AFC versus NFC, your thoughts?

[CrashDavisSports]

There are 11 teams with a winning record in the AFC.

New England 7-2
Buffalo 5-3
Miami 5-3
Cincinnati 5-2-1 *
Pittsburgh 6-3 *
Cleveland 5-3 *
Baltimore 5-4 *
Indianapolis 5-3
Denver 6-2
Kansas City 5-3
San Diego 5-4

* All 4 teams in the AFC North have a winning record!

There are 6 teams with winning records in the NFC.

Philadelphia 6-2
Dallas 6-3
Detroit 6-2
Packers 5-3
Arizona 7-1
Seattle 5-3

One of these NFC teams will not even make the playoffs because you have to have a division winner and the NFC South doesn't have one single team with a winning record.

Pretty obvious that the AFC is the powerhouse this year in the NFL, and the AFC North is the best division in football. Of the 8 NFL teams that reside in the South divisions, both AFC and NFC, only one team among those 8 have a winning record, Indianapolis at 5-3.

 

[ATL96Steeler]

I don't really think much of it because it changes pretty quickly...GB, AZ, look about as strong as any AFC team currently.

The AFCN looks incredibly strong today, but imo CLE will do well to finish 8-8 and CIN/PIT/BAL will have battle royal to 10 wins...and that might be enough to win it.

IND I think will do well to win 10, BUF/MIA 9...SD is starting to fade already...probably 9. I will say though KC looks better than I thought...they could give DEN trouble in the west.

 

[theseymonsta]

Pats are 7-2.

 

[Clayton]

NFC West is REALLY injured right now and the AFC West and NFC West were kind of the breadwinners entering the season.

The AFC is currently better but Im not sure thats going to factor in by the time the Super Bowl rolls around.

 

[CrashDavisSports]

Pats are 7-2.

My bad. Yes, and the Patriots are 7-2. I stand corrected.

 

[gowazzu02]

Weird, I guess I feel like its still Denver, New England in the AFC. Weird seeing Buffalo, Miami and Cleveland having good records. Hopefully they can keep it going.

 

[CrashDavisSports]

NFC West is REALLY injured right now and the AFC West and NFC West were kind of the breadwinners entering the season.

The AFC is currently better but Im not sure thats going to factor in by the time the Super Bowl rolls around.

Hell, every team is injured right now. The Bengals have what seems like half their starters on the injury list and missed several weeks by multiple players. I just don't see that as an excuse. The NFC West is just not as good as everyone thought they would be.

 

[HammerDown]

The Pats going into the bye week at 7-2 are looking mighty tough to beat. No one in the NFC can say that.

 

[Tainthappening]

Would agree that NFC and AFC South divisions are not very good... considering the AFC North plays both of them, it is not very surprising all the teams are above 500 (AFC North is 13-4-1 vs the 2 South divisions).

So how strong really are the AFC North teams... are they average teams beating up on below average divisions?

Regarding NFC:
NFC East - Philly and Dallas now both have questions at QB.
NFC North - Green Bay no rush defense... Detroit has history of collapses in 2nd half.
NFC South - This is the Saints to lose... they should come on, but they need home field to get to Super Bowl and not sure that will happen. Will see how real they are with 3 game stretch vs Bengals, Ravens and Steelers. I think they handle SF this week.
NFC West - Arizona... have to admit not watched much of them play yet, so cannot comment much on their team. Seattle is learning how tough it is to repeat... SF cannot get defenders back early enough from suspension or injury, they could be out of it before get enough pieces back.

 

[bksballer89]

3 of those afc teams listed won't finish with a winning record while 2 nfc teams at least not listed will finish with a winning record

 

[Clayton]

Hell, every team is injured right now. The Bengals have what seems like half their starters on the injury list and missed several weeks by multiple players. I just don't see that as an excuse. The NFC West is just not as good as everyone thought they would be.

I think most people would agree that the Bengals have had a top 3-4 roster every year for the past couple of years but Dalton falls short in the playoffs. I dont think the Bengals in the midseason are indicative of overall power level at full strength.

 

[CrashDavisSports]

The Pats going into the bye week at 7-2 are looking mighty tough to beat. No one in the NFC can say that.

Yet 5 weeks ago NE was supposed to be washed up and on the decline of the great dynasty.

Pittsburgh was a team they were predicting to be lucky to finish .500, and now they have beat back to back good ball clubs with winning records with scores 50+ points and 12 TD passes in 2 games by Big Ben.

Miami just shelled SD who was a top 5 team for a few weeks.

Cincinnati still has the 2nd best home record the last two years of any team in the NFL at 12-0-1 (regular season).

I think Arizona looks like a very good team, and until Romo got hurt, I liked what Dallas was doing. Outside that, not real impressed with the NFC.

 

[CrashDavisSports]

I think most people would agree that the Bengals have had a top 3-4 roster every year for the past couple of years but Dalton falls short in the playoffs. I dont think the Bengals in the midseason are indicative of overall power level at full strength.

Dalton has blown in the playoffs, I certainly can't debate that.

However, even though he makes mistakes, he has helped hold this team together so far this year with all the injuries, and the defense is looking pedestrian with the injuries and lack of a run defense.

That game against Indy, we literally played our #4, #6 and #7 LB's. Burfict got hurt early again in that game, and we were having to use safeties to play LB, or play in a 4-2-5. Depth has been lacking badly due to injuries.

Dalton is partially the reason we are still 5-2-1 with the decimation of our roster. Hopefully, Dalton continues to grow and become a better player in critical games, like the playoffs.

 

[The Derski]

NFC vs AFC head to head is 18-18-1.

 

[The Derski]

The Pats going into the bye week at 7-2 are looking mighty tough to beat. No one in the NFC can say that.

Cardinals?

 

[Clayton]

I think its the opposite of what everyone thought. I think everyone thought the AFC was a 2 team race and the NFC was super deep and its probably going to be the NFC with 3-4 teams left standing by the end of the playoffs (and likely a low seed that will get healthy and hot) and the AFC will be stacked.

 

[CrashDavisSports]

Would agree that NFC and AFC South divisions are not very good... considering the AFC North plays both of them, it is not very surprising all the teams are above 500 (AFC North is 13-4-1 vs the 2 South divisions).

So how strong really are the AFC North teams... are they average teams beating up on below average divisions?

Regarding NFC:
NFC East - Philly and Dallas now both have questions at QB.
NFC North - Green Bay no rush defense... Detroit has history of collapses in 2nd half.
NFC South - This is the Saints to lose... they should come on, but they need home field to get to Super Bowl and not sure that will happen. Will see how real they are with 3 game stretch vs Bengals, Ravens and Steelers. I think they handle SF this week.
NFC West - Arizona... have to admit not watched much of them play yet, so cannot comment much on their team. Seattle is learning how tough it is to repeat... SF cannot get defenders back early enough from suspension or injury, they could be out of it before get enough pieces back.

You ever think that the South teams do not have very good records because they have to play a tougher division like the AFC North? That is how I prefer to look at it.

 

[ATL96Steeler]

I think its the opposite of what everyone thought. I think everyone thought the AFC was a 2 team race and the NFC was super deep and its probably going to be the NFC with 3-4 teams left standing by the end of the playoffs (and likely a low seed that will get healthy and hot) and the AFC will be stacked.

Yep...that's the beauty of the NFL...you never REALLY know what's going to happen...I know I thought after a terrible offseason (on paper) KC would do well to go 8-8...they're quietly playing as well as anyone.

The one thing I've been right about (so far) was SEA coming back to the pack a bit.

 

[ATL96Steeler]

You ever think that the South teams do not have very good records because they have to play a tougher division like the AFC North? That is how I prefer to look at it.

Crash...I like your way of thinking, but if I had to project out now for the north...I think CLE will finish .500, and BAL/CIN/PIT will battle for 10 wins....just depends on the health of the teams and how they're trending...hopefully PIT is not peaking too early.

 

[Clayton]

Crash...I like your way of thinking, but if I had to project out now for the north...I think CLE will finish .500, and BAL/CIN/PIT will battle for 10 wins....just depends on the health of the teams and how they're trending...hopefully PIT is not peaking too early.

Imo, one of the North teams will fall back a bit. If I had to guess, it would be Cleveland but its hard to say.