| So the Falcons story. When first added to the NFL (1966), there were but 2 divisions, East and West, and the Falcons played in the East (with the Cowboys, Eagles, Steelers, Giants, Redskins, Cardinals, and Browns). The West only had 7 teams, the Niners, the Rams, the Packers, the Bears, the Lions, the Colts (who were in Baltimore, which is a little weird that they were a West team and the Cowboys an East team), and the Vikings. Then in 1967, the NFL added the Saints and split into 4 divisions, called Capital, Century, Coastal and Central. These division made no sense at all: Capital was Dallas, Philly, Washington and New Orleans. Coastal was LA, SF, ATL, and BALT. Century was NYG, CLE, PITT, and STL. And Central was the Division that made the most sense and survived future changes, CHI, MIN, DET, GB. These silly divisions lasted until the merger, at which point, the Steelers, the Browns and the Colts moved to the AFC, leaving only 13 teams in the NFC. They left the Central intact with CHI, MIN, DET, GB. At this point there were 9 other teams to divvy up between East and West: NYG, PHI, WASH, ATL, NO, DAL, STL, SF and LA. Of course, it would have made sense to make the first 5 East teams and the last 4 West teams, but instead Dallas and St. Louis went with the 3 NE teams and ATL and NO got shipped out West with the Niners and Rams. I suspect the Cardinals and the Cowboys wanted to be with the teams that they had developed long term rivalries with over the history of the NFL, and the Saints and Falcons got, well, screwed because they were newer franchises. |
NFL Team Coaching Wins
NFL 100 Yard Rushers (2008)
NBA 50 Point Games (1990s)
