Have we had enough of the '72 Dolphins?

With the Colts and Saints still unbeaten this late in the season, the talk swings back to the 1972 Dolphins undefeated season.  What does that mean?  Time for the members of that team to start popping up on TV talk shows spewing forth their greatness and rubbing it in people's faces about them popping champagne every year the last unbeaten team drops a game.  They have become annoying, crotchety old men and I don't think they deserve the credit they believe they have earned.

Yes, they are the only unbeaten and untied team in NFL history.  Yes, I give them credit for being among the best teams in history.  Don't forget, they did appear in three consecutive Super Bowls, losing in 1971 and winning back-to-back in 1972 and 1973.  However, you can't sell me on that 1972 team being the greatest of all time just because they didn't win a game.  Let's take a closer look...

I couldn't remember where I saw the information, so I found it on the internet just to verify (thanks bleacherreport.com!), and the '72 Dolphins played the second-easiest schedule by a Super Bowl champion (.357) next to the 1970 Colts (.352).  They also only played a 14-game regular season, so they had less games to play, especially a factor late in the year when teams get injured and as the recent Colts have shown, they may have had clinched their playoff spot by that point and easied off the gas.  But that's speculation.  Back to the facts.

Here's the 1972 Miami Dolphins schedule with opponents' records and scores, obviously all wins:

at KC (8-6) 20-10
HOU (1-13) 34-13
at MIN (7-7) 16-14
at NYJ (7-7) 27-17
SD (5-9) 24-10
BUF (4-9-1) 24-23
at BAL (5-9) 23-0
at BUF (4-9-1) 30-16
NE (3-11) 52-0
NYJ (7-7) 28-24
STL (4-9-1) 31-10
at NE (3-11) 37-21
at NYG (8-6) 23-13
BAL (5-9) 16-0

What you'll notice is they played just two teams above .500 and both were only 8-6.  The Chiefs in week one and the Giants in week 13.  Like I said, they were a great team and they did beat a 10-4 Cleveland team at home, a 11-3 Pittsburgh team on the road and then win the Super Bowl (even if it was one of the worst ever) vs. 11-3 Washington.  The debate is whether they are the best of all-time because they did not lose or tie a game.

The team from my youth that comes to mind that passes the "eye test" is the 1985 Chicago Bears.  That season the Bears dropped a Monday Night Football road game at Miami for the only loss.  However, they played SIX regular season games vs. teams with 10 or more wins and two others against 8-8 teams. Let's not for get the did not allow a point to either the 10-6 Giants or the 11-5 Rams in the playoffs before destroying 11-5 New England in one of the biggest championship game mismatches in sports history.  Oh yeah, they played two extra regular season games too.

Was that team great?  You bet.  Would they have beaten the '72 Dolphins?  We don't know and that's part of the fun of sports, but don't go waxing poetic about that Dolphin team just because they didn't get a loss.  They accomplished something, but best team ever?  I only compared them to one team and there's others who make a strong case.  So, be proud of your accomplishment, Dolphins of that year, but upon further review it isn't a stand-alone season for the ages.  In the meantime, I just hope these '72 Dolphins would just show some class and shut up, because the act is tired.

I'm tired of you, Mercury Morris.