Is the Quest for Perfection in the NFL Worth the Risk?

Let's be honest.

This whole "going undefeated" thing just doesn't happen in the NFL.

Save for the 2007 New England Patriots, it's only happened one other time in the entire history of the league, and we can only count two times that we've seen a team reach the Super Bowl without a loss in the past 37 years.

Two teams.

So, really, Indianapolis and New Orleans, what gives you the idea, nay, the right, to think that you both can accomplish this feat?

The odds are against both teams, collectively and individually—so much so that both the Colts and Saints have staved off countless close losses, have fought through injuries, poor run defenses, and elite offenses that abandoned the team in one half, only to return with a fiery rage in the other.

The Saints are 13-0. They wave their lone, upright finger (not the middle one, kids) in the face of the Washington Redskins, St. Louis Rams, Carolina Panthers, Miami Dolphins, and the Atlanta Falcons.

"Close," they say, "but no cigar."

The ever-classy Indianapolis Colts tip their hat to the New England Patriots, Baltimore Ravens, Houston Texans, Jacksonville Jaguars, and San Francisco 49ers.

So very close, but not close enough.

Both teams have stared, unwavering, into the face of defeat and adversity, and they have not blinked.

Both teams are led by fearless quarterbacks who are not invincible, yet climb their way out of any hole they get themselves in, rescuing their respective teams no matter the case or situation.

But are these teams really that special?

Are these 13-0 Colts truly any different than the 2004 Colts that started 13-0, finished 14-2, and lost in the playoffs?

Or are they that much different from last year's team that won its final nine regular season games, entered the playoffs at 12-4, and lost immediately to the 8-8 San Diego Chargers?

Are these New Orleans Saints so much better than last year's squad that battled with inconsistency, couldn't close out games at the end, and had a weak defense as its Achilles' heel?

Maybe, and maybe not.

After all, the way things go in today's NFL, one play truly can make all the difference.

The 2005 Green Bay Packers played the majority of their games very closely, yet only ended the season with four victories. Two seasons later, they had the same aging, Hall of Fame quarterback, and the same young, inexperienced roster, yet they played those same types of close games and ran into the playoffs with a 13-3 record and a division title.

"Ditto," say the 2008 Miami Dolphins, who went from "worst" to "first" one year after losing all but one of the many close battles they had in 2007.

But that's just it; it only takes one.

As good (or great) as either (or both) of these teams may be, they're still battling something that's bigger than history, bigger than the league, and bigger than life itself: probability.

The truth is, the odds just aren't in their favor.

In the entire history of the league, just one team has finished an NFL season without a single loss. Just one.

Of all the other seasons, there was only one other team that managed to reach the final game without a loss, yet even they were unable to escape unscathed.

Call it a curse, or call it "the way things go," but when it comes to pro football and the NFL playoffs, whether you like it or not, when the regular season ends, an entirely different season begins.

The fact of the matter is, outside of that one undefeated team back in 1972, no team in the history of the league has made it through an entire season without at least one loss.

The question isn't who will lose first, or whether or not they can go 16-0. The question is, when? If you're the Saints or Colts, and you have even the tiniest amount of respect for the game and its history, you'll hope it's before Week 17 commences.

Because the NFL gods might be crazy, but they are not to be messed with.