A record 12 AFC teams are at .500 or better in Week 12
The NFL has never quite seen a conference like this year’s AFC.
Heading into December, only four teams in the conference have losing records, with the 12 teams at .500 or better the most for a conference through 12 weeks since the merger.
There have been three seasons when 11 teams in a conference didn’t have losing records at this juncture, having happened previously in the AFC in 2014 and 1980, and the NFC in 2008.
The AFC West is leading the way with all four teams holding winning records with Kansas City (74) one game up on a trio of 6-5 teams in the Chargers, Raiders and Broncos.
This marked the fourth time since the current eightdivision format started in 2002 that all teams in a division had winning records after 12 weeks.
It also happened in the 2014 AFC North and the 2008 AFC East and NFC South.
The AFC North also has provided four of the teams at .500 or better.
It’s a far different story in the NFC where, for the second straight season, only six teams are at .500 or better
through 12 weeks.
The last time a conference had fewer at this point in the season came in 2013, in the AFC.
It’s a jumbled mess in the middle of the NFC with four teams — Washington, Minnesota, Atlanta and New Orleans — currently tied for
seventh at 5-6, a half-game ahead of Philadelphia and Carolina at 5-7.
That leaves open the possibility that a team with a losing record could make the playoffs for a second straight year after Washington won the NFC East last season with a 7-9 mark.
In all, 14 of the 16 NFC teams are within one game of a playoff spot, with only Seattle (3-8) and Detroit (010-1) seemingly out of contention. The dichotomy between the conferences is less about AFC dominance than it is about the lack of a dominant team in the AFC.
While the NFC has three teams with three or fewer losses — Arizona, Green Bay and Tampa Bay — only Baltimore can say that in the AFC.
• DOUBLE THREAT: Deebo Samuel has emerged as one of the NFL’s top receivers in his third season. He’s also been a pretty effective runner of late as a unique dual threat for the San Francisco 49ers.
Samuel has rushed for 181 yards and four TDs on 19 carries the past three games when lining up as a running back.
Samuel is the first receiver since the merger to run for a TD in three straight games in the same season.
His five TD runs are the most for a receiver in a single season in the Super Bowl era, surpassing Tavon Austin’s four in 2015.
Samuel also joined Roger Craig (1985) and Marshall Faulk (1999) as the only players to score five TDs running and receiving and have 1,000 yards receiving in a single season.
• PICK SIX: Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford is in the midst of a forgettable streak. Stafford has thrown a pick-six in three straight games. Stafford is the first QB to throw pick-sixes in three straight games since Matt Schaub in 2013.