Undefeated: The Perfect Season Quiz

Answer: Washington Redskins

Though two teams had previously finished the regular season with a perfect record (1934 Chicago Bears 13-0-0 and 1942 Chicago Bears 11-0-0), both lost the end-of-season Championship Game. The 1972 Miami Dolphins were the first to have a pervcect season and also win the championship game. The Dolphins ended their 1972 season with a perfect record of 17-0-0. They went on to win the first game of the next season to achieve a win streak of 18 games. They beat the Washington Redskins in Super Bowl VII, with a final score of 14-7.

The Washington Redskins won the Divisional Playoffs against the Packers (16-3), and the Conference Championship against the Cowboys (26-3), only to lose to the Dolphins in Super Bowl VII. This was their first ever Super Bowl appearance, and they finished their season 11-3.

Answer: New York Giants

The 2007 Patriots had a perfect 16-0 record for the regular season, and went on to beat the Jaguars in the Divisional Championship (31-20) and the Chargers in the AFC Championship (21-12). They went into Super Bowl XLII with an 18-0 record, but they lost to the Giants in the Super Bowl by only three points! Interestingly enough, their final regular season game was actually against the Giants, and they won by only three points (38-35).

The Giants finished their 2007 season with a record of 10-6. To make it to Super Bowl XLII, they beat the Buccaneers in the Wild Card Playoffs (24-14), the Cowboys in the Divisional Playoffs (21-17), and the Packers in the Conference Championship (23-20). This was their third year in a row to make the playoffs under the leadership of head coach Tom Coughlin.

Answer: Chicago Bears

The 1934 Bears went into the NFL Championship Game with a 13-0-0 record for the season. They played the Championship Game against the New York Giants. They got an early lead (13-3), but the Giants came back later in the game to win (30-13). Since the field was covered in ice, both teams struggled on the terrain. The Giants, however, replaced their cleats with tennis shoes during halftime, which gave them an advantage in the second half of the game.

The 1942 Bears were 11-0-0 going into the NFL Championship Game against the Washington Redskins. The Redskins beat the Bears with a final score of 14-6. If the 1942 Bears had won the NFL Championship Game that year, not only would they have achieved a perfect season including the championship, but it would have been their third straight NFL Championship win. They won both the 1940 and 1941 NFL Championships, but without going undefeated during the regular season.

Answer: True

The NFL doesn't count preseason games in the standings, either for or against teams. The 1972 Miami Dolphins lost three of their preseason games that year, but still managed perfect season since the preseason games didn't count. Those three games were lost to Detroit (23-31), Green Bay (13-14), and Washington (24-27), all of which were teams they didn't face during their regular season.

Answer: 1928 Chicago Cardinals

The 1928 Chicago Cardinals finished that season with a record of 1-5. Before 1972, ties didn't count against a team's W-L percentage. So all of the other three teams had a 1.00 W-L record until 1972 when the NFL changed them retroactively to count ties against them.

The 1920 Akron Pros tied three games that season for a record of 8-0-3. That was their first season with the APFA, and their first year as the Akron Pros instead of the Akron Indians.

The Canton Bulldogs actually went undefeated two seasons in a row, 1922 and 1923. They had two ties in 1922 and one in 1923 for records of 10-0-2 and 11-0-1 respectively. They worked under the guidance of coach Guy Chamberlin, and were named the NFL Champions both years.

The 1929 Green Bay Packers, under coach Curly Lambeau, only tied one game for a season record of 12-0-1, which won them the title of NFL Champions that year. If they had won their game with the Frankford Yellow Jackets instead of tying, they would be considered the first NFL team to have the perfect season including the championship instead of the Miami Dolphins.

Answer: 1948 Cleveland Browns

The Pro Football Hall of Fame did recognize their perfect season, but not the NFL. The AAFC (All-America Football Conference) was a rival to the NFL before they merged in 1949, so the NFL did not include the AAFC's records in the NFL record book.

Under coach Paul Brown, after whom the team was named, the 1948 Cleveland Browns finished their regular season 14-0, and went on to win the AAFC Championship to achieve the perfect season including the championship game. The Browns essentially dominated the AAFC during their four years in it, and had a win streak of 29 games from October 1947 to October 1949. Cleveland won the 1948 title game 49-7 against Buffalo to top off the perfect season in the middle of their 29 game win streak.

Answer: Don Shula

Don Shula was born Donald Francis Shula in Grand River, Ohio in 1930. Before becoming a coach in 1958, Shula played for the Cleveland Browns, Baltimore Colts, and Washington Redskins as a defensive back (corner). His first two coaching assignments were at the University of Virginia (1958) and University of Kentucky (1959) as the defensive backs coach. He didn't start coaching for the NFL until 1960 when he became the defensive coordinator for the Detroit Lions. He became the head coach for the Baltimore Colts in 1963 and remained with them until 1969.

He is most well-known for his stint as head coach of the Miami Dolphins from 1970-1995. He led the Dolphins to five Super Bowls, winning two of them (Super Bowl VII and VIII). He also won the NFL Coach of the Year award four times, and set numerous NFL records, including most consecutive seasons coached with his 33 years as head coach.

Answer: Tom Brady

Thomas Edward Patrick Brady, Jr. was born in San Mateo, California in 1977. He played football in college for Michigan, and was the sixth round Draft pick by the Patriots in 2000. He was named the Associated Press's 2007 Male Athlete of the Year. Brady has won several awards including multiple Super Bowl MVP awards and NFL Most Valuable Player awards, as well as participating in the Pro Bowls.

Answer: The second AFL

The 1937 Los Angeles Bulldogs won the league championship and finished their perfect season under coach Gus Henderson with a 16-0 overall record, and an 8-0 for the AFL.

The AFL II (second AFL) was only around for the 1936 and 1937 seasons, but it did a lot in the way of bringing professional football to the West Coast. The Los Angeles Bulldogs were the first team to have their home games on the West Coast. The Los Angeles Buccaneers did exist in the NFL prior to this, but they were based out of Chicago, not Los Angeles. The original AFL (AFL I or AFLG) was only active in 1926.

Answer: Ohio League

The Ohio League (1903-1919) consisted of teams based in Ohio. In 1920, teams from other stated were added to the league and it became the APFA, which changed its name to the NFL in 1922. Throughout the existence of the Ohio League, several of its teams went undefeated without ties, including: 1904 Massillon Tigers (7-0), 1905 Massillon Tigers (10-0), 1909 Akron Indians (9-0), 1911 Shelby Blues (11-0), 1912 Elyria Athletics (8-0), and the 1918 Dayton Triangles (8-0).