EDINBURGH -- Scotland, one could argue, will never get a better chance to upset the All Blacks for the first time.
The quest for a Grand Slam remains alive for the All Blacks after they stormed over the top of Ireland in Chicago to score three tries in the best quarter of Scott Robertson's tenure.
Before that late flourish, though, the All Blacks were poor.
For 60 odd minutes at Soldier Field the All Blacks' basic skills left a lot to be desired, their discipline left them on the backfoot and they could not seize the advantage when Ireland were reduced to 14 men for 20 minutes, losing that red card period 10-7.
Maybe the All Blacks were rusty after a month between their final Rugby Championship match and the dubbed rematch with Ireland.
Maybe they struggled to adjust to the significant disruption of losing Scott and Jordie Barrett early.
Maybe the All Blacks will bottle their slick, up tempo final quarter and use that to fuel their attack that has, prior to the late flourish against Ireland, struggled to click this year.
Scotland, though, must believe they can trouble and, perhaps, topple an All Blacks team shorn of 165 Test caps after losing their captain and vice-captain to injury setbacks.
As the Test arena radically shifts to a highly competitive landscape the All Blacks have suffered many historic firsts in recent years, including their first home and away losses to Argentina; their first home series loss to Ireland and their heaviest defeat in history against the Springboks in Wellington earlier this year.
Those tumbling, humbling records and the uncertainty lingering over Robertson's All Blacks coaching team further hints at vulnerability.
The All Blacks put their 120-year, 32-match unbeaten stranglehold over Scotland on the line this weekend - as well as their 19 straight victories at Murrayfield, the second longest win streak at a single stadium behind their 52-match unbeaten status at Eden Park.
Murrayfield has witnessed two draws in that time - the 0-0 stalemate in 1964 and the 25-25 thriller in 1983.
"We're well aware of it and we're proud of it," Robertson said of the All Blacks' unbeaten record in Edinburgh this week. "We know how big the occasion is this weekend, and we've canvased it with the boys to make sure we're all aware."
Three years ago, in the All Blacks' last visit to Murrayfield, Scotland were seemingly primed to end one of the longest winless runs in sport when they scored 23 unanswered points to hold a seven-point buffer turning for the last quarter, only for Ian Foster's men to prevail.
As Robertson attempts to deliver the missing flagship achievement from his tenure by pushing on with the quest for the All Blacks' first Grand Slam in 15 years, Scotland are being treated with the utmost respect.
Subconsciously, though, there is a danger that thoughts drift to England's challenge at Twickenham next week.
Ardie Savea will assume the captaincy from Scott Barrett, with Quinn Tupaea and Leicester Fainga'anuku combining in the power packed midfield. Josh Lord will start in the inexperienced second row alongside Fabian Holland, and Sam Darry is expected to come onto the bench.
Changes elsewhere are expected to be minimal, though.
"There have been a hell of a few games, the last two, they've come down to the wire. Full respect, we're coming up against a Scotland team with eight [British and Irish] Lions in it, some generational players there. It's going to be a game for the ages," Robertson said.
"We'll pick the strongest team we expect for a physical Test match."
If Edinburgh is to turn Murrayfield of dreams for the locals, Finn Russell must play an influential role.
Scotland possess many attacking threats throughout their backline, captain Sione Tuipulotu, Blair Kinghorn and Duhan van der Merwe, among them.
Russell, though, after guiding the Lions to their successful tour of Australia in July, is their confident talisman who will seek to spark their ambition to celebrate 100 years of Murrayfield rugby with a treasured, maiden triumph.
The All Blacks are certainly on notice for the threat the world's premier playmaker poses.
"He's proven to be the best in a lot of places and a lot of parts of his game at the moment," All Blacks assistant coach Jason Holland noted. "He's a bit of a maverick of a player. He's prepared to have a crack, backs himself, with massive confidence.
"He's a massive threat. We understand his running and kick threat. You've got to put him under pressure or he'll have some fun. He's hard to plan for because of the unpredictability around what he's going to do but if you expect anything then that's your planning."
The big question for Scotland is whether they have the forward pack to match the All Blacks.
While Scotland boast an impressive recent record against England, having won five and drawn one from their last eight against their neighbouring rivals, Gregor Townsend's side have battled to quell Ireland and the Springboks, two traditionally big forward packs.
With Tupaea and Fainga'anuku in the midfield, and their scrum an increasing weapon, the All Blacks may first try to crush Scottish hearts through power before turning to pace as they did late in Chicago.
Emotions will be high at Murrayfield as Scotland brace for another tilt at history.
Can they finally break their duck against the All Blacks?
They may not get a better crack than this.