pf9 Posted August 16, 2021 Share Posted August 16, 2021 When the Cardinals moved to Phoenix in 1988, the NFL had the opportunity to set up what would have been the most perfect alignment in the 28-team era, as follows: AFC East: Buffalo, Miami, New England, NY Jets, Pittsburgh AFC Central: Cincinnati, Cleveland, Houston, Indianapolis, Kansas City AFC West: Denver, LA Raiders, San Diego, Seattle NFC East: Atlanta, NY Giants, Philadelphia, Tampa Bay, Washington NFC Central: Chicago, Detroit, Green Bay, Minnesota, New Orleans NFC West: Dallas, LA Rams, Phoenix, San Francisco Tampa Bay would have benefited from having three Northeastern teams in their division due to the large amount of NE transplants in the area, thus possibly having at least three highly-attended, if not sold out, games each year. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pf9 Posted August 16, 2021 Author Share Posted August 16, 2021 Of course the NFL did not adopt this alignment, which I feel was a wasted opportunity. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pf9 Posted August 16, 2021 Author Share Posted August 16, 2021 Another feature would have been Dan Marino returning to his hometown every year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malibuspeedrace Posted August 16, 2021 Share Posted August 16, 2021 I concur Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FinSting Posted August 16, 2021 Share Posted August 16, 2021 You can't move NFC East team Dallas to NFC West. It's geography controversy and even meeting in the middle is no solution Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iknowcool Posted August 16, 2021 Share Posted August 16, 2021 I knew something was missing from NFL Gen this offseason/preseason. 10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TecmoSuperJoe Posted August 16, 2021 Share Posted August 16, 2021 4 hours ago, FinSting said: You can't move NFC East team Dallas to NFC West. It's geography controversy and even meeting in the middle is no solution Also that would be the worst team to move out of the NFC East probably. Dallas I'm guessing even back then was getting good TV ratings, and then you vanquish the already established rivalries with the other teams in the division so no more primetime NFC East showdowns with Dallas involved. People love that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rfournier103 Posted August 16, 2021 Share Posted August 16, 2021 AFC East Buffalo New England Miami New York (Open spot for Jacksonville in 1995) AFC Central Pittsburgh Cleveland Tampa Bay Cincinnati Houston AFC West Denver Seattle Los Angeles Kansas City San Diego NFC East New York Washington Philadelphia New Orleans Atlanta NFC Central Chicago Minnesota Detroit Green Bay Indianapolis NFC West San Francisco Los Angeles Dallas Phoenix (Open spot for Carolina in 1995) To be honest, I like things the way they are today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ET80 Posted August 16, 2021 Share Posted August 16, 2021 2 hours ago, rfournier103 said: To be honest, I like things the way they are today. Ditto. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wyld Stallyns Posted August 16, 2021 Share Posted August 16, 2021 Never put the Packers and Colts in the same division. It makes no sense whatsoever. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pf9 Posted August 16, 2021 Author Share Posted August 16, 2021 16 hours ago, TecmoSuperJoe said: Also that would be the worst team to move out of the NFC East probably. Dallas I'm guessing even back then was getting good TV ratings, and then you vanquish the already established rivalries with the other teams in the division so no more primetime NFC East showdowns with Dallas involved. People love that. But we'd see more Cowboys-49ers games I'm willing to bet there are Cowboys fans who enjoy the 49ers rivalry more than the NFC East rivalries Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pf9 Posted August 16, 2021 Author Share Posted August 16, 2021 Basing the 1987 standings on this proposed alignment, here's what the non-division games would have been in 1988: AFC Central VS. AFC East (non-fifth place): Buffalo at Kansas City Cleveland at Miami Houston at Buffalo Indianapolis at New England Kansas City at Pittsburgh Miami at Houston New England at Cleveland Pittsburgh at Indianapolis AFC Central VS. AFC West (non-fifth place): Cleveland at Denver Denver at Houston Houston at San Diego Indianapolis at Seattle Kansas City at LA Raiders LA Raiders at Indianapolis San Diego at Kansas City Seattle at Cleveland AFC East VS. AFC West (non-fifth place): Buffalo at Seattle Denver at New England LA Raiders at Buffalo Miami at LA Raiders New England at San Diego Pittsburgh at Denver San Diego at Miami Seattle at Pittsburgh AFC Central VS. AFC West (fifth place): Cincinnati at San Diego Cincinnati at Seattle Denver at Cincinnati LA Raiders at Cincinnati AFC East VS. AFC West (fifth place): NY Jets at Denver NY Jets at LA Raiders San Diego at NY Jets Seattle at NY Jets NFC Central VS. NFC East (non-fifth place): Chicago at Philadelphia Minnesota at NY Giants New Orleans at Washington NY Giants at Green Bay Philadelphia at New Orleans Tampa Bay at Chicago Tampa Bay at Green Bay Washington at Minnesota NFC Central VS. NFC West (non-fifth place): Chicago at San Francisco Dallas at Minnesota Green Bay at LA Rams Green Bay at Phoenix Minnesota at LA Rams New Orleans at Dallas Phoenix at Chicago San Francisco at New Orleans NFC East VS. NFC West (non-fifth place): Dallas at Tampa Bay LA Rams at Philadelphia LA Rams at Tampa Bay NY Giants at Dallas Philadelphia at Phoenix Phoenix at Washington San Francisco at NY Giants Washington at San Francisco NFC Central VS. NFC West (fifth place): Detroit at Dallas Detroit at San Francisco LA Rams at Detroit Phoenix at Detroit NFC East VS. NFC West (fifth place): Atlanta at LA Rams Atlanta at Phoenix Dallas at Atlanta San Francisco at Atlanta Intraconference fifth place home-and-homes: Atlanta VS. Detroit Cincinnati VS. NY Jets AFC Central VS. NFC East (non-fifth place): Cleveland at NY Giants Cleveland at Washington Houston at NY Giants Houston at Washington Indianapolis at Philadelphia Indianapolis at Tampa Bay Kansas City at Philadelphia Kansas City at Tampa Bay NY Giants at Indianapolis NY Giants at Kansas City Philadelphia at Cleveland Philadelphia at Houston Tampa Bay at Cleveland Tampa Bay at Houston Washington at Indianapolis Washington at Kansas City AFC East VS. NFC Central (non-fifth place): Buffalo at Green Bay Buffalo at New Orleans Chicago at Buffalo Chicago at Miami Green Bay at New England Green Bay at Pittsburgh Miami at Green Bay Miami at New Orleans Minnesota at Buffalo Minnesota at Miami New England at Chicago New England at Minnesota New Orleans at New England New Orleans at Pittsburgh Pittsburgh at Chicago Pittsburgh at Minnesota AFC West VS. NFC West: Dallas at Denver Dallas at LA Raiders Denver at Phoenix Denver at San Francisco LA Raiders at Phoenix LA Raiders at San Francisco LA Rams at Denver LA Rams at LA Raiders Phoenix at San Diego Phoenix at Seattle San Diego at Dallas San Diego at LA Rams San Francisco at San Diego San Francisco at Seattle Seattle at Dallas Seattle at LA Rams Interconference fifth place: Atlanta at NY Jets Cincinnati at Atlanta Detroit at Cincinnati NY Jets at Detroit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matts4313 Posted August 16, 2021 Share Posted August 16, 2021 Your obsession's with NFL alignment and getting the Cowboys out of the East is a sight to behold. Curious who you root for? As an aside, I am not going to debate all this for the umpteenth time. But I will say, putting the Cowboys in the same division with the 9ers (and I guess rams) would have been logical. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matts4313 Posted August 16, 2021 Share Posted August 16, 2021 (edited) 9 hours ago, Wyld Stallyns said: Never put the Packers and Colts in the same division. It makes no sense whatsoever. Why is that? 1 hour ago, pf9 said: But we'd see more Cowboys-49ers games I'm willing to bet there are Cowboys fans who enjoy the 49ers rivalry more than the NFC East rivalries Probably not more, but we do hate 9ers. And in general Texas looks down upon that trash state. Obviously no geography wise - Cali is some of the prime real estate in the world. Mainly just culture/people. Edited August 16, 2021 by Matts4313 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wyld Stallyns Posted August 16, 2021 Share Posted August 16, 2021 6 minutes ago, Matts4313 said: Why is that? I’m a Colts fan born and raised in Wisconsin. If they were in the same division that wouldn’t be possible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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