The West was the dominant geographical region this season, with the AFC North becoming competitive top to bottom once again.
Sofi Stadium opened in 2020, and it will host its first Conference Championship game next week for the Rams.
That means every NFC West team will have hosted a Conference Championship game at their current stadium, which is something that no other division can claim.
State Farm Stadium (Cardinals) hosted in 2008, Levi's Stadium (49ers) hosted in 2019, and Lumen Field (Seahawks) hosted in 2005, 2013 and 2014.
For the other 7 divisions, below are the teams who have not hosted a conference championship game at their current stadium.
NFC East - AT&T Stadium (Cowboys), FedEx Field (Washington), and Metlife Stadium (Giants) have never hosted
NFC North - US Bank Stadium (Vikings) and Ford Field (Lions) have never hosted
NFC South - Mercedes-Benz Stadium (Falcons) has never hosted
AFC East - Metlife Stadium (Jets) has never hosted
AFC North - M&T Bank Stadium (Ravens), Paul Brown Stadium (Bengals) and FirstEnergy Stadium (Browns) have never hosted
AFC South - NRG Stadium (Texans) has never hosted
AFC West - Allegiant Stadium (Raiders) has never hosted, and Chargers have never hosted at Sofi Stadium
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_current_National_Football_League_stadiums
Bill was so close to hitting on that pre-season prediction
Every other division in football has at least one team with 9 or more losses, so no other division can finish with all teams at .500 or better this year. But the AFC West and AFC North are still all .500 or better (despite their best efforts at times).
It's somewhat surprising that these 8 teams have been able to stay above water despite having to play each other this year. The teams have played 14 of 16 games and split 7-7 so far:
Week 1:
Chiefs (33) v Browns (29)
Raiders (33) v Ravens (27), OT
Week 2:
Raiders (26) @ Steelers (17)
Chiefs (35) @ Ravens (36)
Week 4:
Broncos (7) v Ravens (23)
Week 5:
Broncos (19) @ Steelers (27)
Chargers (47) v Browns (42)
Week 6:
Chargers (6) @ Ravens (34)
Week 7:
Broncos (14) @ Browns (17)
Week 11:
Raiders (13) v Bengals (32)
Chargers (41) v Steelers (37)
Week 13:
Chargers (41) @ Bengals (22)
Week 15:
Broncos (10) v Bengals (15)
Raiders (16) @ Browns (14)
Week 16:
Chiefs v Steelers
Week 17:
Chiefs @ Bengals
We could still end up with an overall .500 between the divisions if the Chiefs split their remaining two matchups.
Overall records between the divisions:
Chiefs 1-1
Broncos 0-4 (yikes...)
Chargers 3-1
Raiders 3-1
Steelers 1-2
Browns 1-3
Bengals 2-1
Ravens 3-1
Since every team plays 6 games against their own division (which are ultimately .500 for the division) and 4 more games against the same-conference division they're paired with (which were .500 here), for all 8 teams to remain over .500, they had to do pretty well against their other 7 opponents, which are mostly cross-conference. So it's not surprising that the AFC West's overall record against the NFC is 14-6, and the AFC North's is 10-7-1 with 2 games to play.
A reminder that these threads are for more serious discussions.
How this works: each Thursday we will discuss a different pair of divisions, rotating between the Easts, Centrals, and Wests. This is your chance to catch up on what is going on in each division and discuss them with other fans.
This week we are discussing the AL and NL Wests.
| Division | Team | First Year to Finish Last |
|---|---|---|
| AFC East | Bills | 2002 |
| AFC East | Dolphins | 2004 |
| AFC East | Jets | 2003 |
| AFC North | Bengals | 2002 |
| AFC North | Browns | 2003 |
| AFC North | Ravens | 2007 |
| AFC South | Colts | 2011 |
| AFC South | Jaguars | 2008 |
| AFC South | Texans | 2002 |
| AFC South | Titans | 2004 |
| AFC West | Broncos | 2010 |
| AFC West | Chargers | 2003 |
| AFC West | Chiefs | 2002 |
| AFC West | Raiders | 2004 |
| NFC East | Cowboys | 2002 |
| NFC East | Eagles | 2005 |
| NFC East | Football Team | 2004 |
| NFC East | Giants | 2003 |
| NFC North | Bears | 2004 |
| NFC North | Lions | 2002 |
| NFC North | Packers | 2005 |
| NFC North | Vikings | 2010 |
| NFC South | Bucs | 2004 |
| NFC South | Falcons | 2003 |
| NFC South | Panthers | 2002 |
| NFC South | Saints | 2005 |
| NFC West | 49ers | 2004 |
| NFC West | Cardinals | 2002 |
| NFC West | Rams | 2007 |
| NFC West | Seahawks | 2021 |
THE GOPHERS ROWED THE BOAT DOWN THE BADGERS' THROATS.
With that, your Iowa Hawkeyes are facing the Michigan Fightin' Harbaughs in Indianapolis. Holy shit. It's happening, ya'll!
So as it stands there is a chance that Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, and Purdue all finish 6-3 in Conference play next week. Who stands to win the division of this is the case?
Riders #Faded
https://preview.redd.it/og2o3kg2iw481.jpg?width=2160&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=cc63dfee674da6d0ca2c51b627451e215c43ce41
https://preview.redd.it/555zong2iw481.jpg?width=2160&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=bf2395dba1ee7b2ebe1829bedf1a0eb013427eb5
https://preview.redd.it/2luyijf1iw481.jpg?width=2000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a4abb9c1ddca3ed0f7db9f721cddefe37273fac7
https://preview.redd.it/eayz8b81iw481.jpg?width=979&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=97367e36f2f4378cf7a4fe5db25e5d01aa6fd008
Just a fun little fact
Thanks Arizona... SAN DIEGO
-
AL East - 413 wins
-
NL West - 404 wins
-
AL West - 397 wins
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NL Central - 390 wins
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AL Central - 384 wins
-
NL East - 369 wins
Two teams in the pre-Divisional Era, the 1909 Cubs and 1942 Dodgers, won 104 games but placed 2nd in the National League standings.
AFC North:
Ravens 6-2 Steelers 5-3 Bengals 5-4 Browns 5-4
AFC West:
Chargers 5-3 Raiders 5-3 Chiefs 5-4 Broncos 5-4
Also worth noting is that both divisions have the majority of their inter-divisonal games coming up.
A reminder that these threads are for more serious discussions.
How this works: each Thursday we will discuss a different pair of divisions, rotating between the Easts, Centrals, and Wests. This is your chance to catch up on what is going on in each division and discuss them with other fans.
This week we are discussing the AL and NL Wests.
