Don Shula Says Packers Can Match '72 Dolphins' Perfect Season

The members of the '72 Miami Dolphins haven't gotten a chance yet to pop champagne, as the Green Bay Packers have remained undefeated with little signs of slowing down. Could Perfectville soon have a population of two?These are dark days in Dolphinland, as they have been for much of the...

By Kyle Munzenrieder

November 29, 2011

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The members of the '72 Miami Dolphins haven't gotten a chance yet to pop champagne, as the Green Bay Packers have remained undefeated with little signs of slowing down. Could Perfectville soon have a population of two?

These are dark days in Dolphinland, as they have been for much of the past decade, and watching a team equal their unmatched perfect season wouldn't exactly warm our hearts. So it's not helping matters that, of all people, Don Shula thinks the Packers can top his '72 team's 17-0 season.

"If they do it, I'm going to be the first to call their coach (Mike McCarthy) and congratulate them," Shula said today according to Fox Sports.

"They've got a real shot at running the table."

That perfect season is one of the few records the Dolphins have managed to hold on to. Several of Dan Marino's records have fallen since his '99 retirement. His last major record, for most passing yards in a single season set in 1984, is in danger of being toppled by not one, but three different quarterbacks this season (the Packers' Aaron Rodger among them).

Marino and Shula's joint record for most wins by a coach-QB duo was also surpassed this season by the Patriot's Tom Brady and Belichick.

If the Packers did go undefeated they would, in fact, surpass the Dolphins record. With an extended season they'd need to go 19-0, compared to the '72 Fins 17-0.

Meanwhile, our Dolphins can't even manage to complete a completely defeated season. They're losing that race to the Indianapolis Colts.

Coincidentally, the Colts almost achieved perfect status in '09, but some believed they purposefully tanked their last regular season game. They went on to lose the Super Bowl to the Saints that year anyway. The '07 Patriots posted a perfect regular season record, but then were defeated by the Giants in the Super Bowl.

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