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As anyone who’s ever played in an NFL survivor pool knows, going undefeated in a football season is incredibly difficult. Not even Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs have been able to do it (yet).
Only two teams have ever finished an NFL regular season undefeated in the Super Bowl era (the 1972 Miami Dolphins and 2007 New England Patriots), and the Dolphins were the only team to remain unbeaten throughout the playoffs as well.
Before the Super Bowl era began in 1966, the Chicago Bears had two undefeated regular seasons, going 13-0 in 1934 and 11-0 in 1942. They lost the NFL Championship Game both times, however.
Going undefeated in an NFL season has only gotten harder as the schedule has expanded over time. Teams now play 17 regular-season games in 18 weeks – a grueling slate that depletes even the deepest teams by the second half of the season.
However, our favorite NFL betting sites sometimes have special betting markets for teams to finish the regular season undefeated – something no NFL team has done in nearly 20 years.
When Was the Last Time an NFL Team Went Undefeated?
The last time an NFL team went undefeated during the regular season was in 2007, when the New England Patriots went 16-0. However, the Patriots were unable to finish the job, losing in the Super Bowl to the New York Giants.
The only other team to go undefeated during the Super Bowl era was Don Shula’s 1972 Miami Dolphins. The Dolphins went 14-0 during the regular season and went on to win the Super Bowl, making them the only NFL team ever to have a perfect season.
Several recent teams have come close to undefeated regular seasons. The 2011 Green Bay Packers and 2015 Carolina Panthers both went 15-1, but neither won the Super Bowl.
Furthermore, no team has come close to an undefeated regular season since the NFL expanded its schedule to 17 games in 2021. No team has won more than 14 games in a season since then, with the Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles both going 14-3 in 2022-23 (both advanced to the Super Bowl).
NFL Undefeated Team History
Here’s a look at the last undefeated team in every NFL season since 2000 and how their season turned out:
- 2024: Kansas City Chiefs, 9-0: TBD
- T-2023: Philadelphia Eagles, 5-0: Lost in Wild Card Round
- T-2023: San Francisco 49ers, 5-0: Lost Super Bowl
- 2022: Philadelphia Eagles, 8-0: Lost Super Bowl
- 2021: Arizona Cardinals, 7-0: Lost in Wild Card Round
- 2020: Pittsburgh Steelers, 11-0: Lost in Wild Card Round
- T-2019: San Francisco Steelers, 8-0: Lost Super Bowl
- T-2019: New England Patriots, 8-0: Lost in Wild Card Round
- 2018: Los Angeles Rams, 8-0: Lost Super Bowl
- 2017: Kansas City Chiefs, 5-0: Lost in Wild Card Round
- 2016: Minnesota Vikings, 5-0: Missed Playoffs
- 2015: Carolina Panthers, 14-0: Lost Super Bowl
- T-2014: Philadelphia Eagles 3-0: Missed Playoffs
- T-2014: Cincinnati Bengals, 3-0: Lost in Wild Card Round
- T-2014: Arizona Cardinals, 3-0: Lost in Wild Card Round
- 2013: Kansas City Chiefs, 9-0: Lost in Wild Card Round
- 2012: Atlanta Falcons, 8-0: Lost Conference Championship Game
- 2011: Green Bay Packers, 13-0: Lost in Divisional Round
- T-2010: Chicago Bears, 3-0: Lost Conference Championship Game
- T-2010: Pittsburgh Steelers, 3-0: Lost Super Bowl
- T-2010: Kansas City Chiefs, 3-0: Lost in Wild Card Round
- 2009: Indianapolis Colts, 14-0: Lost Super Bowl
- 2008: Tennessee Titans, 10-0: Lost in Divisional Round
- 2007: New England Patriots 18-0: Lost Super Bowl
- 2006: Indianapolis Colts, 9-0: Won Super Bowl
- 2005: Indianapolis Colts, 13-0: Lost in Divisional Round
- 2004: Philadelphia Eagles, 7-0: Lost Super Bowl
- 2003: Kansas City Chiefs, 9-0: Lost in Divisional Round
- T-2002: Oakland Raiders, 4-0: Lost Super Bowl
- T-2002: San Diego Chargers, 4-0: Missed Playoffs
- 2001: St. Louis Rams, 6-0: Lost Super Bowl
- 2000: Minnesota Vikings, 7-0: Lost Conference Championship Game
Of these teams, only three failed to qualify for the postseason. The 2016 Vikings are the only team to not make the postseason after being the last remaining undefeated team, as they went 3-8 after their 5-0 start to finish at 8-8.
While these teams combined to go 27-27 in the postseason, only one of them won the Super Bowl (2006 Colts), so being the last undefeated team doesn’t always translate to postseason success.
NFL Undefeated Team Odds
There are usually two ways an online sportsbook offers an undefeated market.
One is often a special market in the form of a Yes/No question. For example, it may look like this:
Any team to go undefeated during 2024-25 NFL regular season?
- Yes: +1000
- No: -2000
The other common format for this market is the Over/Under on a win total. Since the NFL regular season is 17 games long, you’d need to wager on a team to win Over 16.5 regular-season games.
For example:
Kansas City Chiefs regular season win total:
- Over 16.5: +1400
- Under 16.5: -2500
The odds will change throughout the season if a team gets off to a hot start and stays undefeated for a while.
Should You Bet On An NFL Team To Go Undefeated?
No, you shouldn’t.
As seen above, going undefeated for an entire NFL regular season is incredibly difficult. The violent nature of the sport makes it impossible to stay fully healthy for a full campaign, and even the best teams typically lose a couple of games per season.
Anything can happen on any given Sunday, and it’s true. The NFL’s parity discourages dynasties and undefeated seasons.
Think of it this way. A team going 17-0 is like a coin coming up heads 17 times in a row. The odds of that happening are 0.000763%.
The odds offered by most sportsbooks suggest the probability of an undefeated season is much higher than it actually is. Accordingly, these bets are not good value, as they’re far more likely to lose than win.
It can be fun to wager a small amount on this market in case it happens, but like a perfect March Madness bracket, it’s extremely unlikely.
