What the OP is overlooking is the other top six teams are not playing Everton in a derby, they aren't up for it like Liverpool are. The others treat Everton like midtable opposition that we are, and they can sometimes slip up for doing so. The RS meanwhile never have such complacency...what with it being a derby. Therefore of the top six only the RS match us for workrate and desire, and with their greater quality that pushes them over the top.
We have never had better quality players than them in my lifetime. They have had a succession of Owen, Torres, Suarez, Sturridge, Sterling, Coutinho and Mane as their attacking players. We have had Bent, Beattie, Johnson, Osman. They have had Gerrard in midfield supplying the ammunition for most of that time. We had Phil Neville stinking out the place. They had Xabi Alonso pulling the strings, we had Arteta. If you are constantly comng up against a downgrade chances are you are going to do better. Davy Weir vs Owen is asking for the inevitable, Jagielka up against Suarez...no-one can be surprised at what follows. Jags is as committed as anyone, but you stick him up against an infinitely more talented player there ain't a damn thing he can do but suffer, as he routinely did.
We match them for effort (often overdo it out of frustration at how the game is panning out and become wreckless), what we lack is quality.