The NFL's Best vs. the Rest: What Separates Consistently Good Teams from Peers?

The National Football League prides itself on parity, the opportunity for any team to make a run at the playoffs and the Super Bowl any given year.

It is a novel idea. Granted, it is nearly impossible to achieve perfect parity in any league, but, in seasons past, the NFL had done a pretty good job of making sure no single team dominated the NFL landscape.

Of course, there have been dynasties. The Cowboys, 49ers, Steelers, and Patriots all come to mind.

But the Steelers with six Super Bowl rings have more national championships than any other franchise. In baseball, the Yankees hold that honor with 26, and the Celtics hold that title in the NBA with 18 championships to their name.

In other words, even though there have been instances of dominance by a single team throughout the history of the NFL, it's not as noticeable as the dominant teams in other sports.

Unfortunately, as we approach the conclusion of the current decade, the parity that the NFL supposedly prides itself on is going down the drain. Six weeks into the 2009 NFL season, there is a clear separation between the top 10 or so teams and the rest of the pack.

The separation between the top tier and the rest of the league is astounding. It is nearly insurmountable. We can all predict with relative certainty which teams will be participating in the playoffs this winter. There is not much suspense, which is a shame because it dilutes the quality of the game.

Teams such as Indianapolis, the Giants, Minnesota, New England, Pittsburgh, Atlanta, and New Orleans (these are just examples, there are a few others as well) are so far ahead of their counterparts it isn't even funny.

Each one of the above teams have, for the most part, played pivotal roles and have been on top of the league for most of the decade. The other teams (Atlanta and New Orleans, for example) haven't been on top for long, but their respective organizations went through major overhauls at one point or another that completely changed the culture of the franchise.

It is not coincidental that the same group of teams routinely find themselves at the top of the Power Rankings year to year. Running a successful football franchise requires three aspects, all of which need to go right for a team to enjoy sustained success.

One, the ownership at the highest levels needs to be supportive and unobtrusive in the coaches' day-to-day operation of the team. The owners need to provide stability to the organization. Let the coaches and the general manager run the show. That is what they are paid for, and, nine times out of 10, they are better at what they do than the owner ever will be.

Secondly, an NFL team needs to have great coaching.

Starting with the head coach, the team needs to have stability and cohesiveness at all levels of the staff. The head coach oftentimes will get too much blame, as the coordinators and the positional coaches will usually have just as much impact (if not more of an impact) on the performance of individual players than the head coach.

Finally, the team needs to have a roster filled with talented, professional players. Talent is an obvious necessity. While superior athletic ability is always important, having players that act in a professional manner and who love the game that they are playing are just as important. Ideally, an NFL roster is composed of 53 players that possess talent and professionalism.

While there are many parts that go into creating a consistently successful football franchise, those are the three most prominent aspects. Each area is crucial to the overall success of the team, and if any one of those categories is left unfulfilled, any given team will collapse.

Looking at the poorer teams in the NFL (Washington, Detroit, St. Louis, Kansas City, etc.), it is clear that all of these teams are having major issues in one or more of those categories.

No matter how even the NFL attempts to make the playing field in the NFL, there are going to be teams that break down and need to be rebuilt. The concerning trend is that, as of the 2009 season, it feels like more and more teams are trending downwards, and it is taking longer for these teams to correct themselves.

Again, all these teams have multiple issues, and there will not be one sole fix all that can correct these teams.

However, one consistent problem with all of these teams remains the lack of truly professional players on NFL rosters these days.

Not all of these rosters are devoid of talent. In fact, on some of these teams (such as the Oakland Raiders), there is a great deal of raw talent. It is the lack of professionalism that is the core issue that drags these teams down.

The picture that accompanies this article is of Junior Seau and Tom Brady, both of whom play for the New England Patriots. These are two players that have the correct mix of talent and professionalism to make themselves great players. They are just two examples of the many players that can be described as talented and professional.

But what makes them different from players like JaMarcus Russell and Albert Haynesworth, two big name players that can't seem to live up to their contracts?

First and foremost, the best players in this league have a tremendous amount of talent. After all, if they didn't have athleticism, they wouldn't be in the NFL anyway.

However, all of the underachievers in the NFL have talent as well. The real difference between a star like Hines Ward and a headache like Terrell Owens lies in what players do with the talent they have.

Players that come into the NFL need to have a tremendous work ethic to accompany their immense raw talent. All of the greats, in any sport, put in countless hours working out, fine tuning their skills, and learning the mental side of the game in order to maximize their talent.

No matter how much raw ability a player has, it will amount to nothing without hard, consistent work.

Leadership is another integral characteristic that NFL teams need to look for in the players they choose to sign and draft. For every successful NFL franchise, players and coaches talk about how close knit the locker room is and how there are numerous leaders that make their presence known.

Granted, captains are selected for a reason. They have distinguished themselves as they best of the best amongst their teammates. However, they cannot be the lone leaders on an NFL roster. Leadership means taking ownership of one's role and executing it to the best of one's ability. Every player, not just the captains, need to do this in order for a team to be successful.

Players also need to be able to communicate with coaches and the front office in an appropriate manner. Blasting the coaches' decisions in the media is not an example of this.

Rather, a player needs to be able to go to the head coach or to the general manager and be able to have a conversation with the staff if he feels like something needs to be changed. This goes hand in hand with leadership. Players who can communicate with their coaches in an appropriate manner and let them know what is working and what isn't can only help a team.

In addition, players need to check their egos at the door. The team is bigger than the individual, and the team can only operate at maximum efficiency if all the parts are focused on one common goal rather than as 53 individual parts all going in different directions.

Finally, and, perhaps most importantly, players need to love the game that they're playing. If a player doesn't care about their team and simply shows up to collect his paycheck, not only will he as an individual fail, but he will drag the team down with him.

And that is the premier issue right now: The NFL is saturated with far too many players who do not love the game enough to put in the time or effort necessary to make themselves and their respective teams into successful ones.

Most of these players had this lack of respect and determination planted in their heads from the moment they stepped on the football field for the first time.

Every single player in the NFL is a supremely talented athlete, and they all likely dominated their Pop Warner, high school, and college teams. If they didn't, they wouldn't be in the NFL.

Such dominance can be both a blessing and a curse for a player.

The positive is that it puts them on a platform. By distinguishing himself as one of the best at his position, a player will be noticed by coaches at the next level.

However, such dominance can also become as issue if the player is not well grounded and does not love the game of football.

Because of their immense talent, many of these players have been coddled from a young age.

For starters, many players have probably received little to no competition for their roster spot, due to their amazing raw talent. This advantage allows for a player to slack off a bit in the weight room, doze off in the film room, and maybe even take a play or two off in practice.

These players are so good, their 75 percent is far better than most people's 100 percent.

In addition, many coaches are obsessed with winning (like most of the world), and cannot stand to see their star player be suspended for a game, no matter what the infraction is.

If a high school coach is willing to let his star wideout run wild throughout the time, miss team commitments, skip out on classes and homework, and display poor judgment without consequence, a player is likely to develop a sense of superiority, a belief that the law or rules somehow do not apply to him.

This favoritism oftentimes begins at a fairly young age. If it goes unimpeded through college and into the NFL, it is usually too late.

By the time these players reach the NFL level, it will be nearly impossible to alter the thinking of these players. For their entire lives, they have believed that they are somehow exempt from every team rule and every commitment. It is unreasonable and, frankly, downright stupid to believe that a player can completely alter their thinking simply by joining the NFL.

There are exceptions to this, as several players have gone from being malcontents to models of consistency, effort, and performance on the field.

But the majority of players in this situation will unfortunately not make it the length of their rookie contract.

The teams with the best scouting departments will be able to spot such problems right away and avoid signing or drafting such players all together.

If they mess up and misidentify a player, or if a player develops a superiority complex during his time with the team, he gets cut.

The best teams in the NFL all have a rosters that are filled to capacity with talented players that also posses tremendous work ethics, great leadership qualities, and small egos.

Not some of their players. Not most of their players.

ALL of their players have talent, leadership, and work ethic.

The worst teams in the NFL are willing to settle for less. Teams that seem to be relegated to sewer year in and year out tend to become infatuated by raw talent (40 times, bench press, vertical leap, etc.) and forget about the intangibles that make the truly great players so good.

Teams like the Detroit Lions routinely draft players like Calvin Johnson and Joey Harrington, players that have talent, but don't have the passion to go along with that talent.

The Raiders become obsessed with the numerical performance of a player, and they look for fireworks rather than players that can help build a solid base for years to come.

The Rams are just devoid of talent. Other than Stephen Jackson, the city of St. Louis seems to lack any serious football talent.

In short, the NFL is populated with far too many players who either don't care enough or do not have the necessary skill set (both physical and mental) to survive in the NFL.

As mentioned before, a team will generally see breakdowns in multiple areas of its operation when it sinks to all time lows.

Many of the teams that are currently in the cellar of their divisions not only lack the necessary talent to compete, but they also lack competent scouting departments, and they are unable to separate the truly great players from those who simply have flashy numbers and an impressive combine resume.

If the teams that currently occupy the lowest rung on the NFL totem pole ever want to climb back to respectability, they need to fill their rosters with talented players that also have the leadership and work ethic needed to propel them over the top.

In other words, it is better to draft a role player that truly loves the game of football than the superstar who thinks that a 75 percent effort is all they need to get by.

Until teams like the Raiders, Chiefs, Rams, and Redskins acquire such talent, they will always be the fodder for the great teams to feed on.

The problem with these players start at the very earliest levels of football. Therefore, it is difficult for the NFL to correct these players, as they have always thought the way they do.

However, the NFL sets the example. If NFL teams begin to look for work ethic, leadership, and a love for the game over pure athleticism, there will be a trickle down effect.

If NFL teams don't, the results will remain the same: The best 10 teams will routinely dominate, and the rest of the NFL will simply sit back and watch.