Just For Fun... Realignment

[Hostile]

History lesson...

Super Bowl era football

Two Leagues

NFL AFL

Cowboys entered the NFL as an expansion team and were in the NFL West.

In 1961 they moved to the NFL East.

After Super Bowl 1 the NFL split from East/West to 4 divisions. Capitol, Century, Coastal, Central.

The Cowboys were in the Capitol division, with the Commanders, eagles, and saints.

When the NFL and AFL merged, the amount of teams weren't equal.

The AFL had 10 teams, the NFL had 16 teams. So the new NFL had a total of 26 teams, divided by 2 conferences, divided by 3 divisions each. Which meant 1 division in each conference had an extra team.

Anyways it's not just location, but also team balance, and historic rivalries...

You don't want to pull an NCAA here and destroy rivalries.

I believe even when the cardinals left the NFC East, they had a deal to play the cowboys a certain number of times.

The reason the structuring makes most sense is to avoid lengthy travel for road games.

I would move the Rams before I moved the Cowboys. Our rivalries with the Giants, Eagles, and Commanders are epic. St. Louis to LA makes sense.

I'm not much about St. Louis rivalries, but does it make sense that Miami is in the AFC East? Not really, but I think their rivalries are a bit stronger than St. Louis'

You can't touch the NFC East though.

Good post. There is one correction though. In 1968 the Giants replaced the Saints in the NFL Capital Division.

 

[DallasEast]

Completely shuffling the deck, and prioritizing geographical closeness:

NFC WEST
Seahawks, 49ers, Raiders, LA Jaguars

NFC SOUTH
Cowboys, Texans, Saints, Titans

NFC NORTH
Vikings, Packers, Bears, Rams

NFC EAST
Eagles, Giants, Bills, Patriots

AFC WEST
Chargers, Cardinals, Broncos, Chiefs

AFC SOUTH
Buccaneers, Dolphins, Falcons, Panthers

AFC NORTH
Lions, Colts, Bengals, Browns

AFC EAST
Commanders, Ravens, Steelers, Jets

The implications of regional fan rivalries would be out of this world! Well, except for the AFC North, that is. :

 

[JVita17]

Just for the sake of having fun...

AFC NORTH: Steelers, Bills, Pats, Jets
AFC EAST: Browns, Bengals, Ravens, Colts
AFC WEST: Raiders, Chargers, Texans, Broncos
AFC SOUTH: Dolphins, Jags, Chiefs, Titans

NFC NORTH: Bears, Packers, Lions, Giants
NFC WEST: Cardinals, LA Vikings, Seahawks, 49ers
NFC EAST: Eagles, Commanders, Panthers, Rams
NFC SOUTH: Atlanta, Tampa Bay, New Orleans, Dallas

 

[Zaxor]

Okay, Jacksonville would move to LA in my scenario.

AFC South
Dolphins
Buccaneers
Falcons
Saints

NFC North
Lions
Packers
Vikings
Bears

AFC North
Bills
Jets
Patriots
Giants

NFC East
Eagles
Panthers
Ravens
Commanders

AFC East
Browns
Bengals
Steelers
Colts

NFC South
Chiefs
Titans
Cowboys
Rams

NFC West
Chargers
Los Angeles
Raiders
49ers

AFC West
Seahawks
Cardinals
Broncos
Texans

Ugh that makes so much sense it hurts. Great job...but it would never happen not even in NFL fantasy land I think.

 

[67CowboysFan]

Completely shuffling the deck, and prioritizing geographical closeness:

NFC WEST
Seahawks, 49ers, Raiders, LA Jaguars

NFC SOUTH
Cowboys, Texans, Saints, Titans

NFC NORTH
Vikings, Packers, Bears, Rams

NFC EAST
Eagles, Giants, Bills, Patriots

AFC WEST
Chargers, Cardinals, Broncos, Chiefs

AFC SOUTH
Buccaneers, Dolphins, Falcons, Panthers

AFC NORTH
Lions, Colts, Bengals, Browns

AFC EAST
Commanders, Ravens, Steelers, Jets

Cowboys-Texans, now that would be fun to see twice a year.

 

[burmafrd]

You could keep the key rivlaries by letting each team pick 2 games that they do not want to give up. With us it would be The Skins and maybe the Pack. That would allow certain rivalries to continue. But putting the teams in close geograhpical locations would help build the rivalries.

 

[pancakeman]

AFC North
Bills
Jets
Patriots
Giants

I imagine the league would want to separate the two NYC teams (increasing the chance of both teams from that huge market making the playoffs in a given year).

 

[VACowboy]

Completely shuffling the deck, and prioritizing geographical closeness:

NFC WEST
Seahawks, 49ers, Raiders, LA Jaguars

NFC SOUTH
Cowboys, Texans, Saints, Titans

NFC NORTH
Vikings, Packers, Bears, Rams

NFC EAST
Eagles, Giants, Bills, Patriots

AFC WEST
Chargers, Cardinals, Broncos, Chiefs

AFC SOUTH
Buccaneers, Dolphins, Falcons, Panthers

AFC NORTH
Lions, Colts, Bengals, Browns

AFC EAST
Commanders, Ravens, Steelers, Jets

Practically and geographically perfect.

 

[Doomsday101]

As long as Dallas remains in the NFC East with Washington, Philly and NY I really don't care how the other divisions playout

 

[Zaxor]

Completely shuffling the deck, and prioritizing geographical closeness:

NFC WEST
Seahawks, 49ers, Raiders, LA Jaguars

NFC SOUTH
Cowboys, Texans, Saints, Titans

NFC NORTH
Vikings, Packers, Bears, Rams

NFC EAST
Eagles, Giants, Bills, Patriots

AFC WEST
Chargers, Cardinals, Broncos, Chiefs

AFC SOUTH
Buccaneers, Dolphins, Falcons, Panthers

AFC NORTH
Lions, Colts, Bengals, Browns

AFC EAST
Commanders, Ravens, Steelers, Jets

another very good one...but like with Hos's even if the NFL was up for realignment it won't happen as much as I would like it too.

 

[THUMPER]

Okay, Jacksonville would move to LA in my scenario.

AFC South
Dolphins
Buccaneers
Falcons
Saints

NFC North
Lions
Packers
Vikings
Bears

AFC North
Bills
Jets
Patriots
Giants

NFC East
Eagles
Panthers
Ravens
Commanders

AFC East
Browns
Bengals
Steelers
Colts

NFC South
Chiefs
Titans
Cowboys
Rams

NFC West
Chargers
Los Angeles
Raiders
49ers

AFC West
Seahawks
Cardinals
Broncos
Texans

Why do you have the Texans in the West? Dallas is west of Houston. I think it would make more sense to swap the Chiefs and Texans.

Interesting project. Personally, I think the Chargers will move to L.A. but the Raiders moving back would not surprise me a bit, they still have a huge presence here with the gangs.

 

[THUMPER]

Completely shuffling the deck, and prioritizing geographical closeness:

NFC WEST
Seahawks, 49ers, Raiders, LA Jaguars

NFC SOUTH
Cowboys, Texans, Saints, Titans

NFC NORTH
Vikings, Packers, Bears, Rams

NFC EAST
Eagles, Giants, Bills, Patriots

AFC WEST
Chargers, Cardinals, Broncos, Chiefs

AFC SOUTH
Buccaneers, Dolphins, Falcons, Panthers

AFC NORTH
Lions, Colts, Bengals, Browns

AFC EAST
Commanders, Ravens, Steelers, Jets

I like this one the best.

 

[Hostile]

I like this one the best.

His is the best. No doubt.

Why do you have the Texans in the West? Dallas is west of Houston. I think it would make more sense to swap the Chiefs and Texans.

It was a matter of the West is going to have one spread out division no matter what because there are really only 7 cities to put an NFL team.

San Diego
Los Angeles
Oakland
San Francisco
Seattle
Phoenix
Denver

I suppose I could have put Dallas with the last teams and Houston where I put Dallas. Either way it still has drawbacks. I was looking strictly at Dallas' closeness to KC and St. Louis when I put them there. I figured the west aspect between Dallas and Houston was more minor a detail.

 

[CooterBrown]

There is no way the NFL will move the Cowboys out of the NFC East. The Giants, Commanders, and Eagles fans would scream. They wouldn't have anybody to hate anymore. I'm sure they would still hate the Cowboys, they wouldn't be as passionate about it. And, the other teams in the division ride the Cowboys coattails to maintain a higher profile. There is no way the owners of those teams would let that happen. And, I think Jerry Jones likes the NY market games, and the politicians interest in the Commanders is probably enough for Jerry to want to keep that rivalry. I just don't see re-alignment happening anytime soon. (But with that said, I think it would be good for the game. Not only would you have team rivalry, you'd have regional rivalry.)

 

[Aikmaniac]

The only two teams that I think will probably go to Los Angeles are either San Diego or Oakland, so the divisions would stay the same

Maybe switch Carolina to the NFC East for Dallas to the NFC South

NFC South:
Atlanta
Dallas
New Orleans
Tampa Bay

*that would be the best division in profootball*

That would be great. I'd get to see the Boys twice a year.

 

[hockix]

I really don't want the Cowboys to get out of NFCE cause that is the only reason we see them on TV up here in north east ...

So I want to keep Commanders, Giants, and Philadelphia 's games the way it is.

I could understand the moves but that would ruine my life....

 

[Hostile]

I really don't want the Cowboys to get out of NFCE cause that is the only reason we see them on TV up here in north east ...

So I want to keep Commanders, Giants, and Philadelphia 's games the way it is.

I could understand the moves but that would ruine my life....

Nice to see you. Hope all is well with the health.

 

[Nightshade]

I really don't want the Cowboys to get out of NFCE cause that is the only reason we see them on TV up here in north east ...

So I want to keep Commanders, Giants, and Philadelphia 's games the way it is.

I could understand the moves but that would ruine my life....

Yeah, I sure am loving Jerry's greed on this point. If he didn't love the coin he gets from all the east coast hate, I'd be worried myself.

 

[cobra]

It was a matter of the West is going to have one spread out division no matter what

Yeah, that's the problem. Denver, Arizona and Seattle screw everything up.

Here is my purely regional re-alingment:

The conferences are changed to the EFC and WFC (Eastern/Western Football Conferences)

Within the EFC and WFC there are 4 divisions, N - S - E - W.

So then we plug in:

EFC - North
New England Pats
NY Giants
NY Jets
Buffalo Bills

EFC - East
Pitt Steelers
Philly Eagles
Baltimore Ravens
The Doormats in DC

ESC - South
Atl Falcons
TB Bucs
Miami Dolphins
Carolina Panters

EFC - West
Cincy Bengals
Cle Browns
Indy Colts
Det Lions

WFC - North (the problem division from a regional standpoint)
Minn Vikings
Denver Broncos
Seattle Seahawks
KC Chiefs

WFC - East
Tenn Titans
Chicago Bears
Green Bay Packers
St. Louis Rams


WFC - South
Dallas Cowboys
Houston Texans
NO Saints
Az Cardinals

WFC - West
San Diego Chargers
LA ____ (Jags)
Oakland Raiders
SF 49ers

That would be regional realingment which could make some new rivalries, but I think there is too much lost for tradition/records/flavor. As is, regional matchups currently have rivalries without division consequences (Dallas - Houston; Cincy-Cle, etc.). So the NFL has the division rivalries + regional rivalries. If you go to a regional format, you just have a regional/division rivalry and no significance when playing, say Washington.

So I think the current system is better.

If I was trying to keep rivalries where they made sense in a regional format, I think this is a good breakdown (there would never be a way to keep Dallas rivalries in a regional breakdown, but some can be preserved):

 

[Hagman]

Wild, Wild West Division--Cowboys, Commanders, Chiefs, 49ers.

Ocean Predators Division--Bucs, Raiders, Vikings, Seahawks.

Big Cat Division--Jags, Panthers, Lions, Bengals.

Bunch of Birds Division--Eagles, Ravens, Falcons, Cardinals.

Big Business Division--Steelers, Packers, Jets, Chargers--originally the 'Credit Chargers'.

Groups of Guys Division--Saints, Patriots, Texans, Browns (named after Paul B.)

At The Zoo Division--Bears, Rams, Colts, Broncos.

Dumb Name For a Football Team Division--Bills, Titans, Giants, Dolphins.