The NFC East is the National Football Conference Eastern Division, part of the National Football League along with the NFC North, NFC South and NFC West. There are four teams that currently make up the NFC East division:
- The Dallas Cowboys (Frisco, Texas)
- The New York Giants (East Rutherford, New Jersey)
- The Philadelphia Eagles (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
- The Washington Football Team (Ashburn, Virginia)
The division was founded in 1967, originally as the NFL Eastern Conference Capitol Division and its most successful team to date is the Dallas Cowboys.
NFC South History
The NFC South Division was originally created in 1967 and named the National Football League Capitol Division. It was named as such as it was originally based in Washington DC, the capital of the US. Back then, the teams within the division were Philadelphia, Dallas, Washington and New Orleans Saints joined as an expansion team. However, in 1968 they were replaced with the New York Giants.
To date, the NFC East is the NFL’s only division that has had every single team member win the Super Bowl at least one time and have all appeared in several Super Bowls.
Geographical Inaccuracies
The NFC East has long been one of the most geographically inaccurately named divisions. Although Philadelphia, Washington and the New York Giants are on the East Coast, Dallas and St Louis (then Arizona) were also a part of the division, between 1970 until 2001, despite being based on the West Coast – and close to the Pacific.
When combined, the NFC East teams are the most successful division in the National Football League since the NFL merger with the AFL in 1970. Collectively, the teams have won 13 Super Bowls and 21 NFC Championships – the most of any NFL division. With such great teams, the league is full of tense rivalries – the most notable being the Cowboys v Eagles, Cowboys v Washington and Eagles v Giants. Moreover, because of the success, the decision gets a lot of media coverage.
In the 1990s, the NFC East teams won the Super Bowl four times in a row, with the NY Giants and the Washington Football teams winning two consecutive Super Bowl champions titles – against the Buffalo Bills, with the Dallas Cowboys winning the following two Super Bowls. These three teams won seven out of ten Super Bowls between 1986 to 1996.
The most recent team in the NF East division to have won the Super Bowl is the Philadelphia Eagles, having beaten the New Orleans Patriots in Super Bowl LII by 41-33. This was also the first division since the league was realigned in 2002 to have sent three teams into the playoffs in the 2006-07 playoffs.
The Eagles are also the only team in the division that play in the city that they are named after. The other three only play in the suburbs of the cities that they are named after… with the Dallas Cowboys playing in Arlington being the only NFC East team that isn’t even based in the Eastern time zone. Meanwhile, the Washington Football Team is based in Landover and the New York Giants play in East Rutherford and share their stadium with the New York Jet
This is also the most valuable of all the NFL divisions. Every team in the NFL East division has made it into the list of the top ten most valuable NFL Franchises.
Important NFC East Division Times
It was in 1967 that the Eastern Conference was divided into the Capitol and Century Divisions and Washington, Dallas and Philadelphia moved. It was also the year that the New Orleans Saints joined the league.
In 1975, although the Cardinals won the division, it was the Dallas Cowboys that went on to win the NFC Championship as a wild card qualifier.
In 1988, St Louis relocated to Phoenix and changed its name to the Phoenix Cardinals. It was renamed the Arizona Cardinals in 1994.
In 2002, The Arizona Cardinals joined the NFC West division when the league realigned into eight divisions.
In 2007, although the Dallas Cowboys were the NFC East champions, the NY Giants qualified for the postseason with a wild card place and went on to win the Super Bowl.
NFC East Division Champions
Here are the division champions every year from 1967 up until 2021
As NFL Capitol Division
- Season Team Record Playoff Results
- 1967 Dallas Cowboys 9–5 Lost NFL Championship Game
- 1968 Dallas Cowboys 12–2 Lost Conference playoffs
- 1969 Dallas Cowboys 11–2–1 Lost Conference playoffs
In 1969 as the Capitol Division, the Dallas Cowboys went 6-0 in its division games
As NFC East Division
- Season Team Record Playoff Results
- 1970 Dallas Cowboys 10–4 Lost Super Bowl V vs. Colts 13–16
- 1971 Dallas Cowboys 11–3 Won Super Bowl VI vs. Dolphins 24–3
- 1972 Washington Redskins 11–3 Lost Super Bowl VII vs. Dolphins 7–14
- 1973 Dallas Cowboys 10–4 Lost NFC Championship
- 1974 St. Louis Cardinals 10–4 Lost Divisional playoffs
- 1975 St. Louis Cardinals 11–3 Lost Divisional playoffs
- 1976 Dallas Cowboys 11–3 Lost Divisional playoffs
- 1977 Dallas Cowboys 12–2 Won Super Bowl XII vs. Broncos 27–10
- 1978 Dallas Cowboys 12–4 Lost Super Bowl XIII vs. Steelers 31–35
- 1979 Dallas Cowboys 11–5 Lost Divisional playoffs
- 1980 Philadelphia Eagles 12–4 Lost Super Bowl XV vs. Raiders 10–27
- 1981 Dallas Cowboys 12–4 Lost NFC Championship
- 1982 Washington Redskins 8–1 Won Super Bowl XVII vs. Dolphins 27–17
- 1983 Washington Redskins 14–2 Lost Super Bowl XVIII vs. Raiders 9–38
- 1984 Washington Redskins 11–5 Lost Divisional playoffs
- 1985 Dallas Cowboys 10–6 Lost Divisional playoffs
- 1986 New York Giants 14–2 Won Super Bowl XXI vs. Broncos 39–20
- 1987 Washington Redskins 11–4 Won Super Bowl XXII vs. Broncos 42–10
- 1988 Philadelphia Eagles 10–6 Lost Divisional playoffs
- 1989 New York Giants 12–4 Lost Divisional playoffs
- 1990 New York Giants 13–3 Won Super Bowl XXV vs. Bills 20–19
- 1991 Washington Redskins 14–2 Won Super Bowl XXVI vs. Bills 37–24
- 1992 Dallas Cowboys 13–3 Won Super Bowl XXVII vs. Bills 52–17
- 1993 Dallas Cowboys 12–4 Won Super Bowl XXVIII vs. Bills 30–13
- 1994 Dallas Cowboys 12–4 Lost NFC Championship
- 1995 Dallas Cowboys 12–4 Won Super Bowl XXX vs. Steelers 27–17
- 1996 Dallas Cowboys 10–6 Lost Divisional playoffs
- 1997 New York Giants 10–5–1 Lost Wild Card playoffs
- 1998 Dallas Cowboys 10–6 Lost Wild Card playoffs
- 1999 Washington Redskins 10–6 Lost Divisional playoffs
- 2000 New York Giants 12–4 Lost Super Bowl XXXV vs. Ravens 7–34
- 2001 Philadelphia Eagles 11–5 Lost NFC Championship
- 2002 Philadelphia Eagles 12–4 Lost NFC Championship
- 2003 Philadelphia Eagles 12–4 Lost NFC Championship
- 2004 Philadelphia Eagles 13–3 Lost Super Bowl XXXIX vs. Patriots 21–24
- 2005 New York Giants 11–5 Lost Wild Card playoffs
- 2006 Philadelphia Eagles 10–6 Lost Divisional playoffs
- 2007 Dallas Cowboys 13–3 Lost Divisional playoffs
- 2008 New York Giants 12–4 Lost Divisional playoffs
- 2009 Dallas Cowboys 11–5 Lost Divisional playoffs
- 2010 Philadelphia Eagles 10–6 Lost Wild Card playoffs
- 2011 New York Giants 9–7 Won Super Bowl XLVI vs. Patriots 21–17
- 2012 Washington Redskins 10–6 Lost Wild Card playoffs
- 2013 Philadelphia Eagles 10–6 Lost Wild Card playoffs
- 2014 Dallas Cowboys 12–4 Lost Divisional playoffs
- 2015 Washington Redskins 9–7 Lost Wild Card playoffs
- 2016 Dallas Cowboys 13–3 Lost Divisional playoffs
- 2017 Philadelphia Eagles 13–3 Won Super Bowl LII vs. Patriots 41–33
- 2018 Dallas Cowboys 10–6 Lost Divisional playoffs
- 2019 Philadelphia Eagles 9–7 Lost Wild Card playoffs
- 2020 W. Football Team 7–9 Lost Wild Card playoffs
Looking at the results, there are certain things to note. It was in 1982 that a player strike depleted the regular season to just nine games, and the NFL was forced to use a 16 team playoff tournament and division standings were ignored. Washington had the best record of the division teams and went on to win the Super Bowl that year.
The Washington Redskins became the only team to be the third seed and win the Super Bowl. Another fact of note is that despite being Division champions in 2007, they were ultimately beaten by their division rivals – 5th seeded New York Giants, who went on to win the Super Bowl. Moreover, the division’s New York Giants were the only sub-10 team that has won the Super Bowl and also the only NFL team that has managed to win the Super Bowl despite being seeded only fourth.
Ultimately, the most important factor is that every single division team has won the Super Bowl at least once – The Dallas Cowboys five times, the New York Giants four times, Washington three times and the Philadelphia Eagles once. However, in the entire NFL history, it is the NY Giants that take the lead with eight Championships, Dallas and Washington with five each and the Eagles with four.
NFC East FAQs
Have there Been any NFC East Division Sweeps?
Yes, there have been two division sweeps in the NFC East Division. First, in 1998 with the Dallas Cowboys’ 8-0 and later, in 2004 with the Philadelphia Eagles 6-0
How Many Super Bowls Did the Cowboys Win?
Although the Cowboys aren’t necessarily at the top of the NFC East standings in NFL history overall, they come top of the division with Super Bowl wins, with five to date
