With the exception of Patriots and Colts the NFC is catching up to the AFC

[PATRIOT64]

Put aside New England and Indianapolis who by far are the best of the league there is really no other AFC team at this time that I can say is better than any good NFC team out there and it looks as if the NFC is slowly sneaking back up into power vs. the AFC.

The NFC is beginning to look more formidable to power in the conference battle than it has since Tampa Bay in 2002 and the Cowboys in the 90s.

Besides NE and Indy the rest of the AFC really is not very good right now.

Pittsburgh is overated in that poor division and the defense showed cracks last week
Baltimore has not shown the fire on defense like I thought they would,No doubt not having the versatile A. Thomas in the middle of that group is hurting them a bit and that offense flat out stinks

Cleveland and Cincinnati are most likely going nowhere,Cincinnati has talent but the coach is an ***** and ruined some team spirit with his mouth yesterday

In the east its the Patriots and 2008 draft picks in the single digits to early teens for the others.

In the south Jacksonville and Tennessee look average while Houston lost to Atlanta last week for thier second consecutive loss,Vince Young may be an elite QB if he only had some decent receivers,Next year for them with some good additions at that spot

In the West it looks like it can be ANYONE - Yes the Raiders and Chiefs are still very much in the hunt,This division looks as if no one really wants to start taking charge right now,It may be a very close battle and maybe a cinderella team like the Chiefs or Raiders shock em all,win the division with 10 wins and make the playoffs-don't count on it but SD and Denver look very average right now and Cutler and Rivers look pretty bad so anything can happen.

The NFC has up and coming teams like Detroit,Tampa Bay,Carolina,Giants,Arizona,Washington & San Francisco and top powers right now in Green Bay,Dallas and Seattle

I think the NFC has overall better teams at the 1/4 mark than the AFC not counting NE and Indy and AFC dominance other than those 2 teams has become a bit weaker IMO.

The NFC is sneaking up on the AFC in terms of talented teams,It is about time they have.

Its only 1/4 of the way home but its obvious Parity between the 2 conferences is getting stronger by the week...If only New England and Indy weren't so good it would be nearly a tie between the AFC and NFC this year

 

[Sunqueen212]

Put aside New England and Indianapolis who by far are the best of the league there is really no other AFC team at this time that I can say is better than any good NFC team out there and it looks as if the NFC is slowly sneaking back up into power vs. the AFC.

The NFC is beginning to look more formidable to power in the conference battle than it has since Tampa Bay in 2002 and the Cowboys in the 90s.

Besides NE and Indy the rest of the AFC really is not very good right now.

Pittsburgh is overated in that poor division and the defense showed cracks last week
Baltimore has not shown the fire on defense like I thought they would,No doubt not having the versatile A. Thomas in the middle of that group is hurting them a bit and that offense flat out stinks

Cleveland and Cincinnati are most likely going nowhere,Cincinnati has talent but the coach is an ***** and ruined some team spirit with his mouth yesterday

In the east its the Patriots and 2008 draft picks in the single digits to early teens for the others.

In the south Jacksonville and Tennessee look average while Houston lost to Atlanta last week for thier second consecutive loss,Vince Young may be an elite QB if he only had some decent receivers,Next year for them with some good additions at that spot

In the West it looks like it can be ANYONE - Yes the Raiders and Chiefs are still very much in the hunt,This division looks as if no one really wants to start taking charge right now,It may be a very close battle and maybe a cinderella team like the Chiefs or Raiders shock em all,win the division with 10 wins and make the playoffs-don't count on it but SD and Denver look very average right now and Cutler and Rivers look pretty bad so anything can happen.

The NFC has up and coming teams like Detroit,Tampa Bay,Carolina,Giants,Arizona,Washington & San Francisco and top powers right now in Green Bay,Dallas and Seattle

I think the NFC has overall better teams at the 1/4 mark than the AFC not counting NE and Indy and AFC dominance other than those 2 teams has become a bit weaker IMO.

The NFC is sneaking up on the AFC in terms of talented teams,It is about time they have.

Its only 1/4 of the way home but its obvious Parity between the 2 conferences is getting stronger by the week...If only New England and Indy weren't so good it would be nearly a tie between the AFC and NFC this year

I wouldn't count out Denver nor Pittsburg. And SD and Balt are not as bad as they appear at the quarter mark. I don't expect either team to go 12-4 but, I wouldn't be surprised if at least one of them ends up with an 11-5 record this year.

 

[DisgruntledTunaFan]

Yeah-another reason why Philly has fallen a bit-during their reign in the NFC for a few years, this conference was JV(at best)-now, their are ALOT of teams on the rise you mentioned.

 

[PATRIOT64]

I wouldn't count out Denver nor Pittsburg. And SD and Balt are not as bad as they appear at the quarter mark. I don't expect either team to go 12-4 but, I wouldn't be surprised if at least one of them ends up with an 11-5 record this year.

I think San Diego need to regroup from within and those players need to grow up fast,Then surely they can go 11-5 because with that talent they should but its not looking so right now

Pittsburgh to me is not as good as they look,With Hines Ward out of the lineup Roethlisberger looked bewildered and confused against a weak Cardinal secondary-If Ward is the guy that has to make the difference then Pittsburgh is in trouble,I still say Baltimore eeks out that division with a 11-5 mark,maybe 10-6

 

[Wildo7]

I honestly think that It's PATs, Colts, Dallas that are relevant, Pittsburgh is on the bubble, and then every other team pretty much sucks. There's not even that good defense-only team like the Bears last year or the Ravens. Every other team seems like they just straight up blow both in some aspect of their offense AND some aspect of their defense. Come to think of it is there another team that has a solid offense? (Bengals running sucks, Packers running sucks, Chargers passing sucks). I honestly think that if those top 3 teams didn't play each other this year they might all go undefeated.

 

[PATRIOT64]

Yeah-another reason why Philly has fallen a bit-during their reign in the NFC for a few years, this conference was JV(at best)-now, their are ALOT of teams on the rise you mentioned.

That is true,Despite so many prognosticators saying Philly was the class of the division I thought they were nuts - I think McNabb is the most overated QB in the NFC and I thought in the summer that Washington was going to come out of that division as the winner and I stand by that choice -Yes I do think they will catch Dallas as I still have no confidence in Phillips as coach,I think Campbell is going to be a good one and that its about time Gibbs comes around,He is way too smart a man and coach to be this bad these past few years

 

[Wildo7]

Is there a stat on the disparity in records from year to year between the top few elite teams and the rest of the league? I bet there won't even be any 9-7 or 10-6 teams this year (except maybe Pitt.). you're gonna realistically have 3 teams between 12-4 and 14-2 and then everyone else is .500 or below. Is that mathematically possible? I hope so, because that's how I see this season playing out.

 

[PATRIOT64]

I honestly think that It's PATs, Colts, Dallas that are relevant, Pittsburgh is on the bubble, and then every other team pretty much sucks. There's not even that good defense-only team like the Bears last year or the Ravens. Every other team seems like they just straight up blow both in some aspect of their offense AND some aspect of their defense. Come to think of it is there another team that has a solid offense? (Bengals running sucks, Packers running sucks, Chargers passing sucks). I honestly think that if those top 3 teams didn't play each other this year they might all go undefeated.

I don't agree that Bengals rushing sucks - When Healthy,Rudi Johnson is a pretty damn good player on that team - Kenny Watson is no Rudi and if Rudi had been playing monday night,the game might have been a bit more competitive than the game actually was and Cincy might have had the ball a few more minutes than they did - Cincy was one dimentional monday night and that is usually doom when playing a powerhouse like the Patriots are this year.

 

[Wildo7]

That is true,Despite so many prognosticators saying Philly was the class of the division I thought they were nuts - I think McNabb is the most overated QB in the NFC and I thought in the summer that Washington was going to come out of that division as the winner and I stand by that choice -Yes I do think they will catch Dallas as I still have no confidence in Phillips as coach,I think Campbell is going to be a good one and that its about time Gibbs comes around,He is way too smart a man and coach to be this bad these past few years

Are other teams on the rise, or are those top teams just falling apart? I mean does GB really look that good? I don't think so, their WRs are OK and they have no RB and not exactly a formidable defense.

 

[Wildo7]

I don't agree that Bengals rushing sucks - When Healthy,Rudi Johnson is a pretty damn good player on that team - Kenny Watson is no Rudi and if Rudi had been playing monday night,the game might have been a bit more competitive than the game actually was and Cincy might have had the ball a few more minutes than they did - Cincy was one dimentional monday night and that is usually doom when playing a powerhouse like the Patriots are this year.

but the running game is more than the RB. Rudi might be good but their blocking is crap and he can only overcome that so much. I've always felt that RBs are vastly overrated as individuals and are usually only as good as the team around them. for ex. anyone on the Broncos is going to be a good RB because of the setup of the team whereas Edgerrin James is just not very good without good blocking.

 

[PatsSteve1]

It's a little early to make a judgement about this but QB's often make a difference with this. The better QB's are still in the AFC, but the NFC has some that are making thier teams better.

 

[PATRIOT64]

Are other teams on the rise, or are those top teams just falling apart? I mean does GB really look that good? I don't think so, their WRs are OK and they have no RB and not exactly a formidable defense.

Imo Green Bay will fall apart in the second half of the season,Brett Favre will not maintain this level of consistency all season and it will be up to the defense to help matters - the GB defense is VERY good and Charles Woodson looks like a young rookie and AJ Hawk is a beast,I still expect GB to fall to 9-7 by seasons end and 1 game back of Detroit who will win the division at 10-6....yes I said Detroit will win the division
Chicago has QB problems and will probably finish 8-8,its a shame because thier defense is as good as any I have seen for the past several years and Benson and peterson suck as their rushing combo,Losing Thomas was the beginning of the downfall for the windy city boys.

 

[Ishdul]

Is there a stat on the disparity in records from year to year between the top few elite teams and the rest of the league? I bet there won't even be any 9-7 or 10-6 teams this year (except maybe Pitt.). you're gonna realistically have 3 teams between 12-4 and 14-2 and then everyone else is .500 or below. Is that mathematically possible? I hope so, because that's how I see this season playing out.

That's not really feasible, especially this year. Thing is, a team like the Pack, even if they do have real weaknesses and aren't really elite, have shown that they're at least ahead of the pile of mediocrity below them and that's going to be worth a whole load of wins, and that could go with the Bucs, 'Hawks, Titans, Jags, etc. Getting 10 wins, let alone 9, is barely impressive in average circumstances. Last year's Jets team won 10 in a strong division in a strong conference and weren't really close to the Chargers, Ravens, Colts or Pats. And, more importantly, for no team to go 10-6, it means no team would go 6-10.

 

[PATRIOT64]

but the running game is more than the RB. Rudi might be good but their blocking is crap and he can only overcome that so much. I've always felt that RBs are vastly overrated as individuals and are usually only as good as the team around them. for ex. anyone on the Broncos is going to be a good RB because of the setup of the team whereas Edgerrin James is just not very good without good blocking.

That may be true but Barry Sanders was one of those rare guys that had crap for an OL but still was one of the best ever at the Position,I am not comparing Rudi to Barry in any which way but just to say that the truly great ones find a way somehow either with power or juking to gain big yardage consistently,Its not impossible

 

[Wildo7]

That may be true but Barry Sanders was one of those rare guys that had crap for an OL but still was one of the best ever at the Position,I am not comparing Rudi to Barry in any which way but just to say that the truly great ones find a way somehow either with power or juking to gain big yardage consistently,Its not impossible

definately agree with that, but I do think there's relatively fewer RBs that can overcome than what people think. Barry Sanders, Jim Brown (never had to but I suspect he could have), Ricky Williams (in the old days), Curtis Martin, Emmitt Smith and GASP LT. I don't think many other RBs in this league could put up decent numbers without a good OL. And I think the best examples of this are Julius Jones and Shaun Alexander. IMO they would be garbage with a mediocre OL (Alexander sort of is this year). And LTs struggles maybe more due to having the worst coach in the league (while it sickens me to make excuses for him).

 

[Wildo7]

Crazy question: If the PATs, the Colts and the Cowboys never had to play each other this season what are the odds at least one of them would go undefeated? I think pretty good.

 

[Ishdul]

Crazy question: If the PATs, the Colts and the Cowboys never had to play each other this season what are the odds at least one of them would go undefeated? I think pretty good.

Still pretty low. 16 games is a lot to go through without slipping up once.

 

[jct]

After 4 weeks the conferences are exactly tied.
Lets revisit this after the Dallas game...:rocker:

 

[PATRIOT64]

Still pretty low. 16 games is a lot to go through without slipping up once.

I hope this 16-0 stuff talk ends,Unfortunately it would mean a loss but that is what it is to quiet the craziness,I do hope if its just 1 defeat we have this year its to an NFC opponent

 

[PATRIOT64]

After 4 weeks the conferences are exactly tied.
Lets revisit this after the Dallas game...:rocker:

Anyone know what the NFC vs. AFC records were last year after 1/4 of the season?

I bet the AFC had something like a 10-3 edge