[Chief_N_Bama]

Originally Posted by RobertWeathers

This was my overall point.

cut n paste

Much has been made during the Patriots' tremendous run since BB took over the reigns over how weak the AFC East has been over that time. It is thought by many detractors of the Patriots that they've run up big records against these weak opponents, and that has propelled them into the playoffs year after year. But is it true? Is it really the case that the AFC East has been the NFL's weakest division?

I will only use the years since the NFL went to the 8-division format, which means looking at 2002-2013. Of course this leaves out one of the Pats' Super Bowl seasons, but oh well. It's just easier this way.

First, I looked at each division's overall win total over this 12-year period: (EDIT: The first number here (401, 397, 395, etc) are the raw win totals. I forgot to mention that)

1. AFCE - 401 (.522)
2. NFCE - 397 (.517)
3. NFCS - 395 (.514)
4. AFCS - 393 (.512)
5. AFCN - 390 (.508)
6. AFCW - 375 (.488)
7. NFCN - 368 (.479)
8. NFCW - 347 (.452)

Obviously, the AFC East's impressive top ranking is colored by the Patriots' success. So here's the division winning percentages with NE out of the mixture (i.e., the AFCE just has NYJ, Mia, and Buf).

1. NFCE - .517
2. NFCS - .514
3. AFCS - .512
4. AFCN - .508
5. AFCW - .488
6. NFCN - .479
7. NFCW - .452
8. AFCE - .441

But these numbers are colored by New England hammering AFCE opponents. So let's just go with each division's out-of-division games, with New England taken out of the mix.

1. NFCE - .527
2. NFCS - .523
3. AFCS - .519
4. AFCN - .513
5. AFCW - .481
6. NFCN - .467
7. AFCE - .464
8. NFCW - .423
*Note: AFCE - .535 (with NE)

So yes, the AFC East has been one of the weaker divisions in the NFL during this time frame, which has undoubtedly benefitted the Patriots. However, consider these numbers, focusing only on the Patriots.

- Overall win % (2002-2013): .766 (averaging 12.3 wins a season)
- Overall non-division win %: .750 (that would average 12.0 wins a season)

So being in the AFC East has helped the Patriots to the tune of 0.3 wins per season, hardly enough to register a blip on the radar. If the Patriots had played all their games from 2002-2013 against non-division opponents, they would *still* be head-and-shoulders the best team in the NFL over that time frame. In other words, while it is true that New England has played in a lesser division all these years, it hasn't mattered, because the Patriots have been obliterating the entire NFL despite playing first-place schedules year after year after year.

It's not as simple as 12.3 MINUS 12 because the easy divisional record definitely positively affects the out of division record because it allows NE to strategically rest players and more time to game plan bigger games. You already admitted that NE doesn't get up to play these games cause they know they are going to win. So, don't back track now. Also, take KC this year. Had they lost 1 game which would have given them the SAME record as NE at 11-5, but instead of being the #2 seed, they would have dropped to the 5 seed because LAC were also 11-5. And because they were in the AFCW, the Chargers had to travel despite being tied for the best record in the AFC.