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Tuesday’s question: Will Indianapolis or New Orleans finish 16-0? And if not, who will stop them?

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Will either Indianapolis or New Orleans tie New England’s 16-0 record? (and if not who will stop them)

Ethan J. Skolnick, South Florida Sun Sentinel

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The Patriots better take this into their own hands Monday night, as I expect they will, with an improving secondary doing just enough to frustrate Drew Brees. Otherwise, it’s hard to envision anyone else beating ‘dem Saints. Not Washington. Not Tampa Bay. Not Carolina. Not the way the Falcons are defending the pass, or the Cowboys are struggling to score. The Colts should have lost already, winning their past four games by a total of 10 points. And while the schedule doesn’t appear daunting, they’ve failed to finish undefeated with better rosters than their current one. So it shouldn’t be surprising if the Jaguars, remarkably still in the playoff chase, trip them up on a Thursday night, two weeks short of perfection.

Dom Amore, Hartford Courant

Can the NFL, the league that puts such a premium on parity, produce three unbeaten teams in a span of three regular seasons? You know what they say: if it sounds too good to be true …
Less than two years after the Patriots went 16-0, we find two teams unbeaten at the three-quarter mark. Let’s bow to the odds and admit neither the Saints nor Colts will get there. They’re superb teams, no doubt, but it’s just too hard. The Colts have been doing a high-wire act for a month, winning the last four games by a total of 10 points, so they’re bound to slip up. The Titans, their next opponent, are different with Vince Young at quarterback. Denver (Dec. 13) is due to win, and playing Jan. 3 at Buffalo won’t be easy.
The Saints have been winning more convincingly, but they run into the wrong team this week. The Patriots are in sync again on offense and playing better defense than Bill Belichick’s fourth-down gamble would indicate. The Saints’ division game at Atlanta Dec. 13 will be dangerous, too. No, it’s just too difficult for an unbeaten team to emerge more than once in a generation.

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