Weakest division(s) in the AFC?

[cdumler7]

I'm pretty sure most people can see that my posts aren't really serious. Just to be clear...I also don't actually believe that the Super Bowl is the Ravens' halftime show.

Oh I don't take your posts that way. I'm just pointing out why every division except the AFC South (and even them a bit if the QB's show up) have an argument for tops in the AFC. I would say the AFC got a lot stronger this off season compared to last. Last year really there were about 3-4 teams only that most thought stood a chance of winning the Super Bowl. This year I could see maybe 8-10 different teams representing the AFC and standing a good chance. Just a matter of how things shake out and who can get a little lucky injury wise.

 

[NWPATSFAN]

Exactly, that's how they accumulated so many top 10 draft picks over the years, but at some point the lion share of the fan base will tire of a winning season and a 1st round playoff loss. ATL 2.0

CIN seems afraid to really challenge Dalton with real competition...he's not a bad QB by any means, but I would be wondering out loud as to whether he's the man to take them any further.

You could include Buffalo and Detroit in there as well with the stockpiling of high picks. Just without the playoff misery.

 

[Money]

AFCN is mediocre - not the worst and definitely not the best. Their record in the playoffs and regular season bore this out last year.

They went 3-5 against the AFCE/AFCW in the regular season. 1-3 against the AFCE

You are certainly entitled to your opinion, but to correct a "fact" you posted, they went 4-4 against the AFCE/AFCW in the regular season. This rationale also sucks. The East had a losing record against the West which had a losing record against the North which had a losing record against the East...the wheels on the bus go round and round...

 

[NWPATSFAN]

The kiss of death. Baltimore doesn't make the playoffs.

Well considering how the AFCN always seems to sneak in the backdoor via wild card you're probably correct. WC this year coming out of the AFCE either Buffalo or NE.

 

[ATL96Steeler]

Well I said earlier looking at the AFC West they have 4 established QB's now for this upcoming season. Only division that has the ability to say that in the AFC. They also have 4 very seasoned coaches that have all had winning seasons. Over the past 2 years only one division can brag about having 3 teams have winning records. So consistency should show that no matter the easiness or difficulty of the schedule these teams have some major talent. Point differential, which is usually a better showing of how good or bad a team really is compared to actual record and carries more from season to season, shows that the AFC West has 2 of the top 5 with no other division boasting more than one. I could go on but again the AFC West has a very strong argument to say they are the best in the AFC.

The AFC East we can look at the fact that they were some of the biggest spenders in FA. Now yes spending big in FA doesn't always correlate with wins but it does show the teams are working very hard to improve. QB is the biggest issue in the Division though. I could say though that the AFC East has maybe 3 of the top-5 Front 7's in all of football. And that is with New England the best team in the division not being among those. So defensive wise I could argue the AFC East has the best defense top to bottom of any division in football.

Now with the AFC North arguments against it...Baltimore just lost their OC that helped them produce one of their best offenses in a long time. Throw in then now having to bring in a lot of new pieces and expect a lot from some rookies to make it work. Any time you have to depend on rookies to produce is when you are just asking for trouble. Throw in then defensively a lot of their top players have had some major injuries in the last few years. To expect that unit to stay healthy is unrealistic. Depth wise they are very unknown.

For Pittsburgh the defense is a complete unknown with switching DC's for the first time in I don't know how many years. They also lost a lot of experience so they are depending a lot on some young guys to really step in and produce.

Cincinnati has Dalton. Do I need to say much more? If so then Marvin Lewis. If you need more then while they have been a decent team they haven't been a great team.

Cleveland all we need to look at is the QB position to know this year could be a real struggle.

AFCW...4 established QBs...uh...I can buy that on some level...certainly 3...but in terms of difference makers...really only 2 imo right now. Smith is really no better than Dalton imo...almost the same player. Has a talented team around him, wins games until they really matter.

IMO CLE is better in the trenches than OAK, but I will side with OAK on the QB side w/o question. I think in the end it would come down to DEN & SD vs BAL & PIT and it could go either way, but we know Manning is not a big time JAN QB anymore and Rivers hasn't really done much in JAN lately either...edge to the N imo.

On your AFCN pts...most are valid. I will say this about the Steelers...many including myself have felt that LeBeau as great as he's been, lately has not taken full advantage of the talent...too system oriented if you will, square peg/round hole kinda deal...We'll see how Butler does, but it sounds as if he will be more flexible...the biggest concern I have about the DEF...the back 4...one thing I know is they will be faster w/o Ike and Troy

 

[Money]

Oh I don't take your posts that way. I'm just pointing out why every division except the AFC South (and even them a bit if the QB's show up) have an argument for tops in the AFC. I would say the AFC got a lot stronger this off season compared to last. Last year really there were about 3-4 teams only that most thought stood a chance of winning the Super Bowl. This year I could see maybe 8-10 different teams representing the AFC and standing a good chance. Just a matter of how things shake out and who can get a little lucky injury wise.

I don't know about 8-10 teams, but I certainly agree things are wide open this year.

 

[TP76]

Yep - I missed on Denver losing to Cincy. The AFCN certainly didn't do anything to disprove it's mediocrity when the playoffs came rolling around.

Now the AFCE has a pretty weak schedule in 2015 (based on last years results)... and next year, the AFCN takes on the toughest divisions from each conference IMO (AFCW & NFCW). Might be an eye opener for some. Records alone don't tell the whole story.

 

[Money]

Yep - I missed on Denver losing to Cincy. The AFCN certainly didn't do anything to disprove it's mediocrity when the playoffs came rolling around.

So the fact that 3 teams even made it in doesn't mean anything? Only that they didn't perform well once in (against the very best teams the other divisions had to offer btw). I mean...yes, Cincy lost to Indy, but the other 3 AFCS teams weren't even there. Yes, the Ravens lost to NE...but again...the other 3 AFCE teams weren't even there to represent.

 

[cdumler7]

AFCW...4 established QBs...uh...I can buy that on some level...certainly 3...but in terms of difference makers...really only 2 imo right now. Smith is really no better than Dalton imo...almost the same player. Has a talented team around him, wins games until they really matter.

IMO CLE is better in the trenches than OAK, but I will side with OAK on the QB side w/o question. I think in the end it would come down to DEN & SD vs BAL & PIT and it could go either way, but we know Manning is not a big time JAN QB anymore and Rivers hasn't really done much in JAN lately either...edge to the N imo.

On your AFCN pts...most are valid. I will say this about the Steelers...many including myself have felt that LeBeau as great as he's been, lately has not taken full advantage of the talent...too system oriented if you will, square peg/round hole kinda deal...We'll see how Butler does, but it sounds as if he will be more flexible...the biggest concern I have about the DEF...the back 4...one thing I know is they will be faster w/o Ike and Troy

And see your post shows that it all depends on how you want to look at things. Numbers wise Manning and Rivers have been much better than Roethlisberger and Flacco. Yes you can look at playoff record but since 2012 the Steelers have been to the playoffs once and didn't make it past the wildcard. The Broncos since 2012 have played in the Divisional round or further every time. Flacco has some argument but of the 4 has the worst regular season stats. So really if we are looking at the last 3 years (time Manning has been with the Broncos) Manning has put up the best stats by far of the 4 with Roethlisberger and Rivers being in a close match for 2nd with Flacco bringing up the rear by quite a bit. Playoff success you would have to go Ravens, Broncos, Chargers, Steelers. Overall team I guess Ravens 1st but even there that is only because they won a Super Bowl. Broncos are the only one to have made the playoffs every single season and have the best overall record by a long ways over the others. So just depends how you want to look at all of this.

Listen I have no problem somebody saying the AFC North is the best division in the AFC. AS we have seen they have a very strong argument for it. I just don't think it is as clear cut as Money seems to be trying to make it.

 

[cdumler7]

So the fact that 3 teams even made it in doesn't mean anything? Only that they didn't perform well once in (against the very best teams the other divisions had to offer btw). I mean...yes, Cincy lost to Indy, but the other 3 AFCS teams weren't even there. Yes, the Ravens lost to NE...but again...the other 3 AFCE teams weren't even there to represent.

I would say more the level of competition during the regular season is why I would question the 3 teams making the playoffs argument. As another said this year should be a good test just to see the staying power of the division. The AFC West 2 years ago had 3 teams make it to only then follow it up with 1 team the next year because of the change in schedule. Schedule definitely makes a difference when at the end of the year it comes down to one or two games being the difference.

 

[Money]

Listen I have no problem somebody saying the AFC North is the best division in the AFC. AS we have seen they have a very strong argument for it. I just don't think it is as clear cut as Money seems to be trying to make it.

I think you are mixing and matching Ravens' fans in this thread. I do think the AFCN is the best division, but I've never said anything about it being clear cut.

 

[TP76]

We'll see how the AFCN does and how many teams they send to the playoffs next year. Based on last years results, I'll say one. They'll be beating on each other (being somewhat evenly matched), and they'll be up against much stiffer (expected) competition.

 

[Money]

I would say more the level of competition during the regular season is why I would question the 3 teams making the playoffs argument. As another said this year should be a good test just to see the staying power of the division. The AFC West 2 years ago had 3 teams make it to only then follow it up with 1 team the next year because of the change in schedule. Schedule definitely makes a difference when at the end of the year it comes down to one or two games being the difference.

Well...the only division that has an argument based on this is the AFC East (they were the only division who had a winning record against the AFCN). Of course the West beat up on the East and the North beat up on the West and we're back to the wheels on the bus song.

 

[Southieinnc]

We'll see how the AFCN does and how many teams they send to the playoffs next year. Based on last years results, I'll say one. They'll be beating on each other (being somewhat evenly matched), and they'll be up against much stiffer (expected) competition.

And for the record I'm still picking the Browns......

 

[Money]

Just to be clear here. The AFCN has sent multiple teams to the playoffs in 6 of the last 7 years. They have sent 3 teams in two of those years. The only year that they sent 1 team, Bal and Cincy were sitting in the 7th and 8th slots. The division has consistently been the best for quite a while now.

You can't expect me to believe that last year was just a schedule fluke. It doesn't hold water.

 

[Southieinnc]

Just to be clear here. The AFCN has sent multiple teams to the playoffs in 6 of the last 7 years. They have sent 3 teams in two of those years. The only year that they sent 1 team, Bal and Cincy were sitting in the 7th and 8th slots. The division has consistently been the best for quite a while now.

You can't expect me to believe that last year was just a schedule fluke. It doesn't hold water.

Usually the teams they send are pretty good. Last year they were a fluke.

 

[Money]

Usually the teams they send are pretty good. Last year they were a fluke.

It was very mean of the all-mighty Pats to play with the Ravens like that. They should have just put them out of their misery in the first quarter.

 

[cdumler7]

I think you are mixing and matching Ravens' fans in this thread. I do think the AFCN is the best division, but I've never said anything about it being clear cut.

I apologize if I was thinking of the wrong Baltimore fan here. And the whole it being the schedule thing I more meant that just towards this past year in I don't think the division gets 3 teams to the playoffs without that schedule. I still think 2 make it no problem. I just think if say you have 3-4 harder games on the schedule there is a better chance that one of those teams has another loss or two that puts them more in that tie for the 9-7 record.

A great example is that of Baltimore as they went 6-2 in the games against other conferences (not including against teams that finished in the same spot). Now let's say they are playing the NFC West like they are this year...Do you really expect them to go 4-0 against the NFC West like they did the NFC South this past year? So that one more loss in that example would mean they tie with the other 9-7 teams and not sure how they would do tie breaker wise. Cincinnati is in that same boat as they went 3-0-1 against the NFC South. I don't think they do that good against the NFC West.

 

[Southieinnc]

I apologize if I was thinking of the wrong Baltimore fan here
.

The "other one" is a Caitlyn fan, not a Baltimore fan.

 

[Money]

Well considering how the AFCN always seems to sneak in the backdoor via wild card you're probably correct. WC this year coming out of the AFCE either Buffalo or NE.

I just read this and it's hilarious. How the hell are multiple teams from the same division supposed to get in to the playoffs if not for the wild card spots???