Is the AFC close to being a three-team conference?

[Fencer]

5 of the past 6 seasons, one of NE, Indy, or Pitt has been AFC and Super Bowl Champion.

4 of those 5 seasons, one of them has also been the loser of the AFC championship game.

Their overall combined record in the divisional round, out of 24 total slots available, is 9-4.

And this season they're the only AFC teams with records of 3-1 or better at the 1/4 mark.

I realize that over this period Tennessee, Oakland, Baltimore, Denver, and so on have all made a little noise each. And surely at some point some other franchise will get its act together too/again. Even so, I really get the feeling that -- in very different styles -- these three are right now the elite organizations of the AFC (and probably the whole NFL).

 

[SaCaCh]

I am starting to believe that we will be looking at this year as the swing of the pendulem back toward the NFC. I think Indy and us will still anchor the Afc for many years to come, but it could get lonely over here.

 

[rabthepat]

Steelers are over hyped. Ben is a passing liability. Arizona stopped the run and dared Ben to throw.

 

[Fencer]

Because of the coaches'-revenge aspect, I'm not assigning a lot of weight to the Arizona loss.

And while it's clear that on paper the talent ranking this year is NE over Indy, and Indy over Pitt, we all know that paper talent rankings are less important than they might seem.

But yeah -- while Pitt is the most impressive in one regard, since they've been doing it on and off since the 1970s, they don't quite have the shine that NE and Indy have right now.

As for NFC/AFC pendulum swinging back a bit -- you may be right. I'd be more emphatic than that if it weren't for the problems recent conference leaders Chicago, NO, and Philly all are having.

 

[patsox23]

The Steelers lost to the Arizona Cardinals who, while better than in the past, are not a great football team. It's only one game, so who knows what it means, but it likely means something, and it's hard to consider them as part of a big three that's stocked up with Patriots, Colts and Cowboys.

 

[Patstopia]

I think four games into a season is too early to judge anything. Perhaps 10 games is the earliest you can really tell a teams character!

 

[363839]

Steelers are over hyped. Ben is a passing liability. Arizona stopped the run and dared Ben to throw.

Agreed, RTP. The conference is really a 2 team race and everyone knows who they are and...
everyone knows who will prevail.

 

[BrianPat]

Steelers are over hyped. Ben is a passing liability. Arizona stopped the run and dared Ben to throw.

I agree, the Steelers are pretenders. The Offensive line and Ben's passing was exposed by Arizona. How's their depth, that's right what depth !!

 

[ATippett56]

History certainly suggests so .....

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