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Interconference matchup quirks of 2021


pf9

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2021 will mark the first time that:

*The Chargers have played the Eagles and Vikings in the same season since 1985
*The Chiefs have played the Cowboys and Packers in the same season since 1989
*The Colts have played the Buccaneers and Cardinals in the same season since 1992 (it also was planned for 1987, but the Colts at Cardinals game that year was canceled due to the strike)

All of these previous instances were because the teams in question finished 5th place the year before while the NFL had 28 teams. During those years, 5th place teams played a special schedule that excluded them from the normal interconference rotation.

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The Super Bowl 55 matchup between the Chiefs and Buccaneers also set a record for most times a previous or future Super Bowl matchup was scheduled for a season because both teams had finished fifth between 1977-93 and played successfully, with four such meetings: 1978, 1979, 1984, 1986. Tampa Bay won the first two of these matchups, Kansas City the last two (of which all but 1979 were in KC).

Other instances a one-time Super Bowl matchup was a fifth place game:

December 5, 1982: New England at Chicago - Chicago won 26-13, teams later matched up in Super Bowl 20
December 19, 1982: New England at Seattle (as the Seahawks were in the AFC at the time, these teams had a home-and-home scheduled, the game in Foxboro on September 26 was canceled due to the strike) - New England won 16-0, teams later matched up in Super Bowl 49 after Seattle moved to the NFC
September 25, 1983: Chicago at Baltimore - Baltimore won 22-19, teams later matched up in Super Bowl 41 after the Colts moved to Indianapolis (which was the very next season)
November 19, 1989: Miami at Dallas - Miami won 17-14, teams previously matched up in Super Bowl 5
December 10, 1989: Kansas City at Green Bay - Kansas City won 21-3, teams previously matched up in the very first Super Bowl
September 19, 1993: Seattle at New England (see above), Seattle won 17-14
October 24, 1993: New England at Seattle (see above), Seattle won 10-9, was last matchup of teams before Seattle moved into NFC (their next meeting was in 2004)

In addition, the Seahawks and Cardinals had fifth place games scheduled against each other in 1982 (canceled) and 1993. Both teams joined the NFC West in 2002 and now play each other twice annually.

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Prior to 2002, every non-division game was determined by the previous year's standings.

Matchups of AFC Central and NFC West teams from 1978-93 were determined in advance just to the point that all possible matches between teams from those divisions would occur since both were 4-team divisions during this time, the only thing that needed to be settled was where the games would take place, which would be determined by the previous year's standings.

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More quirks about 2021's AFC-NFC games:

Jacksonville will play Atlanta, LA Rams, and San Francisco in the same season for the first time ever. It was possible in 1996 and 1999, back when the latter three teams were together in the NFC West, while Jacksonville was in the AFC Central. Those divisions were paired during these seasons. In both seasons, Jacksonville only played two of the three, playing Atlanta both years and the Rams in 1996 and 49ers in 1999.

Tennessee will play LA Rams, New Orleans, and San Francisco in the same season for the first time since 1999. This happened in all years where the AFC Central and NFC West were paired from 1978-99, except 1996, as the Titans, formerly the Houston Oilers, were part of the AFC Central, and both divisions had only four teams prior to 1995.

Tampa Bay will play all five teams that once made up the AFC East in the same season for the first time ever, and play the Colts, a former AFC East team, and at least three former AFL teams in the AFC East for the first time since 1997. The Bucs played one game against an AFC East team in 1978, 1979, 1984, 1986, 1987, 1990, 1992, and 1994, due to the fifth place schedules that existed in those years, and got to play four games against the AFC East in 1982, 1985, 1988, 1991, 1997, and 2000. Thus, the Bucs played at least one game against the AFC East every year from 1984-88 and 1990-92. The only years prior to 1995 where the Bucs didn't play an AFC East team were 1980, 1981, 1983, 1989, and 1993. These years, the Bucs didn't finish fifth the year before, but the AFC East and NFC Central were not paired.

The Rams will play Baltimore, Jacksonville and Tennessee in the same season for the first time ever. As with the first two examples, this was possible in 1996 and 1999. The Rams played the Jaguars in only 1996 and Titans in only 1999, playing the Ravens both years.

The 49ers will play Cincinnati, Jacksonville, and Tennessee in the same season for the first time since 1999. As with the above and the first two examples, this reflected the divisional alignment of the time.
 

Edited by pf9
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