Sustained dominance of 5 AFC teams

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Darth Despot

Darth Despot

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Twenty years ago, after the 1994 season the Buffalo Bills made their 4th and final appearance in the Super Bowl.

Since that time 5 franchises, The Patriots, Broncos, Steelers, Colts and Ravens have accounted for all but 3 AFC Champions, the Chargers, Titans and Raiders each lost the Super Bowl during that time span.

Patriots 7 Appearances 4-3
Steelers 4 Appearances 2-2
Broncos 3 Appearances 2-1
Ravens 2 Appearances 2-0
Colts 2 Appearances 1-1

There is no doubt who our rivals are over this period. Pretty damn impressive.
 
By contrast, Green Bay, Seattle and the Giants lead the NFC with 3 appearances

Green Bay 3 (2-1)
Giants 3 (2-1)
Seattle 3 (1-2)
San Francisco 2 (1-1)
St. Louis 2 (1-1)

And then there are 7 teams with 1 apiece (Tampa Bay, Carolina, Atlanta, Chicago, Arizona, New Orleans and Philadelphia).

In fact, the only three NFC teams without an appearance in that time period are Washington, Minnesota and Detroit.
 
bideau said:
By contrast, Green Bay, Seattle and the Giants lead the NFC with 3 appearances

Green Bay 3 (2-1)
Giants 3 (2-1)
Seattle 3 (1-2)
San Francisco 2 (1-1)
St. Louis 2 (1-1)

And then there are 7 teams with 1 apiece (Tampa Bay, Carolina, Atlanta, Chicago, Arizona, New Orleans and Philadelphia).

In fact, the only three NFC teams without an appearance in that time period are Washington, Minnesota and Detroit.
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You're missing Dallas, which also has 3 SBs in that time (2 were against the Bills) the other was SB XXX, I believe
 
Let's talk AFC.....

I always used to think that the AFC in the modern era is actually was at a slight disadvantage when it came to SuperBowls. The reason was, I thought the NFC had a higher, consistent level of competition which prepares them better for the playoffs.

In the AFC we have teams like ours that have dominated their division for an age and do it with ease week in and week out. We know the Patriots have been excellent for a long time but the other teams in the division have been week. Other divisions in the AFC fare little better. The AFC South is a joke, the West has had it's moments, but again, has been dominated by one team the past few years. The AFC North is competitive and that seems to help those teams make the playoffs and primes them for it.

With the NFC, you have traditionally very strong divisions with some rivalries going back to the birth of pro football nearly. The NFC East is always huge, the NFC North is a bruiser and even the NFC West has improved dramatically and produced a great rivalry the past few years. The NFC South has produced it's SB winner in the past 5 years and could be getting better. Those teams will typically play 6 tough division games and then will be playing other tough NFC divisions yearly as well.

We've seen past SuperBowls where the NFC has always had the potential to really put serious beatdowns on the AFC sides whereas the AFC if they win, always gets into close games. Our own team is a good example, we've never thrashed a team in our SB wins. You look at the huge 49er wins of the past, the Dallas wins, the Redskins, the Bears of course...

The Ravens win in 2000 was the biggest AFC beatdown really.

Clearly, there's not a big gulf here, the AFC have won 23 SBs and since 2000 the total is 9-7 for AFC teams. Plus the better QBs of the past decade have been in the AFC.

But it still seems like the NFC when they win, have the potential to do what Seattle did last year and thrash the AFC finalists. The real final that year was the 49er-Hawk game.

I would love us to get a SB where we really do a big number on the NFC side and the 4th quarter becomes a victory parade!
 
Patriots4ever said:
You're missing Dallas, which also has 3 SBs in that time (2 were against the Bills) the other was SB XXX, I believe
Click to expand...

Partially correct. The premise was since Buffalo's last Super Bowl appearance. So I'd have to add Dallas as having 1 appearance and 1-0 since then.
 
Roberto71 said:
Let's talk AFC.....

I always used to think that the AFC in the modern era is actually was at a slight disadvantage when it came to SuperBowls. The reason was, I thought the NFC had a higher, consistent level of competition which prepares them better for the playoffs.

In the AFC we have teams like ours that have dominated their division for an age and do it with ease week in and week out. We know the Patriots have been excellent for a long time but the other teams in the division have been week. Other divisions in the AFC fare little better. The AFC South is a joke, the West has had it's moments, but again, has been dominated by one team the past few years. The AFC North is competitive and that seems to help those teams make the playoffs and primes them for it.

With the NFC, you have traditionally very strong divisions with some rivalries going back to the birth of pro football nearly. The NFC East is always huge, the NFC North is a bruiser and even the NFC West has improved dramatically and produced a great rivalry the past few years. The NFC South has produced it's SB winner in the past 5 years and could be getting better. Those teams will typically play 6 tough division games and then will be playing other tough NFC divisions yearly as well.

We've seen past SuperBowls where the NFC has always had the potential to really put serious beatdowns on the AFC sides whereas the AFC if they win, always gets into close games. Our own team is a good example, we've never thrashed a team in our SB wins. You look at the huge 49er wins of the past, the Dallas wins, the Redskins, the Bears of course...

The Ravens win in 2000 was the biggest AFC beatdown really.

Clearly, there's not a big gulf here, the AFC have won 23 SBs and since 2000 the total is 9-7 for AFC teams. Plus the better QBs of the past decade have been in the AFC.

But it still seems like the NFC when they win, have the potential to do what Seattle did last year and thrash the AFC finalists. The real final that year was the 49er-Hawk game.

I would love us to get a SB where we really do a big number on the NFC side and the 4th quarter becomes a victory parade!
Click to expand...

Next year against the Giants.
 
Newbologist said:
Next year against the Giants.
Click to expand...

The Giants are a dumpster fire. Not seeing it. I'll go out on a limb and say that I think the 2 most likely possibilities are Carolina and...hmmmm...fvck it, I'm going to say St. Louis. Just a hunch. Great defense, if Bradford comes back healthy and pulls his shit together I can definitely see it.
 
O.Z.O. said:
The Giants are a dumpster fire. Not seeing it. I'll go out on a limb and say that I think the 2 most likely possibilities are Carolina and...hmmmm...fvck it, I'm going to say St. Louis. Just a hunch. Great defense, if Bradford comes back healthy and pulls his shit together I can definitely see it.
Click to expand...

They had about 20 guys on IR this year.

They always make the SB when they play the AFCE.
 
TheColtGuy said:
They had about 20 guys on IR this year.

They always make the SB when they play the AFCE.
Click to expand...

The Ravens had almost that many DBs on IR and still made it to the divisional round.

I think Eli is going to age fast, I think Coughlin has outstayed his effectiveness. I live in an NFC East market and see a lot of the Giants. They need a significant overhaul, and I just don't think Coughlin has it in him at this point.

...now...having said that, they'll squeak in with the 6 seed, get hot...yadayadayada...
 
Well if the Cowboys keep Murray, with that O Line, they will be very strong....beat the Hawks in Seattle and came within a questionable call of beating the Pack in Lambeau...(yes they also should have lost against Detroit).

Could be the Cowboys year in the NFC.
 
Roberto71 said:
Well if the Cowboys keep Murray, with that O Line, they will be very strong....beat the Hawks in Seattle and came within a questionable call of beating the Pack in Lambeau...(yes they also should have lost against Detroit).

Could be the Cowboys year in the NFC.
Click to expand...

No, they're taking a step back. The Redskins are going to win that division next year. Again, just a hunch. Crazy stuff happens in the league all the time, always somebody going from the outhouse to the penthouse.

Tony Romo in the Super Bowl is one of the signs of the apocalypse.
 
I would love to see a Dallas/Patriots SB. If you thought it was bad for the haters this lst one, just imagine how bad it would be for this match up. I think every Pittsburgh Steeler fan would kill themselves.
 
Patriots4ever said:
I would love to see a Dallas/Patriots SB. If you thought it was bad for the haters this lst one, just imagine how bad it would be for this match up. I think every Pittsburgh Steeler fan would kill themselves.
Click to expand...

And that would be a bad thing?
 
Divisional

In the divisional round in the last 4 years, these are our results:

2010-2011: Lost to Jets 28-21
2011-2012: Beat Broncos 45-10
2012-2013: Beat Texans 41-28
2013-2014: Beat Colts 43-22
2014-2015: Beat Ravens 35-31

4-1 in the last 5 Divisional Round games, with an average of 38.4 points per game.
 
Mindnumbing to think that with one more Super Bowl win, the Pats will match the totals of the 49ers and Cowboys. If someone told me that 15 years ago I'd think they were more drunk than Hasselhoff.
 
Payton's Path

Roberto71 said:
Let's talk AFC.....

I always used to think that the AFC in the modern era is actually was at a slight disadvantage when it came to SuperBowls. The reason was, I thought the NFC had a higher, consistent level of competition which prepares them better for the playoffs.
Click to expand...

There was a stretch of 13 straight NFC Super Bowl wins. In that stretch, the AFC had some memorable quarterbacks: Marino, Kelly, Faust, Elway. The NFC had Lawrence Taylor, and the Giants under defensive coordinator Belichick kept moving him all over the place. If one wanted to win the NFC Championship, one had to have a strong offensive line where everyone along the line had at least a chance of slowing down LT.

When the weather gets cold and the playoffs start, having a really strong offensive line is a good thing. I still expect the same effect to come into play in the post season. It's why the Patriots have generally beat the Colts during the Brady-Manning years. It's why we thrashed them again this year. Smashmouth wins in January.

The Patriots aren't a full time smashmouth team. They are a Chameleon team. They might not invoke their full inner smashmouth until they come up against an opponent that can't match them in power and will. Thus, the Colts got clobbered this year while the Ravens and Seahawks only got beat.

While I would like to see the Patriots win a Super Bowl by an extreme score, there are enough physical teams in the NFC that I don't expect a finesse speed team as NFC Champions in the next several years. We will just have to hope to see the Colts or Broncos in early round games.

Now, clearly one can win with a finesse passing team. The Colts and recent Broncos are among the five dominant AFC teams mentioned in this thread, and the 2007 Patriots walked that road as well. One can win in the regular season that way. I just don't trust that approach in the playoffs.

Can anyone suggest an NFC team that walks Payton's Path?
 
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