Through six weeks, the 49ers and Browns were both 0-6, while the Giants were 1-5. That’s bad, but it’s notable because those were the only three teams in the NFL with a record that was worse than 2-4. And on the flip side, only two teams — the 5-1 Chiefs and 5-1 Eagles — had a record that was better than 4-2. In other words, 27 of the 32 teams in the NFL were within two games of .500; or thought of differently, 84% of the NFL teams had a winning percentage between 0.333 and 0.667.

That… is… unusual. The graph below shows the percentage of NFL teams that had a record between 0.333 and 0.667 after six weeks in each year since 1970. As you can see, 2017 has set a new mark for parity:

There’s another way to measure how bunched the standings are, and that’s by calculating the standard deviation in team winning percentage. In 2017, through six weeks, the standard deviation in winning percentage among the 32 teams was 0.198. That may not mean much to you in the abstract, but in context, it’s jarring. That’s also the smallest standard deviation among NFL teams in winning percentage through six weeks since 1970.

So yes, if you think parity exists in the NFL season, you are right.