AFCE vs AFCN

[Ring 6]

In another thread we have a delusional steelers fan questioning whether Gronk assassinated Lincoln, met with to influence the election or kidnapped the Lindbergh baby.
But one piece of that thread was interesting to me. In order to make the Steelers look better he tried to claim the patriots have it easy because of their division. I wonder what the numbers say. This is since 2004, coinciding with rapistburger coming to Pitt.

Regular season.
Patriots. 172-48
Steelers. 147-73
Patriots won 2 more games per year.

Miami. 95-125
Buff. 93-127
jete. 103-117
Total. 291-369



Cincy. 115-102-3
Bmore. 125-95
Cleveland. 62-158
Total. 302-355-3

So at first look perhaps the Steelers division has been tough. But...

Patriots vs afce. 64-17
Steelers vs afcn. 57-25

So against everyone except the pats in the easy and steelers in the north you have:
Afce 274-305
Afcn. 277-298-3
Virtually identical.

But finally
Steelers vs afce. 17-11
Pats vs afcn. 22-6

So aside the afce looks worse because it has to play the patriots but when you subtract that away then account for the patriots drubbing the afcn and the Steelers being soso against the afce it appears the patriots have won 2 more games a year and also find it against tougher competition.


Oh and playoffs?

Patriots 12 trips. 19-9
Steelers 9 trips. 13-7

 

[Reubski23]

AFCN??

 

[Kontradiction]

How do you kifnall someone?

 

[Ring 6]

How do you kifnall someone?

First you have to covfefe

Damn typing on phone

 

[SammyBlueCat]

Nice research

 

[patchick]

But finally
Steelers vs afce. 17-11
Pats vs afcn. 22-6

This is a GREAT stat and pretty much addresses the whole question all on its own!

 

[jah]

Great analysis. In other words, the AFCN minus Pittsburgh record is better than AFCE without New England because the Steelers lose more divisional games to roughly equivalent opponents compared to the AFCE.

 

[PATSYLICIOUS]

If I have your permission, I’m going to steal that post and show it to any steelers fans that use the dumbass easy division excuse.

Also an easy division does not guarantee you 6+ straight trips to the afcc and beyond

 

[RobertWeathers]

If I have your permission, I’m going to steal that post and show it to any steelers fans that use the dumbass easy division excuse.

Also an easy division does not guarantee you 6+ straight trips to the afcc and beyond

Do it! Its a ridiculous argument.

 

[TinhWoodhead]

your friend has a point, the E stands for Easy, the N is Noteasy

 

[jmt57]

So the Steelers and Ravens don't benefit from playing the Browns and Bengals twice a year?

I suppose this may be a case of a lie being repeated so often that it becomes accepted as fact. The reality is that the data does not support the hypothesis that the AFC East is an inferior division.


The logic failure in the annual 'AFC East is weak' talk is that it compares apples to oranges. Fans (and mediots) compare the 2nd, 3rd and 4th best teams in one division to the 1st, 2nd and 3rd best teams in another division.

You need to either include the Patriots in the discussion, or eliminate the best team in whatever division the AFC East is being compared to in order to make a valid conclusion.


One can look at either the cumulative record of the division, or the out of division records. It is going to work out the same since the cumulative record within a division will always be 12-12, unless there is a tie.

For this exercise I'll use out-of-division records (ie, minus the cumulative 12-12 record in division games), going back to when the NFL began the current 8-division format.

The AFC East has been the better division using this metric in 10 out of 16 seasons. That includes each the three most recent years.

In two of the six instances when the AFC North did have a better record, the delta was extremely minimal (only one or two wins).

Furthermore, in three of the other times when the AFCN had the better season record, the Patriots won the AFC Championship Game.


2017 (thus far)
20-16 AFC East
14-20 AFC North

2016
24-16 AFC East
14-25-1 AFC North

2015
24-16 AFC East
16-24 AFC North

2014
21-19 AFC East
26-13-1 AFC North

2013
22-18 AFC East
19-21 AFC North

2012
19-21 AFC East
21-19 AFC North

2011
21-19 AFC East
25-15 AFC North

2010
24-16 AFC East
21-19 AFC North

2009
20-20 AFC East
21-19 AFC North

2008
26-14 AFC East
19-20-1 AFC North

2007
16-24 AFC East
20-20 AFC North

2006
23-17 AFC East
21-19 AFC North

2005
16-24 AFC East
22-18 AFC North

2004
25-15 AFC East
24-16 AFC North

2003
24-16 AFC East
17-23 AFC North

2002
23-17 AFC East
16-23-1 AFC North