AFC vs NFC Standings

[1960Pats]

Now that the regular season is over we can look at the AFC vs NFC battle.

This season the AFC lost the head-to-head matchups with the NFC 29-35. However, that still left the NFC behind overall 1289-1198, meaning that the AFC is still up 91 games with a 51.8 winning %.

As far as seasons go, the AFC is way up with 30 winning seasons vs the NFC with only 18 winning seasons. There were two ties. That means that the AFC has won 62.5% of the seasons. The AFC won for 9 straight years (72-80) and for 11 straight (96-06). The NFC's longest winning streak was 4 (89-92).

As of right now the NFC holds the edge in Superbowl wins, 26-23. That edge is a direct result of winning 13 straight SBs from 84 to 96. The AFC's longets streaks are 5 from 72 to 76 and 4 from 03 to 06.

As a side note, the Baltimore Colts, Pittsburgh Steelers and Cleveland Browns all switched from the old NFL to the AFC when the merger took place in 1970. That means that Baltimore's loss in the 1968 SB is on the side of the NFC but their overall inter-league record as Baltimore/Indy (73-81) is on the AFC side.

Seattle is also an odd case because from 1977 to 2001 they were an AFC team and from 2002 to now they have been an NFC team. They were 44-44 in the AFC and are currently 28-31 in the NFC.

Here are the top teams in each conference vs the other:

AFC teams with winning record vs NFC
Pitt - 109 - 66 - 62.3
Miami - 107 - 68 - 61.1
Ravens - 47 - 32 - 59.5
Denver - 101 - 78 - 56.4
Cincy - 91 - 77 - 54.2
Pats - 94 - 80 - 54
Oakland - 96 - 82 - 53.9
KC - 85 - 73 - 53.8

NFC teams with winning record vs AFC
SF - 101 - 80 - 55.8
Dallas - 98 - 78 - 55.7
Philly - 93 - 76 - 55
Giants - 86 - 79 - 52.1

And these are the totals for the AFCE teams by decade;

Miami
60s 0 0
70s 27 6
80s 28 9
90s 21 19
00s 21 19
10s 10 14
Totals 107 68
Win% 61.1

NE Pats
60s 0 0
70s 17 13
80s 11 26
90s 14 23
00s 34 10
10s 18 8
Totals 94 80
Win% 54

Buffalo
60s 0 0
70s 11 16
80s 12 22
90s 29 15
00s 19 21
10s 10 14
Totals 81 88
Win% 47.9

NYJ
60s 1 0
70s 10 20
80s 17 17
90s 15 23
00s 19 21
10s 12 12
Totals 74 93
Win% 44.3

 

[jmt57]

Expanding on the above, here are the 2015 records by division. I have removed all the in-division games since they are all 12-12 to make it a bit more meaningful; i.e., this is each division's cumulative record against teams outside of their own division.

24-16 --- .600 --- AFC East
24-16 --- .600 --- NFC South
23-17 --- .575 --- NFC West
22-18 --- .550 --- NFC North
22-18 --- .550 --- AFC West
18-22 --- .450 --- AFC North
14-26 --- .350 --- NFC East
13-27 --- .325 --- AFC South​

Just a little something to throw in the face of those people who attempt to cling to the myth and persuade other NFL fans that the only reason for the success of the New England Patriots is because they play in the 'weak' AFC East.

 

[TommyD4207]

Expanding on the above, here are the 2015 records by division. I have removed all the in-division games since they are all 12-12 to make it a bit more meaningful; i.e., this is each division's cumulative record against teams outside of their own division.

24-16 --- .600 --- AFC East
24-16 --- .600 --- NFC South
23-17 --- .575 --- NFC West
22-18 --- .550 --- NFC North
22-18 --- .550 --- AFC West
18-22 --- .450 --- AFC North
14-26 --- .350 --- NFC East
13-27 --- .325 --- AFC South​

Just a little something to throw in the face of those people who attempt to cling to the myth and persuade other NFL fans that the only reason for the success of the New England Patriots is because they play in the 'weak' AFC East.

Then again, the AFC East played against the bottom two divisions on your list. So there's that.

 

[jmt57]

Then again, the AFC East played against the bottom two divisions on your list. So there's that.

While that is true, that still leaves them far, far away from being the 'worst division in the NFL' that so many mistakenly claim the AFC East to be.