NFL Football Betting: Will the New England Patriots Go 16-0?

We’ve been looking at the NFL regular season props at BetOnline.ag.  We’ve already looked at the Miami Dolphins’ chances for an 0-16 season and now we’ll head to the other end of the spectrum.  The New England Patriots are off to a 3-0 start but can they ‘run the table’ and go 16-0 during the 2019 NFL regular season?

WILL THE NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS GO 16-0 IN THE 2019 NFL REGULAR SEASON?

YES:  +400
NO:     -700

HISTORICAL CONTEXT:

Going undefeated during a 16 game NFL season might be one of the more difficult achievements in all of sports.  There have been plenty of great teams throughout NFL history but you can count on one hand the teams that finished the season undefeated and you’ll still have fingers left over.  Only two teams have done it since the end of World War II.  Only one team has done it since the NFL expanded their season to 16 games.

You can make an anecdotal case that an undefeated regular season has a ‘point of diminishing returns’.  Of the four teams since 1932 that have finished a NFL season undefeated only one went on to win a championship.  The 1972 Miami Dolphins won all 14 of their regular season games and then went on to win all three playoff games including Super Bowl VII to finish the season 17-0.  The Dolphins would eventually win 18 straight, winning their first game of the season before losing to the Oakland Raiders in the second game of the 1973 campaign.

The remaining three undefeated teams fell short of a championship.  Two earned their undefeated season during another era of professional football—the 1934 Chicago Bears (13-0) and the 1942 Chicago Bears (11-0).  The only teams to go undefeated in the NFL’s modern era are the Dolphins and the 2007 New England Patriots who reached Super Bowl XLII where they lost to Eli Manning’s New York Giants.

It should be apparent by now that an undefeated NFL season is a monumental task.  You can make a compelling case that the 1985 Chicago Bears are the best team in NFL history.  Their defense was stifling, leading the league in points allowed, yards allowed and takeaways.  Even this great team was unable to go undefeated, finishing the regular season at 15-1.

UPCOMING SCHEDULE:

The Patriots have a mixed bag in their upcoming schedule with games against doormats like Washington, Cincinnati and Miami.  Generally speaking, however, the schedule is pretty tough starting with a game at vastly improved Buffalo this weekend.  It starts to get really tough midseason—they play Cleveland on October 27 and they travel to Baltimore for a game against the Ravens a week later.  They have a bye week after that and then play four straight very tough games at Philadelphia, home against Dallas, at Houston and home against Kansas City.  They play at Cincinnati on December 15 but they have to turn around play play Buffalo at home just 6 days later. 

In the final game of the year they face the Miami Dolphins at home.  This game might not be as easy as it sounds as the Dolphins could very well be in ‘desperation mode’ trying to avoid an 0-16 season.   New England might be in a position where the final regular season game is meaningless in terms of playoff seeding and could be tempted to rest their starter rather than risk an injury against the lowly Dolphins.

THE VERDICT:

The Patriots could very well be the best team in the NFL.  There was a lot of concern that they’d struggle in the wake of Rob Gronkowski’s retirement but so far they’ve shaken it off and moved forward.  They’ve done a remarkable job dealing not only with Gronk’s retirement but with injury issues at other positions.  They’ve already lost Pro Bowl fullback James Develin for the season.  Wide receiver looks like it could be a problematic position in the wake of the Antonio Brown release.  Julian Edelman is just getting over a rib injury and first round pick N’Keal Henry on injured reserve until after midseason.

New England is clearly a very good team and are deservedly among the favorites to return to the Super Bowl.  Perhaps their biggest challenge is the sheer weight of history.  There’s been plenty of great teams before them that haven’t been able to finish the NFL season undefeated.  Given the experience of the 2007 Pats—who ran the table in the regular season but didn’t win a Super Bowl—the team is even less likely to focus on an undefeated regular season.  The big picture goal is another Super Bowl title and the Patriots are more than willing to lose a regular season game in the process.

BET NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS TO FINISH 2019 REGULAR SEASON 16-0  NO -700