Saul: Houston only dominant team in lackluster AFC

The National Football League has experienced a shift in power this season.

For much of the last decade, the American Football Conference has dominated the National Football Conference. But this season the AFC has struggled, allowing the NFC to command the league with several teams appearing to be Super Bowl worthy.

After looking through the NFC’s divisions last week, let’s take a ride through the four divisions that make up the traditionally tough, but recently mediocre, AFC:

AFC East

As always, the New England Patriots are in control of the AFC East early in the season.

Quarterback Tom Brady and the Patriots have suffered a couple of uncharacteristic losses, but with a 4-3 record after constructing a come-from-behind victory over the Jets on Sunday, New England proved it still knows how to win.

Quietly biting at New England’s heels are the Miami Dolphins, who have managed to stay at .500 this season but haven’t seen any good teams yet. With the Jets, Colts, Seahawks and Patriots coming up in the next six weeks of their schedule, the Dolphins are going to have to pick up a few signature wins to stay in the race.

In New York, the Jets and Buffalo seem to be lacking the talent to get it done.

The Tim Tebow experiment could be on the horizon for an inconsistent Jets team that has struggled with poor quarterback play and an average defense. If the Jets and Bills don’t turn it around soon, they could find themselves eliminated from the playoff race in the near future.

AFC North

The North seems to be a strong division again this year.

The parity is there, but there is no clear-cut dominant force among the Ravens (5-2), Steelers (3-3) and Cincinnati (3-4).

Pittsburgh picked up a big win Sunday night when it knocked off the Bengals, but the Steelers still trail the Ravens by two games. However, Baltimore is banged up, and in its first game without linebacker Ray Lewis, the team was obliterated by Houston.

For Baltimore, success will require running back Ray Rice to continue to dominate and to get more carries than he did last week. But it’s going to be all about how quarterback Joe Flacco performs in the playoffs, assuming the Ravens get there.

AFC South

This year, the AFC South is one of the most compelling divisions in the league.

Houston was an early Super Bowl favorite, and the Texans have gotten off to a good start. At 6-1, their only loss is to a Packers team that was desperate for a win, and they have three big in-conference victories over the Jets, Broncos and Baltimore. If this team can stay healthy, they’ve got as good a chance as anyone to make it to the playoffs.

Behind Houston in the standings are the Andrew Luck-led Colts, who at 3-3 are trying to get back to their winning ways. Luck has proved he can get it done at the end of a game, especially after out-dueling Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers in the fourth quarter a couple weeks back. But aside from the Packers, the Colts don’t have any impressive wins and narrowly escaped losing to a terrible Cleveland Browns team last weekend.

With Luck playing well, this team always has a shot.

AFC West

The results of this division are going to come down to the last few weeks of the season.

Last week, Denver got a look at why Peyton Manning is the right choice for any team at quarterback as he dominated the second half against the Chargers and completed one of the biggest comebacks in NFL history. Returning from injury, Manning has thrown 14 touchdowns — good enough for fourth in the league — and his 105.3 quarterback rating is the second-best in the rankings.

The aforementioned Chargers are still in the competition. They’ve lost two straight games, but San Diego proved it can score with talented quarterback Philip Rivers, who constantly seems just on the brink of greatness. If San Diego gets hot, this could be the year he breaks through to an AFC Championship game or Super Bowl.

Behind both these teams are the Oakland Raiders, who, despite being 2-4, have proven they have some talent and are still not out of the running. With an easy upcoming schedule, the Raiders could pull off a winning season if they can improve their running game — currently 31st in the NFL — to match their solid passing attack.