The National Football Conference (NFC) is one of the two conferences of the National Football League (NFL), the highest professional level of American football in the United States. The NFC and its counterpart, the American Football Conference (AFC), each contain 16 teams organized into 4 divisions. Both conferences were created as part of the 1970 NFL merger with the rival American Football League (AFL), with all ten of the former AFL teams and three NFL teams forming the AFC while the remaining thirteen NFL clubs formed the NFC. A series of league expansions and division realignments have occurred since the merger, thus making the total of 16 clubs in each conference. The defending NFC champions are the Philadelphia Eagles, who defeated the San Francisco 49ers in the 2022 season's NFC Championship Game for their fourth conference championship.
This chart of the 2022 season standings displays an application of the NFL scheduling formula. The Eagles in 2022 (highlighted in green) finished in first place in the NFC East. Thus, in 2023, the Eagles will play two games against each of its division rivals (highlighted in light blue), one game against each team in the NFC West and AFC East (highlighted in yellow), and one game each against the first-place finishers in the NFC North, NFC South (highlighted in orange), and AFC West (highlighted in pink).
The fourteen opponents each team faces over the 17-game regular season schedule are set using a pre-determined formula:
Each NFC team plays the other teams in their respective division twice (home and away) during the regular season, in addition to eleven other games assigned to their schedule by the NFL: three games are assigned on the basis of a particular team's final divisional standing from the previous season, and the remaining eight games are split between the roster of two other NFL divisions. This assignment shifts each year and will follow a standard cycle. Using the 2023 regular season schedule as an example, each team in the NFC East plays against every team in the NFC West and AFC East. In this way, non-divisional competition will be mostly among common opponents – the exception being the three games assigned based on the team's prior-season divisional standing.
At the end of each season, the four division winners and three wild cards (non-division winners with best regular season record) in the NFC qualify for the playoffs. The NFC playoffs culminate in the NFC Championship Game with the winner receiving the George S. Halas Trophy. The NFC champion then plays the AFC champion in the Super Bowl.
History
Both the AFC and NFC were created after the NFL merged with the American Football League (AFL) in 1970.[1] When the AFL began play in 1960 with eight teams, the NFL consisted of 13 clubs. By 1969, the AFL had expanded to ten teams and the NFL to 16 clubs. In order to balance the merged league, all ten of the former AFL teams along with the NFL's Cleveland Browns, Pittsburgh Steelers, and Baltimore Colts formed the AFC, while the remaining 13 NFL teams formed the NFC.
While the newly formed AFC had already agreed upon and set up their divisional alignment plan along almost purely geographic lines, team owners could not agree to a plan on how to align the clubs in the NFC. The alignment proposals were narrowed down to five finalists (each one sealed in an envelope), and then the plan that was eventually selected was picked out of a glass bowl by then-NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle's secretary, Thelma Elkjer,[2] on January 16, 1970.[3]
The five alignment plans for the NFC in 1970 were as follows, with Plan 3 eventually selected:
Eastern – Minnesota, New York Giants, Philadelphia, Washington
Central – Atlanta, Dallas, New Orleans, St. Louis
Western – Chicago, Detroit, Green Bay, Los Angeles, San Francisco
Plan 3
Eastern – Dallas, New York Giants, Philadelphia, St. Louis, Washington
Central – Chicago, Detroit, Green Bay, Minnesota
Western – Atlanta, Los Angeles, New Orleans, San Francisco
Plan 4
Eastern – Minnesota, New York Giants, Philadelphia, St. Louis, Washington
Central – Atlanta, Chicago, Detroit, Green Bay
Western – Dallas, New Orleans, Los Angeles, San Francisco
Plan 5
Eastern – Detroit, Minnesota, New York Giants, Philadelphia, Washington
Central – Chicago, Dallas, Green Bay, St. Louis
Western – Atlanta, Los Angeles, New Orleans, San Francisco
Three expansion teams have joined the NFC since the merger, thus making the total 16. When the Seattle Seahawks and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers joined the league in 1976, they were temporarily placed in the NFC and AFC, respectively, for one season before they switched conferences. The Seahawks returned to the NFC as a result of the 2002 realignment. The Carolina Panthers joined the NFC in 1995.
As of 2021, the only pre-merger team that does not play in its 1969 market is the St. Louis Cardinals, who moved in 1988 to Phoenix suburb of Tempe (they moved to Glendale in 2006). The Los Angeles Ramsmoved to St. Louis in 1995, but moved back to Los Angeles in 2016. None of the expansion teams added after 1970 have relocated.
With the exception of the aforementioned relocations since that time, the divisional setup established in 2002 has remained static ever since.
Logo
Original National Football Conference logo (1970–2009)
The original NFC logo, in use from 1970 to 2009, depicted a blue 'N' with three stars across it. The three stars represented the three divisions that were used from 1970 to 2001 (Eastern, Central and Western).[4] The 2010 NFL season brought an updated NFC logo. Largely similar to the old logo, the new logo has a fourth star, representing the four divisions that have composed the NFC since 2002.[5]
Television
CBS aired the NFC's Sunday afternoon and playoffs games from 1970 through the 1993 season. From 1994 to 2013, Fox was the primary rightsholder to the NFC's games. In those years, all interconference games in which the NFC team was the visiting team were broadcast on either CBS or Fox. Since 2014, the cross-flex policy allows select NFC games (that involve them playing an AFC team at home or intraconference games) to be moved from Fox to CBS. Since 1990, select NFC playoff games have been seen on ABC or ESPN.
References
^"Pro Football – History". Retrieved April 3, 2009.
^Anderson, Dave (February 27, 2000). "Sports of The Times; The Woman Who Aligned the N.F.C. Teams". The New York Times. Retrieved June 22, 2018.
^Stellino, Vito (October 7, 1999). "NFL to try realign play". Baltimore Sun. Retrieved January 24, 2010.
^"National Football Conference Logo". Retrieved December 29, 2009.
^Paul Lukas. . Uni Watch blog. Archived from the original on May 6, 2010. Retrieved April 16, 2010.
May 13, 2023
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This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources National Football Conference news newspapers books scholar JSTOR January 2015 Learn how and when to remove this template message The National Football Conference NFC is one of the two conferences of the National Football League NFL the highest professional level of American football in the United States The NFC and its counterpart the American Football Conference AFC each contain 16 teams organized into 4 divisions Both conferences were created as part of the 1970 NFL merger with the rival American Football League AFL with all ten of the former AFL teams and three NFL teams forming the AFC while the remaining thirteen NFL clubs formed the NFC A series of league expansions and division realignments have occurred since the merger thus making the total of 16 clubs in each conference The defending NFC champions are the Philadelphia Eagles who defeated the San Francisco 49ers in the 2022 season s NFC Championship Game for their fourth conference championship National Football ConferenceNational Football Conference logo 2010 present FormerlyNational Football League NFL pre mergerLeagueNational Football LeagueSportAmerican footballFounded1970No of teams16Most recentchampion s Philadelphia Eagles 4th title Most titlesDallas Cowboys 8 titles Contents 1 Teams 2 Season structure 3 History 4 Logo 5 Television 6 ReferencesTeams EditSince 2002 like the AFC the NFC has 16 teams that organized into four divisions each with four teams East North South and West Division Team City StadiumEast Dallas Cowboys Arlington Texas AT amp T StadiumNew York Giants East Rutherford New Jersey MetLife StadiumPhiladelphia Eagles Philadelphia Pennsylvania Lincoln Financial FieldWashington Commanders Landover Maryland FedExFieldNorth Chicago Bears Chicago Illinois Soldier FieldDetroit Lions Detroit Michigan Ford FieldGreen Bay Packers Green Bay Wisconsin Lambeau FieldMinnesota Vikings Minneapolis Minnesota U S Bank StadiumSouth Atlanta Falcons Atlanta Georgia Mercedes Benz StadiumCarolina Panthers Charlotte North Carolina Bank of America StadiumNew Orleans Saints New Orleans Louisiana Caesars SuperdomeTampa Bay Buccaneers Tampa Florida Raymond James StadiumWest Arizona Cardinals Glendale Arizona State Farm StadiumLos Angeles Rams Inglewood California SoFi StadiumSan Francisco 49ers Santa Clara California Levi s StadiumSeattle Seahawks Seattle Washington Lumen FieldSeason structure EditMain articles NFL regular season and NFL playoffs POS AFC East AFC North AFC South AFC West1st Bills Bengals Jaguars Chiefs2nd Dolphins Ravens Titans Chargers3rd Patriots Steelers Colts Raiders4th Jets Browns Texans BroncosPOS NFC East NFC North NFC South NFC West1st Eagles Vikings Buccaneers 49ers2nd Cowboys Lions Panthers Seahawks3rd Giants Packers Saints Rams4th Commanders Bears Falcons CardinalsThis chart of the 2022 season standings displays an application of the NFL scheduling formula The Eagles in 2022 highlighted in green finished in first place in the NFC East Thus in 2023 the Eagles will play two games against each of its division rivals highlighted in light blue one game against each team in the NFC West and AFC East highlighted in yellow and one game each against the first place finishers in the NFC North NFC South highlighted in orange and AFC West highlighted in pink The fourteen opponents each team faces over the 17 game regular season schedule are set using a pre determined formula Each NFC team plays the other teams in their respective division twice home and away during the regular season in addition to eleven other games assigned to their schedule by the NFL three games are assigned on the basis of a particular team s final divisional standing from the previous season and the remaining eight games are split between the roster of two other NFL divisions This assignment shifts each year and will follow a standard cycle Using the 2023 regular season schedule as an example each team in the NFC East plays against every team in the NFC West and AFC East In this way non divisional competition will be mostly among common opponents the exception being the three games assigned based on the team s prior season divisional standing At the end of each season the four division winners and three wild cards non division winners with best regular season record in the NFC qualify for the playoffs The NFC playoffs culminate in the NFC Championship Game with the winner receiving the George S Halas Trophy The NFC champion then plays the AFC champion in the Super Bowl History EditBoth the AFC and NFC were created after the NFL merged with the American Football League AFL in 1970 1 When the AFL began play in 1960 with eight teams the NFL consisted of 13 clubs By 1969 the AFL had expanded to ten teams and the NFL to 16 clubs In order to balance the merged league all ten of the former AFL teams along with the NFL s Cleveland Browns Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Colts formed the AFC while the remaining 13 NFL teams formed the NFC While the newly formed AFC had already agreed upon and set up their divisional alignment plan along almost purely geographic lines team owners could not agree to a plan on how to align the clubs in the NFC The alignment proposals were narrowed down to five finalists each one sealed in an envelope and then the plan that was eventually selected was picked out of a glass bowl by then NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle s secretary Thelma Elkjer 2 on January 16 1970 3 The five alignment plans for the NFC in 1970 were as follows with Plan 3 eventually selected Plan 1 Eastern Atlanta Falcons Minnesota Vikings New York Giants Philadelphia Eagles Washington Redskins Central Chicago Bears Detroit Lions Green Bay Packers New Orleans Saints Western Dallas Cowboys Los Angeles Rams St Louis Cardinals San Francisco 49ers Plan 2 Eastern Minnesota New York Giants Philadelphia Washington Central Atlanta Dallas New Orleans St Louis Western Chicago Detroit Green Bay Los Angeles San Francisco Plan 3 Eastern Dallas New York Giants Philadelphia St Louis Washington Central Chicago Detroit Green Bay Minnesota Western Atlanta Los Angeles New Orleans San Francisco Plan 4 Eastern Minnesota New York Giants Philadelphia St Louis Washington Central Atlanta Chicago Detroit Green Bay Western Dallas New Orleans Los Angeles San Francisco Plan 5 Eastern Detroit Minnesota New York Giants Philadelphia Washington Central Chicago Dallas Green Bay St Louis Western Atlanta Los Angeles New Orleans San FranciscoThree expansion teams have joined the NFC since the merger thus making the total 16 When the Seattle Seahawks and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers joined the league in 1976 they were temporarily placed in the NFC and AFC respectively for one season before they switched conferences The Seahawks returned to the NFC as a result of the 2002 realignment The Carolina Panthers joined the NFC in 1995 Parity is generally greater among NFC teams than AFC teams The only NFC team that has never made a Super Bowl appearance is the Detroit Lions Since the 2002 division realignment the NFC has sent 12 different teams to the Super Bowl whereas the AFC has only sent 8 the Baltimore Ravens 1 time the Cincinnati Bengals 1 time the Las Vegas Raiders 1 time the Kansas City Chiefs 2 times the Denver Broncos 2 times the Indianapolis Colts 2 times the Pittsburgh Steelers 3 times and the New England Patriots 8 times The only NFC team to make back to back Super Bowls since 2002 are the Seattle Seahawks As of 2021 the only pre merger team that does not play in its 1969 market is the St Louis Cardinals who moved in 1988 to Phoenix suburb of Tempe they moved to Glendale in 2006 The Los Angeles Rams moved to St Louis in 1995 but moved back to Los Angeles in 2016 None of the expansion teams added after 1970 have relocated With the exception of the aforementioned relocations since that time the divisional setup established in 2002 has remained static ever since Logo Edit Original National Football Conference logo 1970 2009 The original NFC logo in use from 1970 to 2009 depicted a blue N with three stars across it The three stars represented the three divisions that were used from 1970 to 2001 Eastern Central and Western 4 The 2010 NFL season brought an updated NFC logo Largely similar to the old logo the new logo has a fourth star representing the four divisions that have composed the NFC since 2002 5 Television EditCBS aired the NFC s Sunday afternoon and playoffs games from 1970 through the 1993 season From 1994 to 2013 Fox was the primary rightsholder to the NFC s games In those years all interconference games in which the NFC team was the visiting team were broadcast on either CBS or Fox Since 2014 the cross flex policy allows select NFC games that involve them playing an AFC team at home or intraconference games to be moved from Fox to CBS Since 1990 select NFC playoff games have been seen on ABC or ESPN References Edit Pro Football History Retrieved April 3 2009 Anderson Dave February 27 2000 Sports of The Times The Woman Who Aligned the N F C Teams The New York Times Retrieved June 22 2018 Stellino Vito October 7 1999 NFL to try realign play Baltimore Sun Retrieved January 24 2010 National Football Conference Logo Retrieved December 29 2009 Paul Lukas But I Absolutely Refuse to Write About the Draft Caps Uni Watch blog Archived from the original on May 6 2010 Retrieved April 16 2010 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title National Football Conference amp oldid 1153504792, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
