NFL: Entertainment Teams Vs Contending Teams
Over the last decade, the mainstream sports media has failed to separate the difference between real contending teams for the champions and teams that are fun to watch also known as entertainment teams. Most of the media believes that as long as a team has a very good to great quarterback that they’re an instant contender when actually this is rarely the case.
A real contending team should have a good to very good offensive line who can hold their blocks for enough time so that the quarterback has time to make proper reads and a good throw to the wide receiver if they are unable to do this the quarterback most likely will feel pressure from the defensive line and either throw the ball up before he wants to or take a sack. This team also needs a decent to good running game who will force the defense to put more men in the box which means more man to coverage which leads to easier catches for them. Lastly, a real contending team needs a decent to good front 7 or back 4 on defense. If the defense has a good front 7 they will apply constant pressure to the quarterback and will force the quarterback to either throw the ball up before he wants to or take a sack. If the defense has a good back 4 the defensive line will get many coverage sacks because the cornerbacks and /or safeties are normally able to keep up with the wide receiver for longer than 3-5 seconds.
On the other hand, an entertainment team can be described as a team who depends on a great quarterback and 1 or 2 good to great wide receivers to lead the team to victory. This philosophy tends to work throughout the regular season because most of these teams only face 2-3 very good to great defense in the regular season. As a result of this, the very good to great quarterbacks on these teams will have enough time to sit in the pocket and analyze the field to make a good throw or the offensive coordinator will design a quick passing game that allows the quarterback to release the ball quickly before the pressure gets to him. This gives the offense the opportunity to mask the other deficiencies that the team has by throwing the ball all over the field and scoring a lot of points.
However when these teams reach the playoffs, they ultimately will come up short because their offensive line will not be able to hold their blocks for enough time so that the quarterback has time to make proper reads and a good throw to the wide receivers. As a result of this, the quarterback will feel pressure from the defensive line and either throw the ball up before he wants to or take a sack. This will put the defense on the field for more time which increases the probability that the opposing offense will score more points due to fatigue and/or overexposure of the defense.
NFC entertainment teams; Detroit, Atlanta, Cowboys, Giants and Cardinals.
NFC contending teams; Packers, Eagles, Seattle and St. Louis.
AFC Entertainment teams; Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, San Diego , Colts and Patriots
AFC contending teams; Houston, Jets, Denver and Kansas City.
