The 1972 Miami Dolphins can crack open their champagne one more time as they remain the only team in modern National Football League history to complete a perfect season. The final two undefeated teams suffered losses last week when the Philadelphia Eagles lost their first game ever to the New York Jets and the San Francisco 49ers were upset by the Cleveland Browns.
Both contests that pinned the teams that came into the week 5-0 were close. The Jets got a late interception that set up the winning touchdown in their victory at MetLife Stadium. In Cleveland, the 49ers lined up for a would-be winning 41-yard field goal from rookie kicker Jake Moody that sailed wide right as time ran out on the clock.
Some might look at the 49ers loss as a black mark on their Super Bowl prospects, I see it differently. It was a tough afternoon, three key players were injured during the game and whether Christian McCaffrey will be available for this week’s Monday Night Football date with the Vikings in Minnesota is yet to be seen.
I view the 49ers first loss as a tribute to their greatness.
Brock Purdy, the 49ers aire to the throne currently occupied by Joe Montana, suffered his first ever regular season loss. The only other game Purdy didn’t lead the 49ers to a win was when he suffered an injury early in last year’s NFC Championship Game loss at Philadelphia.
He didn’t need to lose this one either.
Purdy continued to negotiate the 49ers toward victory even after he lost three of his primary offensive weapons; tackle Trent Williams, wide receiver Deebo Samuel and McCaffrey. He got them in position to win the game and then, a rookie missed a makeable kick.
A rookie.
George Allen built his success with the Washington Redskins with an aversion to rookies in favor of veterans. When I was with the Raiders in the 1970’s, Allen came to visit Al Davis at the Oakland Raiders offices on Oakport Street, and with a black marker listed the veterans he got while trading draft choices.
“Proven players instead of hopefuls,” Allen said with a twinkle in his eyes and a smile on his face.
Davis didn’t disagree with him during that office visit, instead just smiled and admired Allen who the previous year had led the Washington Redskins to the favorite role in Super Bowl VII, the game won by Miami to complete their perfect campaign.
But Davis didn’t believe in Allen’s philosophy, thinking more he needed young athletes that learned the Raiders way and spent an entire career in Silver and Black.
The 49ers had a veteran kicker that in recent years was nearly as reliable as the sun rising in the east, Robbie Gould. In this year’s draft, the 49ers didn’t have a pick until the third round, and with their second third round pick they selected Moody out of Michigan. He was arguably the best kicker in college football last year and his professional career began with him making every kick though the first five weeks of the season.
Then, in the most challenging game of the campaign, he missed a pair of boots in Cleveland and the 49ers lost the game by two points, 19-17.
Bad idea to let Gould leave the Bay Area? Bad idea to have a rookie deciding a game?
You won’t hear that criticism from me. I’m with Al Davis in building a team that maintains greatness is always anchored by athletes that learn your system and apply their talent to your cause throughout their career. Moody missed a couple kicks on Sunday on a bad weather day in Cleveland. I suspect the experience will not relegate him to the Robert Aguayo dungeon of doom. Aguayo was the best kicker in college before the Tampa Bay Buccaneers took him with a second round pick in 2005, and his pro career was a total bust.
Moody, I suspect will be back to efficient ways in the weeks and seasons to come. Long after Gould is enjoying his retirement on a beach, Moody will still be drilling long kicks for San Francisco. We might remember, for a third reference of the day to the perfect 1972 Dolphins, that San Francisco almost matched their undefeated season when they won the Super Bowl to complete the 1984 season, ironically over the Dolphins in Dan Marino’s only Roman Numeral appearance.
That year, the 49ers were 15-1, and their only loss was suffered in the seventh week of the season when veteran kicker Ray Wersching missed a would-be tying field goal on the game's final play against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The 49ers narrow loss in Cleveland came with injuries and a huge motivational hole coming off their romp victory against the Dallas Cowboys. There is every reason to anticipate that this blemish on their 2023 campaign might be their only setback.
Qoxhi Picks: San Francisco 49ers (-6½) over Minnesota Vikings