You would never know that the New England Patriots were on a bye on Sunday since there was still a buzz about the game against the Indianapolis Colts from the week before.

A pair of undefeated teams squaring off this late in the season is definitely big news, but carrying it over into this past weekend was a bit much.

So, of course I'm going to chime in about it now, nine days after the fact, but this will center more on if the Patriots can go the entire season undefeated.

In a word, no.

The 1972 Miami Dolphins are the only team to do it when they went 14-0 during the regular season and 3-0 in the playoffs.

The members of that team break open the champagne every season when the last undefeated team falls. I'm sure I'd want to keep a record like that, but hearing the story every year borders on annoying.

The fact is that record can never be broken. The record is an undefeated season. The Patriots could go 16-0 during the regular season, bettering the Dolphins by two, and three playoff wins would make them 19-0.

But the achievement is an undefeated season. A 25-year anniversary would be a good time to break the mark, but it's never going to happen.

Here's why:

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Sign of the times: In 1972, the undefeated season probably went without a lot of fanfare.Today, when a team goes 5-0, each week comes and goes with the same questions about going undefeated, becoming a huge distraction and hindering the team's ability to focus on the game itself.Each week, another group of media comes along and pesters the team about the idea of going undefeated. No player wants to look that far down the road, but he has no choice.•

On any given Sunday: These days, the level of parity in the NFL is incredible. Teams that go 4-12 one year could reach the Super Bowl the following season.In the early 1970s, you had Miami, the Oakland Raiders, Minnesota Vikings and Kansas City Chiefs as a few of the strong teams, but not much else after that. The drop-off was obvious.Now, each conference has a bevy of talented teams — about eight teams battling for six conference spots — and the pool of players is much stronger.•

Too good for your own good: You do so well through the first 14 or 15 weeks of the season, you rest players so they're healthy for the playoffs. Doing that usually means limited time for star players, which means rusty reserves taking over.If the Patriots are 14-0 and have already sewn up home-field advantage throughout the playoffs, do you rest your stars or pursue the record?Could you risk Tom Brady, Randy Moss or Tedy Bruschi getting injured and missing the rest of the year? I would say no, much the way you run the risk during the exhibition season.The Patriots are looking to eradicate any thought that Spygate is the reason for their success, but there's too many traps along the way to go 16-0 these days.Go ahead and pop open the bubbly, 1972 Dolphins. You're record will always be safe.