What Happened to that Famous NFL "Parity?"

[ritehook]

All, or almost all, the divisional races are pretty much decided. We even know who the wildcards will be, barring some dramatic combo of nosedive/highfly.

Al and John are going to have to do yeoman's work to make their remaining dogs interesting on Sunday night.

Parity, "any given Sunday," was the Nfl's crowning acheivement about 10-15 years ago. Unlike Atlanta and the Yankees in baseball, pro football championships remained opened to all up-and-comers.

Yeah, just ask Bill Belichek! It's a closed shop now. I mean the Pats on Sunday vs the Jets --- what it is now, - 23? The biggest spread in the history of NFL betting . . . parity?

[durito]

The Pats line was 24 vs the Eagles and they almost lost. They almost lost the next week to a Baltimore team that hasn't won in nearly two months.

I'd say that's parity.

[ritehook]

Actually, there's more parity in college football now than in the NFL. At least among the teams in the BCS conferences.

And that showed with all the upsets this year. Reduced scholarships, NCAA sanctions against "football factories" posing as colleges and not graduating "student athletes," the crackdown on cracked-brain alumni supplying star recruits with money and whores . . . . .

Sure, Sun Belt champ Fla Atlantic still won't beat LSU or USC, but they could well, on ANY GIVEN SATURDAY, hand a loss to Florida State, Miami, even Tennessee, Bama etc

[ritehook]

The Pats line was 24 vs the Eagles and they almost lost. They almost lost the next week to a Baltimore team that hasn't won in nearly two months.

I'd say that's parity.

To quote that old saw: "ALMOST" COUNTS ONLY IN HORSESHOES

Did Miami in the 70s win all their games by blowouts? I don't have the records in front of me, but I'd doubt it. Dominant teams can be "down," yet still pull it out. The also-rans lose when not at high pitch

[ritehook]

Next week pointspread history will certainly be made, with the Patriots at home vs Miami.

What will the ps be? -30? Probably, unless there's a snowstorm.

[louis]

The line on the Miami game is going to be well below 30. The Pats will already have home field advantage and a first round bye wrapped up. I also think after the superbowl, you will see there is a lot more parity than you think.

[Art Vandeleigh]

I'd say that parity didn't exist if the same teams were making into the playoffs as last year.

This season, it looks like the following teams will be in that weren't in last year:

Green Bay
Tampa Bay
Jacksonville
Pittsburgh
Cleveland/Buffalo/Tennessee
Minnesota/Washington/Ariz

At least 6 of 12 new playoff teams, I'd say that's a pretty good turnover.


As for the Pats, wow, they remind me of the mid-1980's 49ers.

Montana would throw endless slant patterns to Rice and Clark which the defenses could never defend, just like Brady throws slants to Moss and Welker endlessly when they need yardage, and they never drop the ball. But the 49ers dynasty ended eventually, so there's hope....someday.....

[ritehook]

The line on the Miami game is going to be well below 30. The Pats will already have home field advantage and a first round bye wrapped up. I also think after the superbowl, you will see there is a lot more parity than you think.

I don't think Bill will rest his starters in the season's final and "meaningless" games.

He has his eye on "history." He will likely want to blow out all remaining foes.

[aszzzbrokerman]

parity is more of a year to year thing...not an in season thing

Parity means that a team like Green Bay is an nfc contender when last year it was thought that Favre should retire because they were going to suck for years.

In year...the records will usually follow the distribution of pascals triangle.

i.e over a 4 game stretch
2 teams should be 4-0
2 teams should be 0-4
8 teams 3-1
8 teams 1-3
6 teams 2-2

Someone who is a little better at statistics will have to verify this but I think the chance of the same team going 4-0 4 times in a row is something like (1/16)^4 which isn't very often...hence we've never seen 16-0 for the regular season before.

[slacker00]

Parity is alive and well in the NFL, New England aside.

Thing is, you really gotta put New England under a microscope to analyze why they keep winning while other teams ride a roller coaster from year to year. The biggest thing this offseason was the Pats' free agent moves. No other team could have gotten Moss for that price: salary cap wise as well as regarding draft compensation. Also, very few teams could have gotten production out of Moss like the Patriots have. In retrospect, I think teams such as Indy, Dallas & Green Bay could have tried harder to acquire Moss. Albeit none of these teams needed Moss as much as New England, but at least they could have driven his price up, so New England didn't get such an outrageous bargain. At least make them give up a 2nd rounder and double his cap number. Thing is, nobody else had the cap room that could justify this kind of deal. The Pats are basically playing Monopoly, and it's kinda like when someone is way ahead, they've got all of the leverage, etc. That's how the Pats have been able to do the offseason deals this year that put them way over the top. They got Adaleous Thomas and Welker for similar bargain prices for what they deliver on the field. Same deal, nobody else was in a position to compete under the cap. The Pats mastered the art of salary cap management which previously supposedly enforced parity. The Patriots have transcended the parity "glass ceiling" with shrewd front office genius.