After eight weeks of football, I have one question I would like to address: Which is the best division in the NFL? You know what, let’s go one step further. Let’s rank all eight divisions from best to worst. Let’s find out which divisions will likely produce multiple playoff teams, and which divisions are an embarrassment that don’t deserve a single playoff team.
Below, you will find an analysis of each division, along with an Overall Record of the division and a Inter-Divisional Record. I find that the Inter-divisional Record is more valuable when comparing divisions against each other because it discounts intra-divisional games, which will always be split evenly within the division. And before anyone says anything, I am aware that my divisional rankings are not ranked exactly in order of overall winning percentage. While overall winning percentage is a major factor in my rankings, it is not the only thing I considered when comparing divisions. I also consider my heavy bias towards specific divisions and teams, in order to make sure my rankings are fair through the eyes of me.
1. AFC West:
Overall Record: 20-11 (.645)
Inter-Divisional Record: 15-6 (.714)
The AFC West has separated itself from the pack as the best division in football. Top to bottom, every team in this division is competitive. The top three teams in the division each have only two losses, and the bottom team is the Chargers (3-5), who could easily be 7-1 right now, if it weren’t for a number of laughable failures in the late stages of games.
While many picked the Raiders to make a big jump this season, few could have predicted that they would be 6-2 at the halfway mark. The resurgence of the Oakland Raiders is a major factor in the dominance of the AFC West this season, as the Chiefs and Broncos have been the only consistently good teams in the division for the past few years. Now the AFC West has three (arguably four) strong teams, fighting for the division crown.
Oakland currently sits at the top of the division with a massive home game coming up next week against Denver on Sunday night. The winner will hold sole possession of first place in the AFC West, as both teams are currently 6-2. For the Raiders, a win against Denver would serve as a statement game that they are for real. A win for Denver would help them rebound from an inconsistent stretch in the season, which has seen the Broncos lose two of their last four games. Meanwhile, Kansas City is quietly lurking in the background of this divisional battle. The Chiefs currently sit at 5-2, a half game back of the action. The Chiefs have already proven their worth in the division back in Week 6, when they went into Oakland and beat the Raiders. They will need Nick Foles to step up in place of Alex Smith in Week 9, if they hope to keep pace with the division leader.
The Chargers have been very impressive this year, but they just haven’t been able to find a way to win in too many games. They may be in too deep of a hole to make a playoff run this season. I expect this division to be a three horse race for most of the season, with the Chargers being a divisional nuisance to the Raiders, Broncos, and Chiefs along the way.
2. NFC East:
Overall Record: 18-10-1 (.638)
Inter-Divisional Record: 13-5-1 (.711)
Every team in the NFC East is above .500. That is quite the stat. Dallas is leading the way, on their unprecedented rookie-led tour. The Cowboys sit at 6-1, while the rest of the division hovers just above mediocrity with three losses each. The overall record indicates that the NFC East is a top division; however, I am not totally convinced yet. While the Cowboys have been convincing so far, the Redskins, Giants, and Eagles all have more to prove.
New York’s most impressive win was against the aforementioned Cowboys in Week 1. While this win looks impressive now, this was the first game of Dak Prescott’s career, so maybe it is a bit misleading. Other than Week 1, the Giants have flopped against their better competition, such as their road games against the Vikings and Packers. New York still has a lot to prove over the second half of the season.
The Eagles are also difficult to figure out at the moment. Any time a team is starting a rookie quarterback, the progression of the season can be sudden and unexpected, which is what the Eagles have experienced so far. Philadelphia has found ways to beat Minnesota and Pittsburgh by double digits, but only sit at 4-3 on the season. The young quarterback appears to operate much more comfortably at home, as the Eagles are 3-0 at Lincoln Financial Field.
Meanwhile, Washington missed a chance to prove their worth in London on Sunday, and ultimately stumbled to a tie, after Dustin Hopkins missed a chip shot field goal late in overtime. The missed field goals in overtime have been somewhat of a trend in this 2016 season, as kickers are a staggering 2 for 7 in overtime.
3. AFC East:
Overall Record: 17-14 (.548)
Inter-Divisional Record: 12-9 (.571)
The only other division with an overall record above .500 is the AFC East. Led by the best team in football, the East has some depth behind New England. The Patriots have looked unstoppable since Brady’s return, going 4-0 after their 3-1 start during his suspension. New England’s only loss was an embarrassing home game shutout against Buffalo, which they already made amends for by walloping the Bills in Buffalo just last Sunday. The Patriots toughest remaining game on the schedule is in Week 15, when they head to Denver to face the Broncos. Other than that, it is hard to pick out a game where I think they will lose. There is no reason to believe that the Patriots won’t grab the AFC’s top seed this season, as they are likely to amass at least 13 wins.
The Bills have held their own outside of the division, but through just 8 weeks of the season, they have already lost to each team in the AFC East. All three of Buffalo’s inter-divisional victories have come against the lowly NFC West, which makes you question whether or not this western New York team is any good. They’ll look to make it 4 for 4 against the NFC West, when they play the Seahawks this Monday Night.
The Dolphins nearly beat the Seahawks and the Patriots to start the season, but they also came uncomfortably close to losing to the Browns in Week 3. The one bright spot for the Dolphins is that they are coming off two straight wins, which came against two solid teams in Pittsburgh and Buffalo. Miami sit just above the Jets in the AFC East standings, who are currently 3-5.
Four of New York’s losses have been by double digits, and one of their wins came against the Browns. New York panicked in Week 7 and decided to bench Fitzpatrick. Geno Smith entered the game as the started and promptly tore his ACL. This required Fitzpatrick to make a nearly immediate and awkward return to the starting lineup of a team that just benched him. The Jets have won two in a row with Fitzpatrick back at the helm, but I would still be skeptical if I were a Jets fan, as the team still has a myriad of personnel problems to deal with.
4. NFC North:
Overall Record: 15-15 (.500)
Inter-Divisional Record: 10-10 (.500)
Hello mediocrity! The NFC North is a perfect 15-15 at the halfway point of the season. The Vikings and Packers are duking it out at the top of the division, the Lions are meddling in the middle (as is their way), and the Bears are an embarrassment to the city of Chicago (Go Cubs!). Minnesota seems to finally be falling back to earth, as everyone in the NFL just remembered that Bradford is a lame football quarterback with glass bones. A loss to Chicago on Monday Night Football appears to be the ultimate premonition that doomsday (the day the Packers take their rightful spot at the top of the North) is coming soon. Editor’s Note: I just made up that definition of doomsday (not to be confused with cheesehead day). All of this must make Teddy Bridgewater a little happy. Sometimes it’s nice to know that you are an important employee at your job when you are recovering from an on-the-job injury.
As Green Bay continues to close in on Minnesota for the division lead, they will continue to try to figure out how to win games without any true running backs, as Green Bay just lost a shootout with Atlanta where Aaron Rodgers was the leading rusher for the Packers. As for the rest of the division, there isn’t much to talk about. The Lions continue to be mediocre in their sad post-Megatron era. And the Bears are already planning for life post-Cutler. At least the motivation will still be there for Cutler, as he begins his 8 week long audition for his next job (which will probably be with the New York Jets).
5. NFC South:
Overall Record: 13-16 (.448)
Inter-Divisional Record: 8-11 (.421)
What an unpredictable division! So far, Atlanta has been able to separate themselves from the rest of the NFC South, but who knows how long that will last. The feared offense of the Falcons is back, as Matt Ryan has looked like an MVP candidate through the first half. It looked like Atlanta would run away with the division, but all three teams have begun to creep back into the division race. Tampa Bay will look to sweep the season series against Atlanta on Thursday night (tonight!), as the Bucs host the Falcons in a rematch of Week 1’s contest. Tampa Bay is currently 1.5 games behind the Falcons in the race for the division crown, and tonight’s game could prove to be a crucial one in the playoff picture. The Bucs missed a big opportunity for an impressive win last week, when they came very close to beating the Raiders in overtime (hell yeah). They’ll have to rebound quickly if they hope to win tonight.
The Saints just posted a high profile win, defeating the Seahawks, by putting up 25 points against the vaunted Seattle defense. The Saints are not 3-1 since starting the season 0-3. Momentum is on New Orleans’ side, as they look to close the gap on the first place Falcons. I like their chances, as Brees has shown that he still has a little life in his arm. New Orleans offense is currently 2nd in points per game and total yards per game. Unfortunately, the Saints offense still has the task of dragging along the lifeless corpse that is their defense, which sits at 31st in points per game and 28th in yards per game. The success of the Saints season will be based on whether or not the strength of the offense is greater than the weakness of the defense.
At the bottom of the division, the defending NFC champs are found still trying to find their bearings. A combination of bad luck and inconsistent play has landed the Panthers at 2-5 this season. They are coming off a strong win against the Cardinals, but they still have a lot of work to do if they want to claw their way back into the divisional race. Josh Norman has proven to have been more valuable than the front office of the Panthers organization could have imagined, as Carolina has been absolutely gashed through the air en route to their poor start. I wouldn’t count Carolina out just yet though, as three of their five losses have come against teams with 5 or more wins on the season.
6. AFC North:
Overall Record: 10-19-1 (.350)
Inter-Divisional Record: 7-16-1 (.313)
Is 6th too high for the division with the worst record in football? Maybe. The 0-8 Browns are certainly not helping the cause. Still, I like this division because I feel as though all four teams have underperformed to this point. At their best, the Steelers can be the best team in football. However, they still have some problems to fix, evidenced by their 31 point loss to Philadelphia and 15 point loss to Miami. Sometimes the NFL makes no sense, and that’s just the world we have to live in. Pittsburgh is approaching a critical point in their season. The Steelers are currently in first place, but with the health of Roethlisberger in question and the Bengals and Ravens breathing down their necks, this division is still up for grabs.
Cincinnati is nipping at the heels of Pittsburgh. They currently sit at 3-4-1, after having played one of the toughest schedules to open the season. I still like the Bengals as a playoff team. Whether that will be as a division champion or a wild card team is yet to be seen. Meanwhile, Baltimore briefly looked like the best team in the North after a 3-0 start. However, they have lost four straight since. The Ravens are coming off a bye, as they will look to rebound and right the ship of their season against the Steelers in Baltimore this Sunday.
And finally… do I have to talk about the Browns? The quarterback carousel in Cleveland continues, as the factory of sadness keeps finding ways to produce sadder ways for their football team to lose. At least the Cleveland basketball and baseball teams (Go Cubs) are good.
7. AFC South:
Overall Record: 14-17 (.452)
Inter-Divisional Record: 9-12 (.429)
Am I being hard on the AFC South, ranking them as the 2nd worst division in the NFL? Possibly. Still, I stand by it. Every team in the AFC South has a negative point differential, and the first place team in the division is 31st in points per game and 29th in yards per game. Each of the teams in this division are mediocre at best, and none of them have proven that they deserve to make the playoffs. Houston has one impressive victory on their resume so far, and that was against the Chiefs. However, I also saw this team get spanked by the Brady-less Patriots, 27-0. If the Texans want to prove their worth, they are going to have to start playing some offense. Otherwise, the unspeakable might happen, and the TITANS could make the playoffs. That’s right! At the halfway point, Tennessee is in second place in the AFC South, representing the top threat to Houston’s grip on the division. Mariota has been decent, and the team has been impressive in spurts. Still, the Titans are pretenders even in this very weak division. I would be more surprised if the Titans were to make the playoffs than if they were to finish the season 0-8.
The Colts are the most frustrating team in the division. They have a great quarterback who gets no protection in the pocket, and they play in a division with no top tier team. Indianapolis has the potential to be great, but they continue to fall short. I imagine that it will only be a matter of time before Indianapolis rises back to the top of the division. However, if they continue to play this poorly, it may not be in the near future. Indy fans can take solace in the fact that the weak AFC South is still ripe for the taking… as long as you are not the Jaguars. This was finally supposed to be the season where Jacksonville made that leap back to the playoffs. Turns out, this is just the same old lousy Jaguars team that we have grown to know. The Jaguars have not produced a winning season since 2007, and it looks like it will continue to stay that way for the foreseeable future.
8. NFC West:
Overall Record: 11-16-2 (.414)
Inter-Divisional Record: 6-11 (.353)
Well, someone has to be the worst. In my mind, it is obviously the NFC West. The Seahawks have been the only team worth watching in this division, and even they have looked nothing like the team that has won at least 10 games in each of their last four seasons. Seattle’s offense is abysmal, and their defense is barely keeping them afloat in a division that poses very few challenges. Seattle’s most impressive win was a controversial game against the Falcons, which saw a blatant pass interference call against Julio Jones ignored in the dying stages of the game. Their other 3 wins come against the Dolphins, Jets, and Niners, which does little to impress me. The Cardinals have been sticking around, and I expect them to be competitive, even if it is for the sole fact that this division is horrid. Carson Palmer is limping towards retirement, and it might already be too late for him, as the Arizona offense has struggled to produce in the first half of the season.
Los Angeles nearly tricked us into believing that they were good at the start of the season, when they started 3-1. Fortunately, 3 straight losses have dragged them back down to where they belong, just above the worst team in the NFL, the 49ers. San Francisco has been an absolute embarrassment, since the departure of Jim Harbaugh (who to no surprise, currently coaches the number 2 team in college football). Jed York is a perfect example of what happens when you let your ego get the best of you. All York needed to do was step back and let the people that know something about football dictate the day-to-day decision making of his team. Instead, he butted heads with Harbaugh, sent him packing, and is now the owner of a terrible franchise that at least has a nice new stadium… in Santa Clara. With so many holes to fill on this awful roster, who should start at quarterback is really the least of the worries in San Francisco. This team is many years away from being relevant again. 
