NFC South

The NFC South is a division in the National Football Conference of the National Football League. It was created prior to the 2002 NFL season, when the league realigned divisions after expanding to 32 teams. The NFC South currently has four members: the Atlanta Falcons, Carolina Panthers, New Orleans Saints, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Prior to the 2002 season, the Buccaneers belonged to the AFC West (1976) and NFC Central (1977–2001), while the other three teams were part of the geographically inaccurate NFC West.

The NFC South is the only division since the 2002 realignment to have each of its teams make a conference championship game appearance: Tampa Bay (2002), Atlanta (2004 and 2012), Carolina (2003 and 2005), and New Orleans (2006 and 2009). All four members of the NFC South have made postseason appearances before entering the division in 2002. Also since 2002, each team has won at least three division titles, the only such division in the league; yet no team has successfully defended their title in two consecutive seasons.

Entering 2012 the Falcons and Saints are tied for most wins among division members. The Saints record is 299-386-5; their win in Super Bowl XLIV is the highlight of a 5-8 playoff record. The Falcons record is 299-399-6 with a playoff record of 6-11; the Falcons lost in Super Bowl XXXIII, their only Super Bowl appearance. The Buccaneers record is 222-341-1 with victory in Super Bowl XXXVII and an overall playoff record of 6-9. The Panthers have the best playoff record (6-4) of any team in the division with a loss in Super Bowl XXXVIII and an overall record of 125-147.

The NFC South is the only NFC division not to have any teams that predate the 1960 launch of the American Football League. Each of the other NFC divisions has 3 such teams, while the remaining three are in the American Football Conference. (In contrast, the NFC South's oldest team is the Falcons, who began play in 1966.)

Division lineups

Place cursor over year for division champ or Super Bowl team.

Division champions

Wild Card qualifiers

Total Playoff Berths

(NFC South Records since 2002)

To sort the table above, click button to right of heading.

Schedule rotation

Postseason oddities

• From 2003-2009, the team that placed last in the division the previous year would improve enough to reach the playoffs, usually by winning the division. Tampa Bay almost continued this trend in 2010, stopped only by losing a tiebreaker to Green Bay.
  • Carolina finished last in 2002 (7–9) and finished first in 2003 (11–5).
  • Atlanta finished last in 2003 (5–11) and finished first in 2004 (11–5).
  • Tampa Bay finished last in 2004 (5–11) and finished first in 2005 (11–5).
  • New Orleans finished last in 2005 (3–13) and finished first in 2006 (10–6).
  • Tampa Bay finished last in 2006 (4–12) and finished first in 2007 (9–7).
  • Atlanta finished last in 2007 (4–12) and finished second with a wild-card berth in 2008 (11–5).
  • New Orleans finished last in 2008 (8–8) and finished first in 2009 (13–3).
  • Tampa Bay finished last in 2009 (3-13) but despite finishing third in 2010 with a 10-6 record, did not make the playoffs, due to Green Bay holding the wild-card tiebreakers.
  • Carolina finished last in 2010 (2-14) and was eliminated from playoff contention in Week 14 of the 2011 season after going 4-9, becoming the first NFC South team to have a losing season after placing last in the division.

• From 2003-2007 and again in 2009, the team which finished last the previous season won the division.

• From 2002-2009, no team in the NFC South earned back-to-back playoff appearances. In Week 16 of the 2010 season, New Orleans clinched a wild-card berth, becoming the first NFC South team to earn consecutive playoff appearances. New Orleans earned three consecutive playoff appearances in the 2009, 2010, and 2011 seasons. Atlanta also earned three consecutive playoff appearances, in 2010, 2011 and 2012, but became the first team mathematically eliminated from the NFL Playoffs in the 2013-14 season.

• No team in the NFC South has earned division championships consecutive seasons.

• Each team has won the division at least three times and made a playoff appearance at least three times since the division's formation. Tampa Bay is the only team which has not made the playoffs as a wild-card.

• Each team has finished last in the division at least twice since the division's formation. Prior to 2012, no team has finished last in the division in consecutive season. Tampa Bay became the first team in the division to place last in the division in consecutive seasons.

• From 2002-2011, there was an outright last place finisher in the division. That streak came to an end during the 2012 season, when Tampa Bay, New Orleans, and Carolina all finished at 7-9.

See also

• I-85 Rivalry
• Falcons-Saints rivalry
• Buccaneers–Panthers rivalry

References