East

Dallas Cowboys
New York Giants
Philadelphia Eagles
Washington Commanders

North

Chicago Bears
Detroit Lions
Green Bay Packers
Minnessota Vikings

South

Atlanta Falcons
Carolina Panthers
New Orleans Saints
Tampa Bay Buccaneers

West

Arizona Cardinals
Los Angeles Rams
San Francisco 49ers
Seattle Seahawks

NFC

With roots dating back to the original 1920 American Professional Football Association, the NFC has 16 teams.

  • 13 teams from the NFL pre-merger
  • Since then, 3 teams added via expansion

Before Merger

Prior to merging with the AFL, the NFL had 16 teams aligned in 4 divisions.

Eastern Conference
Capitol Division
  • Dallas Cowboys
  • New York Giants
  • Philadelphia Eagles
  • Washington Redskins
Century Division
  • Cleveland Browns
  • St Louis Cardinals
  • New Orleans Saints
  • Pittsburgh Steelers
Western Conference
Coastal Division
  • Baltimore Colts
  • Los Angeles Rams
  • San Francisco 49ers
  • Atlanta Falcons
Central Division
  • Chicago Bears
  • Detroit Lions
  • Minnesota Vikings
  • Green Bay Packers

Merger Shuffle

As part of the 1966 merger agreement, 3 teams moved to the AFC (Browns, Colts, and Steelers), and the rest of the NFC was re-shuffled.

Instead of aligning along geographical lines (as was done in the 2002 Realignment), ownership devised 5 plans and selected one at random.

Winning Plan
Eastern – Dallas, New York Giants, Philadelphia, St. Louis, Washington
Central – Chicago, Detroit, Green Bay, Minnesota
Western – Atlanta, Los Angeles, New Orleans, San Francisco

It is interesting to consider how rivalries and the league might have evolved if one of the other plans was selected.

In particular – Dallas divisioned with New Orleans, and Minnesota with Philly and NY – seem like interesting alignments.

Not Selected 1
Eastern – Atlanta, Minnesota, New York, Philadelphia, Washington
Central – Chicago, Detroit, Green Bay, New Orleans
Western – Dallas, Los Angeles, St. Louis, San Francisco
Not Selected 2
Eastern – Minnesota, New York, Philadelphia, St. Louis, Washington
Central – Atlanta, Chicago, Detroit, Green Bay
Western – Dallas, Los Angeles, New Orleans, San Francisco
Not Selected 3
Eastern – Minnesota, New York, Philadelphia, Washington
Central – Atlanta, Dallas, New Orleans, St. Louis
Western – Chicago, Detroit, Green Bay, Los Angeles, San Francisco
Not Selected 4
Eastern – Detroit, Minnesota, New York, Philadelphia, Washington
Central – Chicago, Dallas, Green Bay, St. Louis
Western – Atlanta, Los Angeles, New Orleans, San Francisco

Expansion

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers joined the NFC in 1977.

The Carolina Panthers joined the league in 1995 (along with the AFC's Jacksonville Jaguars).

The Seahawks, having briefly resided in the NFC in 1976, returned as part of the 2002 Realignment.