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Chasm between best, worst strikes parity-driven NFL

The Associated Press

Ownership seems to be a deciding factor teams like the Giants are a success and teams like the Raiders aren't.

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By JOE HENDERSON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 20, 2009

Updated: 10/20/2009 01:11 pm

TAMPA - The National Football League is rigged, operating on a system that is supposed to create parity among its members. If an organization hits a rough patch of road, never fear. That team will have first crack at the best young talent coming out of college and be back in the playoff race before you know it.

But here we are, deep into another season, and the gap between the best teams and everyone else has never seemed deeper.

Traditionally strong teams like Indianapolis (5-0), New England (4-2), Denver (6-0), and the New York Giants (5-1) are on top of their divisions. Traditionally lousy teams like Cleveland (1-5), Kansas City (1-5), Oakland (2-4) and St. Louis (0-6) are at the bottom.

I'm not putting the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on that "lousy" list because, even at 0-6 with a 10-game losing streak stretching to last year, the Bucs have had too much success in the past several years to qualify as "lousy." Same goes for Tennessee, which lost just three times last year but is 0-6 and coming off a 59-0 loss to, gulp, New England – the same New England the Bucs face Sunday in London.

By the way, Titans owner Bud Adams made a ridiculous statement after that game. He told The Tennessean newspaper in Nashville that while he won't fire Coach Jeff Fisher during the season, he made no promises about next year. Fisher is under contract through 2011.

"That is one of our problems, the coaching staff," Adams told the newspaper.

Keep an eye on that one.

I happen to believe Fisher is one of the top three or four coaches in the NFL, but that's just me.

Anyway, back on point, even with a system designed to make sure every team begins a season with legitimate hopes of winning the Super Bowl, it sure seems like things don't really change that much in this league.

Look at that "lousy" list above. Kansas City is headed for its sixth losing season since 2000. This will be Cleveland's ninth losing season in the 11 years since the Browns re-entered the NFL. This will make nine consecutive losing seasons for Detroit, while the Rams have had just one winning season since reaching the Super Bowl in 2001. That's better than the Raiders – they haven't won more than five games in any of the seven seasons since losing to the Bucs in the 2002-03 Super Bowl.

On the other hand …

This would be the 10th time in 11 seasons that Indianapolis has reached double-digit wins. The Patriots are about to enjoy a ninth straight winning season, while the Giants are headed for a seventh playoff berth in nine years. Even with Sunday's inexplicable loss to Oakland, the Eagles remain one of the NFL's best organizations.

You look for common elements and it starts with ownership. Teams like the Colts, Patriots and Giants have stable ownership that isn't afraid to spend, but spends wisely. They also don't act rashly. Tom Coughlin was supposed to be "dead coach walking" a couple of years ago, but Giants ownership stuck by their guy and he won a Super Bowl.

Pittsburgh may be the most stable organization in the league – owned by one family (the Rooneys) with half as many coaches (three) as Super Bowl wins (six) since Chuck Noll took over the sidelines in 1969.

The Steelers put real football people in charge of the front office and follow the chain of command. They are patient and focused through tough times, and when they do build back up, it lasts.

The lousy organizations have common threads, too. They are constantly changing coaches, front offices and so on. They look for quick fixes (see Jones, Jerry) and splash signings (see Snyder, Daniel).

It's too soon to tell what the Bucs' long-term fortunes are as they have entered this massive reconstruction project. We know they got into their current mess by a combination of horrible drafts and failing to develop young replacements to step in when the stars got old.

If the Glazers really believe Coach Raheem Morris is their guy for the future, they have to stick by him until he proves he isn't. Same goes for general manager Mark Dominik. While everyone wants them to spend some of that $30 million in salary cap room on free agents, they also need to draft much, much better.

Yeah, they'll have a premium draft pick next year, but that doesn't always mean much (see Adams, Gaines).

In the NFL, it's all about the organization. It's a group effort, and it's the only way to beat the system.

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