NFL All-Division Tournament: AFC East vs. AFC West

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Everyone has heard of “All-Division Teams”, but have you taken part in an “All-Division Tournament”? Each NFL team site editor on the FanSided Network teamed up to create an All-Division Team for their division, and the collaboration involved among editors yielded a team of 22 starts. We left the construction of the rosters up to each “division”, since these four members operate as a head coach, and a few divisions decided to be creative in order to maximize the talent on their squad.

This battle in the first round of our tournament pits the AFC East against the AFC West, and both lists unsurprisingly have their fair share of New England Patriots and Denver Broncos players. That said, there’s so much more to each division than the Pats and Broncos, as the AFC West sent a total of three teams to the playoffs last year, and the Oakland Raiders made plenty of improvements this past offseason. Their approach to add solid players was the right one, but their lack of stars made jack-of-all-trades fullback Marcel Reece their lone representative. Meanwhile, the Miami Dolphins nearly missed out on a playoff spot, while the New York Jets have some gems in the trenches and the Buffalo Bills have a deep roster.

Below is the AFC East’s All-Division Team, and it features some of the big names like Tom Brady, Rob Gronkowski, Darrelle Revis, and Nick Mangold, as well as some less-obvious contributors like Aaron Williams and Kraig Urbik of the Buffalo Bills. Their defensive line looks absolutely scary with Mario Williams and Cameron Wake on the edge, and the New York Jets elite 3-4 DE duo wreaking havoc on the inside. Oh, and good luck throwing the ball at their cornerbacks.

AFC East Offense

QB Tom Brady

RB C.J. Spiller

WR Mike Wallace

WR Sammy Watkins

WR Robert Woods

TE Rob Gronkowski

LT Nate Solder

LG Logan Mankins

C Nick Mangold

RG Kraig Urbik

RT D’Brickashaw Ferguson

AFC East Defense

DE Mario Williams

DT Sheldon Richardson

DT Muhammad Wilkerson

DE Cameron Wake

LB Kiko Alonso

LB Jerod Mayo

LB Dont’a Hightower

CB Brent Grimes

CB Darrelle Revis

S Aaron Williams

S Reshad Jones

Now that we have the AFC East’s team all wrapped up, let’s take a look at what the deep AFC West has to offer. Peyton Manning, Jamaal Charles, and Demaryius Thomas headline an elite trio on the offensive side of the ball, and the thought of Keenan Allen catching passes from Peyton, instead of Philip Rivers, is probably enough to make San Diego Chargers fans cringe. On the defensive side of the ball, Von Miller and Justin Houston are a nightmare duo on the edge, and Terrance Knighton and Dontari Poe are almost as scary of a DT duo. But what might give Tom Brady the most pause is the AFC West’s safety tandem, which features two elite players who can do just about everything well at the position. This duo meshes so well together that they even have the same name, and that’s even more impressive than their ability to possibly neutralize Gronk.

AFC West Offense

QB Peyton Manning

RB Jamaal Charles

FB Marcel Reece

WR Demaryius Thomas

WR Keenan Allen

TE Julius Thomas

LT Ryan Clady

LG Orlando Franklin

C Nick Hardwick

RG Louis Vasquez

RT D.J. Fluker

AFC West Defense

DE DeMarcus Ware

DT Terrance Knighton

NT Dontari Poe

DE Dwight Freeney

LB Justin Houston

LB Derrick Johnson

LB Von Miller

CB Aqib Talib

CB Chris Harris Jr.

S Eric Weddle

S Eric Berry

With both rosters in mind, it’s time to vote for the division that would win if both of these teams faced off head-to-head. We’ll take a look at the results on the poll below, and the winning team will live another day in our tournament.

[polldaddy poll=”8196686″]

Be sure to vote in the other NFL All-Division Team first round matchups:
NFC East vs. NFC South
AFC North vs. AFC South
NFC North vs. NFC West