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The Philadelphia Eagles suffered a surprise 26-21 loss to the Washington Commanders on Monday Night Football, ending their undefeated start to the season. They were attempting to become only the second team to finish the regular season undefeated in the 21st century, but their winning start ended at 9-0.
In 2007, the New England Patriots went 16-0 in the NFL regular season and headed to Super Bowl XLII with an 18-0 record before losing to the New York Giants 17-14.
That Super Bowl brought us David Tyree's "helmet catch", one of the most miraculous plays in NFL history, that helped seal the Giants victory. That ended the Patriots' possible record of being the only team to go 19-0 in the 16-game regular season format.
But that doesn't mean there isn't a team that hasn't gone undefeated at all. So which team went undefeated?
What NFL team went undefeated and won the Super Bowl?
That honor goes to the 1972 Miami Dolphins team, which went all the way to the Super Bowl to have a 17-0 record.
Under legendary coach Don Shula, the Dolphins went 14-0 in the regular season and eventually reached Super Bowl VII to take on the Washington Football Team, then known as the Washington Redskins. The Dolphins beat Washington 14-7 in what would be the first of two Super Bowl wins Shula would bring in his 25 years as head coach.
Of course, this perfect record was when the regular season only had 14 games, as opposed to the 16 games the league currently operates under. The NFL plans to expand the regular season even further by a game, and teams will now play 17 games starting in 2021.
A longer season will only make it that much tougher for a team to accomplish a perfect record. The Pittsburgh Steelers started the 2020 NFL season 11-0 and many believed they would go 16-0 for the season, but those dreams were crushed by, coincidentally, the Washington Commanders.
But with players like Tom Brady, Patrick Mahomes, Aaron Rodgers, and more still in the league, the chances of a perfect season are always possible thanks to these and many other legendary players.
