This is my favorite part:

Coach Nick Saban not only failed to build on that momentum, Kuechenberg said, but also has failed to put the "W" in "We" and the "T" in "Team." Kuechenberg said Saban capped off his moves by "bringing in a scrambling quarterback [Daunte Culpepper] with his leg shot off.

"What Saban did was unconscionable. If coaches could be impeached, he should be. He rewards people with things like firing his field general. The message he's sending is that there's no such thing as loyalty. It's unconscionable and it's almost immoral."

I don't even know where to begin on that one.

I know it's a Chicago fan site, but it seems all mentions of going undefeated this year only involve the Bears while the Colts just seem to keep winning (and without a miracle comback against Arizona, no less) and no one notices. I actually think they will beat the Patriots this weekend, as Manning is just playing so well right now, but it seems like they've just disappeared into the background.

Did anybody ask Bob Griese his toughts, seeing has how he was on the '72 Dolphins and his son is on the Bears?

#2
but it seems like they’ve just disappeared into the background.

That's a good thing.

Boy, they should be.

I know the eras are so different that it's apples to oranges to some degree, but the '72 Dolphins (link on my name) won three times in the regular season by the skin of their teeth -- all three games against teams that finished at or below .500 -- and all three of their playoff games were won by a touchdown or less (although the Super Bowl, of course, was closer on the scoreboard than on the field).

So it's not as if Chicago's lucky escape at Arizona insures that they'll be beaten eventually. Meanwhile, the '72 Dolphins only had four wins of 20+ points -- these Bears already have five. They're just mowing teams down.

Sure, they'll *probably* be beaten by someone in at least one of their 10-12 remaining games (@NYG, @NE are coming up this month). They'd need a bit of luck to pull it off, just like the Dolphins had. But that's not such an infinitesimal probability that if my identity were invested in this annual "undefeated season" rite, I'd feel sanguine.

Everybody LOVES to bash the 72 Dolphins.

Look, they DO NOT all get together and drink champagne when the last team loses. People have this wild fantasy that they all fly into Miami and have a big bash. I think one or two of them used to have some champagne together, but that's it. They are proud of their achievement. And they should be.

#2 -- We Pats fans have heard "Manning is just playing so well right now" before. See 2003 and 2004 playoffs. Manning's average rating in three non-NE playoff games: a ridiculous 147.6. Manning's average rating in Foxboro: 52.4.

Not saying that's going to happen Sunday, just that momentum is only as meaningful as the next opponent.

look - as a lions fan, i'm forced to hate the bears. which i do, with vehemence. but...

"the 'w' in win and the 't' in team"?

go straight to hell, bob kuechenberg. and take the rest of your old-fart buddies with you.

Here's the snopes entry on the 72 Dolphins Champagne myth: http://www.snopes.com/sports/football/miami72.asp

I was living in Miami during the Colts' run last year, and Jim Mandich was going crazy on his radio show about the Champagne Myth. He basically said that Buoniconti and Dick Anderson drink toghether because they are neighbors.

The 2006 Dolphins suck. Everybody is bashing Saban and Culpepper. Can we just agree to bash the 2006 Dolphins and leave the 1972 ones alone?

Why dream is to see the Dolphins start on 9-0 some season, and find out how the '72 Dolphins react to their own team pursuing their achievement, and to see how they react when the Dolphins would lose.

"my dream," I should say.

But Andy, regardless of whether they drink champagne, they do clearly show a vested interest. They held a press conference last year with Shula when the Colts lost, for crying out loud! But they should be proud, and they should want to keep their unique place in history. It's different than Chuck Bednarik coming out in 2004 saying he was rooting against the Eagles because he was on the last Eagle championship team and wants it to stay that way.

#10: I too would like to see the Dolphins go 9-0. In 1984, we went 11-0 to begin the season.

11:

Maybe Shula was getting so many interview requests, that they decided to hold a press conference for the sake of expediency?

Of course they have a vested interest in being the only NFL team to have a Perfect Season. I'm just sick of everybody complaining of how sick they are of the 72 Dolphins.

13: or maybe he suffers from the same malady as the rest of that team - the "look at me, i used to be great!" syndrome.

#6

A lot of that stems from the '85 game when Shula had all his '72 buddies come to the game and give speeches and shit.

I guess they should have come to the AFC Championship too.

Alright Andy, so people who are sick of the 72 Dolphins should just bottle their annoyance, lest they annoy people who are sick of people who are sick of them?

That's the thing about champions: fans of other teams don't like them and are going to complain about them/get sick of them. So the 72 Dolphins, as the only undefeated champion, are going to have fans sick of them. If I were a Dolphin fan, I would accept and revel in other fans' hatred. What do you expect? If the Vikes ever win the Super Bowl, I can tell you I won't care one bit about people who complain about them.

This is the most tired non-story out there, yet it still gets pub every year. Of course they like being the only undefeated team. Of course they enjoy it when the last unbeaten loses every year. Of course they're not going to freely admit it is harder today to go unbeaten than it was in their era.

I guess it comes down to this for me: Why do you want to see your favorite team win a championship? Once a team is a champion, other teams will be gunning for it.Fans of other teams will then not like that team. They're going to complain about it; they're going to try rip it; they're going to say they're sick of it.

So what? That's part of it, isn't it? Isn't that part of the pleasure of it? No matter what those other fans say, you can say "scoreboard" or "ring" and that's all that matters?

Instead of complaining about other fans who are sick of your team's undefeated season, I would just revel in it. What do you care what they think? Just say "17-0" and the conversation is pretty much over.

My only gripe is that they DO NOT all get together to celebrate with champagne and every year columnists report that they do.

#15: Yes, that might have helped the Dolphins D stop Craig James, that sombitch!

Or put another way: as a fan of a team that has never won a championship and has never even been to a Super Bowl in my lifetime, I have little patience for fans of teams who have won championships who complain that "everybody loves to bash" them, or that nobody respects them enough, or whatever.

when are we having the irrational 16-0 vs. super bowl champion thread?

i vote for 16-0. way bigger accomplishment.

About my earliest memory of attending an NFL game was the Vikings/Dolphin game in '72, at the old Met Stadium in Minnesota. The Vikings had 'em beat, stopping them on fourth down in the red zone, with little time left, and then an absurd (to my young, fanatic mind), late, flag was thrown, for supposed roughing the passer. Mandich then caught a td pass. It was robbery, I tell 'ya!

Re: #22

Was Ben Dreith the referee? 1/2 :-)

Little known fact: '72 Dolphins were underdogs in the Super Bowl.

From "The National Football Lottery" by Larry Merchant, his account of betting on the '72 season:

...the lines came out today. It was 2 Redskins at noon and 2 1/2 a few hours later, after opening in Vegas with outlaw bookies at 1 Dolphins. I made it a pick game. The pros are betting as though they have advance copies of Super Monday's newspapers.
That offends my deepest sensibilities about football. To bet that confidently against a team that is undefeated sends a shiver of contempt through me, like a phonograph needle scratching a record. Mybe hte pros are right, but I'm contemptous of their disrespect for a fundamental truth, a truth that has also been missed in stories that question the severity of the schedule the Dolphins had to overcome. The truth is is that all you can do is beat everyone in front of you. How many teams have done that? (None in the NFC.) The Dolphins have. It must be respected.

Today the Dolphins players would be all over that respect thing. I'm sure they had swagger too.

Also, that SB was vindication for Shula, who had the "can't win the big one" rap until then ('64 NFL championship, '68 SB, '71 SB). I'm sure that figures in his memories of that season.

re 21: seriously?

16-0 could just mean REALLY lucky scheduling.

Can't win the superbowl without beating at least a couple of elite teams.

I don't think either the Bears or the Colts are going to go 19-0. As a Bears fan, while a 19-0 season would be fantastic, I wouldn't be that upset if they lost a game or two during the regular season, as long as they win on February 4. Some of the 1985 Bears have said that losing that game to Miami was a good thing, as it helped them realize they could be beaten if they didn't play their best and made them focus more.

What's also interesting about this story is that the Super Bowl this year will be in Miami. If either the Bears or Colts manage to be 18-0 going into that game, you know Kuechenberg and Co. will be out in full force to root against them. But imagine the incredibly unlikely scenario in which the Bears and Colts both make it to Miami 18-0, thus guaranteeing that one of them will go 19-0. Bob Kuechenberg's head would explode.

And yet when Steve Spurrier, Louis Carter and Morris Owens cracked their Pabst Blue Ribbon when the Raiders beat the Cards, did we see any stories? I think not.

the 73 Dolphins were better than the 72 team

Have to agree with #17.

Every year, it's the same story. Every year, nothing ever comes of it. Just not worth re-hashing.

Does FO have any stats as to how long the win streak must be each year before articles like this start showing up? I'd say 6-0 but I don't have any stats to support it. I'm wondering if this late appearance is due to all the problems w/ DVOA this year?

I also find it funny that the poster whining about the Colts being ignored mentions the Bears' win over Arizona as evidence they are being overrated.

What does barely beating Tennessee, on a fourth-quarter comeback in the Whose-yer-Daddy Dome mean, then?

I can't wait to hear the next batch of excuses Indy fans come up with when they fail. If they're not whining about a lack of respect, they complain that everything's stacked against them.

Every year the champagne myth comes up and every year it gets debunked. And every year Gregg Easterbrook revives the myth for the many folks who read his column. Imagine that: TMQ doesn't always know what he's talking about.

PacifistViking #20: I share the misery. The first specific game I can recall watching was Super Bowl XI, Raiders vs. Vikings. I just assumed the Vikings played in the SB every year. Thirty years later, and we're still waiting. I watched Darrin Nelson drop the tying TD against the Redskins in the '87 NFC title game, Gary Anderson miss his first kick of the year in the '98 game and the entire team crap its panties against the Giants in 2000. I don't think Vikes-in-the-SB is ever going to happen again, and that's being optimistic.

Also: The Bears are only 7-0! Can the media please let em win a few more games before hauling the '72 Dolphins out of their freezers?

I blame Berman - how many times have I heard him prattle on, in detail, about the champagne chilling, the Dolphins gathering, etc.

Hey Kelso, come on back to the Manning/Brady thread - we miss you...

27: Great post. I think the pursuit of the loss record is A) much more likely to be realized and B) a LOT funnier.

21: Sign me up, I vote 16-0 as well. Think about it, is it harder to win 16 consecutive games or three? I would always remember a team that went undefeated in the regular season, even if they lost the playoffs. It's only in the US that we love playoffs so much, in soccer league champs are what really matter (and from a sample size perspective, it makes more sense).

I really think the 72 Dolphins SHOULD get together and celebrate... I mean, what a cool tradition. They could televise it and everything.

Brian Griese also backed up Elway on the 1998 Broncos team that won 11 or 12 in a row before losing to the Giants. I think Bob Griese said he wanted the Broncos to lose a game but win the Super Bowl.

...like a phonograph needle scratching a record.

Hehe...he said phonograph...he's old.

31:

If I hear one colts fan whine about disrespect, I'm gonna assplode.

Every year, the colts win 13 teams in a weak division against what are usually other weak divisions. (playing the NFC west last year, and they got to play the AFC south last year.)

Every year its "Can anyone stop the colts?" or "Can anyone slow down the juggernaut colts offense" blah blah blah. Theyre a good team, not a great one, yet every year, everyone seems to be calling the colts the next coming of the 72 dolphins. Theyre not. They've got a couple serious holes, and always have serious holes. They mangle bad teams, but lose to good ones. I'm sick of all the colts love. I'm sick of hearing about it.

33: I blame Berman for a lot of things. Like really bad, obvious classic rock references.

#20 - If you Vikings fans want to get to the Superbowl again, first tear off the dome and play outside again. Nobody wanted to go and play in Minnesota from November on.

38: Seriously, those articles haven't been written since the Colts lost in the playoffs last year. Do a Google search on "Colts unstoppable" and all you see is references to last week's game, articles that pick the Bronco's "unmovable object" defense to prevail.

41: right, tey havent been happening for 7 games, now they are again. We listened to them all year in 2005, and 2004, and 2003....

know it’s a Chicago fan site, but it seems all mentions of going undefeated this year only involve the Bears while the Colts just seem to keep winning (and without a miracle comback against Arizona, no less) and no one notices.

Is a second-half comeback against the Tennessee Titans anything more to be proud about?

Every year, the colts win 13 teams in a weak division against what are usually other weak divisions. (playing the NFC west last year, and they got to play the AFC south last year.)

I don't see how you can say the AFC South is a weak division. In 3 of the past 4 years, the second place team in the NFC South has made the playoffs, which is the 2nd best playoff placement of any of the 8 conferences (the NFC East has had a wild-card contender each of the last 4 years).

Let's look at the divisions the Colts played each of the last 4 years:

In '05, the Colts played the NFC West (28-36) and the AFC North (34-30) and won 14 games. Jacksonville finished with 12 wins and made the playoffs.

In '04, the Colts won 12 games and played the NFC North (29-35) and the AFC West (34-30). Jacksonville finished 9-7, one game out of the playoffs.

In '03, the Colts won 12 games and played the NFC South (31-33) and the AFC East (36-28). Tennessee finished with 12 games that year and made the playoffs.

In '02, the Colts won 10 games and played the NFC East (34-30) and the AFC North (28-36). Tennessee won the division, and the Colts made it as a wild-card team.

So in the last 4 years, the Colts have played 4 above average AFC Conferences and 4 below average NFC conferences.

I want both teams to be 18-0 heading into the SB. That would be sweet.

Zac, go back and look at the individual teams though.

For the last 3 years, any team that gets to play houston and tenessee essentially get 2 free wins. For each one of those interconference records, take into account that each one of those teams got to play both houston and tenessee.

The colts have played the 26th ranked schedule this year so far (2006), the 28th last year(2005), 16th in 2004, 12th in 2003, 27th in 2002.

So in the last 5 years, they've played 3 years of which they had one of the top 6 easiest schedules in the league, 1 at league average, and one at slightly higher than average difficulty. To say they havent had an easy run the last couple years is to ignore the facts.

re: 44

whatever else they have on their schedule, every season the colts get four free wins against the texans and titans. (and manning gets an extra td/game.)

you can't really beleive that only having to worry about 12 games on the schedule isn't a huge advantage, can you?

RE: #35 "I really think the 72 Dolphins SHOULD get together and celebrate… I mean, what a cool tradition. They could televise it and everything."

And that's the reason the story gets perpetuated -- like most good urban legends, the reason everyone believes it is that they want it to be true.

42: Show me. I haven't seen one link that describes the Colts as "unstoppable" vs the Patriots this Sunday. Almost every prediction I've found predicts a Pats victory.

#27 you owe me a new keyboard.

Just the thought of Spurrier and PBR...

And both of you guys that said 16-0 over a Super Bowl - would you really want your team to go down as the greatest choke job in history? Cause fair or not that's what it would be.

The 15-1 Vikings team would thank you for it.

35: One big difference is that in soccer leagues, you typically play a round-robin schedule where you have a home-and-home with every other team, so it's fair to compare wins and losses to determine the champion. In American football, schedules vary quite a bit in difficulty, so the playoffs make sense. (Of course the "best" team doesn't always win, but it's all part of the drama, right?)

Re 46 and 47

I agree with the point about the Titans and Texans sucking. But I guess I didn't realize that those are the only two bad teams in the league.

Every division has at least one whipping boy, with the possible exception of the NFC East. The AFC South currently has two. If DVOA is to be believed, the AFC East and NFC West have three. So the whole "free wins" argument falls a little flat to me.

Every good team gets free wins. That comes with the territory... when you're an elite team, you'll sometimes face teams that are way worse than you. I believe that FO showed that stomping on inferior teams is one of the best indicators of a good team. Also, I would not agree that "any team that gets to play houston and tenessee essentially get 2 free wins." Houston has been a free win to the Colts, but are they a free win to the Raiders, 49ers, Cardinals, Lions, etc.? No.

The SOS argument is fair for 2005, but not so much for 2004 or 2003. Strangely, 2002 was a comparatively down year for the Colts, so that 27th ranking is a little surprising.

#49
I don't if any of the so called experts at cbssportsline say unstoppable but they all predict a colts victory (or at least to cover the spread) click on the link

#7 writes See 2003 and 2004 playoffs. Manning’s average rating in three non-NE playoff games: a ridiculous 147.6.

You left out 2005. Wonder why that might be.

Re 54

I don't remember people saying "Manning is playing so well right now" leading up to the 2005 playoffs. It was a bad game against San Diego followed by 3 weeks of coasting.

If he had just been listing every year the Colts lost in the playoffs, he could have rattled off several other years too.

Aaaaaand it won't happen this year.

And now, we interrupt this thread for a message from the 2006 Dolphins.

Yo 1972 team! Hey, yeah, you who gave us no chance! How about THEM 31 apples?????

And while you are busy thinking up ways to apologize to us, why don't you let the Bears know where we left their clothes too, because they just got undressed!

#24 - Shula did not coach in the '71 superbowl... the Colts were under someone else (Cafferty?), and he was with the Dolphins (although they did lose a playoff game that year, to the Colts I think).

The Bears are exactly what Jason Taylor thought they were!

The 1971 Colts were coached by Don McCafferty. This was also Shula's first season with the Dolphins -- they went 10-4 and lost to the Raiders in the first round. The Colts beat Cincy and then Oakland to get to SBV.

Baltimore's loss to the Dolphins in the title game the next year was the beginning of the whole crazed cycle that led to the destruction of one of the greatest traditions in the NFL.

58, 60: The reference in #24 to the '71 Super Bowl was talking about the Super Bowl after the 1971 Season, in January 1972, when the Cowboys beat the Dolphins 24-3. The Colts Super Bowl win under McCafferty was after the 1970 season, in January 1971.

The celebration can begin
Indie goes down in week 11. No this is 2006 not a repeat of 2005. Thanks to the boys for keeping the 72 team going