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D.J. Dunson

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The AFC is NOT the dominant conference that general consensus makes it out to be.

Cowboys-Celtics-Chisox said 12/23, 06:26 AM
Over and over I keep reading here and elsewhere about how much better the AFC as a whole is so much better than the NFC. This is pure myth. It's true that the best team in the NFL resides in the AFC, maybe even the two best teams, but the conference itself is NOT substantially better. In fact, the perception is way off and they are very close.

Disagree? Let's throw down.

D.J. Dunson said 12/23, 08:42 AM
Early Disclaimer: Read my entire argument. The AFC is the dominant overall conference. The fact remains that the AFC's top 2 seeds, Indianapolis and New England would roll thru the NFC. In the AFC, the 4 loss Pittsburgh Steelers are still in a dogfight to clinch a playoff spot, while Sunday Night Football pits the 6 loss Vikings who struggled against the Buffalo Bills on MNF against the 7 loss Redskins(my hometown team) who LOST to the Buffalo Bills in a matchup with PLAYOFF implications.

WANNA TALK ABOUT DOMINANCE LETS LOOK AT THE SUPER BOWL SINCE 1997. An NFC Team has not won the SB in 5 years!

Conference domination has been cyclical and right now the NFL is the AFC's domain. The NFC may have dominated the Super Bowl with 10 straight wins from 1987 to 1996, however since then, the torch has been passed with the AFC winning 8 of 11 Super Bowls since 1997.

I'll elaborate in my next argument.

Cowboys-Celtics-Chisox said 12/23, 04:17 PM
The Steelers have 5 losses, not 4. If they only had 4 losses they would have clinched their division already. When exactly did the Vikings struggle against the Buffalo Bills? They haven't played each other...

The 6 loss Vikings in a game with wild card implications against the 7 loss Redskins means little to this discussion. The Chargers could potentially lose 7 games and still WIN THEIR DIVISION.

You are using the Bills as if they are a doormat team. At 7-7 they were still in the AFC hunt for a WC, only their loss to the NFC Giants today has eliminated them.

With todays early games in the books, the NFC is now 30-29 against the AFC head to head this year!

The Bears might ask the league to transfer them to the AFC. They now have as many wins in 4 games against the AFC as they do in 11 games against the NFC.

The NFC East is a combined 9-4 against the AFC, The NFC North is even better at 11-3.

On the flip side, the AFC East is only 4-9 against the NFC, and thats the division of the undefeated Patriots. The AFC West is 3-11against the NFC.

There is no AFC domination. That's a misconception.

D.J. Dunson said 12/23, 06:48 PM
My mistake, the Steelers have 5 losses but are 3-1 against the NFC outscoring their opponents 113 to 61.

Selective statistics are not a good barometer of the AFC's dominance. U have to look at the whole mosaic. AFC Super Bowl dominance aside, NFC hasn't won the interconference series since 1995 and the NFC South has been a dismal 3-13 vs. the AFC.

The only teams that really matter are the top 6 from each conference. They will be the playoff teams. So San Fran beating Miami isn't exactly tipping the balance of power. The elite of the AFC seems a lot stronger than the NFC elite.

In the AFC, 8-6, Tennessee sits on the brink of elimination, while 7-8 New Orleans has yet to mathematically eliminated from contention. The current head to head record may look tempting but their are intangibles involved and recent history says otherwise.

Cowboys-Celtics-Chisox said 12/23, 07:13 PM
"NFC hasn't won the interconference series since 1995"

And yet, 15 games into the season, they are 31-29 head to head against the AFC this year.

There are 16 teams in each conference. In an argument about one conference being dominant over the other, all 16 teams are in the equation, not only the top 6. Or did the Steelers losing to the Cardinals have no bearing on their season?

How is Tennessee on the brink of elimination? They control their own fate. Win and they're in. N.O. may not be mathematically eliminated, but they may as well be. They need a lot of help to have any shot at all. You can't really be trying to compare those situations with a straight face, are you?

You want to just talk about the "elite" teams in each conference, but that fails to recognize how much easier the AFC "elite" has it when they also have more doormats to wipe their feet on along the way.

The Pats are unbeaten...fantastic, they also play in a division with the two worst teams in the NFL. The AFC has 5 teams with fewer than 5 wins. The NFC only has 3 teams with fewer than 6 wins.

D.J. Dunson said 12/24, 05:03 PM
the doormats in the AFC are just as bad in the NFC, but the AFC's elite AND midlevel teams are what separate the 2 conferences.

Historically great playoff teams are led by great quarterbacks. The Jags, Titans, Steelers, Browns and Chargers are all considerably better at that position than what the Vikings, Redskins, Bucs and Seahawks currently have.

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Stephen A. Smith: I'm SORRY! but the NFC is a JV League! I'm SORRY!

D.J. Dunson | 12/23/07, 08:46 AM

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The AFC is NOT the dominant conference that general consensus makes it out to be.

Cowboys-Celtics-Chisox beat D.J. Dunson 17 to 15

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