NFL All-Division Tournament: AFC North vs. AFC South
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 first round matchup of our tournament features the AFC North and AFC South, and both of these divisions feature strong-armed quarterbacks, powerful offensive lines, and explosive pass rushers.
First up is the AFC North’s roster, and they run a 3-4 defense that looks incredibly scary on paper. Haloti Ngata is a monster as the nose, and he’s flanked by two exceptional interior pass rushers in Cameron Heyward and the elite Geno Atkins. Behind those three are edge rushers Terrell Suggs and Jason Worilds, as well as a pair of playmaking inside linebackers in Lawrence Timmons and Vontaze Burfict. The safety duo of Donte Whitner and Troy Polamalu is dynamic, but still not quite as dynamic as a wide receivers corps of Josh Gordon, A.J. Green, and Torrey Smith. Ben Roethlisberger could have a bone to pick with some of his offensive lines in his time with the Pittsburgh Steelers, but he certainly can’t complain about this off-the-charts group.
AFC North Offense
QB Ben Roethlisberger
WR Josh Gordon
WR A.J. Green
WR Torrey Smith
LT Joe Thomas
RT Andre Smith
AFC North Defense
DE Geno Atkins
NT Haloti Ngata
DE Cameron Heyward
OLB Terrell Suggs
ILB Vontaze Burfict
ILB Lawrence Timmons
OLB Jason Worilds
CB Joe Haden
CB Jimmy Smith
S Donte Whitner
S Troy Polamalu
Let’s take a look at what the AFC South team has to offer. There are plenty of household names like J.J. Watt, rookie Jadeveon Clowney, Arian Foster, and Andrew Luck, but there are also a few under-the-radar guys- none more so than right guard Brandon Brooks, who quietly blossomed into one of the league’s better run blocker last year. The AFC South team’s 3-4 defense looks like a dream on paper (those linebackers are an absolute nightmare) with some intriguing fits on the defensive line, and Kendall Wright and Dwayne Allen sandwiched in between Andre Johnson and Reggie Wayne helps make the passing offense a ruthlessly efficient machine.
AFC South Offense
QB Andrew Luck
RB Arian Foster
WR Andre Johnson
WR Reggie Wayne
WR Kendall Wright
TE Dwayne Allen
LT Michael Roos
LG Zane Beadles
RG Brandon Brooks
RT Duane Brown
AFC South Defense
DE J.J. Watt
OLB Jadeveon Clowney
ILB Paul Posluszny
ILB Brian Cushing
OLB Robert Mathis
CB Vontae Davis
S Johnathan Cyprien
Now that you’ve had a chance to read through both rosters and analyze both matchups in your head like Peyton Manning breaks down defenses, it’s time to make a quick decision on vote on the better team. The winner of the poll below advanced to the next round, whereas the losing division has to sit home and agonizingly break down the tape. Voting closes at midnight on Tuesday.
[polldaddy poll=”8196733″]
Be sure to vote in the other NFL All-Division Team first round matchups:
NFC East vs. NFC South
AFC East vs. AFC West
NFC North vs. NFC West