Well the NFL likes to beat it's chest and proclaim parity as they declared some 18 teams alive in the playoff hunt going into the last week of the season. The reality is we have 14 teams scrambling for the right to try their hand at defeating the significantly better top 3 or 4 teams. Take this weekend for example out of the top 8 teams 3 were more than a touchdown favorite and the only one that wasn't a big favorite won by 13. Not one game was close as the smallest margin of victory was 7 points. The only excitement came in the form of 2 possible ties after two successful on side kicks. The winning team in both cases had already shown their superiority and they were never in jeopardy of losing. If that's parity I can run almost as fast as a cheetah!
With that many teams alive in the final week or two it shows the parity. I am glad the top teams have made it this far but you can not say that the KC/Indy/GB/New Orleans/Cincy/etc crowd didnt have a real shot this year either to break through in their loss playoff game and make it to the championship.
-murph
-murph
Always gonna have a handful of teams much better than the rest, but other than those few, this year there was a lot of parity.
My favorite team Tampa Bay finished with a 4-12 record and they still only gett the 7th pick overall in the draft...
My favorite team Tampa Bay finished with a 4-12 record and they still only gett the 7th pick overall in the draft...
Given these examples yes there is parity however that parity exists at the 2nd level or when 2 top level teams meet. The Top 3 or 4 are not at a parity level with the rest of the league. When you have multiple top level teams there will be an occasional upset in a one game playoff but that doesn't suggest top level/2nd level parity. Just like a close game when two 2nd level teams meet a close game when two top level teams meet doesn't make the entire league balanced. Balanced is a 3 point home favorite in most of the games. If SD had prevailed and faced the Seahawks in the Super Bowl would the game be even?
