One of the hallmarks of the 2017 NFL season has been a perception of increased parity.

It certainly feels like there is a lack of truly good or bad teams, with nearly all of the league living in the middle class. This may not actually be the case, however, as our nERD power ratings suggest this year may not be so unusual. This season, the standard deviation of our ratings is 6.5, considerably higher than it was last season after 10 weeks (4.6).

While it certainly seems like there are more teams destined to go 8-8, there are actually fewer teams hovering around .500 than recent seasons. There are currently eight teams that are either 5-4, 4-4, or 4-5. At this point last season, there were 11 such teams, and two that clocked in at 3-4-1. Two years ago, nine teams were within a game of .500.

This season boasts teams that have separated themselves in a good way, like the number one Jacksonville Jaguars, the Steelers, the Eagles, and the Rams -- and in a bad way, such as the Colts, the 49ers, and the Browns. There are certainly plenty of teams in the middle, but not in a way that stands out from the past few years.

With all that in mind, here is how the league breaks down after nine weeks of play.