Best Division In The NFL

[MVP1991]

AFC South

 

[MVP1991]

The Texans, Titans and Colts are all legit playoff contenders.. even the Jags can surprise if someone on their depth chart can rise to the occasion and be a solid #2 WR.

The AFC East is much weaker IMO. The Patriots are the clear cut favorites in the division, the Bills still have quite a bit of holes on defense, the Jets will have some ups and downs behind a rookie QB, and the Fins really had the luxury of a Brady-less Pats squad and Charmin soft schedule..

I really don't think you can compare the AFC South to the AFC East..

Everyone in the AFC East played a Charmin soft schedule. The Pats benefited as much as Miami did with the schedule they had.

 

[Archer]

It's the NFC East.

If you're going by just last year, you're talking about a division that had zero losing records. Sure, the AFC South had an equal amount of wins, but Jacksonville played poorly last season. That shows a lack of balance in the division. Also, the point differentials in the games favor the NFC East.

Want to take a look at the playoffs? AFC South goes 0-2. NFC East (excluding the Giants vs. Eagles) goes 1-1. You can talk all day about the talent and "caliber" of a team you want. At the end of the day, the best division comes down to competitiveness and what you do come game day. Consistently, every year, the NFC East has been the best. Four major cities all with great Super Bowl aspirations every single year and 11 rings to show for it.

And I'd love to know how the Cowboys and Redskins are so ass. Sure, the Cowboys can be a 10+ wins team and the Redskins "under perform", but they're 9-7, 8-8 respectively. How do they suck? If anyone out of those two divisions suck, it's Jacksonville.

Not really sure what the point differencals had to do with anything . If we were to throw 4 equally as sucky teams into a division theyd all have close games too but that dont make it a good division . (Not saying the East sucks ... just a made up situation)

I think the South and East are neck and neck to be honest .

Also the Jags will improve immensly this year with an actual oline (not some glued together free agents) .

*Btw im not implying that the Jags will win the division or anything*

 

[NAHSTE]

It's the NFC East.

If you're going by just last year, you're talking about a division that had zero losing records.

Incase you forgot:

NFC South, 2008 standings:

Carolina Panthers 12-4
Atlanta Falcons 11-5
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 9-7
New Orleans Saints 8-8




Your point? (notice the 2 eleven-game winners, not the "New York and three mediocres" we saw in the East last season)

 

[Archer]

Incase you forgot:

NFC South, 2008 standings:

z- Carolina Panthers 12-4
Atlanta Falcons 11-5
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 9-7
New Orleans Saints 8-8




Your point?

And if im not mistaken .... No team dropped a home game in the South this season . If he wants to talk about competitiveness than you cant get much more competitive than that

Or did somebody drop a home game at the end? Not sure if im right or wrong here lol

 

[NAHSTE]

And if im not mistaken .... No team dropped a home game in the South this season . If he wants to talk about competitiveness than you cant get much more competitive than that

Or did somebody drop a home game at the end? Not sure if im right or wrong here lol

I believe one team did eventually lose a home game (the Saints I believe), plus two teams won 11 games, unlike the N(ine and Seven)FC East....

Also, the division has gone to the previous year's last place finisher every season it's been around except last year. If it weren't for the Saints imploding vs. the Panthers in Week 17, it would have been 7 straight as the Falcons would've taken the tiebreaker over Carolina had they both been 11-5.

So, if you want to talk about competition, then yeah, there it is. Every team has a chance to win the division. I can't say the same in the East, where the 'Skins have been a joke for some time now, the Cowboys drop games to teams like 07 Detroit and 08 St. Louis, and the Eagles perennially pull a win streak out of their ass to juuuuust sneak in the playoffs.

 

[Shayn•Da•Pain]

You absolutely can't go by how good a team is based on their record. Strength of schedule changes year by year.

Look at Miami, they played just 6 teams that had a .500+ record the previous year, and only 4 of them went to the playoffs (that includes the patriots whome they played twice), so only 2 opponents outside of their div went to the playoffs the previous year.

Take a look at the standings. The AFC East and NFC South had the easiest schedules last season, and all the teams did well.

I'm not saying it had everythig to do with strength of schedule, there is sooo much that you have to consider before I could agree with anybody's choice for best division in football.

Coaching staff, roster/depth chart, winning %, potential record vs future opponents, health, and then there is my gut feeling I I think as to who I think can beat another team they haven't played in the last couple years. Basing your choice of who's better on record alone, or just bringing up two losses here and there, isn't efficient enough IMO.

 

[Shayn•Da•Pain]

Pulled the Strength of schedule info from here at NFL.com

[table="head;autonumtitle=rank;width=15em"]Rank|team|07OppRec|07Opp%|07Opp.Above.500|07PlayoffOpp.
1|Steelers|153-103|.598 |12 |8
2|Colts |152-104 |.594 |12 |8
3|Jaguars|143-113 |.559 |10 |6
4|Ravens |141-115 |.551 |12 |8
5|Vikings |141-115 |.551 |9 |7
6|Bengals |140-116 |.547 |12 |8
7|Browns |140-116 |.547 |10 |8
8|Texans |140-116 |.547 |10 |8
9|Lions |139-117 |.543 |10 |7
10|Titans |139-117 |.543 |10 |6
11|Bears |136-120 |.531 |10 |6
12|Packers |136-120 |.531 |9 |6
13|Cowboys |134-122 |.523 |12 |8
14|Redskins |134-122 |.523 |10 |6
15|Giants |133-123 |.520 |11 |6
16|Eagles |133-123 |.520 |10 |8
17|Rams |125-131 |.488 |9 |6
18|49ers |124-132 |.484 |9 |6
19|Seahawks |122-134 |.477 |9 |6
20|Buccaneers |120-136 |.469 |5 |4
21|Cardinals |119-137 |.465 |8 |6
22|Panthers |119-137 |.465 |7 |5
23|Dolphins |119-137 |.465 |6 |4
24|Falcons |118-138 |.461 |6 |4
25|Jets |117-139 |.457 |6 |5
26|Chiefs |116-140 |.453 |5 |5
27|Bills |115-141 |.449 |7 |5
28|Saints |115-141 |.449 |6 |5
29|Broncos |114-142 |.445 |6 |5
30|Raiders |112-144 |.438 |5 |4
31|Chargers |108-148 |.422 |4 |4
32|Patriots |99-157 |.387 |5 |4
[/TABLE]​

I'd take this informatin and weigh it against team health, 07-08 personell/roster changes, and the results thereafter.

 

[Deviant]

Incase you forgot:

NFC South, 2008 standings:

Carolina Panthers 12-4
Atlanta Falcons 11-5
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 9-7
New Orleans Saints 8-8




Your point? (notice the 2 eleven-game winners, not the "New York and three mediocres" we saw in the East last season)

I didn't forget. I'm following the conversation in which the general consensus is AFC South or NFC East, so I didn't bother to mention the NFC South. Everyone who's saying the NFC East has mediocre teams seems to forget that there isn't that great of a difference between the AFC South. And how is Philly mediocre when they went to the NFC Conference game? A tie is what kept them from being a 10 win team. 9-6-1 and 9-7 are NOT mediocre. Are they not playing to their caliber? You can argue that. But they're not mediocre.

I don't think winning all of your games at home shows competitiveness at all. 2007 Giants, who won the Super Bowl, prove that easily because they had to win all of their games ON THE ROAD. You should be expected to win at home. Winning on the road is more difficult.

Also, the division has gone to the previous year's last place finisher every season it's been around except last year. If it weren't for the Saints imploding vs. the Panthers in Week 17, it would have been 7 straight as the Falcons would've taken the tiebreaker over Carolina had they both been 11-5.

So, if you want to talk about competition, then yeah, there it is. Every team has a chance to win the division. I can't say the same in the East, where the 'Skins have been a joke for some time now, the Cowboys drop games to teams like 07 Detroit and 08 St. Louis, and the Eagles perennially pull a win streak out of their ass to juuuuust sneak in the playoffs.

And everyone in the NFC East doesn't have a chance to win? The past three years, the winners have been the Eagles, the Cowboys, and the Giants. A different team the past three years unlike the AFC South (until this year) where if you weren't the Indianapolis Colts, you're looking at the Wildcard... and Indy was dominating the AFC South, I mean, clean sweeping the fucking division some of those years!

And so what if the Cowboys dropped a game to Detroit in '07? They went 13-3! And who cares if a team "sneaks in to the playoffs". A lot of teams "sneak" into the playoffs. The 2007 Giants "snuck" into the playoffs and won it all, so what's your point? You're as good as your last game.

I'd rather be a "mediocre" 9-7 Cowboys team who can actually reach 13-3 than be a "always on the rise" Texans team who stays at 8-8 or a Jacksonville team who wants to be great one year and mediocre/below average the next.

 

[Archer]

^ he said you could argue that the south is more competitive not that its better.

Look at the AFC South teams with the hardest schedules (apart from the AFC North)

 

[seaplus]

if you make it to the playoffs then reg. season dont matter no more and didnt my eagles make it to the NFC CHAMPIONSHIP? shutup

and redskins aint a bad team , they are a very good team that just messes up at end of season ,they start off hot as hell

and you said NFC SOUTH lol!

Giants>Panthers
Eagles>Falcons
Cowboys>Bucs
Redskins>Saints

or you could go

Panthers > Redskins
Falcons > Cowboys
Eagles > Bucs
Giants > Saints

anyway you want to do it afc south gets the nod ... forget the nfc east/south

 

[seaplus]

no i put it like that because

Giants played Panthers and Won
Eagles Played Falcons and Won
Redskins Played Saints and Won
Cowboys played Bucs and Won

NFC EAST 4-0
NFC SOUTH 0-4

?

so by not adressing it, you now agree the afc south > nfc least?

 

[Woy]

BOUNCED by the Ravens................... Maybe the AFC North is the toughest?

So according to your logic, the NFC West is better than the NFC West then? I mean the Cardinals beat the Eagles to get to the Super Bowl. You are a joke.

And BTW, the Titans beat both Pittsburgh and Baltimore in regular season. If it wasn't for their main offensive threat getting hurt and a few bad breaks, they wouldve beaten the Ravens again.

 

[Woy]

No, my logic was the AFC North might be in the mix with the AFC East and South

Look at a division top to bottom. Houston and Jacksonville > Cleveland and Cincinnati.

An AFC North team WON THE SUPERBOWL

And yet the AFC South's top team beat them by double digits.

Another AFC North team BEAT THE TEAM WITH THE BEST RECORD IN FOOTBALL

Beat them in regular season and would have again if not for a few bad breaks.

 

[Archer]

No, my logic was the AFC North might be in the mix with the AFC East and South
An AFC North team WON THE SUPERBOWL
Another AFC North team BEAT THE TEAM WITH THE BEST RECORD IN FOOTBALL

The Colts ALSO went 4-0 v the AFC North including going into Pittsburgh and winning
The Titans ALSO went 4-0 v the AFC North (all be it a lucky win v bmore in the reg season)

 

[manchild24]

Hands down the NFC East.
Dallas will probably go 11-5 (playoffs)
Eagles 10-6
Giants at least 11-5
Washington - 9-7 (at worst)

if allowable this entire could possibly be represented in the playoffs

 

[Archer]

Hands down the NFC East.
Dallas will probably go 11-5 (playoffs)
Eagles 10-6
Giants at least 11-5
Washington - 9-7 (at worst)

if allowable this entire could possibly be represented in the playoffs

How does a prediction of teams records prove that its a better division? We are talking about what they have done not what they can

 

[manchild24]

well I gave my predications, but take those no other division compares top to bottom

NFC South
Carolina and Falcons
(tampa doenst even have a starting QB and a very old D, plus a new coach)
Saints - No D at all

NFC WEST
HAHAHA

NFC North
Minnesota and maybe the Pack with a full season under Rodgers
Bears - will be lucky to win 6 games this year.

AFC East
New England - and thats all

AFC North
Steelers
Ravens - Decline beings

AFC South (this may be the only conference similar to the NFC East - the you only have 2 excellent teams in Tenn and Indy where the NFC East has Philly, NY and Dallas)
Tenn
Colts
Houston - on the verge
Jax - you dont knwo what team will show up

AFC West
SD and thats all

 

[manchild24]

Ravens were a fluke last season. They over acheived and their D is just way to old to carry Flaco and his 5-20 passing performances.

Bears / Cutler - who is going to catch the ball. Atleast in Denver he had 2 very good WR. I have nothing against Culter but he's not the savior and he's in for a long season

 

[KINGOFOOTBALL]

So is every team in the league. Denver went through something like 7 runningbacks last year. You either get it done or you don't.

Not really. Dal/NYG had been pretty much injury free the previous year.
Losing a bunch of ham and egger RBs isnt in the same league as losing your QB and Top pass rusher.
"Getting it done" often depends on peoples health in this league. With virtually the same roster The giants and Boys went from SB champs and 13-3 respectively to struggling to make the playoffs mainly due to 2 injuries.
Assuming every team is going to lose 1 of there 2-3 top players and another one will shoot himself in the leg during the most important time of the year is ridiculous.

lol @ mentioning the qbs like that proves something . The Titans and Jags are purely run the ball teams who only want a qb who can manage the game .

Its about teams not one position ... what a stupid fucking point

Good job being unable to read an entire post dick head.


McNabb/Manning/Romo presence alone guarantees stability and winning records.
You know what youre getting from them.
Who the fuck knows what the hell is going to happen in the AFC south. You think Collins is going to be as decent as he was last year without that monster DT giving him short field position every game ?
Is David Garrard going to throw 3 picks in 16 games or 3 picks in his first 2 ?

It would take ALOT to happen for NYG/Eagles/Dal to go.500 or less simply because of whos playing QB. Noone would be shocked to see Ten/Jax struggle to crack 8-8.

Assuming a team with health and age issues will continue to be elite after there H.C leaves is also a gamble.

But yeah theres no correlation between elite QBs and winning games.

It would take a moron to overlook all that , not even bother looking at personnel changes and "predict" which division will be better based only previous years w/l records.