Column: Five teams, no losses — parity in the NFL brings outpouring of pretty goodness

New England, Denver, Carolina, Cincinnati and Green Bay are a combined 28-0 this season.

Five unbeaten teams through the first six weeks is a first in the modern-day NFL.

We are surrounded by greatness.

Scratch that. We are surrounded by pretty goodness.

Although the pristine records might suggest otherwise, the NFL has a conspicuous lack of great teams. No club is head and shoulders above the rest, with 47 games decided by a touchdown or less, the second most in league history through this point in the season.

That competitive balance, a cornerstone of the league’s popularity, could make for an especially interesting second half of the season, with an atypically high number of teams still relevant in December.

Would it be a shock if a team other than the five undefeateds won the Super Bowl? Not really.

Atlanta and the New York Jets, teams with one loss each, have looked surprisingly solid.

Already, there have been significant slumps and surges from teams such as Pittsburgh, Arizona, Seattle, Buffalo and Philadelphia.

The Patriots have a coach and quarterback who will wind up in the Hall of Fame, but the team has vulnerabilities, particularly in the secondary. They had every incentive to stomp Indianapolis in their last game, but the Colts hung around and made that one interesting.

Denver has a smothering defense, but Peyton Manning is showing his age, with seven touchdowns and 10 passes for interceptions. The Broncos have an especially challenging November, with bookend games against Green Bay and New England.

Carolina got to 4-0 with victories over four sub-par teams, and only truly opened eyes with last Sunday’s victory at Seattle. Quarterback Cam Newton has turned in some most-valuable-player-type performances so far, but he has precious few offensive weapons around him.

Cincinnati is the most complete team to this point and is finally playing up to its robust potential, but the Bengals have never won a playoff game with Andy Dalton at quarterback —or with Marvin Lewis as coach, for that matter.

The Packers are coming off a pair of underwhelming performances at home. Although they beat St. Louis two weeks ago, 24-10, the Rams forced three Aaron Rodgers turnovers, and had two red-zone interceptions and three missed field goals of their own. Last Sunday, Green Bay got a scare in a 27-20 win over San Diego, with Philip Rivers throwing for 503 yards and nearly scoring a tying touchdown at the end.

There are only 10 teams with winning records. That’s the second fewest at this point in the season in the last 21 years. And that’s looking like a positive sign in a league that relies on a curious bit of math: Good plus good plus good equals great.

Tweet and delete

The Patriots under Bill Belichick are intentionally bland, offer precious few insights, do whatever they can to avoid making cleat-in-mouth comments.

That’s why it was so unusual this week when the team’s official Twitter account posted a picture of the New York Jets’ infamous “butt fumble” for Throwback Thursday, with the caption: “This seems relevant.” On the play in question, former Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez fumbled after running into the backside of offensive lineman Brandon Moore in 2012.

The Patriots, who play host to the Jets on Sunday, wound up deleting the tweet.

Wobbly at Wembley

Buffalo and Jacksonville will play in London on Sunday, and — outside of those home cities — the game will be available only on Yahoo, which will stream it. Kickoff is 6:30 a.m. PDT, meaning it will take place in the afternoon in Western Europe and at least partly in prime time in the emerging markets of Eastern Europe and Asia.

Yes, it’s an NFL game. But is it the best the league can offer? The Bills are 3-3, and the Jaguars are 1-5.

Lousy football has been a hallmark of the Wembley Stadium games since the league began its International Series in London, notes ProFootballTalk.com. The NFL has never matched two teams with winning records in the series, and five of the 13 games have featured winless teams. The Jaguars will be the fifth one-win team to play in London, and next week Detroit and Kansas City could be the sixth and seventh.

Follow Sam Farmer on Twitter @LATimesFarmer.

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