KEY POINTS:
In the United States they like to stick a handle on everything.
So in the 80s the Dallas Cowboys weren't just the best team in the National Football League (NFL). No, with their all-action style and reek-of-oil-money mien, they were dubbed "America's Team".
The New England Patriots might not acquire such mythical status but they will achieve something the Cowboys never managed, that only one team in NFL history has achieved, if they beat the New York Giants in New York today - the perfect season.
Only one team - the 1972 Miami Dolphins - have done it, when the NFL played a 14-week regular season as opposed to 16 games now.
Things have changed since Don Shula's Dolphins ruled. The draft and salary cap have driven the league towards a parity that meant, for all intents and purposes, dynasties of the sort New England are close to achieving - they won the Super Bowl in 2002, 04 and 05 - were not supposed to happen.
Winning every game in the regular season does not guarantee a championship but will probably afford the 2007 Patriots status above the eventual Super Bowl champions, should it be someone else.
"A win is always important for us and we've prepared pretty hard over the last four months, as every team prepares pretty hard," quarterback Tom Brady said. "Being 16-0 would be a very special achievement, one that no other team has ever achieved, and we're finally at that point."
Brady is one of three pivotal figures for New England. He has 48 touchdown passes this season - tied with former Dolphin Dan Marino for second all-time and one short of the record of 49 set by current Colts quarterback Peyton Manning in 2004.
With his seemingly flawless looks and personality, Brady is the man mothers want to see their daughters bring home. Unlike Randy Moss, the wide receiver who joined the Patriots this season after a stellar, but controversial, 10-year career. He is pivotal figure No 2 having defied expectations by morphing into the ultimate team player.
Two of Brady's touchdown passes against Miami last weekend went to Moss, moving him to 21 for the season and within one of matching the record set by Jerry Rice in 1987.
The Patriots have 551 points for the season and need six today to surpass the single-season record of 556 set by the Minnesota Vikings in 1998.
"We've got a lot of records at stake, the most important one being the 16-0," Brady said. "I hope we achieve that. It'd be a great feat for the team. We'd go down as the only team to be 16-0 so that's the goal I've got in mind."
It's the goal coach Bill Belichick has in mind too, though he'd never admit it. Belichick, pivotal figure No 3, is the reason why Patriots might win the minds of the American public, but never the hearts. They will never be "America's team" under his watch.
Stone-faced and taciturn, Belichick barely acknowledges opposition coaches at the post-game handshake, patrols the sidelines in a scruffy hooded sweatshirt and is the most un-quoteworthy coach in the NFL, a quality he has installed in his players.
What's more, in the first game of this potentially momentous season, he was caught cheating when a Patriots' video operator was spotted taping the New York Jets calls - an NFL no-no. Some believe that incident has tainted everything Belichick has achieved though, in typical Patriots fashion, his team have turned the criticism into a motivating factor, breaking the NFL convention of easing off when they established big leads. This embarrassing of weaker foes has also made the Patriots a polarising side.
As many would like to see them fall at the feet of the Giants today as would like to see them immortalised - not least the 72 Dolphins.
"We're the only team that can say we went undefeated," 72 safety Charlie Babb said. "We had that record a long time, and records are meant to be broken. But the older I get, the more it means to us. That's all we have left.
"Things don't look good for us."
SEASON SCORECARD
September 9: away to New York Jets 38-14
September 16: vs San Diego Chargers 38-14
September 23: vs Buffalo Bills 38-7
October 1: away to Cincinnati Bengals 34-13
October 7: vs Cleveland Browns 34-17
October 14: away to Dallas Cowboys 48-27
October 21: away to Miami Dolphins 49-28
October 28: vs Washington Redskins 52-7
November 4: away to Indianapolis Colts 24-20
November 18: away to Buffalo Bills 56-10
November 25: vs Philadelphia Eagles 31-28
December 3: away to Baltimore Ravens 27-24
December 9: vs Pittsburgh Steelers 34-13
December 16: vs New York Jets 20-10
December 23: vs Miami Dolphins 28-7
Today: away to New York Giants ?
