The best NFL team in history requires that you go undefeated!

[trumad]

Damn... The old memory is slipping....Now what was that team that had an undefeated season?

[The Straight Story]

1. dolphins I think, shorter season too (12 games maybe?) (n/t)

[trumad]

2. 14

17-0

[smoogatz]

3. Well, if you want to get technical...

New England won 18 games this season. The '72 Fish only won 17.

[trumad]

4. But were they undefeated?

yes? No?

[smoogatz]

6. Obviously

no. But they still won more games than the '72 Fish. And they've won two more Superbowls, while dealing with the salary cap. And face it--if you put your '72 Fish on the same field with the '05 Pats, they'd be undersized, out of shape and slow. The Pats--or almost any contemporary NFL team--would crush them.

[Awsi Dooger]

17. Only one more Super Bowl

The Dolphins successfully repeated in '73, going 15-2 for a two-year run of 32-2.

As a Miami fan and '72 season ticket holder, I like trumad's argument but I have to temper it with one truthful admission: for years Dolphin fans, and NFL insiders, considered the '73 Dolphin team the best in NFL history, not the '72 team. It was the same team a year older. Griese was healthy all year and we were much more dominant in the playoffs.

That faded when dominant teams like the Steelers and 49ers came along and eclipsed our Super Bowl totals. At that point, Dolphin fans defaulted to the undefeated tag and its significance.

People who try to deny the awesome achievement have no idea how long that feat will last, and gain respect in geometrical proportion as long as no one matches it. Does anyone seriously believe the '85 Bears or '84 49ers will be legendary 50 or 100 years from now, when no one is around who remembers them? They will be easily eclipsed in lore by the 19-1 Bengals of 2034 and the 21-1 Saints of 2077. But as long as no one matches that Miami goose egg, that team remains the trump card.

I also dispute the early '70s Dolphins could not have defeated the great Steeler teams. Miami matched up extremely well, with a Hall of Fame interior offensive line that would negate the intimidation factor the Steelers thrived upon. Super smart defense including safeties in Scott and Anderson who always baffled Bradshaw. Actually, it can be argued Pittsburgh was extremely fortunate that the WFL came along and swiped Csonka, Kiick and Warfield from Miami while all three were in their prime, along with the Dolphin team as a whole. Take Franco, Rocky Bleier and Swann away from the Steelers after their first two titles and let's see if they win any more after that.

[HuckleB]

10. New England won 17 games this season.

14-2 in the regular season and 3-0 in the playoffs.

[mermaid]

5. 1972 Dolphins

n/t

[MikeG]

7. I agree. They were the best team. Undefeated is undefeated.

Even if they did it on a cheesy fake punt.

[trumad]

8. Larry Seiple

good memory dude.

[ProfessorGAC]

11. Yawn!

The entire league was in major flux due to the hangover from the merger and a single draft. So, the entire power structure was in recovery.

The '72 Dolphins couldn't have beaten any of the Pittsburgh championship teams or any of the 49'er teams.

Everytime i see any of those '72 vets rooting for someone to lose i want to puke.
The Professor

[trumad]

12. Yeah..and the Steelers of the seventies couldn't beat the Pats of today.

The point is that the best season ever for an NFL team goes to the team that went undefeated for the whole season.

Now let me ask you all again... Who's the only NFL team that went undefeated for a whole season... Ya see...you just can't answer it any other way... Say it with me... come on, say it... THE MIAMI DOLPHINS!

[ProfessorGAC]

15. And I Ask. . .

. . .how one properly compares that accomplishment to teams that have won MORE games in one season? You just can't answer it any other way! Say it with me! More wins in a season are more wins in a season.
The Professor

[NewYorkerfromMass]

9. The sweet irony for D's fans is.... 1985

Dolphins beat Chicago in the biggest Monday night game ever for their only loss of their Super Bowl season. AND they got to do it at the Orange Bowl.
Great, classic Marino/Shula.

[MikeG]

13. The 1984 Steelers beat the 18-1 49ers. Only to lose to the Fins.

[NewYorkerfromMass]

16. 1985 Bears were 12 and 0

The 49ers were only 6 and 0. Big difference. People were talking and hyping the Bears going undefeated for weeks previous.
The Dolphins win was by far the bigger accomplishment.

[cobaindrain]

14. from late 1984 to mid 1987, the Bears went something like 41-6

yea they only one one super bowl during that run, but I've never seen something like that before. that was domination