What is Parity? In the NFL it means every team at the beginning of the season has an equal chance too win the Super Bowl.
Sounds simple doesn't it? Ya right! Tell that to the Miami Dolphins.
What is the cause of Parity, if such a beast exist? Could it be the salary cap? A lack of talent? Free agencies? Could coaching changes by good teams cause them to become mediocre after a good season? Or is it a combination of all the above, or none of the above?
I think its time we forget the notion of parity in the NFL and I will point out why.
To start out, look at New England, as of today they have a 15 game win streak, and don't forget the Miami Dolphins, who are 1-14. No parity there! True, winning streaks out pace losing streaks by only a slim margin. There have been 28 streaks of at least four victories or four losses in 2007, 15 winning and 13 losing. But look at some of the winning streaks, the Patriots lead with 15 straight and Dallas has had streaks of five and seven games. The Colts have had streaks of seven and six games and Green Bay has had two streaks of four and six games. San Diego is finishing the season with five in a row. Long losing streaks by teams such as the Ravens (9) and San Francisco (8) should dispel any notion of parity in the win/lost category. There are just teams that win and teams that don't and overall they are the same teams year after year.
The NFL salary cap is define as the maximum amount that a team may spend on player compensation. The cap is calculated by the curent Collective Bargaining Agreement or CBA and is set to be 59.5% of the total projected league revenue. This number divided by the number of teams determines the amount of the cap, thus $102 million per team. (2006 figures)
Lets now look at the salary cap. One would have to think this would lead to parity. (remember there will be a difference between my figures and the real figures due to my figures are based on the 2006 season, but the difference overall is minor) But the salary cap doesn't cause players to move to teams who need them to fill holes, and not necessarity to teams who can afford them. Make sense? (I will explain this in depth later on when I examining the coaching staffs) Look at it this way, the 49ers picked up a couple free agents and expected great things and a winning season, didn't happen. Seattle on the other hand picked up a couple free agents to shore up their defensive back field and, well the rest is history. Seattle has one of the best pass defenses in the NFC and the reason was the addition of free agents. I could go on team by team, but you get the idea by these two examples.
The salary cap for the NFL is $102 million per team, at least was in 2006. The 2007 salary for every player is not available, (although the cap for the 2007 season is around $109 million) so all figures used here are 2006 figures. Just before the season started every team was under the cap except the Colts and the Redskins which are a few million over. In fact one of the better teams in the NFL, the Green Bay Packers are under the cap the most at $35 million, which means they have a total salary of around $67 million. Go figure! Here are some of the other good teams and the cap, Cowboys $22.6 million under and the Patriots, $16.9 million under. Some of the not so lucky teams such as Miami are under the cap by $6.3 million, which means the Dolphins have a total salary of $95.7 million, almost $30 million more paid in salary than the Packers and $10 million more than the Patriots. So much for money buying championships. The Ravens are $10.6 million under the salary cap and are in the same boat as the Dolphins. So spending money or free agents are not going to guarantee any team success on the field. That should also dispel any notion the salary cap is the cause of parity.
So what does this all show? It shows that spending money doesn't necessaily create a good team or a good record. By the way, Seattle is $17.3 million under the cap. If the talent is needed and is out there, there is plenty of money to go out and get it. I think the problem is the lack of talent available out there on the free market and ownership who are too tight to spend up to the cap level. Why would they? When teams can't sell out and are being blacked out because the fans aren't going to the games. It creates a vicious cycle that takes years and sometimes new ownership to break that cycle and the only ones to suiffer are the fans. High draft picks for bad teams don't guarantee winning seasons, Reggie Bush, Ricky Williams and Matt Leinart are a good example of that.
Well what does lead to a good record? Coaching leads to a good record. Coaches who can get the most out of a player will win the most games. Coaches such as Belichick is the best of the coaches today and John Madden of years passed are prime examples ot this. Yes I know there are other fine coaches out there, but I personally think these two are/or were the best. A top notch front office can also lead to getting the players needed to fill holes in any team, but that won't guarantee success. Team players are the answer and they are the hardest to find. One of the better pick ups was free agent Terrell Owens of the Dallas Cowboys (team player? depend if you like him or not) but will he help Dallas win the Superbowl, time and most likely the Patriots will tell if they can.
Here is an example of coaching changes that caused teams to become stagnate after a couple good years. After the 2004-05 season which the Patroits won their 3rd Superbowl they lost both their offensive coordinator and their defensive coordinator and haven't been to the Superbowl since. The '85 Bears lost their defensive coordinator and they never make it back in spite of having Ditka, Payton and other great stars. San Diego got off to a slow start this year, and if you look at the coaching changes you may discover the reason. Offensive coach Cam Cameron, who was responsible for an offense who featured LaDainian Tomlinson is now head coach of Miami. Defensive coach Wade Phillips is now head coach of Dallas. Marty Schottenheimer getting fired after going 14-2 is unconscionable to me. But Norv Turner, in my opinion should be coach of the year for getting the Chargers a shot at the big show after having to start the season from scratch and with a completely new coaching staff to boot.
Parity in the NFL, I don't think there is such a beast, at least in the 2007-08 NFL there's not.
this is all i can say.. WOW! you are the master of football... that makes me not join the taunting about the other team unless of course i know something. i dont know much about history in football coz i just started 4 years ago my husband show me how the game works and now he said now i'm worst than him as a fan, watching the game next to me it makes him looks so mellow as a fan..hahahha
HAWK NATION!!
fridayharborgal
I learned the game in the mid '50 and still don't know every rule, they keep changing them. But I can talk a good game and I do know what's going on most of the time. Some of the new rules I don't like are the horse collar and the force out rule. Ah well, I guess I can live with them as I have with all the rest of the changes over the years.
One thing that pisses me off are during the game there seems to be more commericals than every before. They seem to try to fit the game around the commericals instead of the other way around.
Sorry just ranting and raving a little.
PS: I think that NFL Network is going to ruin it for the fans in the years to come. Want to see the SeaHawks play, you will have to pay for the privilege.
Antiquity, you mention commercials, and they #### me off as well. But here is a question you might be able to answer. Why is it when a player goes out of bounds, say with 9 minutes on the clock, does the clock continue to run after a short stopage? Has it always been that way? Do different clock operators do it differently? I have noticed this happen in several Niner's games this year. And it pisses me off because as we all know the Niners need as much time as possible. I guess that last sentence depends on how you look at it, though.
jfainsf49
According to rule 8 under 'Timing' it reads in part:
With the exception of the last two minutes of the first half and the last five minutes of the second half, the game clock will be restarted following a kickoff return, a player going out of bounds on a play from scrimmage, or after declinded penalties.....
I beleive this is different than the college rule where all out of bounds plays are clock stoppage at every stage of the game.
I enjoyed reading this. I think parity exists to the extent that if the NFL were a laissez-faire economy, the Colts, Jags, Titans, and maybe even the Steelers wouldn't be in the playoffs. Parity has been mislabeled as "everyone gets a turn to win" or "there aren't great teams anymore (thankfully the Pats finally put this one to bed)." The people who usually say those types of things are either Redskins, Cowboys, Giants, 49ers, or Broncos fans. Those teams were essentially good in the 80s and 90s. Now they can't handle the fact that simply outspending the other teams for talent isn't enough. Organizational stability, cap management, and good coaching are just as essential as economics in today's NFL. The Patriots, Colts, and a few others get that. There are still great teams. It's just not your father's NFL anymore.
btroup1
Very interesting observation. If you look at the coaching of yesteryear '60-'80, the coaching was the key to great teams, from Lombardy, Brown to Madden. But even better were owners with a sense for creating those great teams and assembly a coach staff and a front office staff to guide them to championships. It doesn't always mean spending money to buy a championship, its the right people in the right spot at the right time.
I don't see that many big money players on the Patriots team. I see players who want to play in that system and they, the players, know that the money will come in due time.
Been a Seahawk fan since day one, before that I was a LA Rams fan but have lost all interest in any other team the year the Seahawks come into been. I'm not a fair weather fan and have been a Seahawk fan thru thick and thin and I mean a lot of thin. I've seen the Hawks play in UDub stadium and of course the Dome. I hate to date myself but I even saw Seattle Pilots play in Sick stadium. I follow baseball (disappointed again) Hockey (Vancouver) and most NW sports.
I live with my wife, Linda and am raising my grandson Lorenzo here on the North Peninsula in sunny Sequim and moved here after my retirement after 34 years at Boeing. Was drafted in 1963 and spent most of my time in France, I was fortunate to be able to travel for Boeing and have visited 63 countries and around 30 states.
