🔗 Share this article

No league sells parity like the NFL: it defines their identity. However, after ten games of this season, this doesn't represent a landscape featuring uniform distribution separating contenders, pretenders, and middle-of-the-pack clubs. Rather, we see a situation where the bulk of franchises is simply fine.

Clear Picture in NFC

Within the National Football Conference, at least, there is some clarity. Los Angeles and Seattle (each holding 7-2 records) appear to be the most well-rounded squads in football, and delivered overwhelming triumphs during Sunday's action. The 6-2 Eagles notwithstanding their difficulties maintain one of the most talented rosters throughout football, similar to Green Bay (five wins, two losses, one tie). The Lions also (6-3 standing), with their fluctuating form on offense and defense and navigating coaching drama, have proven they can defeat good teams. For each of these squads, one can readily construct a Super Bowl path.

AFC Playoff Chaos

Over in the AFC, the playoff picture is thoroughly confusing. The current division frontrunners after ten games: the Colts, Patriots, Broncos (all at 8-2) and Steelers (five wins, four losses). Consider that carefully. Not the Chiefs. Not the Bills. Neither Ravens nor Bengals. The usual contenders, supported by the league’s best quarterbacks, possess either significant personnel gaps or have been hit by injuries.

Parity Mechanics

To some extent, this represents the NFL's perfect scenario. But watching this season's top AFC teams in the American Football Conference continues to seem unusual. Areas of each team pass the championship smell test, yet not completely. If you were asked to finalize your conference championship predictions today, could you assuredly choose any among the four division leaders?

Squad Examinations

Indianapolis Colts

Starting in Indianapolis, Daniel Jones hasn't yet achieved complete disaster level. However, recent performances have been worrying. He's reverting to giving away possessions and faltering under duress. He took seven sacks against the Falcons in the weekend game, and experienced a brief period where he delivered an intercepted pass and fumbled three times. This comes after he gave away possessions five times facing the Steelers.

Indianapolis' offensive unit excelled during early games as Jones prevented the disaster plays. Taylor along with the blockers mean the Colts are good enough to survive some negative plays, like their German performance. However, if Jones reverts to his historically mistake-heavy play would terminate postseason aspirations.

New England Patriots

The Patriots feel fairly alike. Last season, they were a punchline. Today, they stand as football's most unexpected success and the hottest team across the league following seven consecutive victories. If not for fumbling away a contest they should have won against Pittsburgh, they’d be sitting at 9–1 as the league's best. Last season, they were old and slow. Today they appear young, fast and unafraid. Still, it’s hard to ignore the ease of the Patriots' matchups. They have faced the least challenging lineup in the league, yet vulnerabilities remain. Drake Maye has taken sacks thirty-five times – ranking second league-wide – including particular impacts he absorbed on Sunday proved brutal. As the season progresses, those beatings accumulate.

Denver Broncos

The Broncos hold also 8-2, and it still feels as if they’re holding their breath. The Denver signal-caller has performed unevenly, and the offense plodding, with the defense doing the majority of the work. Without serviceable quarterback play, the Broncos won't frighten anyone in the postseason. The Chargers are also hovering within their division at 7-2, yet medical problems within their blocking corps will present challenges to mount a deep postseason tilt.

Pittsburgh Situation

Then we have the Steelers, somehow still leading the AFC North even after suffering a 25-10 defeat from the Chargers in the evening game. Their scoring margin remains negative, their defense regularly vanishes, and the QB's current constraints at this stage of his career continue to show up. They’re 5–4 and holding on, however, the Ravens, featuring a recovered Jackson and the schedule softening, are riding a three-game streak. This development isn't entirely shocking that the Ravens have narrowed within a game of the Steelers, but that it has arrived so quickly represents criticism toward Pittsburgh's fluctuating form. That the Ravens started the season 1-5 yet still appear likely to claim the title speaks volumes regarding the conference as a whole.

Established Contenders

The Ravens' form part within a trio of powerhouses – alongside the Bills and Chiefs – fueled by former MVP signal-callers, that would continue to generate the greatest concern for opponents if they made the playoffs. They represent undesirable playoff matchups, but the Chiefs and Bills continue to self-destruct.

Buffalo Analysis

Last week, the Bills felt confident following victory over Kansas City. On Sunday they suffered a particularly discouraging setback of the season. They didn't simply fail against Miami; they suffered humiliation, losing 30-13 as visitors. The Dolphins secured their first triumph against Buffalo in more than 1,000 days.

Should you seek an example representing the day, consider this: the quarterback converting {a quarterback sneak|a short-yardage play|a sneak attempt