TheNational Football Conference – Eastern DivisionorNFC Eastis one of the fourdivisionsof theNational Football Conference(NFC) in theNational Football League(NFL). It has four members: theDallas Cowboys,New York Giants,Philadelphia Eagles,andWashington Commanders.
| Conference | National Football Conference(NFC) |
|---|---|
| League | National Football League(NFL) |
| Sport | American football |
| Founded | 1967 |
| No. of teams | 4 |
| Most recent champion(s) | Philadelphia Eagles(13th title) |
| Most titles | Dallas Cowboys(25 titles) |
The division was formed in 1967 as theNational Football League Capitol Divisionand acquired its current name in 1970 following theAFL-NFL merger.The NFC East is currently the only division in the league in which all four current teams have won not only at least oneSuper Bowl,but also at least two.[1][2]With 14 Super Bowl titles, the NFC East is currently the most successful division in the NFL during the Super Bowl era, with theAFC Westsecond with ten titles. TheDallas Cowboyshave the most Super Bowl titles in the division, winning five. TheNew York Giantshave won four, theWashington Commandershave three, and thePhiladelphia Eagleshave two Super Bowl victories, including the most recent,Super Bowl LIX.
The NFC East currently has the longest streak without a consecutive division champion, with no team having repeated since the Philadelphia Eagles won four consecutive titles from2001to2004.[3][4][5][6][7][8]
History
editThe division's original name, NFL Capitol Division, derived from being centered on the capital of the United States,Washington, D.C.,and the country's birthplace,Philadelphia.In 1967 and 1969, the teams in the division were Dallas, Philadelphia, Washington and theexpansion teamNew Orleans Saints,with the New York Giants swapping divisions with the Saints for the 1968 season. This arrangement had been agreed in advance as a means to ensure all of the NFL's teams would be able to visit New York once in those three years. With the merger in 1970, following contentious negotiations culminating in a random draw, it was agreed that New York (along with theSt. Louis Cardinals) would permanently return to the re-branded NFC East.
The NFC East has a long history of being geographically inaccurate. While the New York Giants, Philadelphia, and Washington are based on the East Coast, Dallas andSt. Louis (later Phoenix, then Arizona)remained part of the East from the 1970 merger until 2002 despite being geographically west of most teams in the conference and closer to thePacific Ocean.
To begin with, the Cowboys were located east of only two NFC teams that were outside of the East division (Los Angeles RamsandSan Francisco 49ersfrom the West division), while the Cardinals were east of one additional such team (Minnesota Vikingsfrom the Central division). TheTampa Bay Buccaneers,east of Dallas and St. Louis, joined the Central as an expansion team in 1976. The Cardinals relocated to Phoenix to start the1988season and stayed in the East through2001;that made them located west of every team in the NFC except for the Rams and 49ers. The Rams relocated from Los Angeles to St. Louis to start the1995season and stayed in the West, while theCarolina Panthersjoined the West as an expansion team that same season; this made the Cardinals and Cowboys west of every team in the conference, except for the 49ers, from 1995 to 2001.
While the divisions in general have been much more geographically accurate since the NFL's realignment of 2002, even following the Rams' return to Los Angeles, the Cowboys are further west than every team in the league except for seven of the eight West teams in both conferences, in addition to theKansas City Chiefsof theAFC West.
General information
editThe NFC East teams have combined to be the most successful division in the Super Bowl era with 22NFC championshipsand 14Super Bowlvictories, the highest marks of any division in the NFL. The division features a number of prominent rivalries such as theCowboys–Eagles rivalry,Cowboys–Washington rivalryandEagles–Giants rivalry,among others. 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. 9), the NFC East receives a high amount of coverage from national sports media outlets.[9]In the early 1990s the division claimed four consecutive Super Bowl champions, all against theBuffalo Bills,with the Giants and Washington respectively winning back-to-back in Super BowlsXXVandXXVI;and the Cowboys winning twice after in Super BowlsXXVIIandXXVIII.Those same three teams won seven out of ten Super Bowls, from 1986–87 to 1995–96 (the 49ers won the other three during that span). Meanwhile, the Eagles are the most recent team in the division to win multiple Super Bowls, beating the Patriots 41–33 inSuper Bowl LIIand the Chiefs 40-22 inSuper Bowl LIX.
The NFC East was the first division since the 2002 realignment to send 3 teams to the playoffs when the2006-07 NFL playoffshad Philadelphia winning the division and Dallas and New York taking both Wild Card spots. On the other hand, the NFC East became one of three divisions to be won by a team with a losing record (the previous two being theNFC SouthandNFC West) when the then-Washington Football Teamwon the2020division crown with a 7–9 record.
ThePhiladelphia Eaglesare the only NFC East team to actually play in the city of the team's naming.[10]The other three teams play in suburbs of the major cities they are named after. TheDallas Cowboysplay inArlington, Texas,and are the only team in this division not based in theEastern Time Zone(the Cowboys are based in theCentral Time Zone).[11]TheWashington Commandersplay inLandover, Maryland,[12]and theNew York Giantsplay inEast Rutherford, New Jersey,[13]where they sharea stadiumwith theNew York Jets.Analogously, three of the fourAFC Eastteams do not actually play within the city of their naming. (ThePatriotsgeographical identifier is New England, being named for the region the team plays in.)
As of 2024, all four teams in the division were in the top ten of most valuable NFL franchises (Cowboys #1; Giants #2; Commanders #7; Eagles #9).[14]
Division lineups
editPlace cursor overyearfor division champion.
| NFL Eastern Conference Capitol Division |
NFC East Division[B] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1900s | 2000s | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 67[A] | 68 | 69 | 70 | 71 | 72 | 73 | 74 | 75[C] | 76 | 77 | 78 | 79 | 80 | 81 | 82 | 83 | 84 | 85 | 86 | 87 | 88 | 89 | 90 | 91 | 92 | 93 | 94 | 95 | 96 | 97 | 98 | 99 | 00 | 01 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Dallas Cowboys | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Philadelphia Eagles | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Washington Redskins | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| N.O. Saints | NY Giants | N.O. Saints | New York Giants | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| St. Louis Cardinals[C] | Phoenix Cardinals | Arizona Cardinals[D] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| NFC East Division[E] | |||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07[F] | 08 | 09 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 |
| Dallas Cowboys | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Philadelphia Eagles | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Washington Redskins | Washington Football Team | Washington Commanders | |||||||||||||||||||||
| New York Giants | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Team not in divisionDivision Won Super BowlDivision Won NFC Championship | |||||||||||||||||||||||
- AThe Eastern Conference was divided into the Capitol and Century Divisions. Dallas, Philadelphia, and Washington moved in. Also, the New Orleans Saints joined the league.
- BThe Capitol Division adopts its current name. New Orleans realigned to the NFC West. The Giants and Cardinals are added from the Century Division.
- CAlthough the Cardinals were division champions, theCowboyswon the NFC Championship as a wild card qualifier.
- DSt. Louis moved toPhoenixin 1988. The team changed its name from Phoenix Cardinals to the Arizona Cardinals in 1994.
- EArizona moved to the NFC West when the league realigned into eight four-team divisions before the 2002 season.
- FAlthough the Cowboys were division champions, theGiantswon the Super Bowl as a wild card qualifier.
Division champions
edit- * 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.[15]
- ^ The 2007 Dallas Cowboys were defeated by division rival and NFC 5th SeedNew York Giants,who ultimately wonSuper 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 first team to win the Super Bowl as the NFC's 4th Seed.[15]
- * The2020 Washington Football Teamis the only NFC East division winner to have a losing record.
Including the pre-Super Bowl era, the Giants have eight league championships, while Eagles, Cowboys, and Washington have five each.
There have been three division sweeps of the NFC East Division, the 1998 Dallas Cowboys (8–0), the 2004 Philadelphia Eagles (6–0), and the 2021 Dallas Cowboys (6–0).[16]
Wild Card qualifiers
edit- + 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 first NFL team in history to win the Super Bowl as a 5th Seed in either Conference.[15]
Total playoff berths since 1967
edit| Team | Division Championships |
Playoff Berths |
Super Bowl Appearances |
Super Bowl Championships |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dallas Cowboys | 25 | 34 | 8 | 5 |
| Philadelphia Eagles | 13 | 24 | 5 | 2 |
| Washington Commanders | 9 | 19 | 5 | 3 |
| New York Giants | 8 | 16 | 5 | 4 |
| Arizona Cardinals1 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
To sort table above, click button to right of heading.
| NFC East | Division Championships |
Playoff Berths |
NFC Championships |
Super Bowl Championships |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Totals (1967–2024) | 55 | 96 | 23 | 14 |
- 1These numbers only reflect the Cardinals' time as a member of the NFC East, as the team realigned to theNFC Westafter the2001 season.
Season results
edit| (#) | Denotes team that won theSuper Bowl |
| (#) | Denotes team that won theNFC Championship |
| (#) | Denotes team that qualified for theNFL Playoffs |
Schedule assignments
edit| Year | Opponents | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Interconf. | Intraconf. | 17th Opponent | |
| 2025 | AFC West | NFC North | AFC East (away) |
| 2026 | AFC South | NFC West | AFC North (home) |
| 2027 | AFC East | NFC South | AFC West (away) |
| 2028 | AFC North | NFC North | AFC South (home) |
| 2029 | AFC West | NFC West | AFC East (away) |
| 2030 | AFC South | NFC South | AFC North (home) |
See also
editReferences
edit- ^Polacek, Scott (February 5, 2018)."NFC East Becomes 1st Division in Which Each Team Has Won a Super Bowl".Bleacher Report.RetrievedFebruary 21,2024.
- ^"The Eagles' roster overhaul between two Super Bowl titles is an NFL rarity".ABC News.RetrievedFebruary 12,2025.
- ^Hladik, Matt (January 7, 2024)."The NFC East's New Division Winner Streak Has Now Reached 19 Years".AthlonSports.com | Expert Predictions, Picks, and Previews.RetrievedFebruary 14,2024.
- ^Richman, Jacob (January 9, 2024)."When was the last NFC East repeat champion and why is the streak so long?".lonestarlive.RetrievedFebruary 14,2024.
- ^Frank, Reuben (August 28, 2023)."A look at every NFC East winner since 2004 and why they didn't repeat".NBC Sports Philadelphia.RetrievedFebruary 14,2024.
- ^Maaddi, Rob (October 17, 2022)."Analysis: NFC East goes from least to beast in 2 years".AP News.RetrievedFebruary 12,2025.
- ^Gordon, Grant (January 7, 2024)."Cowboys win second NFC East title in three seasons with win over Commanders".NFL.com.RetrievedFebruary 14,2024.
- ^"NFC East Has No Repeat Champions For Two Decades".fantasyindex.com.December 31, 2024.RetrievedFebruary 12,2025.
- ^https://web.archive.org/web/20120407154627/http://www.tvb.org/media/file/TVB_Market_Profiles_Nielsen_Household_DMA_RANKS.pdf.Archived fromthe original(PDF)on April 7, 2012.RetrievedJuly 20,2012.
{{cite web}}:Missing or empty|title=(help) - ^"Lincoln Financial Field - Google Maps".Google Maps.RetrievedNovember 30,2016.
- ^"AT&T Stadium - Google Maps".Google Maps.RetrievedNovember 30,2016.
- ^"FedExField".Redskins.RetrievedDecember 12,2016.
- ^"Met Life Stadium - Google Maps".Google Maps.RetrievedNovember 30,2016.
- ^"NFL team valuations rankings for 2023:Cowboys again tower over every franchise, Giants exceed $7 billion".CBS Sports.August 9, 2023.RetrievedSeptember 11,2023.
- ^abc"Graphic: Which NFL Playoff Seeds Succeed?".January 3, 2013.
- ^"NFL.com - Official Site of the National Football League - NFL.com".www.nfl.com.