An Asterisk on a Patriots Undefeated Season?

The game is well in hand in the forth quarter - actually well before the second half has even started the score was 31-0. In the fourth, not one but two touchdowns are thrown, and not some middling throws either - throws of 51 and 39 yards respectively. The game ends 52-0. In the two weeks previous, they had beaten their opponents 30-16 and 23-0.

The vanquished opponent had won 2 games up to that point and finished the season near the bottom of the NFL in almost all categories except passing attempts and passing attempts against.

This week, 35 years ago, the Miami Dolphins PASTED the then 2-7 New England Patriots by a score of 52-0 enroute to their perfect season. Fascinating then that the coach of that undefeated Miami team, Don Shula, should come out this week and suggest that should the Patriots go undefeated this season there should be an asterisk in the record books due to the Patriots' video taping scandal earlier in the season.

There are several big differences between the two teams, and while talk of an undefeated season is premature - the 2007 Patriots play 8 more games - it is a good time to consider the possibility, as the leader of the only undefeated team has broken the silence.

The 1972 Dolphins played a 14 game schedule, contrasting with the modern 16 game schedule. To "run the table," the Dolphins had to win 17 games; the Patriots would have to win 19.

The Dolphins played a schedule consisting of opponents with a winning percentage of .396. A soft schedule to be sure, as noted on the ESPN website, it was the softest schedule in over 20 years at the time.

They ran the ball like crazy, with two backs over 1000 yards - and had an average 8.63 yards per attempt passing. They finished the season with the best offense and the best defense in the league. Over that 14 game schedule, they averaged 371 yards and 27.5 points a game.

The 2007 Patriots after 9 games are running the ball competently, and are averaging 8.95 yards per passing attempt. They're at the top of the league offensively, but a mere 11^th in defense. They're averaging 435.5 yards and 39.4 points a game. Their opponents winning percentage? .479 (35/73) - two of whom would be undefeated save for loses to the Patriots.

By any barometer, the 2007 Patriots are by far a vastly superior team to the Dolphins squad that went undefeated. This means nothing to history unless and until Super Bowl XLII is won by an undefeated Patriots squad, which may or may not happen.

To his credit, Shula's not talking about the Pats running up scores (see the score above) as it would seem his squad my have been guilty of the same. For Shula to bring up the video scandal reeks of sour grapes and reminds us that his presence on the Dolphins sideline wasn't without controversy.

The video scandal issue has been resolved to the NFL's comfort - two fines and loss of a draft pick. The league sought not to sanction the team or the coach further - a higher draft pick (the Patriots have the 49ers first round) or suspension or to investigate previous years any further than a review of the teams' materials. A review of the NFL rules shows that videotaping isn't even a violation of rules if it is done within parameters - Belichick didn't use those parameters, and thus gained an angle on signals no one else had. That was the advantage he gained and for that advantage he was penalized.

Please note, the NFL rules don't ban gathering signs; what was violated was the rules for gathering signs. So, while the rules don't specifically "okay" stealing signs, they do codify how they can't be gathered. To review: according to ESPN, the "Game Operations Manual" states that "no video recording devices of any kind are permitted to be in use in the coaches' booth, on the field, or in the locker room during the game." The manual states that "all video shooting locations must be enclosed on all sides with a roof overhead." The camera was on the field and was not enclosed. That's it. Hardly deserving an asterisk, particularly since it was 8-minutes into the season when the whistle was blown - if we're talking Week 9, perhaps we've got a different conversation.

In my mind Eric Mangini, head coach of the currently 1-8 New York Jets, actually did the Patriots a favor by having the whistle blown when he did, avoiding speculation on what might have happened this season if the Patriots were caught with the camera at some other point.

A far more intriguing "conspiracy" that the media and Mr. Shula seem to have forgotten would be the San Francisco 49ers or the Denver Broncos violating the salary cap to retain their star quarterbacks - a move that had cost each a draft pick. Belichick didn't come to the Patriots without controversy, but he did come to them in a business move. Shula, however, came to the Dolphins two years before the 1972 season in a wave of controversy ending with the 'Phins losing a 1971 draft pick - the NFL ruled the Dolphins had tampered with the Colts' coaching staff to get Shula there. Not exactly squeaky clean: should there actually be an asterisk conversation, that would surely come up.

There is a difference between tampering and negotiating a deal when one of the players in the deal has the threat of an anti-trust suit over your head. The video scandal is over to the NFL's satisfaction, the debt has been paid and everyone is moving on. The Dolphins tampering in 1970 was addressed and everyone moved on; Except perhaps, Mr. Shula, the head coach of the only undefeated team currently in NFL history, and the Baltimore Colts who never got to another Super Bowl while in Baltimore. There shall be no asterisk if this Patriots team can do what no one has ever done - run the table on a 19 game schedule.

The truly insideous thing about comments like that which Shula made is that there was never an "official" asterisk next to Roger Maris' 61 home runs in 1961 - it was a passing comment by a Baseball Commissioner Ford Frick that there should be an asterisk and, lo, the record was tarnished in public opinion. Shula appears to be of the mind that if he can't stop the Patriots from winning, he'll do his best to tarnish whatever they can achieve. Apparently if you can't save your own place in history, you can pull others down. Thankfully, while Shula maintains a place in the pantheon of Football greats, he is not in the position of a Ford Frick.

REFERENCES

http://www.phins.com/72phins/111272.html

Epstein, Eddy, "72 Dolphins excelled as underdogs," URL: http://espn.go.com/nfl/s/epstein/72dolphins.html

Battista, Judy, "Patriots Hire Belichick, and Everyone's Happy" URL: http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=980DE2DE103CF93BA15752C0A9669C8B63

Clayton, John, "Expect Goodell to Treat This Seriously," URL: http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/columns/story?columnist=clayton_john&id=3014944