Conference | National Football Conference |
---|---|
League | National Football League |
Sport | American football |
Founded | 1967 (as the NFL Eastern Conference Capitol Division) |
No. of teams | 4 |
Country | United States |
Most recent champion(s) | Philadelphia Eagles (10 titles) |
Most titles | Dallas Cowboys (22 titles) |
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in the NFL Capitol Division were Dallas, Philadelphia, Washington and the expansion team New Orleans Saints, which had been replaced by the New York Giants for the 1968 season. The division is the only one in the league in which all four teams have a Super Bowl win.
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 21 NFC Championship wins and 13 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 Championships during their existence, and it is currently the only division whose teams have all won a Super Bowl. 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]
Place cursor over year for division champ or Super Bowl team.
NFL Eastern Conference Capitol Division |
NFC East Division[B] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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1900s | 2000s | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
67[A] | 68 | 69 | 70 | 71 | 72 | 73 | 74 | 75 | 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 [D] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2000s | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Dallas Cowboys | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Philadelphia Eagles | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Washington Redskins | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
New York Giants | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Team not in division Division Won Super Bowl Division Won NFC Championship |
Season | Team | Record | Playoff Results |
---|---|---|---|
NFL Capitol | |||
1967 | Dallas Cowboys | 9–5 | Lost NFL Championship |
1968 | Dallas Cowboys | 12–2 | Lost NFL Divisional Playoffs |
1969 | Dallas Cowboys | 11–2–1 | Lost NFL Divisional Playoffs |
There was one division sweep of the Capitol Division, 1969 Cowboys 6-0[8]
All four teams in the NFC East have won the Super Bowl. The Cowboys lead with five, followed by the Giants with four, the Redskins with three, and the Eagles with one. 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 four.
There have been two division sweeps of the NFC East Division, the 1998 Dallas Cowboys (8-0) and the 2004 Philadelphia Eagles (6-0). [8]
Team | Division Championships |
Playoff Berths |
Super Bowl Appearances |
Super Bowl Championships |
---|---|---|---|---|
Dallas Cowboys | 22 | 32 | 8 | 5 |
Philadelphia Eagles | 10 | 21 | 3 | 1 |
Washington Redskins | 9 | 18 | 5 | 3 |
New York Giants | 8 | 15 | 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- 1967-2017 | 51 | 89 | 22 | 13 |
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