Professional Football Researchers Association Forum

There are some seasons where one of the the conferences (AFC and NFC) is better by record.

Here is the record of the NFC vs the AFC by year since 1970:

1970: 27-12-1 (.688)
1971: 23-15-2 (.600)
1972: 19-20-1 (.488)
1973: 19-19-2 (.500)
1974: 17-23 (.425)
1975: 17-23 (.425)
1976: 12-16 (.429)
1977: 9-19 (.321)
1978: 21-31 (.400)
1979: 16-36 (.308)
1980: 19-33 (.365)
1981: 28-24 (.538)
1982: 14-15-1 (.483)
1983: 26-26 (.500)
1984: 26-26 (.500)
1985: 25-27 (.481)
1986: 26-26 (.500)
1987: 22-23-1 (.489)
1988: 22-30 (.423)
1989: 28-24 (.538)
1990: 26-26 (.500)
1991: 33-19 (.635)
1992: 30-22 (.577)
1993: 25-27 (.481)
1994: 27-25 (.519)
1995: 33-27 (.550)
1996: 28-32 (.467)
1997: 28-31-1 (.475)
1998: 29-31 (.483)
1999: 22-38 (.367)
2000: 30-30 (.500)
2001: 30-30 (.500)
2002: 29-34-1 (.461)
2003: 30-34 (.469)
2004: 20-44 (.313)
2005: 30-34 (.469)
2006: 24-40 (.375)
2007: 32-32 (.500)
2008: 29-34-1 (.461)
2009: 27-37 (.422)
2010: 30-34 (.469)
2011: 33-31 (.506)
2012: 39-25 (.609)
2013: 34-30 (.531)
2014: 30-33-1 (.477)
2015: 35-29 (.547)
2016: 30-33-1 (.477)
2017: 41-23 (.641)
2018: 30-34 (.469)
2019: 33-31 (.516)
2020: 28-35-1 (.445)
2021: 40-39-1 (.506)
2022: 41-39 (.513)
2023: 34-46 ( .425)

The NFC's worst years as a collective by record vs the AFC appear to be 1979, 1977, and 2004. The best years by record vs the other conference appear to be 1970, 1991, and 2017; granted 1970 was the first season following the merger.

I find it interesting that 1983, 1984, 1986, and 1990 each saw both conferences win as many games against each other, with 1985, 1987, 1993 and 1994 each being within a couple games either way during the regular season; most of those years are within the NFC's streak of championships in the 80's and 90's.

That's what I noticed, what about you all?

This is great - where did you find it?

I don't have the time but it would be interesting to compare what years each conference won the Super Bowl to these records. Colts won in 1970, I'd be curious what the Colts, Browns, and Steelers records were against NFC teams that year. Kind of surprised that the NFL teams held such a big edge the first two years after the merger.

44-20 for the AFC in 2004 was surprising considering it was sandwiched around closer interconference years in 03/05

I have no idea what happened to the NFC in 2004.

In 2003, it wasn't this bad. In 2005, it was much improved.

Once the AFC got its bearings, its dominance over the NFC during the '70s was so pronounced that it prompted a Sports Illustrated cover story.

Citizen wrote: ↑Thu May 16, 2024 4:54 am Once the AFC got its bearings, its dominance over the NFC during the '70s was so pronounced that it prompted a Sports Illustrated cover story.

Albeit the AFC was basically riding the coattails of OAK/MIA/PIT

GameBeforeTheMoney wrote: ↑Wed May 15, 2024 10:36 am This is great - where did you find it?

I don't have the time but it would be interesting to compare what years each conference won the Super Bowl to these records. Colts won in 1970, I'd be curious what the Colts, Browns, and Steelers records were against NFC teams that year. Kind of surprised that the NFL teams held such a big edge the first two years after the merger.

These came from a well worded search on StatMuse.