So what the hell is the NFL, and what are NFL divisions? Well, it’s 32 teams of enormous burly men that seem to enjoy a spot of smashing in to each other whilst wearing skin tight clothing.
How are the teams organised (hint: the NFL has divisions)?
These 32 teams are divided up into 2 Conferences: The NFC and the AFC. Each 16 team conference is divided up into 4 divisions: The North, East, South and West. Each division therefore has 4 teams in it that are roughly in the part of the country the division is named for. Here they are below:
How do you win?
The NFL season is really short, the main season only lasts for 16 games. During the main season, teams are trying to win games so that they have the best win/loss ratio in their division. Teams are placed in their division based on this ratio, so a team that has won 15 of their games, and lost 1 will be 15-1. This beats anything other than 16-0 and therefore it is likely to win the division. It is also an unlikely win/loss ratio for my team, the Cardinals. However, in my dream division results above I’ve placed them top of the NFC West; hey a man can dream.
So who do you play?
So you always play the teams in your division, your ‘division rivals’. You play these teams both home and away, so that’s 6 of your 16 games.
Want to see your team’s current record against divisional opponents, or others? Check out this handy page from the NFL’s official website
You also play each team from one other division in each conference. So in my example above, the Cardinals will play all four teams in the NFC North, and all 4 teams in the AFC South. Which divisions you face is rotated each year. So that’s another 8 games, giving 14 in total.
Your final two games are against the two teams, in your conference, who finished the previous season in the same position as you in their divisions. So in my example above, the Cardinals won the NFC West, so will the Giants (who won the NFC East), and the Panthers (who won the NFC South). So there’s your 16 games.