If there was ever a time for the NFL to experiment with the idea of reshuffling the conferences or a promotion and relegation system, now is the time. The AFC and the NFC appear to be playing two different sports this season, with the AFC home to a robust collection of playoff-caliber teams with a handful of franchise quarterbacks vying for the postseason, while the NFC … doesn’t have anything close to that.
Even though the quality of the conferences vastly differs, the rules still state that seven teams from each will make the postseason. Perhaps the writer of this article will decide to start a petition for the best 14 teams to make the playoffs every year, but for now, the NFC as an entity still has sway — and even worse, the NFC South.
As the playoffs inch closer and closer, stay aware of this fact: The NFC South still has a chance to put multiple teams into the playoff. The division leader is currently the 5-5 New Orleans Saints, who lost to Josh Dobbs and the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday and need to have a heart-to-heart with themselves on their quarterback situation. Derek Carr has not been getting the job done this season and backup Jameis Winston at least gives the Saints a chance to make some plays down the field. That team is slated to host a playoff game right now! The Falcons, meanwhile, are on a three-game losing streak after dropping games to the Titans (in Will Levis’ first career start), Vikings (in Dobbs’ first start with the team) and Cardinals (Kyler Murray’s first start after an ACL injury). The Buccaneers are also in play for the NFC South and the seventh seed with a firmly mediocre team. If Dobbs and the current Vikings setup is just a flash in the pan, then there’s a real possibility that two of the Saints, Falcons and Buccaneers make the playoffs. That’s blasphemous in theory, let alone in practice.
Outside of the NFC South and Dobbs roller coaster, the NFC playoff teams appear to be set barring any catastrophic injuries to close the season. The Eagles, Lions, 49ers, Seahawks and Cowboys should have no problem making the playoffs. The top-end teams at the NFC are still strong, but in totality, the conference is much weaker than where the AFC is.
Just look at the quarterback talent on the fringe teams in the NFC. Carr and Winston, Sam Howell, Baker Mayfield, Desmond Ridder and Taylor Heinicke. The AFC fringe teams are quarterbacked by C.J. Stroud, Joe Burrow and Josh Allen. It’s OK to be honest and say the latter three are the quarterback and player talents you want in the playoffs. And that’s just the teams on the fringe of the AFC postseason. Lamar Jackson, Patrick Mahomes, Trevor Lawrence and Tua Tagovailoa are currently entrenched in the AFC race, with the Steelers and Browns capable of receiving scrappy play from their quarterbacks in big moments.
Another way to look at the discrepancy between the AFC and NFC is the projected draft order. According to Tankathon, seven of the teams that reside in the current top 10 of the 2024 draft order are in the NFC. So far, only the Titans, Patriots and Broncos have been on par with the worst that the NFC has to offer, and the stark difference in quality of the conferences is showing up with the current playoff order. The tough part about the AFC being so loaded that a handful of the best young quarterbacks in the league are going to be on the outside looking in of the postseason. Even Justin Herbert is on the outside as the 12th seed as the Chargers try to find some semblance of a defensive identity.
Rules are rules, but it’s hard not to get a good laugh out of what the NFC has going on at the bottom of their playoff picture and the bottom of their conference in general. Maybe Roger Goodell can step in and disrupt the playoff structure this year to make sure the top quarterbacks get into the playoffs, or at least bar the NFC South from hosting a playoff game this season. It’s the fair thing to do.
The National Football League is divided into the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). Each conference has 16 teams divided into four divisions of four teams- north, south, east, and west- during the regular season.
The top-end teams at the NFC are still strong, but in totality, the conference is much weaker than where the AFC is. Just look at the quarterback talent on the fringe teams in the NFC. Carr and Winston, Sam Howell, Baker Mayfield, Desmond Ridder and Taylor Heinicke. The AFC fringe teams are quarterbacked by C.J.
Each team will also play all the teams in another division in the For example, a team in the AFC North will play teams from the NFC Therefore, during the . For example, this season the Chiefs also play six other AFC teams, and all four teams from the NFC East.
The NFC leads the AFC in the Vince Lombardi Trophy count but only by one game, with 29 wins to 28. More specifically, since the first Super Bowl in 1967, the NFC East has been the most successful division in the NFL, grabbing 21 NFC championships and 13 Super Bowl victories.
This was done largely in part to keep the rivalries in tact. Dallas-Washington is a huge NFL rivalry (and the Eagles to a lesser extent) that the NFL could bank on two times a year. If the NFL took Dallas out of the East, then they'd only play each other every two to three years at most.
When the Seattle Seahawks and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers joined the league in 1976, they were temporarily placed in the NFC and AFC respectively. This arrangement lasted for one season only before the two teams switched conferences. The Seahawks eventually returned to the NFC as a result of the 2002 realignment.
Among the NFL's current 32 teams, 20 (11 NFC, nine AFC) have won a Super Bowl and 15 (eight AFC, seven NFC) hold multiple titles. The AFC's Pittsburgh Steelers and New England Patriots have the most Super Bowl titles at six each.
The leagues also agreed to play an annual AFL-NFL World Championship Game, matching the championship teams of each league, beginning in January 1967; the game that would eventually become known as the Super Bowl. The two leagues would officially merge in 1970 to form one league with two conferences.
As many as 48 conferenced Pro Bowl have been held since 1970. AFC teams have won more than half of these games, as they have managed 26 victories. Meanwhile, NFC teams have recorded 22 successes.
The AFC and NFC were both created in 1970, during the merger of two football leagues, the American Football League and the National Football League. The NFL has existed since 1920, but the AFL was only established in 1959 by a group of expansion team owners who had been refused entrance into the NFL.
The NFC East is currently the only division in the league in which all four current teams have won at least one Super Bowl. With 13 Super Bowl titles, the NFC East is currently the most successful division in the NFL during the Super Bowl era, with the AFC West second with ten titles.
The NFL consists of 32 clubs divided into two conferences of 16 teams each. Each conference is divided into four divisions of four clubs each. During the regular season, each team is allowed a maximum of 55 players on its roster; only 48 of these may be active (eligible to play) on game days.
Both of the NFL's two conferences –– the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC) –– send seven teams to the playoffs, for a grand total of 14 competitors in the postseason.
Generally, each team plays the other three teams in its own division twice, all four teams from a single division in the AFC once, all four teams from a single division in the NFC once, two additional intraconference games, and one additional interconference game.
Super Bowl 58 will be played Feb. 11, 2024, between the winners from the American Football Conference (AFC), the Kansas City Chiefs, and the National Football Conference (NFC), the San Francisco 49ers.
Introduction: My name is Mr. See Jast, I am a open, jolly, gorgeous, courageous, inexpensive, friendly, homely person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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