Go ahead, root for the Patriots...

But I want to defend my SoFla team (even though I'm from deep in Packer country--born and raised in Appleton, WI, which used to grow baby White Sox and the city which bears a suburb named Green Bay).

First off, no one really heard anyone from the 1972 team talk that publicly about their feat, until this year. Yes, there were reports of a botle of champaign being opened when the last unbeaten each year lost (although there is some fuzziness if this happened in 1984 when the Dolphins were the last team to lose its first game that year).

Now, down to brass tacks.

If Tom Brady goes out for, say, 3-4 games, would the Pats be unbeaten?

In 1972 Miami's starting QB missed 2/3 of the season and the Dolphins were led by the aging Earl Morrall. Didn't miss a beat. Stayed unbeaten.

The Patriots also get to play their conference championship game at home. The 1972 Dolphins? Well, the NFL had this silly rule that divisions rotated hosting the conference championship back then. So, despite have the best record in the NFL that year the Dolphins played the conference championship--in Pittsburgh! Stayed unbeaten.

It could be argued the '72 Dolphins were one-dimensional. They were the first team to have 2 1000 yard rushers (a third had almost 700 yards for the year). I may be mistaken, but they may still have the league record for team rushing yards. And was it SBVII (SB7) where QB Bob Griese threw only 7 passes? Well, he was just getting back from that broken ankle suffered in game 5....

Yep, stayed unbeaten.

By the way, a #13 for Miami was Super Bowl MVP--Safety Jake Scott in SB7.

As the NFL has shown so many times, it is hard to stay unbeaten for a whole season. New England should be commended But if they don't finish with the Lombardi, well, all good and well but I believe the Chicago Bears twice went undefeated but lost the championship game. Funny, no one ever mentions those two teams in the same breath as the 1972 Dolphins. Which should make this Super Bowl interesting as it appears it may be the Packers and the Patriots.

It might be a rare time I actually cheer for the team in my backyard!