Pardon simple numbers, but let me paint a picture of the NFC with the broadest of strokes.
In 2018, 11 of the top 17 quarterbacks ranked by passer rating played in the NFC. The top six QBs in the AFC, by passer rating, were Patrick Mahomes, Philip Rivers, Deshaun Watson, Andrew Luck, Tom Brady, and Ben Roethlisberger. With Rivers, Brady, and Ben, it seemed obvious that the AFC would be falling even farther behind the NFC’s counterparts, then out of nowhere, it was Luck who retired before any of them.
But even despite Rivers also calling it a career and Brady leaving behind the comforts of the AFC East for the NFC South, it seems as though football’s most important position has swung back in favor of the AFC.