NFC East
The National Football Conference – Eastern Division or NFC East is one of the four divisions of the National Football Conference in the National Football League. It has four members: the Dallas Cowboys, New York Giants, Philadelphia Eagles, and Washington Commanders.
The division was formed in 1967 as the National Football League Capitol Division and acquired its current name in 1970 following the AFL–NFL merger. The NFC East is currently the only division in the league in which all four current teams have won not only at least one Super Bowl, but also at least two. With 14 Super Bowl titles, the NFC East is currently the most successful division in the NFL during the Super Bowl era, with the AFC West second with ten titles. The Dallas Cowboys have the most Super Bowl titles in the division, winning five. The New York Giants have won four, the Washington Commanders have three, and the Philadelphia Eagles have two Super Bowl victories, including the most recent, Super Bowl LIX.
History
The division's original name, NFL Capitol Division, derived from being centered on the capital of the United States, Washington, D.C., and the country's birthplace, Philadelphia. In 1967 and 1969, the teams in the division were Dallas, Philadelphia, Washington and the expansion team New Orleans Saints, with the New York Giants swapping divisions with the Saints for the 1968 season. This arrangement had been agreed in advance as a means to ensure all of the NFL's teams would be able to visit New York once in those three years. With the merger in 1970, following contentious negotiations culminating in a random draw, it was agreed that New York would permanently return to the re-branded NFC East.General information
The NFC East teams have combined to be the most successful division in the Super Bowl era with 22 NFC championships and 14 Super Bowl victories, the highest marks of any division in the NFL. The division features a number of prominent rivalries such as the Cowboys–Eagles rivalry, Cowboys–Washington rivalry and Eagles–Giants rivalry, among others. Because the division's teams are in some of the United States' List of [United States television markets|largest media markets], the NFC East receives a high amount of coverage from national sports media outlets. In the early 1990s the division claimed four consecutive Super Bowl champions, all against the Buffalo Bills, with the Giants and Washington respectively winning back-to-back in Super Bowls XXV and XXVI; and the Cowboys winning twice after in Super Bowls XXVII and XXVIII. Those same three teams won seven out of ten Super Bowls, from 1986–87 to 1995–96. Meanwhile, the Eagles are the most recent team in the division to win multiple Super Bowls, beating the Patriots 41–33 in Super Bowl LII and the Chiefs 40-22 in Super Bowl LIX.The NFC East was the first division since the 2002 realignment to send 3 teams to the playoffs when the 2006-07 NFL playoffs had Philadelphia winning the division and Dallas and New York taking both Wild Card spots. On the other hand, the NFC East became one of three divisions to be won by a team with a losing record when the then-Washington Football Team won the division crown with a 7–9 record.
The NFC East previously held a 20-year streak without a consecutive division champion. The Philadelphia Eagles won four consecutive titles from 2001 to 2004, then there was no repeat winner again until the Eagles won in 2024 and 2025.
The Philadelphia Eagles are the only NFC East team to actually play in the city of the team's naming. The other three teams play in suburbs of the major cities they are named after. The Dallas Cowboys play in Arlington, Texas, and are the only team in this division not based in the Eastern Time Zone. The Washington Commanders play in Landover, Maryland, and the New York Giants play in East Rutherford, New Jersey, where they share a stadium with the New York Jets. Analogously, three of the four AFC East teams do not actually play within the city of their naming.
As of 2024, all four teams in the division were in the top ten of most valuable NFL franchises.
Division lineups
Place cursor over year for division champion.Division champions
- * A players' strike in 1982 reduced the regular season to nine games. Thus, the league used a special 16-team playoff tournament just for this year. Division standings were ignored; Washington had the best record of the division teams and won the Super Bowl.
- ++ The 1987 Redskins are the only NFC 3rd Seed to win the Super Bowl.
- ^ The 2007 Dallas Cowboys were defeated by division rival and NFC 5th Seed New York Giants, who ultimately won Super Bowl XLII.
- # The 2011 New York Giants are the only sub-10-win team to win the Super Bowl, as well as the first team to win the Super Bowl as the NFC's 4th Seed.
- * The 2020 [Washington Football Team] is the only NFC East division winner to have a losing record.
There have been three division sweeps of the NFC East Division, the 1998 Dallas Cowboys, the 2004 Philadelphia Eagles, and the 2021 Dallas Cowboys.
Wild Card qualifiers
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+ A players' strike in 1982 reduced the regular season to nine games, so the league used a special 16-team playoff tournament just for this year. - ** The 2007 New York Giants are the only NFC East team to win a Super Bowl as a Wild Card team, and the first NFL team in history to win the Super Bowl as a 5th Seed in either Conference.
Total playoff berths since 1967
| Team | Division Championships | Playoff Berths | Super Bowl Appearances | Super Bowl Championships |
| Dallas Cowboys seasons|Dallas Cowboys] | 25 | 35 | 8 | 5 |
| Philadelphia Eagles seasons|Philadelphia Eagles] | 14 | 28 | 5 | 2 |
| Washington Commanders seasons|Washington Commanders] | 10 | 19 | 5 | 3 |
| New York Giants | 8 | 16 | 5 | 4 |
| Arizona Cardinals seasons|Arizona Cardinals]1 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
To sort table above, click button to right of heading.
| NFC East | Division Championships | Playoff Berths | NFC Championships | Super Bowl Championships |
| Totals | 56 | 97 | 23 | 14 |