I'm looking over the records and event the teams with good records I wouldn't call good.

It's all parity.

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Sure has felt that way. The big problem seems to be the prime-time games. When they are so freaking bad, as they have been, it just gives that perception of crap. I also think injuries to key players have been a big impact this year to the quality of play.

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You wouldn't call the Broncos or Seahawks good? That's silly.

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Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

dunno, I don't watch much and my hatred of Pete Carroll and Manning prevent me from saying positive things.

They are both heavily flawed. Their flaws are easily exposed in the regular season. There hasn't been a great (or really good) team in this league since the '95 Cowboys....or my '09 Saints

_________________
There are only two examples of infinity: The universe and human stupidity and I'm not sure about the universe.

YEAH!!!!!

That's just ridiculous.

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

Seahawks are a Jekyl and Hyde team when they go on the road. However, it doesn't look like they will have to go on the road until the SB.

_________________
O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

The Seahawks are banged up and the Broncos have a pretty average to bad defense.


And they still stand out as the best teams



Mediocrity. Any team can win any game.

It's parity + injuries.
I blame the Thursday night games because it's easy to do so.

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I wonder if the offensive themed rule changes contribute to the parity?


The QB play is certainly a lot better than it was 10 years ago

I could buy that, they all feed into each other.
QBs get injured more means second/third string get more quality snaps, they get better, offenses get better.

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It's by design. The NFL basically wants every game to be a series of coin flips.

While I still like the NFL better, this is one of the things that is much better in college football. The good teams are really good, and the bad teams are really bad. I wish there was less parity in the NFL. Rooting for the Bears has been like eating at Subway. It's kind of good but mostly unfulfilling.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

I go opposite from Rick. I think the parity for the most part helps the league as a whole. It is better that unless there is some major screwing up in any given 2-3 year window you can see the team you love do well. There is still good quality. This is why I do not like the modern NBA all that much. One team or just a couple of stars render most teams meaningless for 5 years or more.

PS. I really do think however that the handcuffs on the defense are way over the top.

_________________
Elections have consequences.

you a communist or something?

Giants have gone from 300-1 to win the Super Bowl this season to 50-1 in 3 weeks. They get a Rodgers-less Packers team next week, DC FC twice, @Chargers, @Lions, Seahawks at home.

Yeah, but who didn't see the Magnificently Classy New York Football Giants turning it around? A team run by such august gentlemen would never be that bad all year long.

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Eh, I kind of agree w/ the old man. While both are good, neither is close to dominating/great. We'll see how Denver handles KC this week.

I don't know about questioning Denver. They've scored forty plus in like four out of eight games, and I don't think any defense has figured them out yet. They go against a really good defense in KC next, but if Denver manages to start out something like 14-0 or 13-3 through TOs or whatever, I don't see KC scoring enough to come back.

_________________
Successful calls:

Kyrie Irving will never win anything as a team's alpha: check
T.rubisky is a bust: check
Ben Simmons is a liability: check
The Fields Cult is dumb: double check

2013 CSFMB ROY

Broncos minus Manning are going to be crummy.
Hopefully, he won't be injured badly or for long.

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"Play until it hurts, then play until it hurts to not play."
http://soundcloud.com/darkside124 HOF 2013, MM Champion 2014

I'd agree that the NFL encourages parity, but I wonder if parity is also the inevitable consequence of a football league. Unlike the other major sports, to me football seems the most "open" in that you can coach up pretty much anyone with the minimal skill set and mental makeup to throw, catch, or run with a football, and the same for some positions on defense.

As evidence I'd point to several NFL stars who were either undrafted or were late, late round picks. I'm 100% sure there is no Tom Brady or Kurt Warner of the NBA, meaning undrafted or late round draft pick afterthoughts who went on to set records for their positions and lead teams to several championship games, and the same may be the case for the MLB and NHL.

So because more ordinary guys (i.e. mediocre prospects to those not even considered as prospects) are capable of playing good football than they are other major sports, I think that adds to the lack of team or player dominance in the NFL: most everyone is or can be on equal footing.

_________________
Successful calls:

Kyrie Irving will never win anything as a team's alpha: check
T.rubisky is a bust: check
Ben Simmons is a liability: check
The Fields Cult is dumb: double check

2013 CSFMB ROY

History is not kind to teams that win a lot of regular season games with big offense. Eventually, they're gonna have to stop somebody

I have to disagree. It's the Cap and the slotting system. Its set up to keep talent equal and it does it's job.

I don't disagree, but at the same time I don't think my opinion and the bit about the cap system are mutually exclusive.

My point is there is rare talent in the NFL at all positions, but at the same time since football is an easier sport to break into as opposed to others, the fact that more players can be coached up to excel is one more reason why teams seem to be so evenly matched.

For example, my team may not be able to sign three future HOF players in their prime at the QB, WR, and RB spots - since the system is designed to prohibit that kind of talent grab - but I can very likely find a WR or RB on my own in the 5th or 6th round, or even off the street, and coach him up to be a perennial All Pro, or even a HOFer. That has happened several times, and Arian Foster is one example off the top of my head.

The NBA has also tried to prevent talent monopolies in several ways, one of which is incentivizing free agents to stay with their current team, but what partly explains the predictability of NBA competition is the makeup of the players - there are no from streets to glory stories in that league, because if you're not supremely athletic and over 6'3, you're not likely to become a difference maker. That isn't true in the NFL, where stud players can and often do come out of nowhere, which is partly why it seems every team has a shot each year.

_________________
Successful calls:

Kyrie Irving will never win anything as a team's alpha: check
T.rubisky is a bust: check
Ben Simmons is a liability: check
The Fields Cult is dumb: double check

2013 CSFMB ROY

Also, I'm not sure if Denver has what we'd call a bad defense. To be sure, the stats alone don't paint a rosy picture, but I'd say 75% of all those yards teams have gained on Denver have come as a result of trying to erase multi-TD deficits. When you put a team down by 2 or more scores as Denver has done countless times this season, you're going to force the opposing team to throw all day. That results in yards and scores, but in the end all those stats are meaningless since much of it happened during garbage time.

_________________
Successful calls:

Kyrie Irving will never win anything as a team's alpha: check
T.rubisky is a bust: check
Ben Simmons is a liability: check
The Fields Cult is dumb: double check

2013 CSFMB ROY