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Was the Aikman-Young-Favre NFC 1990s rivalry good or boring for the league?


Championshiporbust

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From 1992 to 1997, these three quarterbacks and their teams ruled the NFC, winning Super Bowls after Super Bowl.....John Elway and the AFC stopped the streak in '97 winning a Super Bowl for the AFC since 1983-84.......Troy Aikman (DAL), Steve Young (SF) and Brett Favre (GB)....was the trio's rivalry good for the league? They would face each other for the right to go to the Super Bowl each year....

The Real Super Bowl, 1995 Nfc Championship Preview Sports Illustrated Cover  by Sports Illustrated

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It really wasn't that long of a period from when you specified. I'm curious as to why you spotlighted these three, because this was already in the middle of a streak when the NFC was winning Super Bowls. Packers/Cowboys got back on top, but before it was the 49ers, Redskins, Bears, and Giants anyway. I guess the one outlier before 1992 was the 49ers being the only team not playing musical chairs with their QB (well almost), but still, the NFC was already dominating, and continued so into the salary cap era. I don't mind every once in a while seeing one, two, or three teams dominate the league for a while. I can see the argument where someone believes it's boring, and that there isn't enough competition. At the same time, I do like to see greatness, and if we take away circumstances where a team dominates for a few years, then I feel like we'd all be okay with never witnessing that kind of greatness. No 1990's Cowboys, 1980's 49ers, 1970's Steelers, 2000's/2010's Patriots, etc. Or like in the NBA the 1990's Bulls, 1980's Lakers/Celtics. 

 

Edited by TecmoSuperJoe
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It was the NFC from 1984-1996

It was really just Dallas and SF from 1992-1995 (Green Bay was just fodder before 1995)

  • The weirdest thing about that rivalry was that the 49ers helped create it by giving Charles Haley to Dallas
  • Trade a turd, but not to a playoff team in your conference

The Eagles had to play all those guys almost every year. They even woodshedded a bunch of them (40-8ers) but could not compete in the playoffs.

Joe had that insane comeback in Philly as well in 88 maybe?

It was not fun as an Eagles fan but the Giants / 49ers / DC Team / 85 Bears / Cowboys was great for the league.

Huge market teams and the number 1 fanbase team giving everyone reasons to love or hate them.

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Boring was Brady/Manning and Steelers Ravens every year (that at least restored a defensive semblance to the game). Small markets and evolution to a pass friendlier game. Penalties galore. Football sucked *** from 2002-2006. And it continued to be more of the same in the AFC for another decade with Manning going to Denver. The NFC play picked up a bit with the rise of Rodgers/Legion of Boom but I’m not sure we’ll be talking about the current eras the same way we speak of the old NFC era.

Edited by WheatieMan
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8 hours ago, WheatieMan said:

Boring was Brady/Manning and Steelers Ravens every year (that at least restored a defensive semblance to the game). Small markets and evolution to a pass friendlier game. Penalties galore. Football sucked *** from 2002-2006. And it continued to be more of the same in the AFC for another decade with Manning going to Denver. The NFC play picked up a bit with the rise of Rodgers/Legion of Boom but I’m not sure we’ll be talking about the current eras the same way we speak of the old NFC era.

The AFC of the 2010s more resembles the 1990s NFC than the current NFC does

AFC went from Colts, Patriots, Steelers, Ravens, Broncos, to Chiefs, Patriots, Ravens. Now at the start of the 2020s the Bills, Chiefs, Browns, and Ravens all appear to be strong teams. I expect they will be for the foreseeable future. Meanwhile the dominant teams in the NFC seem to change almost every year. 

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2 hours ago, Nightime said:

The AFC of the 2010s more resembles the 1990s NFC than the current NFC does

AFC went from Colts, Patriots, Steelers, Ravens, Broncos, to Chiefs, Patriots, Ravens. Now at the start of the 2020s the Bills, Chiefs, Browns, and Ravens all appear to be strong teams. I expect they will be for the foreseeable future. Meanwhile the dominant teams in the NFC seem to change almost every year. 

Until proven otherwise, the only completely dominant team in the AFC is the Chiefs. Bills/Ravens/Browns all need to show more and on a consistent basis. 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Those rivalries were good for the league imo. There good rivalries when you think about Steven young with likely the best wide receiver of all time, Troy aikmen with a great offensive line and a great running back, and Brett Favre the gunslinger, who became one of the most prolific quarterbacks that ever played. 

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3 hours ago, MWil23 said:

Aikman wasn’t on the same planet as the other two. His team was just absurdly loaded in a pre salary cap era. 

Le sigh. I hate this take. And its absolutely false. Aikman had, by far, the worst offensive system for a QB. It was a timing based system that relied on 7 step drops and precision routes for passing, and handing the ball off 25 times when not passing. It was antiquated even by 1990 standards and led to 8 reported concussions. 

If you switched Aikman and Montana or Young, I guarantee he puts up insane numbers and trophies. Troy was Tom Brady, if Tom Brady was put in a crappy offensive system with crazy coaching turnover. Also - Aikman joined by far the worst team in the NFL and it returned to dysfunctional after about 4 years. So give me a break with "absurdly loaded". 

Edited by Matts4313
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4 hours ago, Matts4313 said:

Le sigh. I hate this take. And its absolutely false. Aikman had, by far, the worst offensive system for a QB. It was a timing based system that relied on 7 step drops and precision routes for passing, and handing the ball off 25 times when not passing. It was antiquated even by 1990 standards and led to 8 reported concussions. 

If you switched Aikman and Montana or Young, I guarantee he puts up insane numbers and trophies. Troy was Tom Brady, if Tom Brady was put in a crappy offensive system with crazy coaching turnover. Also - Aikman joined by far the worst team in the NFL and it returned to dysfunctional after about 4 years. So give me a break with "absurdly loaded". 

He was money in the postseason as well. 

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On 6/8/2021 at 5:57 AM, Nightime said:

The AFC of the 2010s more resembles the 1990s NFC than the current NFC does

AFC went from Colts, Patriots, Steelers, Ravens, Broncos, to Chiefs, Patriots, Ravens. Now at the start of the 2020s the Bills, Chiefs, Browns, and Ravens all appear to be strong teams. I expect they will be for the foreseeable future. Meanwhile the dominant teams in the NFC seem to change almost every year. 

 

Aside from the Chiefs, the AFC has also shuffled at the top the last few years.

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