Easiest Division? Check. Easiest Conference? Check. Easiest Schedule? ranked 32nd toughest. Check

[mosslost]

How is it the easiest conference? As a Chief fan I’d much rather play in the NFC

NFC:
Rams
Saint
Eagles
Bears

AFC
Patriots
Chiefs
Chargers
Colts
Browns

All 9 teams could easily challenge for a top 2 seed. The AFC isn’t weak. The NFC Champion couldn’t beat the AFC Champ in 2012, ‘14, ‘15, ‘16, or ‘18. That’s 4 of the last 5 for the AFC. It’s the stronger conference.

KC gone about as fer as they can go

 

[mosslost]

Yeah, but the AFCE has had at least two 10-game or better winners since 2000 NINE time, which is tied for most among the eight divisions.

That stat is because of the Pats though

 

[Ice_Ice_Brady]

I love me the Pats.. But there is NO Question the horrifically bad competition we have had for the entire Belichick Brady run, even when we sucked in 2000.

1. NO team other than the Patriots have ever won more than 11 during this stretch in AFCE
2. Another team winning 11 games has ONLY happened like 3 times during that stretch
3. There have been a few 10 game winners, but just a few during that stretch.
4. No team has ever in AFCE during that stretch had that "stand out" aberrant great season, where they rise up and grab 12, 13, or more wins. (That has happened in every other division in the league, where teams like the 12-4 colts are a wild card team, or the 12-4 Ravens, or the 12-4 Chargers.

Teams like the Ravens 13-3 with McNair, 14-2 Chargers, 13-3 Chiefs, 13-3 Cowboys, 15-1 Panthers, 13-3 14-2 Falcons, and on and on... there's more.

Only THREE times did an AFCE team reach 11 wins in the entire Brady Belichick stretch. It is very real and almost statistically bizarre.

It is easily explained by the Dolphins, Bills, and Jets playing the Patriots twice a year.

Brady wins about 77% overall, which is about the same, but even a little worse, against division opponents. 75% of playoff games too! I believe in fact the Patriots have a worse winning pct against division opponents than playoff opponents.

Point being: put any three random teams in the Patriots division, get the exact same story.

 

[mosslost]

The 2016 Dolphins went 10-6. Lost both games to the Pats. If they win instead they are now 12-4 and had that "breakout" year. If the Pats had been a normal division winner like most Steelers teams they would have had years where they went 0-2 against their best division opponents and all of a sudden those teams were amazingly much better. If the Pats were going 4-2 or 3-3 more often the Bills, Dolphins or Jets would appear better. Probably fair to say that from the Patriots perspective the AFCE has been very easy - but what does the AFCE look like from the eyes of the Bills, Jets or Dolphins?

So in conceding my point a little more, in the Brady era, the Patriots had 6 division winning years where just a couple losses to either the Jets or Dolphins rather than wins, flip the Division crown to them. (Funny it is never the Bills)

Flip any of this:
16 - 2 Dolphin wins
09 - 2 Jets wins (I think)
05 - 1 Dolphins win
04 - 2 Jets wins
03 - 2 dolphins wins
01 - both dolphins and Jets 1 win

Funny the first three Lombardi years, though we remember those 2 14-2 seasons as dominant, the Pats in all three of those years needed to beat their AFC East top rivals in other words they did not suck as bad back then as now.

 

[50-yard-line]

So in other words, since the Pats always win 10+, then in the past 20 years the other 3 teams in the AFCE have won 10+ only 9 times.

That’s pretty bad.

9 is the highest number of 2 10-win teams in the same division, which means that for almost half of hte run, there was another good team in the AFCE.

 

[mosslost]

9 is the highest number of 2 10-win teams in the same division, which means that for almost half of hte run, there was another good team in the AFCE.

That is not really what it means. Basically the "two good" teams thing is more about the Pats than anything else.

The Pats have at least 10 games 17 out of the last 19 years.

 

[50-yard-line]

That is not really what it means. Basically the "two good" teams thing is more about the Pats than anything else.

The Pats have at least 10 games 17 out of the last 19 years.

And how many times have AFCE teams finished with 8 or 9 wins while losing twice to the Pats?

 

[Palm Beach Pats Fan]

Pats have their usual bye to the Bowl

My gawd we have a "writer" in our forum. Air quotes earned.

Mosslost revealed:

 

[maust]

Rivals enjoy.

What rivals? Challengers maybe but rivals not so much. The rest of teams rival New England the way nails rival a hammer.

 

[Doctor DDS]

The AFC South has been a much worse division this decade than the AFCE. They have had numerous 2 or 3 win teams this decade. Their only "strength" is they've rotated teams that were decent or sucked.

 

[XLIX]

9 is the highest number of 2 10-win teams in the same division, which means that for almost half of hte run, there was another good team in the AFCE.

Yes I get it - and it’s a pretty bad number when you take away NE. The AFC East is going to dominate any metric you come up with because of the Patriots. Take the Patriots away and what’s left is bad.

Here’s a challenge: Pick any 3 NFL teams currently in the same division. Count the number of 10 win seasons those 3 teams have since 2000. I guarantee you that you’ll find a number greater than Miami, Buffalo and NYJ. (You can even select Houston who wasn’t in business until 2002.)

 

[Redstorm]

That stat is because of the Pats though

The Pats would dominate the NFC just like they do the AFC. The conferences are pretty equal outside of NE.

 

[jmt57]

Based on the logic above, the following is also true:

• John Wooden's UCLA basketball teams won 10 out of 12 national championships because of the weak Pac-10.
• Red Auerbach's Boston Celtics won all those titles because Wilt Chamberlain and the rest of the NBA were a bunch of tomato cans.
• Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls won six championships because of the weak NBA Eastern Conference.
• The Ruth-Gehrig Yankees of the 1920s were a fraud, winning all those World Series solely because of a weak American League.
• Same holds true for the Yogi Berra-Mickey Mantle Yankees of the 1950s.
• Martina Navratilova winning 13 consecutive tennis tournaments (including three majors), and 74 consecutive singles victories is an illusion: it only happened due to weak competition.

Just because a statement gets repeated often, it does not make that opinion true.

The people spouting this "they only win because of the weak AFC" have an agenda. It is either because they want to diminish the accomplishments of the team (fans of other teams; CHB); or they want to create controversy (sports talk shows; click bait).


Anybody that truly buys into this logic must either want it to be true very badly (the former group), or have a mind that very easily persuaded (can't think for themselves so they parrot the sports talk shows).

A third possibility is that the person who espouses these viewpoints is a troll. He or she doesn't actually believe what they are saying, but are just doing so for attention or for the sole purpose of attempting to get under someone else's skin.


To that I would say, please read this article in its entirety.
Every possible "but what about..." excuse is answered with factual data.

The Myth of the Easy AFC East, the Definitive Guide

 

[mosslost]

A third possibility is that the person who espouses these viewpoints is a troll.

If you ain't trolling you ain't trying as they say...

Though, most of what you say is not all as black and white as you say. We all know as Pats fans that the AFCE is an easy division. Yes the Pats dominate the rest of the league at the same clip, but I am very happy we did not have Peyton and Indy stay in the AFCE for Brady's entire career, or that we are not in the AFC West, where multiple teams raise to 12 or 13 wins seasons regularly.

 

[jmt57]

If you ain't trolling you ain't trying as they say...

Though, most of what you say is not all as black and white as you say. We all know as Pats fans that the AFCE is an easy division. Yes the Pats dominate the rest of the league at the same clip, but I am very happy we did not have Peyton and Indy stay in the AFCE for Brady's entire career, or that we are not in the AFC West, where multiple teams raise to 12 or 13 wins seasons regularly.

By the same token, the Colts (and Manning) would not have had as good a record if they had to face the Patriots twice every year, nor would they have won as many division titles.

How much do the Colts benefit from being in the same division as Jacksonville, a team that has had one winning season since 2007, compiling a 57-119 record during that time?

How much have the Colts benefited from being in the same division as the Titans, a franchise that has not had a 10-win season since 2008?

How much did Manning and the Colts benefit from having an expansion team in their new division, with the Texans going 55-89 over a nine-season stretch?

 

[jmt57]

The disconnect - and in my opinion, the flaw in the 'weak division' debate - stems from a repeated comparison of apples to oranges. If one compares all four teams from Group A to only the bottom three from Group B, then the results will be meaningless and very predictable - regardless of the participants or which groups are involved in the study.

 

[robbomango]

I haven't seen the list, is there a link? I can't find one...

 

[robbomango]

"Why do the patriots have the easiest schedule?"
"They don't they're just better than everyone else"
"That's not fair"