Honolulu – In politics, much has been made about how the Democratic donkey leaning to the left has asserted itself against the Republican elephant tilting to the right.
In football, there is no official mascot for the American Football Conference, just teams of Colts, Broncos and Patriots who for the past decade have been trouncing a collection of Bears, Eagles and Panthers from the NFC.
This may be a rare illustration in which politics is easier to understand than sports.
At least political trends are determined by the people’s whimsical views on social and economic issues. The dramatic shifts in the football arena have been more pronounced, for reasons even the smartest of experts cannot decipher.
“It’s not like college, where one conference dominates the recruiting like the SEC,” said Peyton Manning, quarterback of the Super Bowl-champion Indianapolis Colts. “I have no idea how to explain that. All I know is, winning the AFC is so hard.”
The way it’s been going, to win the AFC is to win it all. The AFC has won eight of the past 10 Super Bowls, eight of the past 11 Pro Bowls and held a 40-24 edge against the NFC in this past season’s interconference games. The league’s award winners for top offensive player, LaDainian Tomlinson, and defensive player, Jason Taylor, both came from the AFC.
“Looking around at our practice, it’s just loaded,” Broncos safety John Lynch said last week following an AFC workout. “The talent is just unbelievable. Unbelievable. When I came in this league, the NFC was clearly the better conference. But there’s no question there’s been a shift.”
Having just completed his 14th NFL season, Lynch is a rare active player who remembers when the league was controlled by the Dallas Cowboys, San Francisco 49ers and Washington Redskins, all of the NFC. Before the AFC’s recent run, the NFC had won 13 consecutive Super Bowls.
It wasn’t until the Broncos’ upset of 12-point favorite Green Bay in Super Bowl XXXII that the AFC began to regain respect, followed immediately by dominance.
Theories abound on why it happened.
“I think because the AFC is such a passing conference, it makes it difficult when there’s unfamiliarity, which usually happens between the two teams in the Super Bowl,” said Tiki Barber, the retiring running back of the NFC’s New York Giants. “Unfamiliarity favors the team that’s efficient in the pass. It’s not that they don’t have great running backs in the AFC, it’s just that it’s known more as a passing conference.”
AFC known for its passing
The respective playing styles became more blended with the advent of free agency 14 years ago. But just as baseball’s American League deals a few more slow curveballs compared to the hard-throwing National League, the American Football League has historically used the pass to counter the NFL’s more run-oriented image.
Joe Namath, the mad-bombing Oakland Raiders and wide-open San Diego Chargers of yesteryear would be pleased to know the quarterback has again come to pass for the AFC.
“You can look at two of the best quarterbacks in the game, probably two of the best ever to play the game, Peyton Manning and Tom Brady,” said Drew Brees, a Pro Bowl quarterback for both the AFC Chargers and now the NFC New Orleans Saints. “Both are AFC guys and four of the last eight Super Bowls have been with those guys.”
And two more Super Bowls during the AFC run went to a quarterback named John Elway.
Who were the league’s best quarterbacks when the NFC was winning 15 of 16 Super Bowls? The 49ers’ Joe Montana and Steve Young, and the Cowboys’ Troy Aikman, all of whom have since been immortalized in Canton, Ohio. Another Super Bowl-champion quarterback during the NFC streak, the Packers’ Brett Favre, will go to the Hall of Fame, providing he ever retires.
NFL power now belongs to AFC
Closer inspection of conference dominance, however, shows Super Bowls are not won only by having great quarterbacks. The Pittsburgh Steelers under Bill Cowher were really an NFL throwback that played physical defense and used a run-pounding offense.
The Baltimore Ravens joined the AFC’s run with a 2000 defensive unit that was among the league’s best ever.
The New England Patriots were as much about coach Bill Belichick’s defensive genius as Brady’s cool passing efficiency.
“I think maybe New England got a little dynasty going, and teams in our conference, we’re trying to catch them and keep up with them,” Lynch said. “I think it might have started there, and then there was the demise of the powerhouses in the NFC, the Green Bays, Dallas and San Francisco before then, teams that kept the NFC rolling for a number of years.”
Whatever the reason, control of the National Football League has dramatically shifted to the AFC. What’s next, donkeys stomping elephants?
Mike Klis can be reached at 303-954-1055 or mklis@denverpost.com.
Super trends
The 41-year history of the Super Bowl began with the end of the Green Bay Packers dynasty. Since then, the game has been segmented into just three extended runs. The NFC leads 21-20 overall. The Super Bowl runs:
NFL (Green Bay) won first two against AFL.
AFL/AFC won 11 of next 13.
NFC won 15 of 16, including 13 in a row.
AFC has won eight of past 10.
