It's looking like the NFC west is shaping up to be a very tough division this year. I was curious how it would stack up against the toughest divisions in recent NFL history. So I did a little research, and came up with a table for how many out-of-division wins each division has had since 2002.
Notes:
- My methodology was to sum all the wins for every team in the division and subtract by 12 (or less if I have to account for a tie). This gives the total number of wins that division had against non-division opponents. (out of 40 possible) Each entry in the table lists the number of wins against non-division opponents, followed by the winning percentage. I had it color coded, but it didn't transfer with the copy/paste.
- Unsurprisingly, the years with the winningest divisions also tended to contain some really bad divisions.
- The 3 best divisions: 1st place is the 2007 AFC South with a 75% winning percentage outside their division. Tied for 2nd are the 2007 NFC East and the 2008 NFC South, with a 70% winning percentage.
- The 3 worst divisions: The 2008 NFC West with a 25% win percentage, the 2008 AFC West with a 27.5% win percentage, and the 2009 NFC West with a 30% win percentage.
- Before making this chart, I didn't realize how consistently bad the NFC West has been. Hopefully the years to come will erase that trend.
2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | |
AFC East | 23 | 24 | 25 | 16 | 23 | 16 | 26 | 20 | 24 | 21 | 19 |
0.575 | 0.6 | 0.625 | 0.4 | 0.575 | 0.4 | 0.65 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 0.525 | 0.475 | |
AFC North | 16 | 17 | 24 | 22 | 21 | 20 | 19 | 21 | 21 | 25 | 21 |
0.4 | 0.425 | 0.6 | 0.55 | 0.525 | 0.5 | 0.475 | 0.525 | 0.525 | 0.625 | 0.525 | |
AFC South | 19 | 22 | 21 | 20 | 22 | 30 | 26 | 26 | 18 | 14 | 19 |
0.475 | 0.55 | 0.525 | 0.5 | 0.55 | 0.75 | 0.65 | 0.65 | 0.45 | 0.35 | 0.475 | |
AFC West | 24 | 19 | 22 | 24 | 22 | 14 | 11 | 18 | 19 | 19 | 14 |
0.6 | 0.475 | 0.55 | 0.6 | 0.55 | 0.35 | 0.275 | 0.45 | 0.475 | 0.475 | 0.35 | |
NFC East | 22 | 19 | 19 | 24 | 20 | 28 | 26 | 22 | 20 | 18 | 19 |
0.55 | 0.475 | 0.475 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 0.7 | 0.65 | 0.55 | 0.5 | 0.45 | 0.475 | |
NFC North | 13 | 19 | 17 | 17 | 18 | 23 | 13 | 20 | 21 | 24 | 23 |
0.325 | 0.475 | 0.425 | 0.425 | 0.45 | 0.575 | 0.325 | 0.5 | 0.525 | 0.6 | 0.575 | |
NFC South | 25 | 19 | 19 | 21 | 17 | 15 | 28 | 21 | 24 | 21 | 22 |
0.625 | 0.475 | 0.475 | 0.525 | 0.425 | 0.375 | 0.7 | 0.525 | 0.6 | 0.525 | 0.55 | |
NFC West | 17 | 21 | 13 | 16 | 17 | 14 | 10 | 12 | 13 | 18 | 23 |
0.425 | 0.525 | 0.325 | 0.4 | 0.425 | 0.35 | 0.25 | 0.3 | 0.325 | 0.45 | 0.575 |