AFC: The Dominant Conference?

It was fun listening to Chris Berman, Tom Jackson, and Sean Salisbury be the spokesmen for the AFC this NFL season. They said, “Clearly, the AFC is the more dominant conference!” It’s tough to argue with success.

Six of the last seven Super Bowl Champs had come from the AFC; the Colts own the longest streak of reaching the playoffs at six straight years, and who could argue with the Patriots going undefeated? Why not just give them the crown mid-season?

The script was going according to plan. New England had won every game making the Super Bowl for the fifth time this decade. All that was left was to beat the snot out of an inferior NFC team. This time around it would be the Giants, a team they’d already beaten.

Then, almost inexplicably, the most dominant team from the most dominant conference got outplayed by a “lesser” NFC team, with plenty of 'what if’s" to follow.

Like, what if the Patriots had learned some humility by losing in the regular season? What if they spent less time running up the score on clearly weaker teams? What if seven of their wins hadn’t come from other “dominant” AFC teams like Baltimore, New York, Buffalo, and Miami?

But the biggest “what if” that comes to my mind: What if the AFC isn’t as dominant as we all thought? Then again, maybe I’m just crazy, but let’s go there for a moment.

We all know the Patriots went 16-0 in the regular season, but if you combine that record with the likes of AFC East foes New York, Buffalo, and Miami, they are a combined 28-36, which is third worst among combined division records. One of those four teams didn’t lose a game. Conversely, the Super Bowl Champs hail from a division with three playoff teams and an overall record of 40-24.

When two teams from the opposite conference squared off this year, it was the NFC that won the head-to-head battle more times than not. That’s right, Chris Berman’s “inferior conference,” won more games when it came to AFC vs. NFC.

I will concede, it’s hard to argue with success. The Colts and Patriots have made it to postseason play each of the last five seasons. Then again, so have the Seahawks. No one views them as “dominant.” Do two teams that make the playoffs every year make an entire conference elite, top to bottom? According to NFL “experts” the answer apparently is an emphatic yes.

Explain then, why a “dominant AFC team” owns the first pick in the draft, Chris Berman? Are not the Dolphins, Raiders, Ravens, Chiefs, and Jets part of the AFC as well, Sean Salisbury?

Now, I’m not trying to say that the NFC is better than the AFC. What I’m trying to say, rather, is that there is no such thing as “conference supremacy” like these so-called experts tell us every week.

Colts, Patriots, Chargers, Steelers…they’re all very good teams, and dare I say, elite. But that doesn’t make their competition elite. Seahawks, Giants, Cowboys…they see the same foes, and beat up on them just as much, if not more, according to the stats.

There are no “dynasties,” defense doesn’t “win championships,” there is no formula for success. A team cannot be judged based on their history or their conference or division. This isn’t the NCAA.

This season has no bearing on next year. The Giants will have to go out and earn it again, just like they did last year. Their Super Bowl victory doesn’t make the NFC supreme. Because the team that wins on any given Sunday is the team that shows up to play the game.

For nearly twenty consecutive weeks, the New England Patriots were that team. The days leading up were a focus on their Sunday rivals and when they walked on the field they knew they were going to win the game. They didn’t play the media circus with the teams that would weekly bash them. They knew they were above those people.

The New York Giants defied the nation when they won the Super Bowl, no question about it. They did it because they were the team that showed up that Sunday.

Perhaps now their conference will get the respect it deserves.