The AFC has improved this year (1 Viewer)

[ChaChingBaby]

Over the past several years, it's been no secret that the AFC has been weak. The entire conference as a whole has been weak while most people just focus on the AFC East division looking for any straw man to debunk the Pats dominance (as if they face Buffalo, Miami and/or the Jets in the playoffs every year).

The mediocrity of the entire conference is put on full display since 2011 where the same two teams made the Super Bowl every year except 2012. Those two teams of course are; Denver and New England.

The only thing that has stood in way of New England tying Buffalo's record of 4 consecutive Super Bowl appearances, was the Denver Broncos led by Peyton Manning. Since Manning has retired, nothing has stopped them from reaching the SB 2 more times and in the years that Denver reach the SB, they got there by putting the Pats down in the AFC title game. (Counting 2011, the Pats have made the SB every year in this decade they didn't have to worry about facing Peyton in the playoffs). Say what you want about Peyton Manning or the Broncos, but think about them before talking about how annoying the Pats dominance is.

As of right now, the AFC has 6 teams in the top 10 for defense in yardage. Some of these teams are quite surprising; Baltimore is back to #1, Buffalo is at #2, and the Colts rank at #9. All 3 of these teams looked dead in the water at some point in the season. It's amazing Buffalo can accomplish this given how bad their offense is. The Ravens are now 3-0 without Joe Flacco and the Colts turned around a 1-5 hole and got over .500 before losing again.

The AFC looks better this year and on paper stacked against the NFC, some of these teams in their seeding look better than the corresponding NFC teams.

The NFC may have the two best teams this year (Saints and Rams), but the AFC as a whole is looking so much better down the board. Here is the seeding match ups, excluding the 4 teams currently at a first round bye.

#3 seed - Chicago vs Houston
#4 seed - Dallas vs Pittsburgh
#5 seed - San Diego Chargers vs Seattle
#6 seed - Baltimore vs Minnesota

I would most likely take the AFC team in almost of these matches. The only one I'm torn on is Chicago/Houston. Even some of the teams in the wildcard hunt for the AFC look better than their corresponding NFC teams in the same position. (Would take the Colts 6-6 right now over both the Eagles and Panthers who are also 6-6).

One of the best teams in the AFC will be a wildcard team; either the Chargers or Chiefs. The Chargers look like a team who can do some serious damage in the post season, even as a wildcard team.

 

[Saintman2884]

What about the Tennesee Titans? They have an overachieving RB corps, a disappointment at QB who's been better than Winston but hasnt elevated his skills up to the next level to be a second-tier NFL QB. Of all the AFC potential WC teams, they have probably the easiest schedule the next 3 weeks compared to the Colts, Ravens, Steelers, and Chargers. There is a possibility they could repeat going 9-7 again and earning the 6th playoff seed over the Colts. Like last year, I don't see them achieving much in the postseason, except there won't be some major upset like vs. Chiefs last year. They'll probably be one-and-done but what bothers me about teams like Titans or even Baltimore is that their sneaky good, meaning they might beat highly-favored teams in the WC round then get their arses kicked by a superior team or lose to these same superior teams by less than a TD. And most insightful fans can tell by their talent level that something like this will continue happening for years to come. Until last season, Titans hadn't made the playoffs since 2008 and Ravens haven't since 2014. Both of these teams always seem to be mid-rank teams, squads who may overachieve one magical season but the most success one can usually expect from them is to be a "bubble" 8-8, 9-7 teams occasionally clinching a WC spot but immediately crushed by the time 1st round is over. Dallas and Washington fortunes since late 90s have been that way too.

 

[ChaChingBaby]

What about the Tennesee Titans? They have an overachieving RB corps, a disappointment at QB who's been better than Winston but hasnt elevated his skills up to the next level to be a second-tier NFL QB. Of all the AFC potential WC teams, they have probably the easiest schedule the next 3 weeks compared to the Colts, Ravens, Steelers, and Chargers. There is a possibility they could repeat going 9-7 again and earning the 6th playoff seed over the Colts. Like last year, I don't see them achieving much in the postseason, except there won't be some major upset like vs. Chiefs last year. They'll probably be one-and-done but what bothers me about teams like Titans or even Baltimore is that their sneaky good, meaning they might beat highly-favored teams in the WC round then get their arses kicked by a superior team or lose to these same superior teams by less than a TD. And most insightful fans can tell by their talent level that something like this will continue happening for years to come. Until last season, Titans hadn't made the playoffs since 2008 and Ravens haven't since 2014. Both of these teams always seem to be mid-rank teams, squads who may overachieve one magical season but the most success one can usually expect from them is to be a "bubble" 8-8, 9-7 teams occasionally clinching a WC spot but immediately crushed by the time 1st round is over. Dallas and Washington fortunes since late 90s have been that way too.

I think an entire article could be written about the improvements in the AFC South.

For the longest time, the AFC South has been the worst division in football. People talk about the AFC East but for the longest time, the AFC South was much worse. During Manning's prime when the Colts dominated, it was known as the division with Jeff Fisher at coach (Titans), an expansion team (Texans) and then a bad team (Jags), whom all set up a 6-0 or 5-1 record for the Colts.

That division was so bad to the point that Indy was able to tank in 2011, draft Andrew Luck, then go from 2-14 to 11-5 at the drop of a hat. But those days are over.

The Colts, Texans and Titans are all competing for the playoffs and I am looking forward to seeing how that division goes down to the wire.

Though Mariota has been disappointing at times, I like him as a QB. He shows flashes of brilliance sometimes, but his history with injuries and relying on his legs seem to be his biggest flaws.