Insane AFC facts

[Everlong]

You have all probably heard this by now, but it bears worth repeating for just how insane it is.

In 13 of the past 14 years now, including this year, the QB for the AFC team in the Super Bowl has been either Tom Brady, Peyton Manning or Ben Roethlisberger. Joe Flacco is the only outlier.

Since 2003, the only teams to make the Super Bowl for the AFC are:

Patriots ('03, '04, '07, '11, '14, '16?)
Steelers ('05, '08, '10, '16?)
Colts ('06, '09)
Broncos ('13, '15)
Ravens ('12)

Compared to the NFC, which has had almost twice as many and more than half its conference:

Seahawks ('05, '13, '14)
Giants ('07, '11)
Panthers ('03, '15)
Eagles ('04)
Bears ('06)
Cardinals ('08)
Saints ('09)
Packers ('10, '16?)
49ers ('12)

Just insane how much those three QBs have dominated their conference over the years, while the NFC has had a much more even spread of talent.

Finally, the winner of the Pats/Steelers game will set an NFL record with its 9th Super Bowl appearance. Both are currently tied with the Cowboys and Broncos with 8 total Super Bowl appearances. If the Patriots win, seven of their nine would have come since 2001, all in the Tom Brady era, meaning they'd have been to the Super Bowl in 7 of the 15 years Tom Brady actually started the majority of the games. Just absolutely insane stuff.

[DBSoT]

#NFLParity

[Everlong]

#NFLParody

I think you mean parity

And there is actually a pretty darn good amount of parity outside of the Patriots, really. Consider that since 2000, every team but the Bills has made the playoffs. There have been 10 different champions. If you look outside of the AFC East, division championships have been pretty spread out since the alignment as well. The only teams who have not won their divisions in that time are the Browns, Jaguars, Lions and Rams, I believe. The NFC has seen a lot of parity in terms of who has made the conference title game as well.

It's really just the Patriots making things look way more top-heavy than the NFL actually is. There has been a lot of really good competition in the league. Which only makes their run at the top more impressive, IMO.