What happened to parity in the NFL?

[pumpkinhead33793]

The really good teams:

Seattle
New Orleans
Denver
San Fransisco
Kansas City
Indianapolis
Green Bay
New England
Cincinnati

The really bad teams:

Jacksonville
Tampa Bay
Minnesota
Pittsburgh
Cleveland
Atlanta
St. Louis
Philadelphia
N.Y. Giants
Washington
Houston
Oakland

There are very few decent but not good teams:

Chicago
N.Y. Jets
Miami
Tennessee
Arizona
Carolina
Detroit
Dallas
San Diego
Baltimore
Buffalo

Usually, there are 5 really good teams and 5 really bad teams and 20 or so average teams. But it looks like 1/3rd of each this year.

 

[Steelboy84]

The really good teams:


New Orleans
Denver
San Fransisco
Indianapolis
Green Bay
New England
Pittsburgh
Atlanta
Philadelphia
N.Y. Giants
Chicago
Dallas
Baltimore

These are the only teams that can field a winning team consistently every few years. Everyone else is a pretender. Sorry, but if your team isnt listed, it means ur a fly by night.

Ex. Early 00 Rams, mid 00 Seahawks, early 00 KC Chiefs,early 00 TB, early 00 Raiders, all of these "SB potential" teams except forTB and STL, what happened to them? KC looking good now, but we know how this story ends. Look at the SB winners of this decade

Rams
Ravens
Pats
Bucs
Pats
Pats
Steelers
Colts
Giants
Steelers
Saints
Packers
Giants
Ravens

See a trend? And consider teams who made to those SBs and lost. Yep, see the trend? Lets be honest, only a few teams are true contenders each decade. So KC season is a wash without a SB trip/title/consistently in the thick of it. Same goes for Seattle.

 

[Cobiemonster]

It depends on how you think of the word parity - if you look at it in terms of number of teams that still have a chance to make the playoffs, then yeah this year you could say that but I think quality of teams is also part of the definition of parity - this season, there are a lot of teams that have been up and down and not a whole lot of really good teams - we're halfway through the season so some of these teams will start to even out but when I look at parity, I look a bunch of really good teams, not 4-5 really good teams and then a bunch of teams struggling to get to 9-10 wins

 

[Podunkparte]

These are the only teams that can field a winning team consistently every few years. Everyone else is a pretender. Sorry, but if your team isnt listed, it means ur a fly by night.

Ex. Early 00 Rams, mid 00 Seahawks, early 00 KC Chiefs,early 00 TB, early 00 Raiders, all of these "SB potential" teams except forTB and STL, what happened to them? KC looking good now, but we know how this story ends. Look at the SB winners of this decade

Rams
Ravens
Pats
Bucs
Pats
Pats
Steelers
Colts
Giants
Steelers
Saints
Packers
Giants
Ravens

See a trend? And consider teams who made to those SBs and lost. Yep, see the trend? Lets be honest, only a few teams are true contenders each decade. So KC season is a wash without a SB trip/title/consistently in the thick of it. Same goes for Seattle.

What the hell are you talking about? You talk about these "consistently competitive" teams as if they've been great since the beginning of the NFL while naming teams who have only recently had any success. The Saints? Pre Drew Brees they were pitiful. San Francisco? Between their last SB and Jim Harbaugh they were not consistent contenders. Philly is garbage outside of a few seasons where they ended up disappointing everyone.

Every team goes through phases of being better than they were and worse than they were. True, some teams have yet to reach the crest of their climb but to suggest they won't is ridiculous. It's like you're anointing certain teams as the cream of the crop with no basis for your argument.

Can you tell I disagree with what you said?

 

[RegentDenali]

Parity absolutely exists in the NFL with the hard salary cap. Owners like Jones and Snyder are always trying to circumvent it, but they've paid the price for it. This years FA was proof. They couldn't do dick.

But cap parity has nothing to do with bad ownership and bad management. That's where the rubber hits the road. Some teams are better than others when it comes to this. The teams where the roles of Ownership, Management, and Coaching are defined and kept. And you hire the best at their jobs.

Most deep playoff and SB caliber teams are built via the draft, not FA. FA can help, but the good teams are built mainly via the draft. That's where the NFL really shines.

There is a reason the NFL is the best run, most profitable sports league in the US. Because it has a hard salary cap that is enforced. Compare that to the NBA aka pro-wrestling with a basketball, with their guaranteed contracts, collusion by the league office to place all the best players in major media markets, and blatant game fixing to maximize revenues. NFL has fixed a few important games here and there, but overall, it's still the best run league out there.

 

[Wolvie]

The really good teams:

Seattle
New Orleans
Denver
San Fransisco
Kansas City
Indianapolis
Green Bay
New England
Cincinnati

The really bad teams:

Jacksonville
Tampa Bay
Minnesota
Pittsburgh
Cleveland
Atlanta
St. Louis
Philadelphia
N.Y. Giants
Washington
Houston
Oakland

There are very few decent but not good teams:

Chicago
N.Y. Jets
Miami
Tennessee
Arizona
Carolina
Detroit
Dallas
San Diego
Baltimore
Buffalo

Usually, there are 5 really good teams and 5 really bad teams and 20 or so average teams. But it looks like 1/3rd of each this year.

I wouldn't consider Oakland, Houston, Washington, or Cleveland as very bad teams. In fact, all of these teams have played some of the very good teams extremely close, almost coming away with wins

 

[Wolvie]

These are the only teams that can field a winning team consistently every few years. Everyone else is a pretender. Sorry, but if your team isnt listed, it means ur a fly by night.

Ex. Early 00 Rams, mid 00 Seahawks, early 00 KC Chiefs,early 00 TB, early 00 Raiders, all of these "SB potential" teams except forTB and STL, what happened to them? KC looking good now, but we know how this story ends. Look at the SB winners of this decade

Rams
Ravens
Pats
Bucs
Pats
Pats
Steelers
Colts
Giants
Steelers
Saints
Packers
Giants
Ravens

See a trend? And consider teams who made to those SBs and lost. Yep, see the trend? Lets be honest, only a few teams are true contenders each decade. So KC season is a wash without a SB trip/title/consistently in the thick of it. Same goes for Seattle.

I see the trend!! Every year someone wins a Superbowl!!

Since Brady has become the starting QB in New England, the Patriots are 151-48. Before Brady came around, the franchise was 280-323-9. The only "trends" that mean anything in the NFL is roster turnover. If your team was good the previous year, and returned its key players, then it should remain good. Teams go from bad to good when they add new key players. That is why in 2000 the 5-11 Patriots turned into an 11-5 team the following year: they added Brady.**SPOILER ALERT** They haven't had a losing season since either.

And your argument saying that some franchises have been good in every decade is ridiculous pre-1994. Before then, you could buy your championships and the big market teams dominated the league. So if your team was able to field an expensive team then you have had success in those decades that the smaller market teams didn't. This doesn't mean that these smaller market teams are "fly by night" teams for having success. Live in the past if you must but the rest of us are going to enjoy this season's best teams. It must be hard to see the world through the lens of a Steelers fan.