• Please be aware we've switched the forums to their own URL. (again) You'll find the new website address to be www.steelernationforum.com Thanks
  • Please clear your private messages. Your inbox is close to being full.

Restructuring NFL Divisions by Geography

Tibs

Well-known member
Contributor
Joined
Apr 8, 2014
Messages
13,676
Reaction score
6,314
Points
113
Pretty cool (off-season) post over at Rant Sports. Will never happen, but actually makes a lot of sense.
http://www.rantsports.com/nfl/2015/...um=referral&utm_campaign=RantSportsFB#slide_1

Welcome to the post-Super Bowl NFL: A bizarro-world occupied by weird and wonderful stories, all in an attempt to let the days pass by until such time that real football treats us again with its presence. In today’s edition of offseason mania, it’s time to enter into a parallel universe and see just how different the league would look if its eight divisions were rearranged by geography in time for the 2015 season.

AFC North
Teams: Cincinnati, Cleveland, Indianapolis, Pittsburgh.
This might be bizarro world, but it’s still governed by some semblance of law and order. The NFL upholds its rule that the Bengals, Browns and Steelers must all share the same division, so it’s road trip time for Baltimore. Replacing the Ravens are the Colts, who enter a vastly more competitive division and form the league’s best rivalry with the Steelers by 2016.

AFC East
Teams: Baltimore, New England, New York Giants, New York Jets.
Wait a minute, whose clam chowder did the Patriots urinate in? Just one season removed from winning their forth Lombardi trophy, the Pats now share a division with their most hated division rival, most hated non-division rival and most hated non-conference rival. Throw in a twice-a-year Battle for the Bronx, and you’ve got the most hate-filled division in football.

AFC South
Teams: Atlanta, Jacksonville, Miami, Tampa Bay.
The AFC East may be the most heated division figuratively, but the new and improved AFC South is, quite literally, the hottest place to play. A heavy Floridian influence should foster some interesting rivalries in the future, but expect the Falcons and Dolphins to tussle over division title bragging rights for at least the next few years.

AFC West
Teams: Arizona, Oakland, San Diego, San Francisco.
This freshly revised AFC West reps the great state of California harder than Kendrick Lamar featuring Ice Cube at a Snoop Dogg concert. Derek Carr and Colin Kaepernick shape the Battle of the Bay for the next decade, but that doesn’t stop the Chargers from being the first Cali residents to win a Super Bowl following the realignment. Oh, and the Cardinals are there too.

NFC North
Teams: Buffalo, Chicago, Green Bay, Minnesota.
Much like its AFC counterpart, the NFC North only sees one change in the division, with the Buffalo Bills replacing the Detroit Lions in this intriguing collection of future contenders. In only a few short years, this division becomes what the former NFC South once was: a constant struggle for supremacy, with no one team holding bragging rights for more than one season at a time.

NFC East
Teams: Carolina, Detroit, Philadelphia, Washington.
What was once the least amicable division in football is now forced to start over, with hate magnets the Dallas Cowboys and New York Giants ousted in favor of two teams most NFL fans are indifferent toward. Detroit takes the division in its inaugural season, but not without a fight from Philly. Meanwhile, Robert Griffin III and Cam Newton combine for a Game of the Year contender in Week 1.

NFC South
Teams: Dallas, Houston, New Orleans, Tennessee.
A shake-up in the south results in only the Saints staying put for the 2015 season. By 2017, the media christens the foursome the “home cookin’” division in response to the respective cities' reputations for deep south/Midwestern hospitality. But don’t be fooled; the twice-a-year Texas tussle brings out some bad blood, while the Saints and Titans also pick fights with…well, the Cowboys.

NFC West
Teams: Denver, Kansas City, Seattle, St. Louis.
It’s the end of the line, and with it comes a mish-mash of teams that didn’t really fit anywhere else. Seattle and Denver are west enough, but their Missourian roommates are about as Midwest as they come. In the extremely sexy possibility that the Rams move to LA by 2016, they will be slotted into the all-Cali AFC West, with the Cardinals replacing them in the land of misfit teams.
 
I've never understood why the Cowboys are in the NFC East and the Rams are in the NFC West.
 
Pretty cool (off-season) post over at Rant Sports. Will never happen, but actually makes a lot of sense.
http://www.rantsports.com/nfl/2015/...um=referral&utm_campaign=RantSportsFB#slide_1

Welcome to the post-Super Bowl NFL: A bizarro-world occupied by weird and wonderful stories, all in an attempt to let the days pass by until such time that real football treats us again with its presence. In today’s edition of offseason mania, it’s time to enter into a parallel universe and see just how different the league would look if its eight divisions were rearranged by geography in time for the 2015 season.

AFC North
Teams: Cincinnati, Cleveland, Indianapolis, Pittsburgh.
This might be bizarro world, but it’s still governed by some semblance of law and order. The NFL upholds its rule that the Bengals, Browns and Steelers must all share the same division, so it’s road trip time for Baltimore. Replacing the Ravens are the Colts, who enter a vastly more competitive division and form the league’s best rivalry with the Steelers by 2016.

AFC East
Teams: Baltimore, New England, New York Giants, New York Jets.
Wait a minute, whose clam chowder did the Patriots urinate in? Just one season removed from winning their forth Lombardi trophy, the Pats now share a division with their most hated division rival, most hated non-division rival and most hated non-conference rival. Throw in a twice-a-year Battle for the Bronx, and you’ve got the most hate-filled division in football.

AFC South
Teams: Atlanta, Jacksonville, Miami, Tampa Bay.
The AFC East may be the most heated division figuratively, but the new and improved AFC South is, quite literally, the hottest place to play. A heavy Floridian influence should foster some interesting rivalries in the future, but expect the Falcons and Dolphins to tussle over division title bragging rights for at least the next few years.

AFC West
Teams: Arizona, Oakland, San Diego, San Francisco.
This freshly revised AFC West reps the great state of California harder than Kendrick Lamar featuring Ice Cube at a Snoop Dogg concert. Derek Carr and Colin Kaepernick shape the Battle of the Bay for the next decade, but that doesn’t stop the Chargers from being the first Cali residents to win a Super Bowl following the realignment. Oh, and the Cardinals are there too.

NFC North
Teams: Buffalo, Chicago, Green Bay, Minnesota.
Much like its AFC counterpart, the NFC North only sees one change in the division, with the Buffalo Bills replacing the Detroit Lions in this intriguing collection of future contenders. In only a few short years, this division becomes what the former NFC South once was: a constant struggle for supremacy, with no one team holding bragging rights for more than one season at a time.

NFC East
Teams: Carolina, Detroit, Philadelphia, Washington.
What was once the least amicable division in football is now forced to start over, with hate magnets the Dallas Cowboys and New York Giants ousted in favor of two teams most NFL fans are indifferent toward. Detroit takes the division in its inaugural season, but not without a fight from Philly. Meanwhile, Robert Griffin III and Cam Newton combine for a Game of the Year contender in Week 1.

NFC South
Teams: Dallas, Houston, New Orleans, Tennessee.
A shake-up in the south results in only the Saints staying put for the 2015 season. By 2017, the media christens the foursome the “home cookin’” division in response to the respective cities' reputations for deep south/Midwestern hospitality. But don’t be fooled; the twice-a-year Texas tussle brings out some bad blood, while the Saints and Titans also pick fights with…well, the Cowboys.

NFC West
Teams: Denver, Kansas City, Seattle, St. Louis.
It’s the end of the line, and with it comes a mish-mash of teams that didn’t really fit anywhere else. Seattle and Denver are west enough, but their Missourian roommates are about as Midwest as they come. In the extremely sexy possibility that the Rams move to LA by 2016, they will be slotted into the all-Cali AFC West, with the Cardinals replacing them in the land of misfit teams.

Swap Detroit and Buffalo and you might have it. It could then go from the bush league it has become to the bus league.
 
The AFC North is the most geographically logical division in the entire league...that is before this hypothetical realignment.
 
Never happen. Can't take the Rats out of our division. It has become one of the top, if not the top, rivalry in the NFL.
 
Radical Geographical realignment putting teams in same city/close geographically into same divisions as much as possible.

AFC EAST: Jets, Giants, Bills, Pats.
AFC NORTH: Stillers, Bengals, Browns, Colts.
AFC SOUTH: Texans, Saints, Titans, Cheifs.
AFC WEST: 9ers, Seahawks, Broncos, Raiders.
NFC EAST: Eagles, Skins, Panthers, Ravens.
NFC NORTH: Vikes, Packers, Bears, Lions.
NFC SOUTH: Phins, Jags, Falcons, Bucs.
NFC WEST: Cowboys, Chargers, Cards, Rams (move to LA).
 
Competitive teams in the cheats division? Kraft, Belicheat would never hear of it.
 
Not taking into account current divisions / rivalries, geographically speaking, the divisions could shape up something like this (doesn't really matter what they are named):
Div 1
New England Patriots
NY Giants
NY Jets
Buffalo Bills

Div 2
Philadelphia Eagles
Washington Redskins
Pittsburgh Steelers
Baltimore Ravens

Div 3
Charlotte Panthers
Atlanta Falcons
Tennessee Titans
St Louis Rams

Div 4
Jacksonville Jaguars
Miami Dolphins
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
New Orleans Saints

Div 5
Cleveland Browns
Cincinnati Bengals
Indianapolis Colts
Detroit Lions

Div 6
Chicago Bears
Minnesota Vikings
Kansas City Chiefs
Green Bay Packers

Div 7
Dallas Cowboys
Houston Texans
Arizona Cardinals
Denver Broncos

Div 8
San Diego Chargers
San Francisco 49ers
Oakland Raiders
Seattle Seahawks
 
Heck, going by just geography, the easiest division to name would be: NY Jets, NY Giants, Philadelphia Eagles and Baltimore Rats. If you could add a 5th, it would be the Redskins. All 5 are within, what, an hour or so of each other.
 
I was starting in the North East and moving East to West. There are many possibilities. In the East there are more options as how to cluster them together as the cities are closer to each other.
 
Regardless of division / conference, we should play the Eagles and Washington every year in regular season games. I LOVE messing with the Eagles fans - although I don't push it too hard because they will beat you down.
 
Plus I'm thinking in the not-too-distant future the Rams will be moving back to L.A. OTOH most of us figured the Bills would be in Canada by now.
 
Plus I'm thinking in the not-too-distant future the Rams will be moving back to L.A. OTOH most of us figured the Bills would be in Canada by now.

And what happens when the Jags are in London?
 
And what happens when the Jags are in London?

I think the Jags players would have to learn to drive on the other side of the road.
 
I think the divisions are pretty decent. In the AFC, the only geographic improvements you could really make would be moving Miami to the south, which of course both they, and Buffalo are strongly against, and moving Indy to a northern division. No one is going to want to swap Baltimore for Indy, except maybe the Bengals. Swapping Jax for the Saints would make for an AFC South of Indy, Tenn, NO, and Houston, that runs north to south along a fairly straight line. The west is spread out, but that can't be avoided. In the NFC, Dallas will never leave the east, so it's not worth discussing. The NFC North is perfect. If you switch NO, and Jax, you get a nice NFC South of Jax, Tampa, Carolina, and Atlanta. St. Louis is the outlier in the west, but that can't be avoided.
 
Top