It was a very good year for the NFC West. Seattle is heading to Super Bowl XLVIII, as king of the best division in football. To get to MetLife Stadium, the Seahawks had to defeat the 49ers in the NFC Championship Game, which is only fitting after the scorched-earth run by the division during the regular season. Seattle went 9-1 outside of the division in 2013, losing only in Indianapolis (and 10-1 including the playoffs). The Arizona Cardinals went 8-2 when not facing NFC West opponents, with the only losses coming in Philadelphia and New Orleans. The 49ers went 7-3 (8-3 including playoffs), losing in New Orleans and at home to Carolina and Indianapolis. That means the top 3 teams in the NFC West went 24-6 outside of the division in the regular season, with all losses coming to 10+ win playoff teams.

Unlike the rest of the division, the Rams actually beat both New Orleans and Indianapolis. But St. Louis lost to Dallas, Carolina, Tennessee and Atlanta (in week 2), giving the Rams a 6-4 record outside the NFC West. All told, the division finished a remarkable 30-10 in non-division games this year. That’s tied for the 2nd best mark since 1970, and tied for the best performance since realignment in 2002. Wait until Richard Sherman hears this news.

The 1984 AFC West holds the record for the best performance by a division since 1970. That year, the defending champion Raiders went 6-2 outside the division, losing only to the playoff bound Steelers and Bears. And that was the second-worst performance by any AFC West team! The Broncos, in John Elway’s second year, went 7-1, with the only loss coming to Chicago. Those Bears, while not as good as their older brothers, were just as outstanding defensively, and still hold the record for sacks in a season. By 1984, the Don Coryell’s Chargers were on their last legs: Dan Fouts was 33, Charlie Joiner was 37, Kellen Winslow played in just 7 games, and Chuck Muncie’s career was essentially over. Still, San Diego went 7-1 outside the division, with the only loss coming to Pittsburgh in the 13th game of the year. And against Pittsburgh, Fouts suffered groin and back injuries in the first half, and those injuries caused him to miss the rest of the year. ^[1]Surprisingly, backup Ed Luther led the team to a victory over the Bears next week. The Chargers were held to 6 points in the first three quarters, but a long touchdown pass to Bobby Duckworth and … Continue reading Seattle finished the year 12-4 and 3rd in the NFL in points differential, behind only Joe Montana’s 49ers and Dan Marino’s Dolphins. The Seahawks lost at New England early in the year, but wound up 7-1 in games against non-NFC West teams. Bringing up the rear was the Chiefs, who were 4-4 in games both inside and outside the division. In 1984, AFC West teams went a sparkling 31-9 in games outside the division. That gives them the best record of any division since 1970, even if it doesn’t automatically make them the best division.

Since realignment, only one other division has won 30 games outside its division: the 2007 AFC South. The Colts were the defending champions and went 8-2 outside the division: the only losses were to the undefeated Patriots and against the Chargers when Peyton Manning threw 6 interceptions, Darren Sproles had two return touchdowns, and and Adam Vinatieri missed field goals from 29 and 42 yards…. and the Colts lost by two. That year, David Garrard threw 18 touchdowns and just 3 interceptions for the Jaguars, who went 9-1 in games outside the AFC South. The one loss came in New Orleans when Quinn Gray started in place of an injured Garrard. Houston went 1-5 against the AFC South but 7-3 against all other teams, while Tennessee went 4-2 against the division and 6-4 outside of it.

The AFC South has fallen on hard times since then, however. Both the Texans and Jaguars went 1-9 against non-AFC South teams this year, with both wins (over San Diego and Cleveland) coming in last-minute, come-from-behind fashion. The Titans were actually better outside the division (5-5) than inside (2-4, with both wins coming in weeks 16 and 17), while the Colts fattened up on the AFC South with a perfect 6-0 record. That left Indianapolis just 5-5 against the rest of the NFL, with the odd split of sweeping the 49ers, Seahawks, Broncos, and Chiefs but going 1-6 against Oakland, Miami, San Diego, St. Louis, Arizona, and Cincinnati.

That gave the AFC South a 12-28 record outside the division, placing it in the bottom five of all divisions since 1970. The two worst? The West divisions in both conferences in 2008. The table below shows the record in non-division games of every division since 1970, and is fully sortable and searchable.