AFC East tops division power rankings

Every week in this space, Chris Jason Martin Jersey We seling will roll out the power rankings for one specific NFL position, attribute or award.So far, we have covered Offensive Rookie of the Year candidates, defensive front sevens, satellite backs, wide receivers, the quarter-season All-Pro team, best offseason bargains and Comeback Player of the Year candidates.With the midseason point on the horizon, it's good time to step back and take a look at the NFL's eight divisions. We know the AFC East is highly competitive and the AFC South is collectively struggling.Let's rank the divisions from strongest to weakest:1. AFC EastThis is an easy call. The AFC East is the only division in which all four teams have a positive point differential. It houses the No. 1 team in my power rankings () as well as three legitimate wild-card contenders. All four teams rank in the NFL's top half. There's no weak step-sister to count on as an automatic slumpbuster.2. NFC WestIt's the -- not the -- who boast the NFL's best point differential at +96. This is a deep and talented roster. With a great coach (Bruce Arians), an MVP Roberto Clemente Jersey candidate at quarterback (), several Comeback Player of the Year candidates (Palmer, , ) and a Defensive Player of the Year candidate (), this is an obvious contender.Pay no attention to the ' early-season heartbreaks versus undefeated teams. Now that is back on track, the reigning NFC champions are coming like a freight train. With complementing a swarming defense, the are a team nobody wants to see on the schedule. It's fair to wonder if the are 32nd out of 32 teams.3. AFC NorthAmong the NFL's most stout on both sides of the line of scrimmage, the are in the conversation for deepest personnel in the league. returns to the ' lineup for this week's titanic struggle versus Cincinnati, which means Pittsburgh will have an explosive offense to go along with a talented young defense that has wildly exceeded expectations.The are currently 19th acro s the board in point differential, Football Outsiders' DVOA metric and my power rankings. No matter what Bill Parcells might say, they are better than their record suggests. The are 12th in the NFL Josh Bell Jersey in total offense, ranking one spot behind the . Not too shabby for the perennial AFC North doormat.4. NFC SouthAfter squeezing past a series of tomato cans to open the season, the have proven their mettle with back-to-back victories over the and . They have staying power atop the division. The are one of the most improved teams in the league. They're also one of the luckiest -- not just in close victories, but also in remaining schedule. Previously written off as toothle s, the and are friskier than their records might suggest.5. AFC WestThe have won their six games by a combined 37 points, the since the 1970 merger for a team that started 6-0, per Grantland's Bill Barnwell. Their NFL-best defense is counterbalanced by an offense that ranks dead-last in Football Outsiders' metrics.The are one of the league's up-and-coming teams, still searching for consistency. Even if the ' defense is finally realizing its immense potential, the offense is field-goal reliant in a touchdown league. The are just the third team in the past 25 years to allow 24 or more points in each of their first seven games of a season, per Barnwell.6. NFC NorthThis is a top-heavy division, featuring an undefeated squad that has beaten six teams with a collective 14 Melky Cabrera Jersey -26 record. While the are 4-2 with a +22 point differential, they rank a shockingly low 28th in Football Outsiders' efficiency ratings. The and have been some of the softest cupcakes in football through seven weeks.7. NFC EastFootball Outsiders (No. 8) and point differential (No. 11) like the more than I do. As impre sive as their defense has been, I simply don't trust the come-and-go offense. The lost to the 3-4 by 20, then surrendered 460 yards to the -led . They are not a convincing first-place outfit.The are 19th acro s the board in point differential, Football Outsiders' efficiency ratings and my power rankings. The will welcome and back in the next calendar month. They Kent Tekulve Jersey have to hope that talent infusion won't be offset by the ill will (read: bad karma) they've engendered with their bungling of over the past calendar month.8. AFC SouthYikes. A perennial laughingstock, the AFC South doesn't have a single representative in the top 20. The first-place squad has yet to win a game outside the division. The second-place team has been down more than 40-0 twice in the past four weeks. The NFL ought to look into the Premier League's practice of relegation, so we can fumigate this entire clown car.