NEW ORLEANS — Every NFL season — as sure as there will be hand-wringing over officiating and scrutiny about whether the Jets and Giants can extricate themselves from their malaises — it happens.
A team goes deep into the regular season without losing and the talk begins about whether that team might equal what the ’72 Dolphins did in producing a perfect, undefeated season through the Super Bowl.
And every NFL season, a team threatening to go undefeated is beaten and members of that ’72 Dolphins team, who want their feat to stand alone, rejoice.
The teams and the week when that first loss occurs change from year to year. But whenever it happens, former Miami players pop open champagne and celebrate.
