One of these years, one of the NFL's eight divisions is going to have four playoff teams. This became possible two years ago when the league expanded the postseason field to seven teams in each conference, and it has fascinated me ever since. And since you've clicked on my story, sorry, you're stuck reading about stuff that fascinates me.
It could be this season, right? I mean, it could be any year, so of course it could be this year. And if it were to happen this year, the next question is which division would it be?
To that end, we present our annual effort to rank all eight NFL divisions from best to worst. We do this with the help of ESPN's Football Power Index rankings, which rate all 32 teams' true strength on a net points scale, with an overall expected points margin against an average opponent on a neutral field. FPI projects the strength of every team's offense, defense and special teams and combines those for an overall rating. As great as FPI is, though, there are factors it doesn't consider, so I reserve the right to stray from the strict formula as necessary.
This is an exercise that undoubtedly will produce nothing but universal agreement and provoke no argument whatsoever. Let's start with the division at the top:
Jump to a division:
AFC: East | North | South | West
NFC: East | North | South | West