The National Football League season has officially begun. Personally, I don’t consider the dog days of summer training camp to serve as my reminder that pigskin is in the air. No way. I have identified the last quarter of the football season as the official start of what I refer to as ”Race Season.” Just when the tundra at Lambeau Field is beginning to freeze over, and just when you can smell the aroma of chili from Arrowhead Stadium all the way to Ferguson, this is when I fully immerse myself in professional football.
The body of work for each of the 32 National Football League teams is thorough enough to come up with an educated hypothesis on whose Varsity and who is Junior Varsity. By this time, teams should be comfortable with new schemes implemented during training camp and most importantly, teams better know who can and cannot be trusted. All of the rhetoric is entertaining and humorous at times but I consider the first week of December to mark when teams begin to display cohesion and trust in one another.
Trust is imperative for a successful relationship in any context. Trust is like effort. There is no stat line and commentators won’t talk about it during the postgame show, however, trust will often influence the outcome of the game in some way, shape or form. Trust must begin in the offices upstairs and infect the locker room below. Players must trust that coaches will put them in the best position for success on every play. Coaches must know what players they can trust to execute their assignment while players must have absolute and unwavering trust in one another.
Keep these thoughts in mind as you locate your favorite NFL team. If they are a talented yet underachieving franchise, the root of the problem may just be outside of what the eye can see.
The National Football League has never seen parody across the board like there is in today’s NFL. From a Byrd’s Eye View, below you will find my list of teams who have proven to have on-field jurisdiction over their opponents as ”Race Season” picks up steam.
NFL
1. Green Bay Packers. 2. New England Patriots. 3. Seattle Seahawks. 4. Denver Broncos. 5. Philadelphia Eagles. 6. San Diego Chargers. 7. Dallas Cowboys. 8. Kansas City Chiefs.
9. Indianapolis Colts. 10. Detroit Lions. 11. San Francisco 49ers. 12. Pittsburgh Steelers. 13. Cincinnati Bengals. 14. Baltimore Ravens. 15. Atlanta Falcons. 16. New Orleans Saints.
17. Houston Texans. 18. Buffalo Bills. 19. Arizona Cardinals. 20. Miami Dolphins. 21. Chicago Bears. 22. Cleveland Browns. 23. Minnesota Vikings. 24. St. Louis Rams.
25. New York Giants. 26. Carolina Panthers. 27. Tennessee Titans. 28. New York Jets. 29. Washington Redskins. 30. Tampa Bay Buccaneers. 31. Jacksonville Jaguars. 32. Oakland Raiders.
Top 10 AFC
1. New England Patriots. 2. Denver Broncos. 3. Kansas City Chiefs. 4. San Diego Chargers. 5. Indianapolis Colts.
6. Pittsburgh Steelers. 7. Cincinnati Bengals. 8. Baltimore Ravens. 9. Houston Texans. 10. Buffalo Bills.
Top 10 NFC
1. Green Bay Packers. 2. Seattle Seahawks. 3. Philadelphia Eagles. 4. Dallas Cowboys. 5. Detroit Lions.
6. San Francisco 49ers. 7. Atlanta Falcons. 8. New Orleans Saints. 9. Arizona Cardinals. 10. Chicago Bears.