In every season between 1985 and 1997, an NFC team ended the year by hoisting the Lombardi Trophy.
The NFL's great dynasties during this period — the NFC's Dallas Cowboys and San Francisco 49ers — won three and four championships, respectively. At the same time, the Denver Broncos and Buffalo Bills, AFC teams, went a combined 0−7 in Super Bowl play. Six of those seven defeats were blowout losses in which the Broncos or Bills lost by 13 points or more.
Simply put, 1985 to 1997 were 13 years of NFC butt−kicking.
But the NFL's tables, as they so often do, quickly turned. From 1998 to 2010, nine of 13 Super Bowls have been won by a team from the AFC. AFC teams won a staggering 40 of the 64 games against NFC foes from 2004 to 2006, and the three NFL teams with the highest winning percentage over the last 10 years all hail from the AFC: New England, Indianapolis and Pittsburgh.
After four weeks of NFL play this season, the degree of AFC dominance over the NFC has increased to an even greater, almost laughable level.
So far in 2010, the AFC has posted a combined 11−6 record against the NFC. And the domination becomes even more substantial when looking at the out−of−conference records of the AFC's worst teams and the NFC's best ones.
AFC teams currently in third or fourth place in their divisions are 6−3 in these inter−conference games. On the other hand, NFC teams currently in first or second place are just 2−6 when playing against the AFC. In other words, many of the worst teams in the AFC are doing better out of conference than many of the NFC's best teams.
While each NFL division has its share of losers, two NFC divisions in particular have disappointed.
The NFC West is quickly becoming one the worst divisions in recent memory. The division−leading Arizona Cardinals got trounced 41−10 on Sunday by the San Diego Chargers in a game in which starting quarterback Derek Anderson was once again benched after a terrible start. The heir to Kurt Warner in Arizona, Anderson has been awful through four weeks, posting a QB rating of 59.5 and a completion percentage of 51.8.
The winless 49ers started off strong in Atlanta but blew a 14−point lead and lost to the Falcons 16−14. The 49ers still have a long way to go before they can start competing with the NFL's elite.
The Seattle Seahawks managed to disappoint as well, snapping their 10−game winning streak over the Rams as they got dominated in St. Louis, 20−3.
No one in the NFC West is good enough to win games on the road, as teams in the division have put up a combined 1−8 record in road contests. Yet one of these NFC West teams, no matter how undeserving, will win the division and get a home playoff game.
The East is the other big disappointment so far in the NFC. Considered by many to be the best division in the NFL over the past few seasons, it doesn't appear that any team wants to grab control this year.
First, Dallas began the season with two disappointing losses to the Washington Redskins and Chicago Bears. The next week, those same Redskins blew a 17−point lead at home against Houston and went on to drop an ugly game in St. Louis.
Then it was Philadelphia's turn to disappoint, as the Eagles were repeatedly booed during a 17−12 home loss to Washington that followed two straight wins on the road. And while the New York Giants were impressive in their 17−3 win Sunday night over the previously undefeated Bears, they were also horrible this season in a 29−10 home loss to the Tennessee Titans.
What does all this mean? Right now, the NFC East is not the division it used to be and does not seem to have even one Super Bowl contender.
Some NFL fans argue that the Pro Bowl shows which conference is stronger at the end of the season. However, a meaningless game with minimal player effort that sometimes rivals touch football players' dedication is certainly not the barometer of NFL conference superiority.
The level of AFC dominance is so high that while even nine wins will probably be enough for a playoff bid in the NFC, 10 wins may not guarantee a postseason bid in the AFC.
