Every year, people wonder whether this will be the season that a team goes undefeated to join the 1972 Dolphins.
At this rate, those Dolphins might be popping their bottles early this year because there are only four teams left with spotless records after three weeks.
This year’s Dolphins might flirt with perfection after scoring an absurd 70 points against the Broncos, but they will be tested next week against the Bills.
So, it might be more fiction than fact that a team will finish the regular season undefeated. But what about 15 wins for Miami?
Here are five NFL narratives that we deemed to be either fact or fiction after Week 3 of the NFL regular season.
Dolphins will win 15 games or more this regular season
Manzano’s view: Fiction
Looking at the Dolphins’ upcoming schedule, they have a handful of tough games that will probably prevent them from joining the rare club of 15 wins or more (Panthers, Packers, Patriots, Steelers, Vikings, Bears, 49ers) in a regular season (the 2015 Cam Newton–led Panthers were the last to do it).
Miami (3–0) still has to play the Bills twice, including next week in Buffalo. They have road games at Philadelphia (Week 7), Kansas City (Week 9) and Baltimore (Week 17). The Dolphins also have a Week 16 home game against the Cowboys, who just lost to the Cardinals, proving, once again, that any team can beat any team on any given Sunday.
But here’s the truth: Teams that play the Dolphins have slim odds of winning without either a top-10 offense or a top-10 defense. The Bills have both, which is why the Dolphins aren’t a lock to win the AFC East.
The Broncos had neither and were blown out by 50 points in Miami. The Dolphins went blow-for-blow against Justin Herbert and the Chargers in Week 1, and had to sweat out a win against the Patriots in Week 2.
