NFL Week 12 Division Power Rankings

The gap continued to close between the NFC East and several of the other top NFL divisions in Week 12. 

Using only teams’ records in non-divisional game to rank divisions, the NFC East has been the top division all season.  But after the games in Week 12, the NFC East stands only one-half game ahead of the NFC South. 

Also, for the first time this season, the NFC East does not have the highest average scoring margin in non-divisional games. That title now belongs to the NFC South.

The NFC East went 3-1 in Week 12 non-divisional games as the Giants beat the Cardinals, the Cowboys handled the 49ers, the Redskins survived the Seahawks, and the Eagles fell to the Ravens.. 

The NFC South went 2-0 as the Buccaneers defeated the Lions and the Saints dominated the Packers.

The AFC East also gained ground on the NFC East by going 2-0 in Week 12 non-divisional games. The Bills defeated the Chiefs and the Jets gave the Titans their first loss of the season.

Here are the updating conference standings for non-divisional games after Week 12 (Rank, Team, Record, Average Margin):

1.  NFC East:  22-7-1 (6.27)

2.  NFC South:  22-8 (7.20)

3.  AFC East:  19-9 (5.36)

4.  AFC South:  17-11 (1.36)

5.  AFC North:  13-14-1 (0.82)

6.  NFC North:  9-19 (-2.86)

7.  AFC West:  7-23 (-7.97)

8.  NFC West:  6-22 (-9.71)

There was again no change in the ordering of the divisions in the rankings from last week. The AFC South looks to have finally dropped out of the race for the best division in football after a disappointing Week 12 performance.

The discrepancy between the top and bottom divisions of the NFL is remarkable. The win total in non-divisional games between the NFC North, AFC West, and NFC West combined is matched individually by both the NFC East and NFC South.

The AFC North continues to climb closer to the .500-mark but remains just shy at 13-14-1.

Some of the key non-divisional pairings for Week 13 to look forward to are:

Cowboys vs. Seahawks

Eagles vs. Cardinals

Panthers vs. Packers

Falcons vs. Chargers

Bills vs. 49ers

Dolphins vs. Rams

Jets vs. Broncos

Patriots vs. Steelers

There are a lot of important non-divisional games to look forward to this week. Every non-divisional game down the stretch for NFC East and NFC South teams could make the difference as to which conference tops the standings at the end of the year. Both divisions have two non-divisional games in Week 13.

The AFC East also has a great opportunity to gain ground on the NFC East and NFC South with a good performance in Week 13, as they have four non-divisional games.

The Patriots vs. Steelers match-up jumps out as intriguing because it features a very hot offense against an extremely stout defense.  Patriots quarterback Matt Cassell has proven himself to be capable of filling the gap left by Tom Brady and the Steelers defense has carried the team all season long.