I am The Rabbi, again, editor of On The Sportslines. While I am doing my bowl bonanza preview, we are gonna try something different for our NFL column this week. I will focus on one issue in the world of football and try to give my thoughts on it. This week: it's the undefeated.

Is it really that hard to go 19-0?

The pursuit of perfection. The last few years, it hasn't seem that hard to at least start. We saw the 05 Colts start their season 13-0 (no Super Bowl or playoff win), the 08 Tennessee Titans start 10-0 (no Super Bowl or playoff win), and of course the 07 New England Patriots begin their campaign 18-0 (and as well all know victim number 16, the Giants rose up to stop the 19-0 bid).

It's almost a burden to be an undefeated team going into December. ESPN starts devoting whole sections of their show to YOUR team, everybody who has seen their teams fail starts to hitch their wagon to you (or go totally against you and wish you failed), all the moves you do get scrutinized, and that's even before you go to the playoffs and try to get the elusive wins number 17, 18, and 19 (and again, just look at New England 2 years ago).

It is 2009, and we only have 16 days until Christmas. Yet, the NFC and AFC each have their own little ratings present. Both teams by the way won a grand total of ZERO playoff games a year ago.

Let's start with the NFC and the New Orleans Saints. 3 years ago, they were the darlings of the NFL going from a 2 win team to a team that was close to a Super Bowl appearance in Miami. Now, the New Orleans Saints are a powerhouse, with a high powered offense that's as good as that team, they are on a pace we haven't seen since the St. Louis Rams and the greatest show on turf a decade ago. The Saints and Drew Brees spread the ball out like no other team has almost ever had in NFL history. There are SIX players on this team with 28 catches or more. That's amazing. Add to that Pierre Thomas and Mike Bell leading a solid running attack, and both could reach the 800 yard level on the ground this season. However, it's the opportunistic defense that makes the Saints what they are right now. They have 23 INT's, that's the most in football. Their give/take number is +15, second in the NFL. They may have a defense that only ranks 18th in giving up yards per game, but that one mistake you make, they take advantage. That's what makes a championship team. They may have had a ton of close games (they've had 4 that could have gone either way), but all of them went in the W column, that's all that matters.

Then there's Indianapolis. The Colts are lead by America's QB Peyton Manning, but America's coach Tony Dungy is gone. Why has this team clicked on all cylinders? I honestly have no idea. Every single year though, the Colts get on a run, whether it be the 9 in row they had to end in 2008, or the 12 in a row they had to begin this season. The Colts have played great games (that Sunday Night Football game at Arizona), and have played close games (Week 1 vs. the Jaguars, Week 2 At The Dolphins, Week 8 vs San Francisco...you get the picture). This team only has 1 true #1 wide receiver, a rookie #2 wide receiver in Pierre Gason (who? yeah.), and a semi-decent rushing attack. What do they do in the end though? They win. They win ugly but they win nevertheless.

Neither of this team is gonna even come close to the stats or the swagger of the 07 Patriots, but why can't they go undefeated. When you see things like the Saints did Sunday against the Redskins, or what happened with the Colts when they hosted the Patriots back in Week 10, the only question I can come up with is...why not? We don't have to have a powerhouse 19-0 team, the Saints may not have the championship defense, the Colts may not have the consistency, but they both have QB's who can win in the end, and personnel that's been there before.

So when you think that it's impossible to go 19-0, talk to me in about 1 month and a half, when we could be preparing for the 18-0 Saints taking on the 18-0 Colts.