The Rams have clinched the NFC West http://www.atlantafalconsteamonline.com/kaleb-mcgary-jersey , and Aaron Donald is close to clinching the NFL’s Defensive Player of the Year award.Donald was dominant today in Detroit, tormenting Matthew Stafford all day and finally forcing him to fumble in the fourth quarter, setting up a Rams touchdown that clinched what would turn into a 30-16 win.Although there are other worthy candidates, including Khalil Mack and J.J. Watt, Donald appears to be the favorite to win Defensive Player of the Year. He’s been outstanding for a Rams team that is the first in the NFL to clinch a playoff berth.Donald had his big game on a day when the Rams’ offense struggled. Jared Goff had a hard time getting the Rams moving, and he threw a couple passes that easily could have been pick-sixes. Todd Gurley was bottled up for much of the game, although he did score the clinching touchdown after Donald’s forced fumble.The Lions’ offense was a mess. Aside from a trick play touchdown pass to left tackle Taylor Decker, it was stagnating all day. And the Lions’ playcalling was terrible, including a run up the middle on third-and-goal from the 19-yard line Kendall Sheffield Jersey , and a bubble screen on third-and-15.Lions coach Matt Patricia is now 4-8 in his first season in Detroit, which ought to put him on the hot seat, considering his predecessor, Jim Caldwell, was fired for going 9-7 two years in a row.Sean McVay has had no such problems building the Rams. After inheriting a terrible team from Jeff Fisher, McVay has the Rams in the playoffs once again. The original idea behind compensatory picks was to help maintain parity in the NFL: The league has never wanted wealthy teams in big markets to be able to buy up all the top talent and leave the small-market teams struggling, so the compensatory pick formula gives additional picks to teams that have lost high-priced free agents to other teams.But in the years since the NFL started awarding compensatory picks, they’ve actually helped the best teams stay on top. That’s never been more true than this year, when the two Super Bowl participants http://www.atlantafalconsteamonline.com/john-cominsky-jersey , the Patriots and Rams, were the only teams that received two third-round compensatory picks. Compensatory picks will help the best teams get better.The NFL, with its salary cap and revenue sharing, doesn’t have the same issues with big-market teams out-bidding small-market teams that have been problems in other sports leagues. So compensatory picks don’t go to the have-nots as compensation for losing key players to the haves.Instead, compensatory picks go to the teams that were already good, and had such an abundance of good players that some of them signed high-priced contracts elsewhere. Teams like the Patriots and Rams.Also benefiting the best teams is the fact that their success gives job security to their decision makers, and a front office that is secure in its job is willing to play the long game and wait out free agency this year to get compensatory picks next year. On bad teams, the G.M. knows he’s on thin ice and might lose his job without a winning season, so he needs to sign free agents who can help this year Qadree Ollison Jersey , not wait for compensatory picks next year. It’s no coincidence that the Ravens, who had the league’s longest-tenured G.M. in Ozzie Newsome, are also the team that has acquired the most compensatory picks. Newsome knew he had job security, which made him feel comfortable building for the future with compensatory picks, which in turn perpetuated his job security.So while compensatory picks were implemented for the sake of parity in theory, in practice they’ve had the opposite effect: Compensatory picks help the top teams stay on top.