I often get asked whether we will ever again see a team have a perfect season.
My answer is always the same—no. It's too much to expect in this day and age, with free agency and revenue-sharing, for a team to go through an entire season without a blemish on their record.
In fact, it's only happened once in the Super Bowl era, and never has happened since the league adopted a 16-game schedule in 1978. With that many games, even the most focused team is bound to slip up.
Here's the part I don't get, though. Why are people bringing up a perfect season so often these days? It's almost as if everyone has forgotten about Week 8.
Yes, heading into the season's eighth weekend, one team appeared poised to make a run at a historic and unprecedented season. They had dodged a few bullets, and there still was a long way to go, but all the elements were in place for this special club to go the distance.
If not for a mistake on a field- goal attempt in the final three minutes, I think this team could have pulled it off, too.
Confused? Yeah, I was, too. I can't believe Kris Brown ruined the opportunity and actually made that kick for the Texans.
As evidenced by their string of losses since, Houston obviously had a great chance to have that elusive perfect season—no team has ever posted an 0-16 record. Not since the Tampa Bay Buccaneers went 0-14 in their expansion season of 1976 has a team played a full schedule without even so much as a tie.
Ironically, Houston's Week 8 victory over the Cleveland Browns came on the only NFL weekend in which the Indianapolis Colts didn't win—Peyton Manning's bunch had their bye week.
It's a shame, too. The drama could really have been building by now, especially after last week's heroic come-from-ahead loss against Tennessee, highlighted by Brown's last-second field goal attempt, which was so wide of the goal posts that if it were an Arena Football League game, it still might have missed the net. Somewhere, Bob Uecker watched the kick and said, "Juuuuust a bit outside. He tried the corner and missed."
That was just the latest near-win for Houston. The previous week, the Texans also had rallied from the lead for a last-second loss against Baltimore. And the week before that, the Texans led St. Louis 24-3 early, but eventual allowed a touchdown and field goal in the final minute to again eke out a loss in overtime. That was a close one.
So while the Colts march on toward an all-win season, the Texans can only sit back and wonder what could have been.
My picks: After a 2-1 week, I'll try to maintain a strong finish by taking the Cowboys plus 3 at the Redskins, the Steelers –3 at the Vikings and the Chiefs-Giants over 45 12
Lance Burton (23-19)
Patriots -4 vs. Buccaneers
Chargers +7 1/2 at Colts
Ravens -3 vs. Packers
Danny Gans (20-22)
Jets +8 1/2 at Dolphins
49ers +14 1/2 at Jaguars
Titans +7 at Seahawks
Oscar Goodman (21-21)
Patriots -4 vs. Buccaneers
Seahawks -7 vs. Titans
Dolphins -8 1/2 vs. Jets
Clint Holmes (19-21-2)
Redskins -3 vs. Cowboys
Bills +8 1/2 at Broncos
Bengals -7 1/2 at Lions
Kevin Janison (24-17-1)
Chiefs-Giants over 45 1/2
Bears -2 1/2 vs. Falcons
Cardinals -1 at Texans
Mark & Mercedes (20-19-3)
Cardinals -1 at Texans
Vikings +3 at Steelers
Chargers +7 1/2 at Colts
Wayne Newton (26-15-1)
Colts -7 1/2 vs. Chargers
Jaguars -14 1/2 vs. 49ers
Ravens-Packers under 33
Penn & Teller (20-22)
Steelers -3 at Vikings
Dolphins -8 1/2 vs. Jets
Raiders -3 vs. Browns
Rita Rudner (21-18-3)
49ers +14 1/2 at Jaguars
Steelers -3 at Vikings
Cowboys +3 at Redskins
Sal DeFilippo can really roll outside of the pocket before tossing that turkey.