NFL 2007: Almost Perfect--One Way or Another

As the 2007 National Football League regular season ended, the New England Patriots went 16-0, besting the 1972 Miami Dolphins by two games, forcing some of the surviving members of that team to keep their champagne on ice. Coach Bill Belichick's team may have been perfect, but certainly not flawless. Witness the close calls in games against Philadelphia, Baltimore and the New York Giants where, instead of running up big scores like the Patriots did to some teams, they scored the winning touchdown late in the fourth quarter.

At the other end of the spectrum, the 2007 Dolphins almost made pro football history of their own, one loss shy of being the only other team besides the 1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers to lose every game. As it was, the Dolphins' only victory was against Baltimore. As punishment, well-traveled taskmaster Bill Parcells was brought in to see if he could right the ship.

The biggest surprises in the NFC were the Green Bay Packers, with another record-setting year for quarterback Brett Favre, and the Washington Redskins. After what they've been through, with the murder of Sean Taylor, they could have fallen apart and missed the playoffs. But they didn't.

On the public relations front, letting CBS and NBC simulcast the NFL Network's telecast of the Patriots-Giants game was kinda puzzling. For weeks, the NFL was roundly ripped for keeping a potentially historic game on a channel that was having problems getting on most cable systems because of an access dispute. Then they relented, making the NFL Network seem weak in the process for not sticking to its guns in the eyes of cable. But the ratings were huge, so nobody really minded. (By the way, the NFL claimed that the first Super Bowl was a simulcast between CBS and NBC. But both networks used different announcing crews, so it really doesn't count.)

The Minnesota Vikings finished with an 8-8 record, losing their last two games to fall out of playoff contention. Really, folks, the lousy first half of the season they had killed any chances of getting into the playoffs in the first place. Quarterback Tarvaris Jackson is still learning on the job. Adrian Peterson had a great rookie season until injuries and better defenses slowed him down. And coach Brad Childress continues to be outsmarted and outcoached by wily old veterans such as Joe Gibbs of Washington and Mike Shanahan of Denver--and in some cases, not-so-wily coaches--when it comes to replay challenges. But owner Zygi Wilf insists he's committed to the team he's put together, and won't hesitate to spend money on better players. We shall see.

Our Super Bowl matchup: New England vs. Dallas.