New England Patriots Breaking All Kinds of Records
Mike Reiss posted some notes following the Patriots win over the Dolphins this past Sunday. The post points out the records that the Patriots ended up breaking on Sunday, a few to note are:
PATRIOTS SET NFL RECORD FOR MOST TOUCHDOWNS IN A SEASON
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PATRIOTS HAVE HIGHEST SINGLE-SEASON POINT DIFFERENTIAL IN NFL HISTORY
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PATRIOTS ARE FIRST TEAM TO START A SEASON WITH 15 STRAIGHT WINS
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There are a few more records that Mike listed in his post, but those three are the records that seem to stick-out the most, especially since there is still one more regular season game left to play. And even though Tom Brady and Randy Moss have the chance next week to break the passing touchdown and receiving touchdown records respectively against the Giants, that last record, 15 straight wins, seems the most impressive. It seems unbelievable to think that a team in the free-agency era has the chance to go undefeated, but the Patriots are on the verge of doing just that. It can’t be stated enough that going 16-0 for a NFL team would obviously be an impressive feat, but if in the end the players aren’t hoisting up the Lombardi trophy then the record would mean a lot less to everyone. Len Pasquarelli in his recent ESPN.com article has a great quote from Jabar Gaffney noting this exact sentiment
“But it won’t mean anything unless we win the whole deal. And that has nothing to do with next week. All the records, all the wins, it’s only [validated] if we’re the team holding up the [Vince Lombardi Trophy] at the end.”
Which echos the goal that every team in the NFL sets for themselves in the pre-season: to win it all, to be the last team standing. Again as a fan it would be great to see them go 16-0, but after it’s all said and done if they don’t go 19-0 it would end up being a disappointing season no matter what records have been broken. Tom Brady said it best when he was asked
“What’s your favorite ring?”
“The next one” -Tom Brady
15-1 with a ring would be fine by me, but that isn’t to say 19-0 doesn’t sound even sweeter!