A little history on the line for New England Sunday

New England seems to have little to play for when Miami heads to Foxbor Sunday.

 

The 13-2 Patriots have already wrapped up the No. 1 seed in the AFC. The 7-8 Dolphins are playing out the string. The only question remaining is how long New England's starters, and quarterback Tom Brady in particular, will play before donning a warm, puffy sideline coat.

 

Cold, Hard Football Facts TV host Gary Tanguay asked us about that very topic this week and even we were reduced to throwing out cliches about "keeping your foot on the gas" (the next version of CHFF TV will be out later today, by the way).

 

In any case, it turns out there is a wee bit of impressive history riding on the line Sunday: if the Patriots win and end the season with a 14-2 record, they'll join San Francisco as the only franchises in NFL history that have won 14 or more games in four different seasons.

The streaks of success are remarkably similar: the Patriots, with a victory Sunday, will have won 14-plus four times in eight seasons. The 49ers won 14-plus four times in nine seasons.

 

New England will have done it with the same coach and quarterback. San Francisco accomplished its streak under two different coaches and two different quarterbacks. Not sure which is more impressive, quite frankly.

 

In any case, the streaks are pretty mindblowing. Consider that the Packers, Giants and Bears are three of the NFL's oldest, most successful and most glamorous franchises (No. 1, No. 3 and No. 4, respectively, in our epic, all-time franchise rankings that we compiled in 2008). These three high-profile franchises have played a combined 257 NFL seasons and have each enjoyed dynastic periods in their histories.

 

These three organizations have combined for just three seasons of 14 or more victories (granted, 14-win seasons were not much of a reality until the NFL went to a 16-game schedule in 1978). 

The Patriots, with a win Sunday, will have won 14 or more games four times in the eight seasons since 2003 and in seven seasons with Brady at quarterback (he missed 2008 with an injury).

 

	First year	16	15	14	13	12	11	10
Arizona	1920						3	3
Atlanta	1966			1	0	2	2	1
Baltimore	1996				1	1	2	2
Buffalo	1960				2	3	3	5
Carolina	1995					2	2
Chicago	1920		1	1	3	2	7	6
Cincinnati	1968					2	2	4
Cleveland	1946			1		3	5	9
Dallas	1960				2	9	6	9
Denver	1960			1	3	3	4	6
Detroit	1930					1	2	5
Green Bay	1921				4	5	5	9
Houston	2002	Ha, ha, ha! That's funny.
Indianapolis	1953			2	3	5	3	6
Jacksonville	1995			1		1	3
Kansas City	1960				3	1	5	6
Miami	1966			2		4	7	8
Minnesota	1961		1			5	5	5
New England	1960	1		2	1	1	7	6
New Orleans	1967				1	2	2	3
N.Y. Giants	1925			1	3	4	5	8
N.Y. Jets	1960					1	2	7
Oakland	1960				2	7	5	4
Philadelphia	1933				1	3	7	10
Pittsburgh	1933		1	1	1	4	6	7
San Diego	1960			1	1	3	5	2
San Francisco	1946		1	3	4	4	1	8
Seattle	1976				1	1		3
St. Louis	1937			1	1	4	5	8
Tampa	1976					1	2	3
Tennessee	1960				3	2	5	7
Washington	1932			2		1	3	10

By Kerry Byrne