Super Bowl network notes

The 50th Super Bowl, now less than a week away, will be the 20th telecast by the AFL or AFC network.

AFL or AFC teams have a (12-7) record in the previous 19 such games.

With the AFC team in this year’s Supe, the Denver Broncos a six point underdog, perhaps it is significant and I suppose noteworthy that the AFL or AFC team is (14-5) vs the point spread in Super Bowls telecast on its network.

Clearly two AFC teams that lost the game, covered the spread in games on the AFC network.

Those teams were the 1988 Cincinnati Bengals vs the S.F. 49ers and the 1995 Pittsburgh Steelers vs the Dallas Cowboys.

Though the AFC network, then NBC, telecast two straight Supes both manifesting in the NFC Dallas Cowboys’ decisive wins vs the Buffalo Bills and other changes involving which network telecast the big game, somehow after Sunday, both the NFL/NFC and AFL/AFC networks will have telecast 20 Super Bowls each.

One of the AFC network Super Bowl telecasts was the 11th Supe (1976 season) won by the AFC Oakland Raiders with their great quarterback, Ken Stabler pictured above. The under appreciated Curt Gowdy was the NBC/AFC network lead announcer that day.