The illustrious group, which will be honored for the 35th anniversary of the 17-0 season next week when the Baltimore Ravens come to Dolphin Stadium, has had close calls before. The 2005 Colts were 13-0 before losing to the Chargers, and the 1985 Bears were 12-0 before Dan Marino took care of business. But never have the `72 alums had to sweat out a winless campaign by their beloved Dolphins at the same time.

Until now.

Would the `72 Dolphins sacrifice their exclusive place in history to prevent the 2007 Dolphins from going down as the worst team in NFL history, surpassing the 0-14 Tampa Bay Buccaneers of 1976?

"It's much more likely the Dolphins will not win then the Patriots won't lose," said former guard Bob Kuechenberg. "My heart is with the `72 Dolphins. It's not even close. Why would there be indecision on my part rooting for our immortal record to stay unique versus the Dolphins going 0-16 instead of 1-15?"

It might not have been a dilemma for Kuechenberg, but former Dolphins running back Jim Kiick couldn't help but feel anguish for a few Dolphins veterans.

"That's a tough question, but I'd like to see the Dolphins win for guys like Jason Taylor and Zach Thomas," Kiick said. "Sure, we'd like to be the only team, but perfection is perfection, whether they're 19-0 or not.

"We only had 17 games and we were perfect. As Larry Csonka said, if it happens we'll put another chair on the mountaintop."

Former Dolphins defensive end Bill Stanfill chose diplomacy when posed the hypothetical question.

"Let's hope one team doesn't go 0-16 and the other doesn't go 19-0," Stanfill hedged. "Naturally, I'd like to remain the only undefeated team, but if it happens it happens. Just look at Hank Aaron this year. I was pulling for him to keep that record, but it's not there now. I'd like to see the Dolphins succeed and win a game, maybe win out."

Former Pro Bowl safety Dick Anderson talked about how "painful" this season has been to watch.

"No one feels worse than the players and coaches," Anderson said. "If I have to pick, I'd like the Dolphins to win. We haven't lost yet and we're not going to. We'll always be undefeated."

People often forget that the `72 Dolphins won 10 games with backup quarterback Earl Morrall in for starter Bob Griese, who broke his leg in the middle of Game 5.

"The Patriots still got a long way to go," Morrall said. "Every game they got coming up, the (opposing) coach's talking point will be, `We'll be remembered for breaking their streak.' The Dolphins are more remembered for beating the Bears (in `85) than Chicago is for winning the Super Bowl.

"I'd like to see the 17-0 record stand, but we don't want (the Dolphins) to lay a goose egg either. They can't take it away from us. The only thing they could do is tie perfection. You can't beat it."

Kuechenberg said he'd be the first to congratulate the Patriots, but he doesn't believe it will happen.

"The real season doesn't start until Game 17," he said. "If the Patriots can go 19-0, I'll be the first to buy them a beer, because if they run the table with all this media pressure, then by God, they deserve it."

All agreed that the sweetest scenario would be for the Dolphins to go to Foxborough on Dec. 23 and take care of both streaks themselves, in the potential clash of perfection vs. imperfection.