CKS97 Posted October 26, 2018 Share Posted October 26, 2018 There was once upon a time when the AFC East was actually, believe it or not, a competitive and thrilling division, 5 teams. Sometimes, you had great teams (Buffalo, Miami). You had competitive division battles for the most part (Save for 1988 and 1991, most AFC East division races were compelling free-for-alls 1998- FOUR teams made the playoffs 1999- nobody finished with a losing record 2000- Four horse race most of the year 2001- New England actually had to fend off MIA/NYJ and did not clinch until the final Sunday. And other years had good 2 or 3 horse battles But since 2002 realignment shipped out Indianapolis, it has become the worst division in NFL history, if not sports history. say what you want about 8-8/7-9 division winners (or 7-8-1 Carolina), but at least those division races were compelling and close and had drama. (2010 NFC West, 2011 AFC West, 2014 NFC South). I’ll take a turtle derby any day of the week over the AFCE Save for 2 big time outliers (2002 Jets, 2008 Dolphins), it has been the least competitive and least interesting division ever. New England ALWAYS wins. More often than not, Brady and Belichick have lapped the field in comical fashion. They have ridiculous stranglehold’s on Miami at home and Buffalo in general, and the Jets bumble around too much in general against everyone else. it’s not even fun anymore. Do Patriots fans enjoy these joyless cakewalks with no competition? God forbid your team for once has to actually fend off someone in the AFC Least and actually sweat out a division title like every other fanbase To think, all it took was one team leaving to turn this division from entertaining to anything but. Even the 49ers dynasty at least had to occasionally fend off decent Rams and Saints teams when they won all but 3 NFC West titles from 1981-1997 (not counting the 1982 season where there were no division titles and the playoffs were pure seeding) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elky Posted October 26, 2018 Share Posted October 26, 2018 Most of our interdivisional games are highly competitive; we actually have a losing a record @MIA in the Brady/Belichick era and I can't tell how stressful games against NYJ can get. NE consistently wins the division because we're much more well managed and coached than the Three Stooges. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ET80 Posted October 26, 2018 Share Posted October 26, 2018 59 minutes ago, CKS97 said: But since 2002 realignment shipped out Indianapolis, it has become the worst division in NFL history, if not sports history. We could have had Brady/Manning as a division rivalry. I always felt as if Miami was a better choice for an AFC South team - could have really built up a Jags/Dolphins rivalry, then Tennessee/Houston would have it's rooted rivalry with new Houston franchise vs old Houston franchise... Yeah, this could have been better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Nix Posted October 26, 2018 Share Posted October 26, 2018 It’s annoying for sure, but you can’t blame NE. You would think by now one of those teams could turn it around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dtait93 Posted October 26, 2018 Share Posted October 26, 2018 13 minutes ago, ET80 said: We could have had Brady/Manning as a division rivalry. I always felt as if Miami was a better choice for an AFC South team - could have really built up a Jags/Dolphins rivalry, then Tennessee/Houston would have it's rooted rivalry with new Houston franchise vs old Houston franchise... Yeah, this could have been better. Dang...if only we could have avoided getting slaughtered by Manning all those years and faced Miami instead...it felt like Indianapolis had a similar strangle hold on the AFCS except for when we won it in 2002 and 2008. Jacksonville had some good seasons in 2005 and 2007 finishing 12-4 and 11-5 respectively, but still finished 2nd in the division. It wasn’t nearly as bad as the AFCE, but the realignment bringing Indy to the AFCS also had a monumental impact on our division. Shame Indy didn’t stay in the AFCE and we didn’t get as much Manning vs Brady as we could have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rich homie Posted October 26, 2018 Share Posted October 26, 2018 3 hours ago, ET80 said: We could have had Brady/Manning as a division rivalry. I always felt as if Miami was a better choice for an AFC South team - could have really built up a Jags/Dolphins rivalry, then Tennessee/Houston would have it's rooted rivalry with new Houston franchise vs old Houston franchise... Yeah, this could have been better. Also that Miami is actually in the South. Colts-Jets was also a great historic divisional rivalry dating all the way back to Super Bowl III, now I'd wager most people wouldn't even be aware that it was a rivalry in the first place, let alone remember it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
August4th Posted October 26, 2018 Share Posted October 26, 2018 I think the colts would of stayed in the east if the Texans joined around 2004.The manning vs brady rivalry was starting to heat up. fins would be in the South Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ET80 Posted October 26, 2018 Share Posted October 26, 2018 3 minutes ago, rich homie said: Also that Miami is actually in the South. Indy is as South as Dallas is East... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rich homie Posted October 26, 2018 Share Posted October 26, 2018 5 minutes ago, ET80 said: Indy is as South as Dallas is East... Can't use Dallas as the standard for geographic appropriateness. Also I'd argue that out of the four cardinal directions, South is the one that makes the least amount of sense for Indy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ET80 Posted October 26, 2018 Share Posted October 26, 2018 1 minute ago, rich homie said: Can't use Dallas as the standard for geographic appropriateness. Also I'd argue that out of the four cardinal directions, South is the one that makes the least amount of sense for Indy No, I get it - was a tongue in cheek joke. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AFlaccoSeagulls Posted October 26, 2018 Share Posted October 26, 2018 3 hours ago, ET80 said: We could have had Brady/Manning as a division rivalry. I always felt as if Miami was a better choice for an AFC South team - could have really built up a Jags/Dolphins rivalry, then Tennessee/Houston would have it's rooted rivalry with new Houston franchise vs old Houston franchise... Yeah, this could have been better. Wait a second. Just hold the hell on here, ET. You think a team...from the south...would've made a better AFC South member?! Now what kind of heathen logic is that?! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Asciimo Posted October 26, 2018 Share Posted October 26, 2018 guy wants to complain about the AFC east but has not once mentioned the slaughter the colts put on in the AFC south for years and years or the NFC North for that matter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DawgX Posted October 26, 2018 Share Posted October 26, 2018 From a pure geographical standpoint, Miami being in the East or South works. However, Indianapolis being in the South makes no sense. They could have put them in the North and put Baltimore in the East. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tom cody Posted October 26, 2018 Share Posted October 26, 2018 Yeah, a few ? choices from the 2002 realignment. Miami in the South makes more sense to me than Indy for sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BayRaider Posted October 26, 2018 Share Posted October 26, 2018 I always wondered why Indy was put in the South. Do people think they separated Brady and Manning on purpose to make sure they are division champions every year? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.