In The NFC, The South (Not The East) Is King...

Ever since the NFL realigned the conferences in 2002, we’ve heard many arguments about which division is the best division in football.  While in certain years, certain conferences remain strong, the NFC East is usually regarded by the media masses as the NFL’s toughest division.  The New York Giants, the Dallas Cowboys, the Washington Redskins, and the Philadelphia Eagles are four of the oldest teams in the NFL, residing in four of the larger US Markets in New York, Dallas, Philadelphia, and Washington DC.  Is their a more fierce rivalry than the Cowboys and the Redskins?  Maybe it’s the Cowboys and the Eagles?  Don’t even talk to me about your typical Eagles-Giants game.  With a combined 11 Super Bowl Victories in 19 attempts from the NFC East franchises, with the history, legacy, and longstanding rivalries in this division, it’s pretty obvious why the NFC is the NFL’s most historic division.  However, I hate to provide the breaking news, but it’s not the BEST division in the NFL.  In fact, it’s not the best division in the NFC.

Ladies and Gentlemen, meet the “Nascar Division”.   The Atlanta Falcons, the New Orleans Saints, the Carolina Panthers, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers make up the NFC South, a conference in which upon its inception, only one team had ever reached the Super Bowl (The Atlanta Falcons in 1999).  However, despite not having the glamour teams featured in the NFC East, the NFC South has been the NFL’s best (and wackiest) division since the 2002 realignment.

What separates the NFC South from the rest of the NFL is the widespread postseason success.  The NFC South is the only division with two Super Bowl winners (Tampa Bay-2003, New Orleans-2010).  Only the NFC West joins the NFC South with 3 teams that reached the Super Bowl.  The NFC South is the only division in football in which each of its four teams reached the Conference title game.  The Philadelphia Eagles and the New York Giants are the only teams in the NFC East to reach the Conference title game.   In the eight years since division realignment, an NFC South team has been in the title game 6 times.  While the NFC East matches this success, the Eagles were in the title game 5 of those 6 appearances.  For all of the history associated with the Dallas Cowboys, they’ve only won 1 playoff game in the last 15 years.  The Redskins have never reached the NFC title game, and the Giants playoff success, while having won a Super Bowl, is minimal after that.

In addition to playoff success, the NFC South achieves a level of parity unmatched in any other division, including the NFC East.   Every year since realignment, the team that finished in last place made the postseason the following year, with the last place team winning the division in six of the last seven years.  Interesting enough, no team in the NFC has ever posted consecutive postseason berths?  What does this mean?  Unlike the NFC East, or any other division in football, parity runs wild in the NFC South, making it the most unpredictable division in football.

I’m aware that in all-time numbers, the NFC South teams aren’t even in the same hemisphere with the historic success of the “Beasts of the East.”  But in today’s NFL, especially since 2002, the NFC South takes a back seat to no other conference.  While the smaller markets of these teams may not have them playing on Monday Night Football like the NFC East squads, the parity of the division, as well as their consistent widespread success in the postseason makes the NFC South, not the NFC East, the best division in football.