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Comments December 31, 2007
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1*/1*
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Patriots
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16-0
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Going undefeated in the regular season is much harder than winning an NFL championship.
A team has won the championship almost 100 times in NFL history, with 41 of those being Super Bowls.
Whereas the number of times a team has gone undefeated in the regular season is just 4.
And only the 2007 New England Patriots have done it at (16-0).
Sure the goal of every team
at the start of the season is to win the Super Bowl. But the
Patriots have done something even rarer than winning it all.
So the idea that (16-0) would no longer mean anything
if the Patriots don’t go on to win the Super Bowl is mathematically flawed, because the
odds of winning the Super Bowl aren’t even close to the long shot odds of going undefeated in the regular season.
In fact, the Patriots’ odds of winning the Super Bowl were around 5 to 1 to start the season;
but the odds of the Patriots going undefeated at (16-0)?
Ummmm, I can’t count that high.
Of course accomplishing both feats like the (17-0) 1972 Miami Dolphins, carry even longer odds. And if the New England Patriots
do it with a record of (19-0), it would be truly remarkable.
The bottom line- if their season should end in a loss, it will
surely leave a bitter taste in the Patriots’ mouths.
But we’re here to say that if the Patriots don’t win another game this season,
their season will still have been far greater than whichever other team might then win the Super Bowl.
The odds say so.
We would be remiss if we didn’t mention that Saturday night’s win over the Giants was the Patriots’ 19th regular season
victory in a row dating back to last season, which broke their own previous record of an
18-game regular season winning streak set between 2003 – 2004.
And congrats to Brady and Moss
for breaking the single season touchdown passes and touchdown receptions records on the
same play. Rather than sawing the ball in half, perhaps they’ll each keep it for a year and then send it to
Canton.
Finally, we’ve assigned an asterisk to the Patriots’ power ranking to indicate that
even if they don’t win the Super Bowl, they’re #1 in the FootballLOCKS.com
power rankings for the rest of the season for going (16-0), something that has
never been done before, and something that may never be done again.
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2/2
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Colts
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13-3
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The Colts took measures to protect Manning and other star players in week 17, and head into the playoffs
with a first-round bye as the two-seed. Overall the Colts went (4-3)
against teams headed to the playoffs including very close losses to the Patriots and Chargers, a sweeping of the Jaguars,
a win against Tampa Bay, and a split with
Tennessee which of course includes the week 17
resting key starters loss that is haunting the Browns.
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3/3
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Cowboys
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13-3
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Dallas heads into the playoffs with home field advantage. And all eyes will be on Owens’
ankle. Overall the Cowboys went (4-2)
against teams headed to the playoffs including a victory over the Packers,
a sweeping of the Giants, a split with the Redskins (though it was a week 17 loss), and
a loss to the Patriots.
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4/5
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Packers
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13-3
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The Packers head into the playoffs with a first-round bye as the two-seed.
Overall Green Bay went (3-1) against teams headed to the playoffs
including a loss to Dallas, and wins over the
Giants, Redskins, and Chargers.
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5/4
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Jaguars
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11-5
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The Jaguars head to Pittsburgh for a wild card playoff game, where they already
won this season.
Overall Jacksonville went (4-3) against teams headed to the playoffs
including wins over the Steelers, Buccaneers, and Chargers, while getting swept by the Colts,
and splitting with the Titans.
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6/6
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Chargers
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11-5
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The Chargers recovered from a slow start this season to earn the 3-seed, and will
host the Titans in a wild card
game.
Overall San Diego went (2-3)
against teams headed to the playoffs
including losses to the Patriots, Packers, and Jaguars, and wins
over the Colts and Titans.
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7/7
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Steelers
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10-6
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The Steelers head into the playoffs without Willie Parker and will host the Jaguars in a
wild card game. Overall the Steelers went (1-2)
against teams headed to the playoffs
including losses to the Patriots and Jaguars, and a win via shutout over the Seahawks.
The Steelers also swept the (10-6) Browns.
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8/8
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Giants
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10-6
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The Giants gave the Patriots all they wanted in week 17, and will head to
Tampa Bay for a wild card game. Overall New York went (1-5)
against teams headed to the playoffs
including losses to the Patriots and Packers, getting swept by the Cowboys, and
splitting with the Redskins.
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9/11
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Titans
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10-6
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The Titans had an easier path to the playoffs in week 17 thanks to the Colts not needing the game.
Tennessee will head to San Diego for a wild card game and Vince Young is “day to day”…
Back in week 14 the Titans seemingly had the Chargers beat
before letting them off the hook in an overtime loss… Overall the Titans
went (2-4) against teams headed to the playoffs
including losses to the Chargers, Buccaneers, and splits with the Jaguars and Colts.
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10/12
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Redskins
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9-7
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The Redskins head into the playoffs as one of the hottest teams in the league and will
face the Seahawks in a wild card game in Seattle. Overall Washington
went (2-5) against teams headed to the playoffs
including losses to the Patriots, Buccaneers, and Packers, and splits with the
Giants and Cowboys. Note that losses in Green Bay and Dallas were very
close games.
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11/10
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Buccaneers
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9-7
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The Buccaneers head into the playoffs as the 4-seed and will host the Giants.
Overall Tampa Bay went (2-3) against teams headed to the playoffs
including wins over Washington and Tennessee, and losses to Seattle,
Jacksonville, and Indianapolis.
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12/9
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Seahawks
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10-6
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The Seahawks head into the playoffs as the 3-seed and will host the Redskins in a wild
card game. Overall Seattle went (1-1) against teams headed to the playoffs
including a win over the Buccaneers and a shutout loss to the Steelers.
How easy is life in the NFC West compared to say the NFC East or the AFC South?
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13/13
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Eagles
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8-8
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The Eagles had a brutal schedule in 2007 and clawed back to .500. Overall Philadelphia
went (2-7) versus teams headed to the playoffs including losses
to the Patriots, Packers, Seahawks, and a sweeping by the Giants, while splitting with
Dallas and Washington.
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14/14
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Browns
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10-6
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The Browns just missed qualifying for the postseason in 2007. Overall Cleveland
went (1-3) against teams headed to the playoffs including a win over the Seahawks,
a loss to the Patriots, and a sweeping at the hands of the Steelers.
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15/15
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Vikings
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8-8
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The Vikings’ playoff aspirations came to rest in week 17. Overall Minnesota went (2-4)
against teams headed to the playoffs including a key loss to Washington
in week 16.
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16/17
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Texans
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8-8
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The Texans finished at .500 with a difficult schedule going (2-6)
against teams headed to the playoffs.
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17/16
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Bills
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7-9
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The Bills went (6-3) against non-playoff bound teams in 2007, but just (1-6)
against playoff bound teams, including a very tough loss to the Cowboys in week 5.
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18/18
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Saints
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7-9
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The Saints started ice cold in 2007, but made a nice run of it before finally getting eliminated
from the playoff chase in week 17. Overall the Saints went (2-4) against teams headed to the playoffs.
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19/19
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Cardinals
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8-8
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The Cardinals finished the season at .500, and as everyone knows; getting swept by the 49ers
ruined Arizona’s chances for postseason play. Overall the Cardinals went (2-3) against playoff bound teams in 2007.
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20/20
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Lions
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7-9
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The Lions started hot in 2007 but the difficulty of their schedule caught up with them in the end,
not to mention the Lions surrendered the most points in the NFL; so no more wide receivers in the first-round of the draft.
Overall the Lions went (1-6) against teams headed to the playoffs including losing three of their last
four games to playoff bound teams, and five of their last seven.
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21/21
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Bears
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7-9
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Chicago finished the season with back to back wins over the Packers and Saints.
Overall the Bears went (2-5) against teams headed to the playoffs including a
sweep of the Packers, which was
doubly nullified thanks to getting swept by the
Lions and Vikings.
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22/22
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Broncos
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7-9
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The Broncos went (1-6) against teams headed to the playoffs, and (6-3) against non playoff bound teams;
quite a drop off from the typical Broncos’ season of late.
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23/23
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Panthers
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7-9
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The Panthers’ schedule was certainly on the tough side in 2007 as Carolina went
(1-7) versus teams headed to the playoffs and (6-2) versus non playoff bound teams.
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24/24
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Bengals
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7-9
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The Bengals finished the season on a two game winning streak. Overall Cincinnati went (1-4) against
teams headed to the playoffs, and (6-5) versus non playoff bound teams.
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25/29
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Ravens
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5-11
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Baltimore went (1-5)
against teams headed to the playoffs, and (4-6) against non playoff bound teams…
Billick was fired which begs us to ask if the Ravens would have really had a better record this season
with 99.9% of the other coaches out there? We doubt it…
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26/26
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Raiders
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4-12
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Overall the Raiders went (0-6) versus teams headed to playoffs including finishing the season on an
(0-4) stretch versus playoff bound teams.
On the flip side Oakland went (4-6) versus non playoff bound teams.
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27/27
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49ers
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5-11
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Considering how many times the 49ers offense was held under 200 yards this season it was not such a surprise
that San Francisco scored the fewest points in the NFL this season… Overall the 49ers went (1-4)
versus teams headed to the playoffs, and (4-7) versus non playoff bound teams.
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28/28
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Jets
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4-12
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The Jets went (1-6) versus playoff bound teams, and (3-6) non playoff bound teams; quite a
difference a season makes.
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29/25
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Chiefs
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4-12
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The Chiefs finished the season on a 9 game losing streak and were the only team in the NFL not to win
at least one of their last five games. Overall Kansas City scored the second fewest points in the NFL and went (1-5)
versus teams headed to the playoffs, while going (3-7)
versus non playoff bound teams.
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30/31
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Falcons
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4-12
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Atlanta’s tough season came to end with a home victory over the playoff bound Seahawks.
Overall Atlanta went (1-6)
versus teams headed to the playoffs, and
(3-6) versus non playoff bound teams.
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31/30
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Rams
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3-13
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The Rams surrendered the second most points in the NFL in 2007, paving the way for 13 losses.
Overall St. Louis went (0-5)
versus playoff bound teams, and
(3-8) versus non playoff bound teams.
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32/32
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Dolphins
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1-15
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The Dolphins finished with a league low one win and surrendered the most points in the AFC.
Overall Miami went (0-6) versus playoff bound teams, and
(1-9) versus non playoff bound teams.
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