game at a time.

 

Yes ... it is one game at a time. But the 16 regular season games mean nothing other then establishing playoff seeding. For NE they have 1 or 2 more games to play (after beating the Giants today) ... if they lose either then the 16-0 season was meaningless.

 

You still haven't answered my question. I assume that is because you don't want to admit you believe that there isn't a single NE coach, player, fan, owner that would be okay with going 16-0 but losing the SB. That says it all right there. Furthermore, every NE coach, player, fan and owner would be perfectly happy with a 15-1 record followed by a SB ring.

 

You aren't really saying otherwise are you?

 

I didn't think so.

[detlef]

16-0 in the regular season is just that, 16-0, undefeated. never been done and would be a new record in the NFL.

it has nothing to do with winning the SB. they have to win their playoff games first to earn the right to

play in the SB....it's really not that hard to figure out.

 

you guys still dont get it, one play at a time, one game at a time.

Dude, we understand. 16-0, never been done, whatever.

 

The point is simply this, when they talk about the greatest teams of all time, they start with the SB champs and then, after they've used them up, they bring up great teams that fell short of the Lombardi trophy. However, nobody really ever considers those teams on the short list. If NE goes 15-1 and then goes on to win it all, they are without a doubt in the first batch of teams. People will wonder if they were better than some of the 49ers teams of the 80s, the Dallas teams of the 90s, the Steelers teams of the 70s, Packers teams of the 60s. If they go 16-0 and then lose in the play-offs, they'll be a cooler version of the 98 Vikings (it was 98 right?). A team that somebody mentions for the hell of it as an after thought to a list of the greatest teams.

 

I can assure you, if they go 16-0 and lose in the play-offs, they will be a footnote. Perhaps people in NE will care a few years from now, but the rest of us will certainly move on. It will be a record, certainly, but so is most consecutive games with 300 or more yards passing. Nobody gives a crap. Now, 19-0 and a ring, that's a big deal. That is not some random record, that is your claim to being the best team of all time. Whatever argument anyone brings up as to why another team was better...your answer, quite justifiably...19-0, next?

 

Of course, I think too much is being made of how reckless it is of them to be going for it tonight. It's as if it's a forgone conclusion that somebody will get hurt if they play long enough to secure a victory. They get a week off, why do they want two? It makes a ton more sense for the Giants to rest than the Pats even regardless of the potential perfect season. Of course, why the hell would they not want to keep the streak alive. They don't have many guys who need time off to heal and you can't play scared. If a guy's gonna get hurt, he's gonna get hurt. So, you hold out Brady and then he breaks his leg on the first play of the Divisional round, what have you gained?

[detlef]

BTW, anyone notice the name of the town that pig devilz is from?

[Gopher]

Previously, I said that their season compares to winning the Grand Slam or going undefeated in NCAA hoops.... Let me clarify. If they finish the season 19-0, I think it would compare to one of those. If not, it doesn't mean much of anything. How will the Pats be remembered (go down in history) if they don't seal the deal and win the SB? Here's my guess:

 

Five years from now, most true sports fans will still remember it clearly as probably the best team (offense, anyway) to not win the SB. I would argue, however, that the Vikings' record-breaking offense that lost to Atlanta was a very close second (and actually had a much more balanced offense).

 

Ten years from now, the only people talking about it at all will be Pats fans.

 

Twenty years from now, most of us will barely remember that it happened. In fact, I'd probably have to Google it just to be absolutely sure that my memory was correct.

 

Very similar to the UNLV basketball team from '90-91. Went 34-0, then lost to Duke in the championship game. When I first posted in this thread, I couldn't remember for sure if that was the case (16.5 years later). After looking it up, I was able to confirm that they were indeed undefeated when they lost that game. If they had won that game, they would still, to this day, be called the best college hoops team ever by many basketball fans, in my opinion. Not all basketball fans, of course, but many. But, since their perfect season was blemished by Hurley, Laettner, and the Blue Devils, the Runnin' Rebels are barely even remembered.

 

In other words, the makings of potentially the best season ever in NFL history consists of 10% regular season and 90% playoff performance. If the Pats lose in the playoffs, it would be no more significant, in my opinion, than if a PGA golfer set a 54-hole record (under par) in the U.S. Open, only to lose the tournament on the final day. Their season would be no more significant than Greg Norman holding the biggest three-day lead in Masters history in 1996, only to lose to Nick Faldo on the final day. Do people still talk about what a great three-day performance he had Thursday through Saturday that year? No they don't... In fact, the only reference ever made to the Shark is regarding how many tournaments he choked away in the 90's.

 

I'm not a Pats fan or a hater. I don't really care one way or the other if they achieve the 19-0 season. Their first 15 games have been impressive, simply in the sense that they really haven't had much of an off-game so far. They have been a smooth-running machine through the entire season. However, their toughest games are yet to come... They have not had very many tough games this year.... Their division is terrible. I was impressed with their win on the road against the Colts, but other than that, they won games this year that they SHOULD have won. The only difference between them and other great teams in the past ten years, like I said, is that they didn't have a single let-down this year. Great teams in years past have always dropped a game or two each season to teams that they should have beaten. Not the Pats this year.

 

Early in the year, I figured they would struggle at some point and drop a game or two... Dallas, Indianapolis, Pittsburgh, maybe even at Buffalo. Didn't happen. Hats off to them for that. But, that's all it is... a great regular season. Means very little if they don't finish.

[pig devilz]

Dude, we understand. 16-0, never been done, whatever.

 

The point is simply this, when they talk about the greatest teams of all time, they start with the SB champs and then, after they've used them up, they bring up great teams that fell short of the Lombardi trophy. However, nobody really ever considers those teams on the short list. If NE goes 15-1 and then goes on to win it all, they are without a doubt in the first batch of teams. People will wonder if they were better than some of the 49ers teams of the 80s, the Dallas teams of the 90s, the Steelers teams of the 70s, Packers teams of the 60s. If they go 16-0 and then lose in the play-offs, they'll be a cooler version of the 98 Vikings (it was 98 right?). A team that somebody mentions for the hell of it as an after thought to a list of the greatest teams.

 

I can assure you, if they go 16-0 and lose in the play-offs, they will be a footnote. Perhaps people in NE will care a few years from now, but the rest of us will certainly move on. It will be a record, certainly, but so is most consecutive games with 300 or more yards passing. Nobody gives a crap. Now, 19-0 and a ring, that's a big deal. That is not some random record, that is your claim to being the best team of all time. Whatever argument anyone brings up as to why another team was better...your answer, quite justifiably...19-0, next?

 

pretty much agree with all of that....which is what i said in my last post above,

it is what it is, 16-0, no more no less....but i disagree that it will be forgotten.

 

like i said before, the next team that comes close to going 16-0 will be compared

to the 07-08 Patriots, no doubt about it....now, if the Patriots dont go 19-0 and win the SB,

the talk will be, 'can the (fill in the blank) go 16-0 and win the SB like the Patriots could not?'

 

its tough enough to go 16-0 in this league, if they go 19-0, they will be known as the greatest team ever.

it will be undisputable by their record but debatable on a team by team basis....

 

@Grits...i would take an 8-8 team and a SB win any day. but thats not what we have in the Patriots this year,

so i would also take a 16-0 team and a SB win, thats the possible reality. what you're asking doesnt make

any sense for this year...

[Grits and Shins]

@Grits...i would take an 8-8 team and a SB win any day. but thats not what we have in the Patriots this year,

so i would also take a 16-0 team and a SB win, thats the possible reality. what you're asking doesnt make

any sense for this year...

 

 

We agree then. Nobody is happy with 16-0 / 0-1, 16-0 / 1-1 or 16-0 / 2-1 ... everybody would prefer any regular season record, no matter the number of losses, and a SB ring.

 

Therefore it naturally follows that the 16-0 doesn't really mean much without the 3 playoff wins to get the ring.