National Conference

The National Conference is among the two highest levels in the NFL structure. It appeared in 1970 and united most teams that competed in the National Football League earlier. NFC’s counterpart is the American Football Conference which reminds us of the former American Football League.

Teams and divisions

Like its counterpart, the National Football Conference is divided into four divisions according to the sides of the world: East, West, North, and South. This arrangement came into effect in 2002. It demolished the NFC Central division in favor of the northern and southern ones.

The current divisional lineups are:

• NFC East: Dallas Cowboys, New York Giants, Philadelphia Eagles, Washington Commanders
• NFC North: Chicago Bears, Detroit Lions, Green Bay Packers, Minnesota Vikings.
• NFC South: Atlanta Falcons, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, New Orleans Saints, Carolina Panthers
• NFC West: Arizona Cardinals, Los Angeles Rams, San Francisco 49ers, Seattle Seahawks.

Season schedule

Most of the calendar NFC teams compete with each other. The divisional rivals meet each other twice per regular season. There is also a series of interdivisional battles according to the formula. It includes the teams of the predetermined division plus the divisional champion playing against the first-place finishers of the other two divisions of the conference and one predetermined champion of the division in the AFC. The second type of battle resumes every three to four years. The third part is the interconference rivalries with the AFC opponents according to the cycle.

For example, the NFC North teams will play twice each other, and one game is scheduled against each of the NFC West rivals and one game against their opponents from the AFC East division. This arrangement is actually in the 2023 season. Here is a schedule for the Eagles as the explanation

• at New England Patriots (AFC) Sep 10
• Minnesota Vikings (NFC North first-place finisher) Sep 14
• at Tampa Bay Buccaneers (NFC South first-place finisher) Sep 25
• Washington Commanders (intradivisional) Oct 1
• at Los Angeles Rams (NFC West) Oct 8
• at New York Jets (AFC East) Oct 15
• Miami Dolphins (AFC East) Oct 22
• at Washington Commanders (intradivisional) Oct 29
• Dallas Cowboys (intradivisional) Nov 5
• at Kansas City Chiefs (AFC West first place finisher) Nov 20
• Buffalo Bills (AFC East) Nov 26
• San Francisco 49ers (NFC West) Dec 3
• at Dallas Cowboys (intradivisional) Dec 10
• at Seattle Seahawks (NFC West) Dec 17
• New York Giants (intradivisional) Christmas Day
• Arizona Cardinals (NFC West) New Year’s Eve
• at New York Giants (intradivisional) Jan 7, 2024

All divisional winners, plus the three best finishers, qualify for the playoff. The best record finishers, plus the divisional winner with the lowest seasonal record, start the way to the conference championship from the Wild Card round. Three other divisional winners join them in the Divisional round. Two divisional round winners compete for NFC Championship and promote to Super Bowl, where the NFC champion competes with their AFC counterpart for a title.