NFL Parity: Not So Loved After All

Parity, n: the quality or state of being equivalent (Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary). Parity, esp. in sports: where all teams in a league can bring their fans with intense joy and hope one game and intense sadness and anger the next (see, “American Football Conference” – AFC – East Division).

In the 2012-13, Week 6 version of the National Football League, 11 of 30 teams have .500 records. Another five are one game under .500, at 2-3. All four teams in the AFC East are 3-3. Since the NFL merger in 1970 this is only the third time the NFL has actually achieved this type of equality after six weeks of play and only in Week 6 of the 2001-02 season were more teams – 17 – at or one game above or below .500.

And the football community of fans, writers, pundits, and fantasy team members are beside themselves in their attempts to assess the star of the league, or any given team.

How did we get here?