I must be missing something. If the entire NFL has become so mediocre, and parity is running so rampant, what's going on in the AFC East? It seems every time I turn around I hear someone wailing away and gnashing their teeth over the lack of quality teams in the NFL. At times I find myself almost agreeing, just out of habit, I guess, but then I stop and ask again: Has anyone taken a look at the AFC East?

	Doug Flutie and the Bills have already slipped past the Dolphins twice.

It seems like yesterday, but it was in fact the late 1980s and early 1990s when the Redskins, Giants and Cowboys seemed to take turns winning Super Bowls, and the NFC East was the dominant division in the NFL. But even though the NFC East was the toughest division, cities such as Chicago, San Francisco, Buffalo and Kansas City were offering some fairly stiff competition.

Following the NFC East's dominance, the NFC Central took over, and for the last several seasons, fans have pretty much agreed it was the best division in football. But consider that over that period of time, the NFC Central claimed just one Super Bowl, by the Packers in XXXI, and clearly you see there was some pretty good football being played outside the best division in the league.

Now look at this season. Through nine weeks, only nine teams had six or more wins, and four of them were in the AFC East. Perhaps even more to the point, only two of those clubs, St. Louis and Detroit, were in the NFC. Now tell me: If the Super Bowl were tomorrow, and any of the Dolphins, Patriots, Colts or Bills were representing the AFC, would you take the Rams or Lions to beat them? I wouldn't.

The AFC's other six-plus-victory teams, Jacksonville, Tennessee and Seattle, are more impressive than the Rams and Lions, but what might their records be if they dwelled in the Northeast? The Jaguars' lone AFC East confrontation this year was a victory over the lowly Jets; otherwise, Jacksonville's schedule isn't particularly tough. The Titans dropped their only contest against an AFC East foe, losing 17-0 at Miami. Seattle is the one club that appears as if it could fit in the AFC East, having defeated Buffalo and counting only Cincinnati as a true cupcake on its schedule.

What might the AFC East look like had Vinny Testaverde not popped an Achilles' tendon on the opening weekend of the season? That would be pure speculation, although I am not one who believes that just Vinny, or even Vinny and Wayne Chrebet for the games he missed, would have been the difference between 6-2 and 2-6. Of course, the Jets ae just a game under .500 (2-3) outside their division and 1-3 within it. Man, life in the AFC East can be tough.

Just how tough, you ask? Through Week 10, Miami, New England, Indianapolis and Buffalo were 27-10 combined, but only three of those losses came outside the division. Miami and Indianapolis are undefeated outside the division.

Why are these guys so good? I thought you'd never ask. What is particularly intriguing is that these clubs have all used different formulas in claiming their spots among the league's elite. Is it coaching? Certainly the Dolphins' Jimmy Johnson ranks among the top coaches in football, if not among the best-liked. But the only other AFC East coach commonly accepted in his category is Bill Parcells, whose Jets are basically out of the race. New England's Pete Carroll, Indianapolis' Jim Mora and Buffalo's Wade Phillips are all fine coaches, to be sure. But all three have had rough endings elsewhere in the past, and Carroll, in particular, is regularly under fire. Both Mora and Phillips have often been called too conservative to succeed significantly.

Certainly, Drew Bledsoe is the best young quarterback in the NFL today, and it appears more certain every moment that Peyton Manning is the second-best. But it has been Damon Huard leading the Dolphins through the middle of the season while Dan Marino tries to recuperate from a pinched nerve in his neck, and Doug Flutie might be a great leader and a great improviser for the Bills, but he is not among the league's elite.

Likewise, the running game is not the biggest factor in our Fab Four's dominance. Only Colts rookie Edgerrin James and Patriots veteran Terry Allen were among the AFC's 10 top rushers entering Week 10. The Bills were second in the league in rushing, but their total was skewed by Flutie's rushing yards.

What should make the playoffs so entertaining this year, as well as the remainder of the AFC East season, is the variety of styles these four clubs offer. The Dolphins and Bills play tough defense. The Patriots and Colts can light it up on offense.

From where I sit, even as well as Jacksonville and Seattle have played, it's tough for me to see any team but Miami representing the AFC in the Super Bowl, assuming the Dolphins get Marino back for the stretch drive and the playoffs. In fact, I don't see them facing anyone other than the Patriots or Colts in the AFC title game.

Material from Pro Football Weekly.
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