Ladies and gentlemen, the NFC is the new king

By Jonathan Comey
Cold, Hard Football Facts National Football Crowner

For the better part of the 2000s, the AFC was like a young Mike Tyson and the NFC was like a bunch of tomato cans with glass jaws and suspect management.

The Seahawks? The Cardinals? The Eagles?

Flying frauds, all, and dispatched with relative ease by their AFC betters in the big battle.

But then the Saints upset the Colts, and the Packers beat the Steelers, and all of a sudden the conferences were back on equal footing. Now, there’s little doubt that the NFC has moved ahead.

The head-to-head record (32 wins for the NFC, 31 for the AFC) doesn’t tell the story, but the evidence is mounting.

Sunday was another prime example. In the two AFC-NFC games between playoff hopefuls, it was two TKOs for the NFC.

Detroit made the Chargers their collective bitch, sending Norv Turner to the end of the plank with a 38-10 win that wasn’t in doubt for even a minute. Matthew Stafford made his admirers blush with pride, going 29 for 36 and 373 yards, three touchdowns, no picks and a playoff clincher.

And the battle of New York? Hardly a battle. Mark Sanchez proved without a shadow of a doubt that he’s not even an average quarterback; when the Jets’ defense doesn’t play well, No. 6 isn’t going to get it done. The Jets were 4-of-21 on third downs, Sanchez managed to throw more incompletions (29) than Eli Manning threw passes (27), and it’ll take a fair bit of doing to get into the playoffs.

What’s the point anyway? It seems like the NFC is a lock to win the Super Bowl.

In the AFC, every team has some pretty obvious flaws. The Patriots can’t play defense. The Steelers have a hurt quarterback. The Ravens have a pedestrian offense. The Texans are down to “Some Dude” at quarterback. The AFC West winner? Let’s not even go there. The No. 6 seed? Whoever it is, they’re going to be a pretty average bunch.

You could make an argument that any of the six NFC teams in the postseason will get there playing better football than anyone in the AFC.

The 49ers pulled out a gutsy win in Seattle, and have a world-class defense to go with their solid offense. The Saints have the same flaws as New England, but more talent on the defensive side of the ball. Detroit has the great offense and a defense capable of big things if they’re on their game. Atlanta’s in the same boat. The Giants or Cowboys might be the weak link in the crew, but they’re still coming at you with a world-class quarterback, a pass rush and a pedigree.

Oh, and then we’ve got the defending champion Packers, you know, the one with the 14-1 record and the best player in the game at quarterback.

Even the 7-8 Eagles would have a fair shot to go to the Super Bowl out of the AFC; if they had just won one of the close ones that will haunt them they’d be the team no one wants to play in January. Hell, even the Cam Newton Panthers would have a puncher’s chance.

The NFC enjoyed a good 20 years of dominance before finally fading.

But they’re back, in a big way. Sorry, AFC. You’ve got a couple more years of Brady and Manning, but it’s back to the days of second-best for you.

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