Best Team Ever?
Maybe Not, But Consider This ...
Sports Illustrated's Peter King has compiled some interesting statistics comparing your 2007 New England Patriots to the 1972 Miami Dolphins.
The Patriots have beaten four division leaders -- Chargers, Colts, Cowboys, Steelers. Even if Cleveland passes Pittsburgh, New England beat the Browns too. The Patriots beat the current four division leaders by an average of 15 points.
In addition to the division leaders, the Patriots beat the Browns, who are in second behind one of the division leaders, and Buffalo -- twice -- who is in second in the Patriots' own division. Week 17 has New England pitted against another second-place team behind a division winner the Patriots have already beaten.
It's laughable that some people, and we know who, say that the Patriots have had an "easy" schedule. Of course, the Patriots beat them too. In their stadium. While the allegedly pumped additional noise into it.
The '72 Dolphins and the '07 Patriots were/are 1st in offensive yards per game and points scored per game. The '72 Dolphins have the edge on New England in yards and points allowed per game. Miami was 1st in both categories, while New England is 4th. But again, the Patriots have played a much tougher schedule.
More on Patriots-Jets later. Then we'll turn our attention to Week 16.