College football has the Southeastern Conference with the likes of potential 2009 BCS champs Alabama and Georgia, as well as the past two BCS winners, Florida and LSU.
MLB has the AL East with the New York Yankees, the Boston Red Sox, and this year’s AL World Series representative, the Tampa Bay Rays.
What of the professional sports league that prides itself on being a league of parity?
Which one of the NFL’s divisions is the strongest?
Even though the New England Patriots don’t have the services of Tom Brady, they are still the toast of the AFC East at 5–2, tied with the Buffalo Bills. Unfortunately, the division also has the Miami Dolphins, who are much improved, but one year removed from a 1–15 season.
The division affectionately referred to as the “NFC Norris” by ESPN’s Chris Berman—aka the NFC North—sees the Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers tied for the lead with the Minnesota Vikings a game back, but then, there are the 0–7 Detroit Lions.
No, the best division in the league right now is the NFC East.
Even before you look at the teams’ current records, the NFC East has a number of storied rivalries. Which NFL fan hasn’t heard of the classic Redskins–Cowboys games?
The division has a history of winning, with 11 Super Bowl titles under its belt. Only the Philadelphia Eagles have never hoisted the Lombardi trophy.
The New York Giants are the defending Super Bowl champs, having handed the undefeated New England Patriots their first loss of the season in Super Bowl XLII.
With every team in the division—New York Giants (6–1), Washington Redskins (6–2), Dallas Cowboys (5–3), and Philadelphia Eagles (4–3)—above .500 and two games separating the division-leading Giants with the bottom-dwelling Eagles, top spot in the division is still up for grabs.
Stats Don’t Lie
A look at the stats gives further evidence of the division’s superiority.Among the top 10 quarterbacks in the NFC, four come from the Eastern division; injured Dallas Cowboy pivot Tony Romo is tops (103.5 rating), Washington’s Jason Campbell (100.5) sits fourth, Philly’s Donovan McNabb (91.4) is tied for sixth, and the Giants’ Eli Manning (88.9) is eighth.
You can’t win in the NFL if you can’t run the ball and to that end, three out of the four NFC East teams are in the NFL’s top 10 in rushing.
In fact, the top two running games are the Giants with 157.3 yards per game followed by the ’Skins with 155.3. Dallas ranks 10th with 120.1 yards per game.
The division gets it done on defense too as three out of the four teams—Giants, Redskins, and Eagles—allow fewer than 20 points a game. Every NFC East team has allowed less than 10 passing TDs thus far in the season.
The NFC East is well represented when it comes to fewest yards allowed a game with all four in the league’s top 10.
The numbers don’t lie. The NFL’s best is the NFC East.
