The NFL divisions can be confusing.
Take the Indianapolis Colts for example. They play in the AFC South, despite being an eight-hour drive to Toronto, Canada and a 13-hour drive to play the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Buy Patriots TicketsSo what better fun than imagining a division realignment in the NFL.
My approach was simple when putting this together. I reorganized the divisions based off of location, while shifting the AFC to align with eastern teams and NFC to align with western teams.
These divisions may ruin some old time rivalries, but that’s something the NFL scheduling can figure out. Plus, there’s some new and probably more intense rivalries that could come out of this.
With fans and players in mind, these divisions are optimized for travel and time zones (for television fans), and it should lead to a better overall product on the field.
AFC Northeast: Buffalo Bills, New York Giants, New York Jets, New England Patriots
It’s still confusing to me why the AFC East includes the Jets, Bills and Patriots. That’s three northeastern teams that play outdoors in the cold in the same division as the typical warmer climate team in the Dolphins.
There are clear climate advantages on both sides when dealing with either the cold, frigid temperatures in the northeast or the warm, humid temperatures in the southeast. In this revamp, both New York teams are in the same division as the Patriots and Bills to make up the Northeast.
The Northeast division would fall into the AFC, which is more aligned with the east.
AFC East: Cincinnati Bengals, Tennessee Titans, Atlanta Falcons, Carolina Panthers
The new AFC East was tough to form, and we had to split the Bengals and Browns, who play in the same state to make it work.
Tennessee, Atlanta and Carolina all fall into categories of being eastern, but they aren’t coastal teams. Although they are southern, they would be more central if you split the country in half.
This realignment isn’t a perfect science, but this allowed these teams who primarily had long travel in division to shorten that distance.
AFC Mid-Atlantic: Pittsburgh Steelers, Philadelphia Eagles, Washington Commanders, Baltimore Ravens
This division could be a lethal powerhouse for diehard fans. Steelers, Eagles, Ravens and Commanders all have good fan power in the region, and they form the mid-Atlantic region.
This allows two existing rivalries to continue between the Steelers/Ravens and Eagles/Commanders.
There’s a rich history with these four teams in a division that would be branded by tough, physical football.
AFC Southeast: New Orleans Saints, Jacksonville Jaguars, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Miami Dolphins
Miami finally will take part in a division that doesn’t involve them traveling to the Canadian border twice per year.
Tampa Bay, Jacksonville and Miami all play in the same state, while their Gulf neighbors, New Orleans, join them to complete the AFC southeast division.
Originally, I tried to fit Atlanta in here, but based on how other divisions sorted out, this allowed for travel to be mostly aligned league-wide.
NFC Pacific: Seattle Seahawks, San Francisco 49ers, Los Angeles Chargers, Los Angeles Rams
I know what some of you are thinking. “Don’t the Chargers and Rams share the same home building?”
Yes, they do share the same building, just like the NBA’s Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers. It would make for some really fun mixed home reactions when the two teams get together to play.
Along with the Chargers and Rams, the 49ers and Seahawks would complete the coastal division and align with travel and time zones, along with creating some unique rivalries.
NFC Southwest: Las Vegas Raiders, Arizona Cardinals, Houston Texans, Dallas Cowboys
Although it isn’t mostly in the southwest, this division was the misfit division where we had to make it make sense.
The Cowboys and Texans are obviously in the same state, and the Cardinals and Raiders are neighbors. So this pairing allows for quicker travel time between division rivals.
It’s the right match for these four teams.
NFC Midwest: Kansas City Chiefs, Minnesota Vikings, Green Bay Packers, Denver Broncos
The Broncos and Chiefs previously had a ton of travel miles playing against each other, along with the Las Vegas Raiders and Los Angeles Chargers. This new division would allow meetings with the more Midwest teams like the Minnesota Vikings and Green Bay Packers.
This will keep an important NFL rivalry between the Chiefs and the Broncos, while also potentially creating new ones with two other historic franchises.
It would also feature two Super Bowl-winning quarterbacks right out of the gates in Patrick Mahomes and Russell Wilson.
NFC Great Lakes: Detroit Lions, Cleveland Browns, Chicago Bears, Indianapolis Colts
The great lakes division allows the Colts to finally travel less than 13 hours to play their division rivals. It keeps them within a reasonable distance for at least six games out of the year.
The quarterback play would be electric with Deshaun Watson, Anthony Richardson and Justin Fields currently manning those positions.
It would also give the Browns an opportunity to finally play against a division rival with a closed stadium for a change.
