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The 49ers lost on Monday night, which means the 1972 Dolphins won.

With the 49ers no longer undefeated, the ’72 Dolphins will remain, through another season, the only perfect team in NFL history. That Dolphins team went 14-0 in the regular season and won Super Bowl VII to complete the only undefeated, untied season the league has ever seen.

This is the NFL’s 100th season, and those Dolphins stand in a unique place in league history. Some of those players may have raised a glass of champagne late on Monday night, when the Seahawks’ field goal at the end of overtime sealed the 49ers’ fate.

So to Don Shula, Bob Griese, Larry Csonka, Mercury Morris, Paul Warfield, Larry Little and all the other members of that great team, a hearty congratulations for a season without equal.