After Surprise Losses, Should Philadelphia and San Francisco Worry About the Remainder of the NFL Regular Season?

Rafael Zamorano Oct 15, 2023, 11:58 PM ETRead: 4 min.

After a surprise loss, how much should Philadelphia and San Francisco worry about the remainder of the regular season?

Very soon, in the 2023 NFL regular seasonthe worries are over for the Miami Dolphins from ’72.

In a typical campaign NFL, when teams surpass the barrier of 10 wins without defeat, they begin to feel the added pressure of the external chatter that comes with the question: can they go the entire way without defeat? In the process, the talk always returns to the Dolphins del ’72, only team in modern NFL history to complete a perfect season.

This year, undefeated records ended in Week 6.

Jalen Hurts and Brock Purdy saw the perfect records of the Eagles and 49ers, respectively, fall in Week 6.ESPN

Los San Francisco 49ers They visited the Cleveland Brownsand a few minutes later, the Philadelphia Eagles They basically handed the game over to the New York Jets. Niners e Eagles They were the last two teams with a perfect record at the start of the season.

Time to pop the champagne for the surviving members of those Dolphins historical, because the feat remains unmatched for another year.

Los 49erswho had enjoyed great health at the start of the campaign, were rocked by injuries at Deebo Samuel, Christian McCaffrey y Trent Williams during his visit to Clevelandand outside of a dominant first drive that culminated in a touchdown by McCaffreywere deciphered for most of the match by the defense of the Browns. The usually reliable Brock Purdy He contributed just 125 passing yards and one interception. With everything and that, the Niners They had the chance to rescue the game at the last minute, but the rookie’s field goal attempt Jake Moody from 41 yards it was a miss, one of his two mistakes on the day.

In MetLife Stadiumlos Eagles They made too many mistakes to overcome themselves, including three interceptions of Jalen Hurtsincluding that of Tony Adamswhich set up the winning touchdown for the Jets in the final quarter. Additionally, there was a fumble D’Andre Swiftin the disaster against some New Yorkers who took the field without their two starting cornerbacks, Sauce Gardner y D.J. Reed.

Although only five weeks with a perfect record is a short streak for the last undefeated in the NFL, 2023 is not the campaign in which clean records ran out the fastest. Since the merger of the leagues in 1970, perfect records have ended twice after just three wins: 1970, 2010 and 2014. In that period, five seasons have seen the last team fall undefeated after just four wins.

How important is it to be the last team with perfect pace in the NFL, with a view to the playoffs? From 1970 to date, 12 teams that were the last to lose a game in the campaign, either alone or at the same time as another club, like this year with Niners e Eaglesthey won the Super Bowlbeginning with Miami in 1972. On 15 occasions, those clubs have lost the Super Bowlincluding the New England Patriots who were the only ones to go perfect in a 16-game regular season, in 2007.

However, that good fortune of Super Bowl has not accompanied the last survivors without defeat in recent years. The last champions of Super Bowl who were also the last to lose in the regular season, were the Indianapolis Colts in 2006, after scoring nine victories to start the year. Last year, the Eagles They were the last to fall, after eight wins, before succumbing to the Kansas City Chiefs in it Super Bowl LVII.

And, does being the last to lose in the regular season guarantee playoffs? Neither. Eight clubs that were the last to lose in the season failed to make the postseason. The last time this happened was in 2016, with the Minnesota Vikings and his five victories to open the year.

Naturally, the more wins to open the year, the more likely it is to qualify for the postseason. None of the clubs that did not make the playoffs after being the last undefeated team had more than five wins to open the campaign.

Should we worry too much about Niners e Eagles? Not really. In both cases, the defeats came under extraordinary circumstances. We are still facing the two best teams in the NFC and, together with the Dolphins –ironically–, two of the best in the entire NFL. Their stars are elite and the squads are deep. There is time to tighten the screws and, hopefully, find yourself in the postseason, after your Week 13 quote in Philly.

2023-10-16 03:58:00
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