USA Today
Super Bowl XXXIX is scheduled for Feb. 6 at Jacksonville, but the really big game might be played Jan. 23, when the AFC Championship Game is staged.
AFC teams were 4-2 against the NFC on Sunday, including the rebuilding Buffalo Bills' thrashing of the St. Louis Rams, an NFC playoff contender. For the season, the AFC has a 27-17 edge and is on pace to surpass the best-ever 38 inter-conference victories from 1999.
The imbalance sets up the disturbing possibility that a team could finish 10-6 in the AFC and miss the playoffs while an 8-8 team "earns" a wild-card berth in the NFC. That type of scenario was one of the biggest fears of the NFL's competition committee when realignment took effect in 2002
Super Bowl XXXIX is scheduled for Feb. 6 at Jacksonville, but the really big game might be played Jan. 23, when the AFC Championship Game is staged.
AFC teams were 4-2 against the NFC on Sunday, including the rebuilding Buffalo Bills' thrashing of the St. Louis Rams, an NFC playoff contender. For the season, the AFC has a 27-17 edge and is on pace to surpass the best-ever 38 inter-conference victories from 1999.
The imbalance sets up the disturbing possibility that a team could finish 10-6 in the AFC and miss the playoffs while an 8-8 team "earns" a wild-card berth in the NFC. That type of scenario was one of the biggest fears of the NFL's competition committee when realignment took effect in 2002
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