Patriots Win Over Texans Means NFL's Awful Competitive Balance Continues

The New England Patriots easily handled C.J. Stroud and the Houston Texans on Sunday afternoon, 28-16. 

It was a comedy of errors, as Stroud and Patriots' quarterback Drake Maye traded turnovers. Somehow, Maye had four fumbles, becoming only the second player in the last 15 years to have at least three fumbles in one half of a postseason games. The other? C.J. Stroud, who did it last week. Not exactly the highest level of football excellence on display. 

Stroud's turnover problems continued, with four interceptions of his own. He was sacked three times and completed just 20 of 47 passes. Houston had little choice but to keep throwing, as their run game was nonexistent. Running back Woody Marks had 17 yards on 14 carries, and the longest run of the game was 10 yards. Thrilling stuff. 

Then, with the game on the line late in the fourth quarter, the Texans made one of the most bizarre, inexplicable decisions you'll ever see a football team make. Down 28-16 with 4:18 remaining and just one timeout left, the Texans punted on 4th and 16, essentially conceding the outcome. In a playoff game. They just…gave up. Utterly bewildering. 

With the win, and Denver Broncos QB Bo Nix suffering a season-ending injury, the Patriots all but clinched their spot in the Super Bowl. And demonstrated that, despite the reputation and salary cap, the NFL remains the league with the worst competitive balance in sports.

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Jan 18, 2026; Foxborough, MA, USA; New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye (10) throws in the third quarter against the Houston Texans in an AFC Divisional Round game at Gillette Stadium. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-Imagn Images

NFL Has Incredible Lack Of Parity Across Teams

While Major League Baseball has developed a reputation for an imbalanced competitive landscape, the league has actually done a much better job getting a variety of teams to the World Series. Since 2014, 16 different organizations have reached the World Series. More than half of the league's 30 teams have played in MLB's championship series in the last 12 seasons. That's 53%.

In the NFL? Not so much. And the Patriots' strong likelihood of advancing will continue that trend. Since 2014, there have been just 11 teams to reach the Super Bowl, out of 32 organizations. That's just 34%. Since the 2017 season, there's been just seven different teams to get there. The AFC in particular has been even more exclusive. 

Regardless of who wins the Broncos-Patriots game next weekend, there will be just four organizations from the AFC to reach the Super Bowl since the 2014 season. That's incredible. Just 25% of the AFC has reached the Super Bowl in 13 tries. Every single AFC Championship Game since 2011 has featured the Chiefs or Patriots. If New England wins, as expected, that would be their 10th appearance since 2002. It would be the 15th time in the last 24 years that either the Chiefs or Patriots make the Super Bowl. 

Clearly, having a salary cap works to ensure competitive balance.

Oh, and if the Los Angeles Rams beat the Chicago Bears, it would guarantee that no new organization reaches the Super Bowl since 2014. If anyone actually cared about the NFL's product, this might be a problem.

But fortunately for "The Shield," there is nothing they can do, no level of poor officiating or predictability that matters. Ratings will be massive, no matter who plays. NFL games can never be boring, thanks to parlays and gambling and daily fantasy and over/under picks. Outside a few die-hards, nobody cares about the outcome of the Super Bowl. And big numbers, even if it doesn't actually mean more scoring plays than your average baseball game, is enough to convince fans that games are exciting.

The NFL can get away anything, even the least amount of competitive balance in sports. And this year confirmed that's exactly what they have.