The National Football League, or NFL, has been around since 1920. From the years 1920 to 1970 American Football was played between two leagues, the NFL and the AFL (American Football League). It’s well known the NFL Championship is called the Super Bowl. However, it was only considered the Super Bowl after 1968. As of 2022, the NFL consists of 32 teams. Those 32 teams are split between two conferences, The NFC (National Football Conference) and the AFC (American Football Conference). Within those two conferences are four divisions, each containing four teams per division. But what are the divisions in the NFL, and what teams play in each? Let’s take a look!
There are 8 divisions in the NFL, which are split between the NFC and AFC. Both conferences have four divisions, West, East, North, South. Teams that play in the same division play each other twice per season. The rest of the 17-game regular season is based on the teams’ relative performance in the past year and a rotating league schedule so all teams play each other at least once every 3-4 years.
What Are The Divisions In The NFL?
Let’s take a look at the eight divisions in the NFL, and which teams are in what division. Along with that, how many Super Bowls each team has, plus how many division titles each team has won. The order of teams in each chart will be laid out in order based on Super Bowl wins. The Super Bowl numbers do not reflect any NFL championships won before the 1970 NFL-AFL merger.
NFC West:
| Teams | Super Bowl Titles | Conference Titles | Division Titles |
| San Francisco 49ers | 5 | 7 | 20 |
| Los Angeles Rams | 2 | 8 | 18 |
| Seattle Seahawks | 1 | 3 | 11 |
| Arizona Cardinals | 0 | 1 | 7 |
NFC East:
| Teams | Super Bowl Titles | Conference Titles | Division Titles |
| Dallas Cowboys | 5 | 10 | 24 |
| New York Giants | 4 | 11 | 16 |
| Washington Commanders | 3 | 5 | 15 |
| Philadelphia Eagles | 1 | 4 | 14 |
NFC North:
| Teams | Super Bowl Titles | Conference Titles | Division Titles |
| Green Bay Packers | 4 | 9 | 21 |
| Chicago Bears | 1 | 4 | 19 |
| Minnesota Vikings | 0 | 4 | 20 |
| Detroit Lions | 0 | 4 | 4 |
NFC South:
| Teams | Super Bowl Titles | Conference Titles | Division Titles |
| Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 2 | 2 | 7 |
| New Orleans Saints | 1 | 1 | 9 |
| Atlanta Falcons | 0 | 2 | 6 |
| Carolina Panthers | 0 | 2 | 6 |
AFC West:
| Teams | Super Bowl Titles | Conference Titles | Division Titles |
| Denver Broncos | 3 | 8 | 15 |
| Las Vegas Raiders | 3 | 4 | 15 |
| Kansas City Chiefs | 2 | 2 | 14 |
| Los Angeles Chargers | 0 | 1 | 15 |
AFC East:
| Teams | Super Bowl Titles | Conference Titles | Division Titles |
| New England Patriots | 6 | 11 | 22 |
| Miami Dolphins | 2 | 5 | 13 |
| New York Jets | 1 | 0 | 4 |
| Buffalo Bills | 0 | 4 | 12 |
AFC North:
| Teams | Super Bowl Titles | Conference Titles | Division Titles |
| Pittsburgh Steelers | 6 | 8 | 24 |
| Baltimore Ravens | 2 | 2 | 6 |
| Cleveland Browns | 0 | 11 | 12 |
| Cincinnati Bengals | 0 | 3 | 10 |
AFC South:
| Teams | Super Bowl Titles | Conference Titles | Division Titles |
| Indianapolis Colts | 2 | 7 | 16 |
| Tennessee Titans | 0 | 1 | 11 |
| Houston Texans | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Jacksonville Jaguars | 0 | 0 | 3 |
Divisions In The NFL – Stats & Championships:
The Super Bowl is the biggest prize in North American professional sports. Every team in each division plays and practices year-round to win the ultimate prize. Through the NFL’s history of awarding the Super Bowl, there have been 52 champions. From those 52 champions, the NFC has produced 27 victories split between 12 teams. The AFC has accounted for 25 victories which are split between 9 teams.
In the NFL, parity is a major factor within the league. The league has not had a repeat Super Bowl winner since the New England Patriots did it back in 2003 and 2004. A dynasty in the NFL is way less common than you would see throughout the NBA’s history for example. Only 15 of the 32 teams in the NFL have more than one Super Bowl Championship, and twelve teams in the NFL have zero Super Bowl Championships. That leaves the Seattle Seahawks, Philadelphia Eagles, Chicago Bears, New Orleans Saints, and the New York Jets with one Super Bowl Championship.
The top five franchises in the NFL in terms of Super Bowl Championships are the New England Patriots and the Pittsburgh Steelers who lead the NFL with six Super Bowl titles each. After them, the San Francisco 49ers and Dallas Cowboys trail with five Super Bowls, and the Green Bay Packers round out the top five with four Super Bowl Championships. A crazy stat is only the NFC East has Super Bowl victories by all four teams in the division.
Championships Won By Divisions In The NFL (in order):
- NFC East – 13 Super Bowl Championships
- AFC East – 9 Super Bowl Championships
- NFC West – 8 Super Bowl Championships
- AFC West – 8 Super Bowl Championships
- AFC North – 8 Super Bowl Championships.
- NFC North – 5 Super Bowl Championships
- NFC South – 3 Super Bowl Championships
- AFC South – 2 Super Bowl Championships
How are NFL Teams Divided? (Schedule Structure For Divisions In The NFL)
Every team plays 17 regular-season games with one bye week. Teams alternate seasons where they host nine regular-season games and one preseason game, or eight regular-season games and two preseason games. The actual scheduling of a 272 game season takes thousands of cloud-based computers to produce thousands of possible schedule outcomes. This process sets the stage for the schedule makers to begin the difficult task of picking the best possible one.
Here’s a breakdown of how each team’s opponents are set:
- Six games against divisional opponents. Two games per team, one at home and one on the road.
- Four games against teams from a division within its conference. Two games at home and two on the road.
- Four games against teams from a division in the other conference. Two games at home and two on the road.
- Two games against teams from the two remaining divisions in its own conference. One game at home and one on the road. Matchups are based on division ranking from the previous season.
- The new 17th game is an additional game against a non-conference opponent from a division that the team is not scheduled to play. Matchups are based on division ranking from the previous season.
I hope you found this article informative and helpful! The NFL is North America’s most popular professional sport, and discussing the history of the league’s champions is always fun and exciting. Seeing the dominance throughout the years of certain franchises, to the lack thereof with others makes this league very fascinating. We will continue to update these numbers of each division in the NFL every season!
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Till next time, at On the Record.