NFC East

The NFC East is a division of the National Football League (NFL)'s National Football Conference (NFC). It currently has four members: the Philadelphia Eagles, the New York Giants, the Dallas Cowboys, and the Washington Redskins.

The division was formed in 1967 as the National Football League Capitol Division, keeping with the theme of having all of the league's divisions starting with the letter "C." The division was so named because it was centered on the capital of the United States, Washington, D.C. In 1967 and 1969 the teams in the NFL Capitol Division were Dallas, Philadelphia, Washington and the expansion New Orleans Saints, which had been replaced by the New York Giants for the 1968 season. Its most recent Super Bowl champions are the New York Giants.

History

Previously, although the St. Louis Rams were geographically farther east than Dallas before moving back to Los Angeles, the Cowboys remained in the NFC East despite being the only team located in the Central Time Zone and the Rams stayed in the NFC West because of long-standing rivalries: the Cowboys with all three other teams in the East, and the Rams with the San Francisco 49ers in the West.

The NFC East teams have combined to be the most successful division in the NFL since the 1970 NFL merger with 20 NFC Championship wins and 12 Super Bowl victories, the highest marks of any division in the NFL. Each of the current NFC East's four teams has won at least three NFL titles during their existence; however, only Philadelphia has yet to win a championship in the Super Bowl era. The division features a number of prominent rivalries such as the Cowboys–Redskins rivalry and Eagles–Giants rivalry. Because the division's teams are in some of the United States' largest media markets (New York No. 1, Philadelphia, No. 4, Dallas-Fort Worth No. 5, and Washington No. 8), the NFC East receives a high amount of coverage from national sports media outlets.^[1] In the early 1990s the division claimed four consecutive Super Bowl champions, all 4 against the Buffalo Bills, with the Giants and Redskins respectively winning back-to-back in Super Bowls XXV and XXVI; and the Cowboys winning twice after in Super Bowls XXVII and XXVIII. Those same three teams won seven out of ten Super Bowls, from 1986-87 to 1995-96 (49ers won the other three).

The Philadelphia Eagles are the only NFC East team to play in the city of the team's naming, Philadelphia.^[2] The other three teams play in suburbs of the major cities they are named after. The Dallas Cowboys play in Arlington, Texas.^[3] The Washington Redskins play in Landover, Maryland^[4] and the New York Giants play in East Rutherford, New Jersey,^[5] where they share a stadium with the New York Jets. The only two other teams not from either East division to do so is the NFC West's San Francisco 49ers, who started playing in the San Francisco suburb of Santa Clara in 2014, and the Arizona Cardinals, who play in the Phoenix suburb of Glendale.

The NFC East can also be called the most valuable NFL Division. All four teams in the division are in the top ten of most valuable NFL franchises (Cowboys #1; Giants #3; Redskins #5; Eagles #10).^[6] The next closest division is the AFC North, which is not completed until the 26th ranked Cincinnati Bengals.^[7]

Division lineups

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

^A The Eastern Conference was divided into the Capitol and Century Divisions. Dallas, Philadelphia, and Washington moved in. Also, the New Orleans Saints joined the league.

^B The Capitol Division became the National Football Conference East division (called "NFC East"). New Orleans realigned to the NFC West. The Giants and Cardinals are added from the Century Division.

^C St. Louis moved to Phoenix in 1988. The team changed its name from Phoenix Cardinals to the Arizona Cardinals in 1994.

^D Arizona moved to the NFC West when the league realigned into 8 four-team divisions before the 2002 season.

Division champions

As NFL Capitol Division

There was one division sweep of the Capitol Division, 1969 Cowboys 6-0^[8]

As NFC East

• * A players' strike in 1982 reduced the regular season to nine games. Thus, the league used a special 16-team playoff tournament just for this year. Division standings were ignored; Washington had the best record of the division teams and won the Super Bowl.
• ++ The 1987 Redskins are the only NFC 3rd Seed to win the Super Bowl.^[9]
• ^ The 2007 Dallas Cowboys were defeated by division rival and NFC 5th Seed New York Giants, who ultimately won Super Bowl XLII.
• # The 2011 New York Giants are the only sub-10-win team to win the Super Bowl (other than the 1982 Redskins listed above), as well as the only team to win the Super Bowl as the NFC's 4th Seed.^[10]

The Philadelphia Eagles remain the only team in the NFC East not to win a Super Bowl. The Cowboys lead with five, followed by the Giants with four, and the Redskins with three. In overall NFL history, however, the Giants lead with eight league championships, followed by the Redskins and Cowboys with five each, then the Eagles with three.

There have been two division sweeps of the NFC East Division, the 1998 Dallas Cowboys (8-0) and the 2004 Philadelphia Eagles (6-0).^[11]

Wild Card qualifiers

• + A players' strike in 1982 reduced the regular season to nine games, so the league used a special 16-team playoff tournament just for this year.
• ** The 2007 New York Giants are the only NFC East team to win a Super Bowl as a Wild Card team, and the only NFL team in history to win the Super Bowl as a 5th Seed in either Conference.^[12]

Total playoff berths

(NFC East records 1967-2016)

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

¹These numbers only reflect the Cardinals'

time as a member of the NFC East, as the team realigned to the NFC West after the 2001 season.

See also

• Cowboys–Giants rivalry
• Cowboys–Eagles rivalry
• Cowboys–Redskins rivalry
• Eagles–Giants rivalry
• Eagles-Redskins rivalry
• Giants–Redskins rivalry

References