The past few years have really sparked my interest in the NFL.
In last season's Super Bowl, the underdog Saints defeated Peyton Manning's Colts in grand fashion. Two years before that, the Giants beat the undefeated Patriots with one of the most remarkable drives of the decade.
These finales are some of the most memorable of this generation.
However, people still find something wrong when the underdog and the favorite are indistinguishable.
This occurred to me while watching SportsCenter one afternoon. I was caught off guard when one of the commentators said that the usual elite teams should start playing better football within the upcoming weeks.
So does this mean that less popular teams like the Rams must continue rolling in mediocrity while sports analysts enjoy being right every single week?
This season marks the first time in the past three years that a team hasn't gone undefeated through week nine. And the Kansas City Chiefs were the league's last team to lose this season after starting 3-0.
Parody is what makes the Sunday spectacle more interesting to me this year.
Teams like the Indianapolis Colts and the New Orleans Saints are now in the same position as the previously struggling Chicago Bears and Houston Texans. Plus, the Rams are finally getting some shine after years of being sub-par.
This is good for a number of reasons.
For one, bandwagon jumpers are exposed. If a Colts fan suddenly became a Rams fan, there's something wrong.
Secondly, the importance of each game increases.
The NFL is the world's highest level of competition in football, so it would make sense to see hard-nosed action in every game.
At this point of the season, the games will have greater value, with more of the 32 teams vying for supremacy instead of the usual eight.
Peyton Manning is third in the league in passing yards, yet his Colts were beaten by the strong offensive play of the Houston Texans and the Jacksonville Jaguars this season.
Phillip Rivers is leading the league in passing yards, but his pass-oriented team is still 2-4 and struggling.
So has the public become too accustomed to the usual standings in the NFL?
Probably.
The Kansas City Chiefs haven't won 10 games in the past three seasons combined, yet they are 5-2. The Oakland Raiders, who haven't made the playoffs since 2002, actually have a chance to go past the regular season if they can improve. So it's not too surprising to see the public shocked at the moderate successes of these teams.
This season may see the upper-echelon teams take the backburner while the lesser known teams attempt to start a new era in a new decade.
Few people expected the Detroit Lions to rout the Rams 44-6 in week 5. Even fewer expected the Arizona Cardinals to beat the Saints 30-20 with no offensive touchdowns that same week.
Like they say, "This is why we play the game."
