NFL Divisional Parity: Peyton Manning and Tom Brady Breaking the Mold

January 9, 2011   ·   Brett Lissenden   ·   Jump to comments

The NFL has used an alignment consisting of eight divisions ever since 2002 (nine years now).  The winner of each division automatically qualifies for the playoffs. 
In this article, I analyze the parity in the NFL using statistical techniques and comparing how many times teams were able to win their division. 
I find that by assessing the NFL as a whole, there is statistical evidence against divisional parity.  Further, looking at specific divisions, I found that the AFC East and AFC South are the only two divisions which showed statistical evidence against divisional parity.  This is because both the Patriots and Colts have won their respective divisions seven of the nine years, which is more of a direct result of the two dominant quarterbacks Tom Brady and Peyton Manning. 
Brady and Manning have each been the starting quarterback for their teams all nine years of the study.  A slight exception to note would be the 2008 season, which ...

Read Complete Article at Bleacher Report - NFL
Article is property of BleacherReport.com