The Cowboys of Jimmy Johnson, with offensive weapons like Aikman, Irvin and Smith allied to a defense built on speed. Surprisingly, none of these great teams finished a season unbeaten. Some came close but never quite made it. The last close shave was in 1998 when Dennis Green s Vikings went 15-1 in the regular season, with only a defeat at Tampa Bay spoiling the record. Going unbeaten shouldn t be that hard these days, logic would dictate.
Schedules are uneven, with some divisions noticeably weaker than others.
Teams can make a huge improvement from one season to another with a few shrewd free agency signings. Pick up a fifth place schedule, bring in some new talent via the draft or free agency and hey presto, you ve got yourself an unbeaten season. The modern NFL doesn t work like that. More teams are in contention for play-off spots at season s end, so there are fewer easy games. There are 16 games in a season nowadays.