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NFC East
ConferenceNational Football Conference
LeagueNational Football League
SportAmerican Football
Founded1967
No. of teams4
Most recent champion(s)New York Giants (8th title)
Most titlesDallas Cowboys (21 titles)

The NFC East is a division of the National Football League's National Football Conference. 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 around the capital of the United States, Washington, DC. In 1967 and 1969 the teams in the NFL Capitol Division were Dallas, Philadelphia, Washington and the expansion New Orleans Saints, which had been replaced by the New York Giants for the 1968 season.

History[]

Although the St. Louis Rams are geographically farther east than Dallas[1], the Cowboys remained in the NFC East 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 20 NFC Championship wins and 12 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 titles during their existence; however, only Philadelphia has yet to win a championship in the Super Bowl era. 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.[2] In the early 1990s the division claimed four consecutive Super Bowl champions, as the Cowboys won two and the Giants and Redskins took one each, all against the Buffalo Bills (those same three teams won seven out of ten Super Bowls, from 1987–1996).

ESPN's Chris Berman often calls this division the "NFC Patrick" due to its geographical similarity to the old Patrick Division of the NHL, now known as the Atlantic Division.

The Eagles are the only division team to play in their namesake city:

All the AFC East teams also play in the suburbs (in fact, the New York Jets share a stadium with the Giants). The only team not from either East division to do so is the Arizona Cardinals, a former NFC East team now playing in the West (they originally played in the Phoenix suburb of Tempe, but moved to another suburb, Glendale, in 2006).

Division lineups[]

Place cursor over year for division champ or Super Bowl team.

Years
NFL Eastern Conference
Capitol Division
NFC East Division[B]
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
New Orleans Saints N Y Giants New Orleans Saints New York Giants
  St. Louis Cardinals[C] Phoenix Cardinals Arizona Cardinals[D]
NFC East Division [D]
02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36
Dallas Cowboys
Philadelphia Eagles
Washington Redskins
New York Giants
     Team not in division      Division Won Super Bowl      Division Won NFC Championship
A The Eastern Conference is divided into the Capitol and Century Divisions. Dallas, Philadelphia, and Washington moved in. Also, the New Orleans Saints are enfranchised.
B The Capitol Division became the National Football Conference East division (called "NFC East"). New Orleans realigns to the NFC West. The Giants and Cardinals are added from the Century Division.
C St. Louis moved to Phoenix in 1988. The team changed its name from Phoenix Cardinals to the Arizona Cardinals in 1994.
D Arizona moved to the NFC West when the league realigned into 8 four team divisions before the 2002 season.

Division champions[]

As NFL Capitol Division[]

Season Team Record Playoff Results
NFL Capitol
1967 Dallas Cowboys 9–5–0 Lost NFL Championship
1968 Dallas Cowboys 12–2–0 Lost NFL Divisional Playoffs
1969 Dallas Cowboys 11–2–1 Lost NFL Divisional Playoffs

As NFC East[]

Season Team Record Playoff Results
1970 Dallas Cowboys 10–4–0 Lost Super Bowl V
1971 Dallas Cowboys 11–3–0 Won Super Bowl VI
1972 Washington Redskins 11–3–0 Lost Super Bowl VII
1973 Dallas Cowboys 10–4–0 Lost NFC Championship Game
1974 St. Louis Cardinals 10–4–0 Lost NFC Divisional Playoffs
1975 St. Louis Cardinals 11–3–0 Lost NFC Divisional Playoffs
1976 Dallas Cowboys 11–3–0 Lost NFC Divisional Playoffs
1977 Dallas Cowboys 12–2–0 Won Super Bowl XII
1978 Dallas Cowboys 12–4–0 Lost Super Bowl XIII
1979 Dallas Cowboys 11–5–0 Lost NFC Divisional Playoffs
1980 Philadelphia Eagles 12–4–0 Lost Super Bowl XV
1981 Dallas Cowboys 12–4–0 Lost NFC Championship Game
1982* Washington Redskins 8–1–0 Won Super Bowl XVII
1983 Washington Redskins 14–2–0 Lost Super Bowl XVIII
1984 Washington Redskins 11–5–0 Lost NFC Divisional Playoffs
1985 Dallas Cowboys 10–6–0 Lost NFC Divisional Playoffs
1986 New York Giants 14–2–0 Won Super Bowl XXI
1987 Washington Redskins 11–4–0 Won Super Bowl XXII
1988 Philadelphia Eagles 10–6–0 Lost NFC Divisional Playoffs
1989 New York Giants 12–4–0 Lost NFC Divisional Playoffs
1990 New York Giants 13–3–0 Won Super Bowl XXV
1991 Washington Redskins 14–2–0 Won Super Bowl XXVI
1992 Dallas Cowboys 13–3–0 Won Super Bowl XXVII
1993 Dallas Cowboys 12–4–0 Won Super Bowl XXVIII
1994 Dallas Cowboys 12–4–0 Lost NFC Championship Game
1995 Dallas Cowboys 12–4–0 Won Super Bowl XXX
1996 Dallas Cowboys 10–6–0 Lost NFC Divisional Playoffs
1997 New York Giants 10–5–1 Lost NFC Wild Card Playoffs
1998 Dallas Cowboys 10–6–0 Lost NFC Wild Card Playoffs
1999 Washington Redskins 10–6–0 Lost NFC Divisional Playoffs
2000 New York Giants 12–4–0 Lost Super Bowl XXXV
2001 Philadelphia Eagles 11–5–0 Lost NFC Championship Game
2002 Philadelphia Eagles 12–4–0 Lost NFC Championship Game
2003 Philadelphia Eagles 12–4–0 Lost NFC Championship Game
2004 Philadelphia Eagles 13–3–0 Lost Super Bowl XXXIX
2005 New York Giants 11–5–0 Lost NFC Wild Card Playoffs
2006 Philadelphia Eagles 10–6–0 Lost NFC Divisional Playoffs
2007 Dallas Cowboys 13-3-0 Lost NFC Divisional Playoffs
2008 New York Giants 12–4–0 Lost NFC Divisional Playoffs
2009 Dallas Cowboys 11–5–0 Lost NFC Divisional Playoffs
2010 Philadelphia Eagles 10–6–0 Lost NFC Wild Card Playoffs
2011 New York Giants 9–7–0 Won Super Bowl XLVI
  • * 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 Philadelphia Eagles remain the only team in the NFC East not to win a Super Bowl. The Cowboys lead with five, followed by the Giants with four, and the Redskins with three. 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 three.

Wild Card qualifiers[]

Season Team Record Playoff Results
NFC East
1971 Washington Redskins 9-4-1 Lost Divisional Playoffs
1972 Dallas Cowboys 10-4-0 Lost NFC Championship Game
1973 Washington Redskins 10-4-0 Lost Divisional Playoffs
1974 Washington Redskins 10-4-0 Lost Divisional Playoffs
1975 Dallas Cowboys 10-4-0 Lost Super Bowl X
1976 Washington Redskins 10-4-0 Lost Divisional Playoffs
1978 Philadelphia Eagles 9-7-0 Lost Wild Card Playoffs
1979 Philadelphia Eagles 11-5-0 Lost Divisional Playoffs
1980 Dallas Cowboys 12-4-0 Lost NFC Championship Game
1981 Philadelphia Eagles
New York Giants
10-6-0
9-7-0
Lost Wild Card Playoffs
Lost Divisional Playoffs
1982+ Dallas Cowboys
St. Louis Cardinals
6-3-0
5-4-0
Lost NFC Championship Game
Lost NFC First Round
1983 Dallas Cowboys 12-4-0 Lost Wild Card Playoffs
1984 New York Giants 9-7-0 Lost Divisional Playoffs
1985 New York Giants 10-6-0 Lost Divisional Playoffs
1986 Washington Redskins 12-4-0 Lost NFC Championship Game
1989 Philadelphia Eagles 11-5-0 Lost Wild Card Playoffs
1990 Washington Redskins
Philadelphia Eagles
10-6-0
10-6-0
Lost Divisional Playoffs
Lost Wild Card Playoffs
1991 Dallas Cowboys 11-5-0 Lost Divisional Playoffs
1992 Philadelphia Eagles
Washington Redskins
10-6-0
9-7-0
Lost Divisional Playoffs
Lost Divisional Playoffs
1993 New York Giants 11-5-0 Lost Divisional Playoffs
1995 Philadelphia Eagles 10-6-0 Lost Divisional Playoffs
1996 Philadelphia Eagles 10-6-0 Lost Wild Card Playoffs
1998 Arizona Cardinals 9-7-0 Lost Divisional Playoffs
1999 Dallas Cowboys 8-8-0 Lost Wild Card Playoffs
2000 Philadelphia Eagles 11-5-0 Lost Divisional Playoffs
NFC East
2002 New York Giants 10-6-0 Lost Wild Card Playoffs
2003 Dallas Cowboys 10-6-0 Lost Wild Card Playoffs
2005 Washington Redskins 10-6-0 Lost Divisional Playoffs
2006 Dallas Cowboys
New York Giants
9-7-0
8-8-0
Lost Wild Card Playoffs
Lost Wild Card Playoffs
2007 New York Giants
Washington Redskins
10-6-0
9-7-0
Won Super Bowl XLII
Lost Wild Card Playoffs
2008 Philadelphia Eagles 9-6-1 Lost NFC Championship Game
2009 Philadelphia Eagles 11-5-0 Lost Wild Card Playoffs

+ 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.

See also[]

Total playoff berths[]

(NFC East records 1967-2011)
Team Division
Championships
Playoff
Berths
Super Bowl
Appearances
Super Bowl
Wins
Dallas Cowboys 20 29 8 5
Philadelphia Eagles 8 19 2 0
New York Giants 8 15 5 4
Washington Redskins 6 16 5 3
Arizona Cardinals1 2 4 0 0

To sort table above, click button to right of heading.

1These numbers only reflect the Cardinals' time as a member of the NFC East,
as the team realigned to the NFC West before the 2002 season.

References[]


This page uses content from Wikipedia. The original article was at National Football League Capitol Division.
The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with American Football Database, the text of Wikipedia is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.

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