72 Dolphins vs Todays NFL teams?

[Huge]

If you plopped the 72 Dolphins team (14-0) as they were in 72 down into a 16 game NFL season against todays NFL teams - How many games do you think they would win?

 

[MrTitleist]

.500

Guys now are bigger, stronger, faster, harder hitting.. defenses have changed and gotten more complicated, offenses have gotten more simplistic.. I just don't think they could hang with today's guys.

 

[Swillbury]

Ill take the 03 Bucs over anybody

 

[grizband]

Ill take the 03 Bucs over anybody

Even the 1985 Chicago Bears...?

 

[Hammer]

I doubt they would win a game. I think the worst team in the NFL last year would destroy the 72 Phins. Guys today are just so much bigger and faster and stronger.

 

[Huge]

I doubt they would win a game. I think the worst team in the NFL last year would destroy the 72 Phins. Guys today are just so much bigger and faster and stronger.

Exactly

 

[SuperHornet]

.500

Guys now are bigger, stronger, faster, harder hitting.. defenses have changed and gotten more complicated, offenses have gotten more simplistic.. I just don't think they could hang with today's guys.

Whatever our recent issues, Mr. T, I think that you're closer here than any of the other posters. There is zero chance that the Raiders of recent years would beat those Dolphins.

I kinda differ with you, though, over your reasoning. Defenses really haven't changed that much. The base defenses are pretty much the same, either 4-3 or 3-4 with the same basic properties. People are definitely running more zone blitz, multiple DB packages, and combo zones than they did back then, which would cause Griese problems initially, but he's smart enough to catch up eventually.

Offenses more simplistic? This is where you really blew it. Offenses, particularly in the passing game, are a WHOLE lot more complicated than back in the early '70s, due in large part to the prevalence of the West Coast Offense and the lingering influence of the Run-and-Shoot. Teams are liable to throw on any down now, and in any area of the field. Back then, teams rarely if ever threw out of their own end zone, and for very good reason. This could possibly cause problems for the No Name Defense, which didn't see that much of that outside of possibly Minnesota, which had the one of the first running quarterbacks.

Overall, though, it balances out. The '72 Dolphins would likely be somewhere in the range of .400-.600, depending on their schedule. If they were Indi-heavy, it would be on the lower end of that scale; more Raider-like teams, on the higher end. But oh-fer? No way.