Is your team going 17-0 this year?

A brief history of NFL unbeatens.

The NFL schedule came out last night — to much fanfare. (Everything the NFL does is to much fanfare.)

Which makes today a sort of golden moment for the fanbases of all 32 teams, the moment when you can go through the schedule game-by-game and dream that this is the year your squad goes undefeated.

As ESPN’s Dan Graziano wrote today:

Admit it. You got your favorite NFL team's full 2024 regular-season schedule Wednesday night, went through it game-by-game and came to the only conclusion any good fan can reach at a time like this.

"We're going 17-0!"

Here’s the thing: If past is prologue, your team is almost certainly NOT going to run the table in the upcoming coming NFL season.

Why? Well, history mostly.

The last NFL team to go undefeated for an entire season — regular season and playoffs — is the 1972 Miami Dolphins, who finished a perfect 17-0. (That was back when the NFL regular season was only 14 games long.)

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That team was truly dominant on both sides of the ball. They scored 385 points (1st in the league). They allowed 171 points (first in the league). They had the #1 ranked offense and defense in the league.

The team was led by its dual-headed rushing attack — Larry Csonka and Mercury Morris. Csonka rushed for 1,117 yards while Morris rushed for 1,000 yards on the dot.

The quarterback was Bob Griese. But, in the fifth game of the season against the San Diego Chaergers, Griese broke his right leg and dislocated his right ankle after a hit from Deacon Jones.

Earl Morrall, a veteran QB who had been the league MVP four years prior, stepped in and led the team to victory.

“All the good things that happened in the game were reduced by what happened to Griese,” said Dolphins coach (and future Hall of Famer) Don Shula after the game. “My hat’s off to Earl and the fine job that he did when he went in to the ball game and also the fine job our defense did all day long. The mark of a good football team is what it does under adverse conditions.”

Morrall would steady the ship for the remainder of the season. In 9 starts, he went 9-0 — throwing for over a 1,000 yards and 11 touchdowns (against 7 interceptions).

Morrall started the AFC championship game against the Pittsburgh Steelers but, with the score tied 7-7 at halftime, Shula made the decision to turn back to Griese, who had recovered from his injuries.

Griese led the Dolphins to a 21-17 win — and a spot in the Super Bowl.

“I went with Bob in the second half because we really hadn’t moved that well offensively in the first half,” explained Shula. “Bob was ready to play and if he couldn’t do it, I wanted to know about it early in the third quarter. That would’ve given us plenty of time to go back to Earl. It feels great to be 16-0, but all I want now is to be 1 and 0 in a couple of weeks. Since last season, winning the Super Bowl has been the goal all along, and now we’ve got another chance.”

Griese started the Super Bowl against the Washington Redskins too. He only threw 11 passes (and completed 8) as the Dolphins triumphed 14-7.

The team, which featured 6 future Hall of Famers including Griese, was ranked by the NFL as the greatest team of all time.

No team in the intervening 52 years has been able to match the Dolphins unblemished record. But several teams have come close.

The 1976 Oakland Raiders

The Raiders went 16-1 and won the Super Bowl — led by legendary coach John Madden. The only loss the Raiders suffered was an early season walloping (48-17) at the hands of the New England Patriots. That team had eight(!) future Hall of Famers on it including quarterback Kenny Stabler, left tackle Art Shell, left guard Gene Upshaw, wide receiver Fred Biletnikoff and punter Ray Guy. In a 2012 online poll conducted by the NFL, the ’76 Raiders were voted as the greatest team of all time. Take that, Miami!

The 1982 Washington Redskins

The Redskins finished 12-1 and won the Super Bowl — in a season that was limited to just 9 games because of a player’s strike. But, the Joe Gibbs-led team was dominant that year nonetheless. They won all four of their playoff games — including the Super Bowl over the Dolphins — by double digits. QB Joe Theismann threw for over 2,000 yards. John Riggins ran for more than 500. And the defense, led by Dexter Manley, who had 6.5 sacks, was nasty.

The 1984 San Francisco 49ers

How does 18-1 and a Super Bowl title strike you? The team’s only loss came in October — a narrow 20-17 defeat to the Steelers. They then reeled off 12 straight wins including a dominating 38-16 victory over the Dolphins in the Super Bowl. In their 3 playoff game, the 49ers outscored their opponents 82-26. QB Joe Montana threw 28 TDs to just 10 picks. Wendell Tyler ran for more than 1,000 yards. Dwight Clark had 52 catches for 880 yards.

The 1985 Chicago Bears

Jim McMahon. Walter Payton. William “The Refrigerator” Perry. The “Super Bowl Shuffle.” I mean, this team had it ALL. Hell, ESPN made a documentary about them! The Bears went 15-1, losing only to the Dan Marino-led Dolphins, who beat them 38-24 in the 13th game of the season. They allowed just 10 points in three playoff games — cruising to a 46-10 victory over the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl.

The 2007 New England Patriots

In the past five decades, this Patriots team came the closest to matching the Dolphins. Going into the Super Bowl they were 18-0. And they were heavily favored to beat the New York Giants in that game. Tom Brady threw for more than 4,800 yards and an astonishing 50 touchdowns that year. (He threw just 8 interceptions.) Randy Moss had almost 1,500 yards receiving. The Patriots averaged almost 37 points a game! Then, Eli Manning and David Tyree happened. The Helmet Catch. And the Patriots perfect season — and Super Bowl hopes — were dashed. Giants 17, Patriots 14.