If the New England Patriots finish the job against the New York Giants Sunday in Glendale, Ariz., many NFL experts will anoint them as the Greatest Team Ever.
There is no question that a strong case can be made for the Patriots. They will have gone 19-0, topping the achievement of the 1972 Miami Dolphins, who have talked incessantly about their 17-0 season while conveniently ignoring the fact that they played only two winning teams that regular season compared to the Patriots' 6-0 mark.
The Patriots have set numerous NFL team (most points, most touchdowns, etc.) and individual records (Tom Brady's 50 TD passes, Randy Moss' 23 TD receptions) despite the pressure of probably being the most scrutinized team of the modern era.
So go ahead, put the Patriots on a pedestal all by themselves. Or you can look back at teams from other sports that just might rank with the Patriots.
Consider the following:
Team: 1927 New York Yankees
What made them great? The nickname Murderers' Row stuck for a reason. The Yankees posted a 110-44 record , won the American League pennant by 19 games and whipped the Pittsburgh Pirates four straight in the World Series. This legendary Yankee team had Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Tony Lazzeri, Joe Dugan, Earle Combs and Bob Meusel in a lineup that hit .307 overall.
Ruth blasted a then-record 60 homers, knocked in 164 and hit .356, and Gehrig also had outrageous numbers as he hit .373 with 47 homers and 175 runs batted in.
The hitting was so good that the pitching is somewhat overlooked. Waite Hoyt (22-7), Herb Pennock (19-8), Urban Shocker (18-6) and Wilcy Moore (19-7) led the way. The Yankees scored 975 runs and allowed 599, easily making them the most feared team in baseball.
Interesting sidelight: The Yankees estimated payroll was $250,000, with Ruth ($70,000) getting more than 25 percent of it. Ruth made more money than the manager and general manager combined. Gehrig made $8,000, which would seem to make him the biggest bargain in the history of baseball. The second baseman, Lazzeri, also made $8,000, but had a clause in his contract that gave him round-trip train fare for him and his wife at the beginning and end of the season.
Possible flaws: What was the quality of the competition? Baseball hadn't yet been integrated.
Team: 1985-'86 Boston Celtics
What made them great? With its emphasis on passing and teamwork, this might have been the most aesthetically pleasing team in the history of the NBA, and it blew away the field with a 67-15 record. The Celtics didn't lack charisma, or big egos, with players such as Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, Robert Parish, Danny Ainge and Dennis Johnson, and their depth was astounding with Bill Walton, Scott Wedman and Jerry Sichting.
League MVP Bird nearly averaged a double-double (25.8 points, 9.8 rebounds) yet there were some nights when McHale or Parish was better than Bird. This was an era when Bird turned passing into an art. Don't forget, too, that the injury-plagued Walton remained healthy that year and was an extraordinary passer himself. These guys made the game look easy.
The Celtics' most remarkable feat was their 50-1 home record, and that's counting the playoffs. The Celts breezed through the first three rounds of the postseason, losing only one game, then handled the Houston Rockets, 4-2, to nail down their 16th championship.
Interesting sidelight: The Celtics were licking their chops in the playoffs. Not only did they know they were going to win, they brought University of Maryland star Len Bias in for an interview, anticipating he would be their next superstar. Bias was on the bench with Bird at one practice, seemingly soaking up everything Bird had to say. However, after getting drafted by the Celts with the second overall pick, Bias died of a drug overdose.
Possible flaws: The Celtics lost 17 road games (regular season and playoffs) and in the finals avoided the Los Angeles Lakers, who were ousted by the Rockets.
Team: 1976-'77 Montreal Canadiens
What made them great? Similar to the Celtic teams that ruled basketball, the Canadiens made hockey a game of beauty with their speed and puck-sharing ways. However, this Montreal team took it to new heights, becoming the first NHL club to win 60 games. Overall, the Canadiens went 60-8-12 in the regular season and, in an uncanny resemblance to the '85-'86 Celtics, dropped just one home game (33-1-6) all regular season. They did lose once at the Montreal Forum in the playoffs to the New York Islanders.
Montreal outscored their opponents 387-171 in a year when half the teams in the league didn't even score 250 goals. The Canadiens were so dominant in the regular season that the playoffs seemed like a mere formality. As it turned out, Montreal went 10-2 in the playoffs, including a four-game sweep of the Boston Bruins in the finals.
The speedy Guy Lafleur paced the league in scoring with 56 goals and 80 assists, and was regular season and playoff MVP. Steve Shutt added 60 goals and 45 assists. Defensively, Larry Robinson earned the Norris Trophy as the league's best backliner, while Ken Dryden and Michel "Bunny" Larocque shared the Vezina Trophy with a 2.09 goals-against average. Put them all together and you had a team that was beatable about once a month.
Interesting sidelight: Canadiens coach Scotty Bowman apparently drove his players the way Bill Belichick does the Patriots. One of the Montreal players, Doug Risebrough, put it this way: "The only time I thought we were doing well in Scotty's eyes was when we won those 60 games."
Possible flaws: Struggled to beat the New York Islanders, 4-2, in the semifinals. Two of the Habs' wins were by just one goal.
