NFL realignment - Let the arguments begin

In My Humble Opinion
1

First my take.

NFC East: Largely left alone. Dallas still looks a little weird in there, but I guess they league thought moving it would be too drastic. Pretty good.

NFC South: I like this one…four teams capable of both great and horrible things. Should be a hotly-contested division every year.

NFC North: The old NFC Central minus out-of-place Tampa Bay. I agree with everyone who said that they could never break these teams up. Easy call.

NFC West: Lessee…two perennial underachievers, a faded champion that got hammered last season, and a one-season wonder. Plus St. Louis is kinda out of place. Hmm. Well, they had to go somewhere. :slight_smile:

AFC East: Another easy call. Indianapolis catches a break by escaping the conference’s killer division.

AFC South: I have a feeling that Tennessee is going to dominate this division, at least in the short run. Geographically, there are no problems (at least they’re in adjacent time zones), but this could quickly become the league’s least interesting division.

AFC North: Geographically - not bad. Baltimore in same division as two doormats and one near-doormat - bad. (Well, they had to go somewhere…)

AFC West: Okay choices. Again, the big rivalries (Denver’s in particular) seemed to be the motivating factor. Personally, I’d prefer that San Diego and Oakland be in the same division as Seattle and Phoenix, but I guess this is the next best thing.

Overall, I think the league did a good job. There are still some discrepancies, but much less blatant than the old ones, like Arizona in the NFC East. I’m not too concerned about one team dominating any of the divisions either. Remember, it’s mostly cyclical. In time, all the divisions can be competitive.

2

As a Ravens fan, I love the new alignment. Of course, in a few years the Browns might actually be good, but that’s the nature of the NFL. (The Bengals will always be horrible until they radically fix their screwed up organization–almost no scouting, no general manager, and a history of terrible draft picks, at least for the last 10 years or so.)

I wouldn’t necessarily say that Indy caught a break by getting put in the same division with the Titans. I think the AFC South is an intriguing division, especially if the Jags can get beyond their cap mess in the next year or two. The old (i.e. current) AFC East is probably the most balanced division in the league right now, with no obvious cupcakes, but no really dominant teams either. The AFC Central right now is more bipolar, with two teams that play suffocating defense, two patsies, and two teams somewhere in between.

Even though Dallas doesn’t geographically make sense in the NFC East, everyone knew that the Cowboys-Redskins rivalry would have to survive realignment, and the other teams in that division didn’t want to lose games against the hated Cowboys.

One advantage of the new alignment is the added flexibility, with 10 regular season non-division games.

Of course, the whole thing could look very screwed up 15 or 20 years from now, when the Patriots are in Los Angeles and the Seahawks are in Boston, and the Raiders are in Hawaii.

3

As an Eagles fan, I’m satisfied. I don’t really care where the Eagles are, but as long as they’re in the same division as Dallas, Washington, and New Jersey.

What I found odd is that Irsay, the owner of the Colts, refused to be in the same division as Baltimore. Apparently he gets threats whenever the Colts come to Maryland due to his father’s actions of 1984. I wonder why, considering Modell didn’t object to remaining in the same division as Browns 2.0. Of course, two easy wins a year will help get over that. :slight_smile:

4

FTR, the Chiefs/Raiders rivalry is bigger than anything Denver has. It may be the biggest rivalry in the AFC.

5

As a Bills fan, I think the new alignment is probably the best the league could have come up with. I’m glad Buffalo stays with Miami, as that is a favorite rivalry 'round these parts.

I was surprised DKW saw this as Indy getting a break – I thought the exact opposite, that we (not just Buffalo but the other three teams as well) were getting a break by getting Manning the heck out of our division. Indy seems to be a team poised for big growth, and since the Bills are (ahem) in a “rebuilding” phase right now, I’m more than pleased to give the Colts a collegial and supportive send off. Good wishes on all your future endeavors and all that.

6

Looks like my Seahawks are going to have to find some new rivals. We’ll miss all you fellow AFC Westers after this season is over, but first things first.

I don’t think we should have trouble building rivalries in the NFC West. If we can chalk up some W’s in 2002 the rivalries will happen.

But lets not get ahead of ourselves. My prediction is the Faiders, I mean Raiders, and my Seachickens will be running side by side all season.

7

The AFC South will have an instant rival with the Titan’s (formally Houston Oilers) and the Houston Texans. As a Houstonian I am glad to see that. I want Houston to smak the Traitors… oops, Titans around with a large trout.

8

I agree, I think the Tennessee / Houston games will be great.

9

how does this rearrangment affect the playoffs? There are 4 divisions per league, therefore 4 division champions. How many wild cards are there?

10

I don’t think that there will be any wild cards.

11

Really? Are you sure? what do you base this on? I did a search but could find nothing on Google about wildcards. I always thought the wildcard rule was stupid for any sport. If you weren’t good enough to win the division, why the heck should you be in the playoffs?

12

It’s not completely decided upon, but it appears that:

13

As a Bucs fan, I look forward to the 6 probable wins that our new division immediately offers.

Good riddance, NFC Central! Sssssoooo cold. brrr ugh. And all those nasty pasty cheeseheads coming to town every year and polluting the aesthetic environment. And having to go to Minn. every year to play … It’s been a tough road to hoe.

Everything’s good with the realignment - though I question the necessity of the new team that makes this whole brouhaha necessary.

They couldn’t get it together to keep what they had, and now we have to move heaven & earth to give them another go - at lots more $ than it would have cost them to keep the Oilers in the first place.

And what’s with that dud of a NAME? - Why not just call them the “Houston Football Players”?