The media, which usually has it's collecitve head stuck up it's ass, loves to talk about parity, where all of the NFL teams are equal thanks to the draft and free agency, and anyone team has a chance to triumph.

I regard this as a big fat lie. Here's why:

Good teams function together, and are capable of continued dominance over a period of time(The Colts and Patriots). Bad teams have only a short period of dominance, then suck for a long time(The Raiders, Lions and Rams). There are other examples, of course.

Now, the Colts and Patriots were able to maintain this dominance for so long because they both have pretty good front offices, excellent coaches, Hall of Fame quarterbacks, and good supporting players and staff. . They draft really well, and if they do go into free agency, they get their money's worth. And, because they win, they have enthusiastic fanbases, because those fans know that their teams have a good chance of winning.

Other teams, like the Raiders, overspend on players, and are generally a disfunctional mess. This  is more the fault of Al Davis than anybody-He's so controlling and crazy that he's running a once-proud franchise into the ground. The Lions are another good example of a crappy team-The Fords get a good deal of blame for this one, as Matt Millen sucked for awhile, and how they couldn't see that was beyond me.

So, I generally regarded "Parity" as a myth. But htis season has made me think differently.

The Patriots and Colts, long the top dogs in their divisions, are struggling-This can be attributed to the injuries to Brady and Manning, of course. But other teams are facing the same issues.

The Chargers, who a lot of people thought would be Super Bowl contenders, are 2-3, thanks to a gimmick play from Miami(Miami!), and the blown whistle of Ed Hochuli makes the Denver Broncos the class of the AFC West. Green Bay, a step away from the Super Bowl, looked good, then got beaten by Tampa Bay, and fried by...the Atlanta Falcons, and Captain Prettyboy. Chicago looks to have gotten back some of it's Super Bowl swagger, and Minnesota isn't as dominant as it could be.

And the NFC East. I'm convinced that the NFC Champion for Tampa will come out of this division. From the unbeaten Champion New York Giants, to the rising Redskins, to talented Dallas, even to Philly, which will likely occupy the bottom rung of the ladder-The fight for a division crown will be bloody.

The Titans are 5-0, a scenario which seemed impossible in the preseason, and it was achieved by removing their supposed franchise quarterback, and replacing him with a veteran journeyman, and having a powerful defense. The Steelers are getting the crap beat out of them, and the Bengals suck really bad; the Bills are nearly undefeated and the New Jersey Bretts seem to have found a rhythm. And the Cardinals could be the NFC West champs, after the utter collapse of Seattle. All of these things seem to be a pretty good argument for parity.

I'm still not sure parity exists. The Colts and Patriots are still pretty good teams, and there is still a lot of football to be played-Anyone of these teams could suffer a catastrophic meltdown. But, if parity exists, this will be the year we see it.