Ranking the Best Divisional Games in NFL History
The NFL Is a Highly Competitive League, but the Divisional Games Are on Another Level.
Heated Rivalries
Over the course of the 17-game regular season in the National Football League, there are certain games that come with more anticipation than others. Divisional games are among them and for obvious reasons.
First, they have a direct impact on one of the eight divisions in the NFL (four in the American Football Conference [AFC], and four in the National Football Conference [NFC]). Next are the rivalries. The old adage that “familiarity breeds contempt” is certainly true around the NFL as teams within the same division play one another twice annually.
Rivalries have been around since the dawn of the NFL back in 1920 (and the American Football League in 1960), and though the era of free agency and constant player movement has certainly tamped down the animus, it doesn’t take much to find instances of Team A hating the guts of Team B (Dallas versus Washington, Baltimore/Pittsburgh, Cincinnati/ Cleveland, Las Vegas/Kansas City, New York Giants/Philadelphia are always among the more heated affairs).
While the pure definition of a rivalry includes both sides doing their fair share of winning, there’s no lack of one-sided emasculations in NFL scores throughout the history of the league.
As the NFL has laid out the divisions with geography in mind, it’s not much of a road trip to get fans of one team infiltrating enemy territory (the lack of civility among some fans, regardless of venue, is another issue altogether).
NFL news often highlights these rivalries and divisional games throughout the season, and even in the offseason when the schedule is released.
Looking at clubs that don’t care about one another in any way, shape, or form, here’s a primer…
How Many Divisional Games Are in the NFL?
NFL fans don’t need to wade through NFL rumors to do the math about the number of divisional games in the league. There are four divisions and 32 teams, with each team playing a division rival twice annually. So, 4 x 3 = 12 divisional games per division x 8 division = 96 divisional games (each game obviously involving two teams).
What Is the Divisional Round in the NFL?
While the NFL schedule has all those aforementioned divisional games during the regular season, the divisional round is a different animal indeed. That’s a phrase restricted to the postseason, where the “legs” of the playoffs are known as the wild-card round, divisional round, conference championship, and Super Bowl. Hence, the divisional round is the second round.
It’s sort of a misnomer since there’s no guarantee the divisional round pits teams representing the same division. It’s just a name, though it’s highly popular with NFL picks and predictions.
Is the Divisional Series Five Games?
There’s no divisional series when it comes to the National Football League. In fact, there’s no series when it comes to the National Football League (all-time series as the exception). As was mentioned, playoffs in the NFL schedule are conducted in a single-elimination format.
Is the NFL Moving to 18 Games?
It’s just a matter of time before the National Football League adds an 18th NFL game today to the schedule of each team. It was 16 games over the span of four decades before a 17th game was added in 2021. Adding a game would mean each team would “even out” their home and road schedule at nine games (currently it alternates by season). Whether this ultimately affects the NFL playoffs remains to be seen.
Any Final Thoughts?
Regardless of how many regular season games are played in the NFL, divisional games with their accompanying rivalries always have more on the table. Players and fans look forward to them, standings are more impacted by them and nothing is left on the field.
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