While the National Football League has taken provisions toward equality between teams, there always seems to be the few that stand out. After only five weeks of this year, it is already apparent which teams are going to dominate the league. All starting out with perfect records, the standings speak for themselves. Currently, the New England Patriots and the Indianapolis Colts stand at a record of 5-0, while the Dallas Cowboys are 4-0 competing against Buffalo tonight to see if they can make it five. Along with those undefeated teams, there are a few others who also seem to have a distinct advantage over their opponents. The Pittsburgh Steelers are currently 4-1 and have overpowered their opponents and the scoreboards scoring a total of 132 points while only allowing 47.
Some may wonder how it is possible that many teams continue to do so well when the NFL is set up so that no teams have an outright advantage over others. The fact of the matter is if there are limited number of superstars to lead teams. While many teams may have a lot of depth on their roster, the offensive aspect of the game can be handled by a certain few. The Indianapo
lis Colts are led by arguably the best Quarterback in the league and is looked at as if he will be one of, if not, the best ever. Peyton Manning is the key to that offense. He has had a lot of help, often passing to star receiver Marvin Harrison and taking breaks when giving the ball off to Joseph Addai, though currently both of them are injured and he is still having no issue finding the end zone. The Colts have been compared to the Patriots often this year, citing both of them as the two best teams in the league. The Patriots have been very hot this year, using their newly acquired star wide receiver Randy Moss to get the job done. 
He is one of two new Patriot receivers, and one of many scoring threats. Star quarterback Tom Brady has a large supporting cast of receivers to throw to, while still being able to drop the ball off to either of two running backs. Currently Laurence Maroney is injured, so Sammy Morris has had the opportunity to shine as the go-to back. Another favorite playoff contender are the Dallas Cowboys. Starting off their season 4-0 they have shown that they are playing to win. While some say they have trouble stopping the pass, their overwhelming offense led by quarterback Tony Romo and wide receiver Terrell Owens seem almost unstoppable. Tony Romo seems to have almost come out of no where since relieving Drew Bledsoe mid-season last year. He has been one of the top rated quarterbacks this season, with a QB rating of 112.9. In addition to Romo and Owens, the Cowboys have solid running backs with Marion Barber III and Julius Jones, as well as a top tight end Jason Witten.
Less highly thought of so far, yet still having an great start to their season are the Pittsburgh Steelers. With a record now of 4-1 after beating the well thought of Seahawks 21-0, they have displayed a defense that will take on anyone. Their offense, made up of many stars who generally help lead the team to victory, has had a few bumps on their way, but are slowly becoming a dominant force. Led by quarterback Ben Roethisbeger and running back Willie Parker, the offense has the power to win every game by a large margin (especially when their defense only allows an average of 9.4 points per game).
Now the question is will these teams keep it up and continue to dismantle every team they play? We will see who the true Championship contenders are next week when Dallas matches up against New England. Will it come down to a fight between the superstars, or will a no-namer lead their team to force one of the three (depending on tonights game) undefeated teams to their first loss of the season?
2 comments:
I definitely agree with you in that there seems to be total domination in the national football league. We talked about how the NFL has the best competitive balance in all of sports, but teams like the patriots show that this is not completely true. I think this just goes to show that no matter how good of a draft pick a team can get, the amount of money a team has will always be the most important factor in winning.
There does seem to be domination in the NFL by certain teams but only for limited time. As the New England Patriots and the Indianapolis Colts seem to be the top two teams of this decade, they weren't close to being contenders in the 90's. That decade was owned by the Dallas Cowboys and Buffalo Bills. The 80's are remembered by the Chicago Bears and San Francisco 49's. So as certain franchises are lucky enough to have their dynasty years, their super star players are only in their prime years for so long.
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