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Ever wonder why the AFC always has the "best" defenses?

teeray

By teeray,
in Carolina Panthers

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teeray

Posted
Posted

I alluded to this in the NFL forum during the season but now that it is off-season I figured I would post something in here.

You always hear about these great defenses in the AFC. Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Baltimore, Denver, Houston, etc.

Just this year 7 of the top 10 defenses in Yard per Drive (YPD) were AFC teams. Denver, Pitt, Houston, Cincy, NYJ, Baltimore, and San Diego.

Well the truth is it isn't because there is actually good defenses in the AFC, it is the fact that the AFC has an absolutely terrible collection of QBs. There are only two I would consider truly elite, possibly three.

What spurred this for me was back in December after SF beat NE and NE finished 1-3 against the NFC West. Think about this for a moment. New England went 11-1 against the AFC but 1-3 against the NFC. Now I think Tom Brady is great, don't get me wrong. No doubt he is one of the best right now and all-time (if not the best). But the way that New England plays defense lately I am not so sure they would peel off 10+ win seasons every single year.

Here is how I see the AFC and NFC QBs (this is what I posted in December):

AFC:

Brady- one of the best right now and all time

Peyton Manning- ditto

Big Ben- maybe (probably) a top 10 QB

Shaub- top half of the NFL QB but I would stop very short of calling him elite

Flacco- ditto

Rivers- suddenly terrible the last couple of years

Sanchez- terrible

Tannehill- got a lot of potential, but right now terrible

Fitz- pretty damn bad

Dalton- meh

Weeden- terrible, but has some potential

Luck- OVERRATED

Locker- pretty bad, but still young

Gabbert- lol at the idiots that wanted to draft that fugging guy over Newton

Carson Palmer- I would say he sucks, but it might cause bad karma since we are playing them next

Brady Quinn- terrible unless he plays the Panthers after a tragedy

Now compare that to the NFC QBs:

RG3- maybe the next Cam Newton ;)

Eli Manning- Mr. Clutch

Romo- somehow both overrated and underrated at the same time

Vick- had a really bad year, but is still a playmaker

Rodgers- discount double check is probably the best QB right now in the NFL

Ponder- meh

Cutler- big time arm and talent. Top half QB easily

Stafford- ridiculous talent and might have back to back 5,000 yard seasons

Matt Ryan- MVP candidate and all around douche

Brees- top 5 QB in the NFL even when he is having a bad year

Josh Freeman- part time franchise QB, spends the rest of his free time being terrible.

Cam Newton- future GOAT who has probably caused a spike in NC pregnancies

Colin Kaepernick- future baller. Actually current baller. Dude can play some football

Russell Wilson- BEST ROOKIE QB. Should be OROY in my book.

Bradford- pretty much garbage

Skelton/Kolb- bad and worse

I mean in the NFC there are only 3 teams that have what I consider pooty QBs. STL, Arizona, and Minny. And honestly Ponder and Bradford aren't terrible, they just aren't very good. The AFC there is only three teams that I think have really great QBs Den, NE, and Pitt. Schaub is pretty close

I mean even NFC backups like Foles and Cousins would likely be top 5 QBs in the AFC.

I still stand by these assessments. So if you are a betting man, when you hear about a good defense in the AFC, take it with a grain of salt. Check the schedule and usually you will see that their defense is good because they are playing the likes of Weeden, Gabbert, Quinn, Sanchez, The Golden Calf of Bristol, etc.

That is also why this weekend you watched 3 teams with "good" defenses, that are top 10 in YPD, give up a combined 101 points. They finally played QBs worth a poo (and Flacco).

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