HOW NFL TEAMS FARE AFTER HAVING A FIRST PLACE SCHEDULE

Yes, there is a lot that goes into making an NFL schedule.  You have your six games against the other teams in your division, the four games against another division in your conference and the four games against a division from the other conference.  The final two games of each teams' schedule come from playing opponents within your conference who had the same standing at the end of the last season.  For this dive into random NFL results, I've looked at the place each NFL team finished the year before and the year after their 1st place finish.

THE AFC-  Each division except for the North has had at least one team go from 4th place to 1st.  The average finishing position prior to each teams' first place finish is as follows:

• East 1.3
• North 1.8
• South 2.1
• West 1.5

Each division except for the East has had at least one team go from 1st place to 4th.  The South has had this occur 4 times.  Here's the average finishing position for each team when they play their 1st place schedule:

• East 1.1
• North 2.2
• South 2.4
• West 1.5

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THE NFC-  Each division except for the West has had at least one team go from 4th place to 1st.  The East has seen this trend happen 5 times.  The average finishing position prior to each teams' first place finish is as follows:

• East 2.8
• North 2.2
• South 2.1
• West 2

Each division except for the North has had at least one team go from 1st place to 4th.  Here's the average finishing position for each team when they play their 1st place schedule:

• East 2.5
• North 2.1
• South 2.1
• West 2