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The NFL has a wide spectrum of performances each season, and the growing parity results in a handful of teams up top, a handful at the bottom, and then a whole bunch in the middle. This season is no different, but we have four teams offering vastly disparate performances.
The New England Patriots and San Francisco 49ers are both undefeated through Week 8, while the Cincinnati Bengals and Miami Dolphins are both winless. The Dolphins and 49ers have had their byes and played seven games, while the Bengals and Patriots have played eight games with bye weeks approaching.
DraftKings Sportsbook has put together a special set of odds for the four teams and if they will make history this season. For the 49ers and Patriots, it includes an undefeated regular season plus winning the Super Bowl.
49ers to go 19-0: +8000
Patriots to go 19-0: +1200
Bengals to go 0-16: +800
Dolphins to go 0-16: +300
The NFL has had two undefeated regular season teams in the modern era, and three full season winless teams in that stretch. The 1972 Miami Dolphins were perfect, finishing the regular season 14-0 and then winning three playoff games including the Super Bowl. The 2007 New England Patriots won all 16 regular season games, but then lost a wild upset to the New York Giants in Super Bowl 42.
The 1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers went 0-14 in their debut season and actually lost the first 12 games of the 1977 season as well. The 1982 Baltimore Colts went winless, but it was in a strike-shortened season. The 2008 Detroit Lions and 2017 Cleveland Browns also both went winless, losing 16 games on the season.
The current Dolphins are doing everything they can to blow this season, trading parts as fast as they can. They put a scare into the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 8, but fell apart in the second half. They host the Jets this week, but the real matchup that matters is Week 6 when they host the Bengals. There is a strong chance both team are winless going into that one.
On the undefeated side of things, the Patriots have been on these kinds of odds for quite a while now. They faced a weak schedule for much of the first half of the season, but things pick up moving forward. They travel to face the Ravens in Week 9, and after a Week 10 bye, they travel to Philadelphia, host Dallas, travel to Houston, and host Kansas City. There’s a decent chance they lose one of those, but they’ve been rolling so far.
The 49ers crushed a good Carolina team in Week 8, but previously had faced some shaky opponents. Their big test comes Weeks 12-14 when they host Green Bay and then travel to face Baltimore and New Orleans.