The Daily Briefing Tuesday, September 27, 2022

AROUND THE NFL

@ScottKacsmar

I repeat: Browns and Falcons are the only teams to score at least 26 points in all 3 games.

Jacoby Brissett and Marcus Mariota.

And John McClain points out that failure to land QB DESHAUN WATSON has not hurt either the Eagles or Dolphins:

@McClain_on_NFL

What do Jalen Hurts and Tua Tagovailoa have in common besides playing at Alabama? Their teams tried to trade for Deshaun Watson last year. Watson used his no-trade clause to reject the Eagles. The deal with the Dolphins fell part when Stephen Ross demanded civil suits be settled.

– – –

Matthew Berry has three RB injuries to keep an eye on:

🚑 3 Big RB injuries: D’Andre Swift, David Montgomery, and Dalvin Cook

Swift is dealing with multiple injuries (ankle, shoulder) and it sounds like the team is finally going to power him down for a few weeks. The Lions have a bye in Week 6, so taking off the next two games would give Swift almost a full month to rest up. We’ll be seeing a ton of Jamaal Williams during that stretch (and also a deep sleeper that Sam highlights below in his waiver piece.)

Montgomery hurt his leg during the Bears game Sunday and is now officially listed as “day-to-day” with ankle and knee injuries. It would seem silly to rush him back after Khalil Herbert played so well in relief, but what do I know (don’t answer that, it was rhetorical).

Cook dislocated his shoulder vs. the Lions and is somehow day-to-day as well. These guys are absolute warriors. I dislocated my shoulder playing basketball once, wept in the ER, and then didn’t play sports for like two months. Guess I’m just built different. Anyways, the Vikings head to London this Sunday for a 9:30 am ET game, and it sounds like Cook will be there. If not, Alexander Mattison will be an RB1.

DETROIT

There are various kinds of ankle injuries.  The serious kind (see MAC JONES, Patriots) and the not so serious kind.  Looks like WR AMAN-RA ST. BROWN’s is the latter.  Josh Alper of ProFootballTalk.com:

Wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown has established himself as an essential part of the Lions offense, so any injury that kept him out of the lineup for an extended period would be a major problem for the NFC North club.

It appears that St. Brown avoided such an injury in Sunday’s loss to the Vikings. St. Brown injured his ankle during the game and he went for tests on Monday to determine the severity.

Tom Pelissero of NFL Media reports that the results of those tests were “encouraging” and that the injury is not expected to be a long-term concern.

Wednesday will bring the start of a new practice week and St. Brown’s participation level will shed light on the possibility that he will have to miss Week Four’s game against the Seahawks

MINNESOTA

When the season began WR JUSTIN JEFFERSON was as close as a sure thing as the NFL had for receptions and yards receiving – especially with new coach Kevin O’Connell promising to do WR COOPER KUPP things for him.  Three weeks in, not so much.  This from Kevin Seifert of ESPN.com:

What in the world do we make of consecutive down games from Justin Jefferson?

Scheming Jefferson to run wild through defensive secondaries, as he did in Week 1 against the Packers, seemed most likely to be an exception rather than the rule. The Eagles and Lions have limited him in Weeks 2-3 by consistent double teams, but coach Kevin O’Connell is determined not to allow defenses to dictate Jefferson’s productivity. Look for the Vikings to continue tinkering with their scheme to spring Jefferson in the coming weeks. “I have to do a better job,” O’Connell said, “of giving Justin different aspects of lining up in different spots, different personnel groupings, whatever I need to do to help him.” — Kevin Seifert

DALLAS

QB COOPER RUSH is 3-0 as a starter, putting up a middlin’ number of points in each of the three games while leading a winning 4^th quarter drive.

It’s enough for impish Jerry Jones to stir things up.  Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com:

Jerry Jones just can’t help himself.

Less than a week after musing about the possibility of having an eventual dilemma at the quarterback position thanks to the play of Cooper Rush, Jones was praising Rush for winning his third game in three career starts. Two of which came in prime time.

Appearing on 105.3 The Fan in Dallas, Jones said Rush has “the makeup of a top quarterback,” via Todd Archer of ESPN.com. “Let me say this,” Jones added, “he’s certainly playing as well as anybody could’ve expected.”

This comes at a time when starter Dak Prescott continues to push to return from a Week One hand fracture that initially was supposed to result in a 6-8 week absence. Prescott has been saying he intends to return soon. Maybe by Week Five against the Rams. Maybe by Week Six against the Eagles.

Maybe by this Sunday against the Commanders.

“I think his progress is nothing short of amazing,” Jones said regarding Prescott’s recovery. Jones said that Prescott’s return will hinge on his ability to grip the ball properly.

But gripping the ball properly and performing at the highest level are two different things. Prescott wants to play, as any competitor would. Seeing Rush play so well — and hearing the boss go on and on about it — won’t make Prescott any less anxious.

It’s a risky proposition for the Cowboys. If Prescott pushes to return before he’s ready and doesn’t play well, there’s nothing they can really do. It’s far better to wait for Prescott to be truly 100 percent, especially if the Cowboys can keep winning with Rush.

The best outcome for the Cowboys would be to find a way to ride the hot hand of Rush for as long as it stays that way, with Prescott’s hand declared to be “100 percent” the moment Rush cools off. But good luck getting Prescott to go along with that, once he thinks he’s ready to go.

NEW YORK GIANTS

WR KENNY GOLLADAY at least has the decency to be sorry after getting an opportunity than blundering.

Cowboys wide receiver CeeDee Lamb got a chance to make up for a dropped pass on Monday night and he made the most of it, but Giants wideout Kenny Golladay didn’t have the same luck.

Golladay found himself back in the rotation after playing two snaps in Week Two and quarterback Daniel Jones looked his way on a third down in the fourth quarter with the Giants down seven points. Golladay had room to run for a first down after the catch, but started doing so before the ball was secured and the drop forced a Giants punt on the way to a 23-16 loss.

Golladay responded to the Week Two quasi-benching by saying that he “should be playing.” He got the chance on Monday, but he was left to lament his missed opportunity.

“Me just not looking it all the way in,” Golladay said in his postgame press conference. “Me just trying to make a play for the team and get up the field. I was running before I really secured the ball. That’s pretty much all that that was. That’s stuff that can’t happen, especially when 8 is pretty much doing everything to get us the ball and to get us in position to win the football game. I want to be a guy that can make that play, so I definitely put that on myself. It was third down and that can’t happen. . . . It’s very difficult. I’m beating myself up about it. I definitely wish I could have it back.”

Golladay is now 20 games into his Giants career and the lowlights continue to be running far ahead of the highlights.

Meanwhile, the Giants are going to have more need than ever for Golladay with WR STERLING SHEPARD hurt.  Jordan Raanan of ESPN.com:

New York Giants wide receiver Sterling Shepard suffered what is believed to be a serious left knee injury, multiple sources told ESPN, after Shepard had initial tests following Monday night’s game against the Dallas Cowboys.

The noncontact injury happened in the final minutes of New York’s 23-16 loss to Dallas. A final diagnosis will come Tuesday morning, when Shepard undergoes more tests, but the fear is that his season is over.

Shepard, who was cleared to practice late this summer after tearing his left Achilles last December, leads the Giants with 154 receiving yards through three games. He’s also played the most snaps (157) of all the team’s receivers.

“It’s tough. It’s a tough sport,” coach Brian Daboll said. “Guys work their butts off to get back from injuries. This is something, if he’s out for the whole season, which we’ll probably know [Tuesday] morning … you hurt for those guys because you watch them in the rehab room, you watch them in the offseason. It’s just a shame.”

The injury occurred on the Giants’ final offensive play Monday night, when Shepard was jogging near the right sideline. He limped onto the cart and players from both teams came over to offer words of encouragement.

“It’s tough. I’m not even going to lie. It’s hard not to get choked up about it,” Giants wide receiver Darius Slayton said of seeing the injury. “He’s been here since the first day I got drafted. He’s done a lot for me as a young guy. And then seeing him come off the Achilles last year and rehab all year, and how hard he fought to get back out there, it’s definitely hard to see.”

The play resulted in what was essentially a game-ending interception. In the moment, that hardly mattered.

Shepard was on the ground writhing in pain.

“It’s hard,” said running back Saquon Barkley, one of Shepard’s best friends on the team. “I would say I’m one of the biggest competitors, but when I saw Shep was down, I was like, ‘What the heck is happening?’ Obviously I realized it was a pick, but in that moment, you see him on the ground, I didn’t even want to walk over there. I dropped, said a quick prayer and … it’s tough. He’s been through a lot of injuries recently, it’s tough to come back and battle the way he has, from an Achilles, and to go down on a play like that, it’s a tough way to end an emotional game.”

The Giants (2-1) lost for the first time this season and for the 10th time in 11 tries against their division rivals.

Shepard has been around for a good chunk of those losses. He is the longest-tenured Giants player. He’s been with the team since being selected in the second round of the 2016 NFL draft out of Oklahoma.

The veteran receiver took a pay cut this offseason to remain in the area and with the Giants. This is the latest blow to a career that has veered off track in recent years.

“Hate to see that for him,” quarterback Daniel Jones said. “No one deserves that, but especially not him. He works his tail off and means a ton for this team, for all of us.”

Shepard has consistently produced for the Giants. The problem is that he hasn’t been able to stay on the field.

This will likely be the fourth straight year he’s missed at least four games because of injuries. He’s dealt with Achilles, quad, hamstring, toe and concussion injuries in the past few years. Now, it’s his knee.

NEW ORLEANS

Katherine Terrell of ESPN.com says you should buy into WR CHRIS OLAVE:

13 targets in consecutive games for Chris Olave. Is he someone we can count on weekly?

For now, yes, because the other options are dwindling by the week. With Taysom Hill, Michael Thomas, Jarvis Landry, Deonte Harris and Tre’Quan Smith all injured in some form, Olave just might be the last man standing. On a positive note, the rookie appears to be improving by the week. — Katherine Terrell

TAMPA BAY

It is a bit of an excuse, but the Buccaneers only had 20 seconds to get their 2-point play off Sunday – per an obscure NFL rule.  Michael David Smith of ProFootballTalk.com:

The Buccaneers took a costly delay of game penalty before a potentially game-tying two-point conversion in the final seconds of Sunday’s loss to the Packers, and Bucs coach Todd Bowles has some questions.

Bowles said that the Bucs appeared to be given only 20 seconds to get the snap off on the two-point conversion, not 25, and he wants the league to tell him why.

“One time it’s at 25 the next time it’s at 20. We’re looking into it right now. We’ll send it in and see what they say,” Bowles said.

According to Football Zebras, the officials handled the play correctly, and the play clock stopped at 20 seconds because the replay official was still confirming that the Buccaneers’ touchdown pass on the previous play was complete. That means the Bucs actually got more time, not less, to get ready for the two-point conversion.

Bowles acknowledged that it’s ultimately on the Bucs’ players and coaches to be looking at the play clock and getting the snap off.

“We got to get the ball off. We’ve got to be cognizant of that as a unit,” Bowles said. “We’ve played enough ball to know we need to get the ball snapped.”

– – –

This from Emily Smith of the New York Post:

Insiders told us that Brady and Bündchen’s marriage spat was over his shocking decision to un-retire from the NFL, which the supermodel has questioned in recent interviews.

Bündchen was noticeably absent at Sunday’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers game, the team’s first at home, which Brady was “hopeful” she would attend.

The pair’s kids — Jack, 15, Benjamin, 12, and Vivian, 9 — made a sweet appearance on the field before kickoff, having been brought in by Brady’s mother and sisters.

The former Victoria’s Secret Angel is believed to still be in New York City, where she is working on a number of projects and fashion shoots.

LOS ANGELES RAMS

Scott Kacsmar notes the end of a long streak for WR COOPER KUPP:

@ScottKacsmar

Most consecutive games with 60+ receiving yards, NFL history

1. Cooper Kupp – 25 (ended on Sunday)

2. Antonio Brown – 24

3. Mark Clayton – 17

(Includes playoffs)

SEATTLE

Shots fired in Denver.  Steve DelVecchio of Larry Brown Sports:

Russell Wilson made a great play to extend a key drive for the Denver Broncos in the fourth quarter of their win over the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday night, and it seems like he wanted his former coach to take note.

Wilson completed a beautiful 27-yard pass to Kendall Hinton on 3rd-and-10 in the fourth quarter. The play kept what turned out to be Denver’s game-winning drive alive. Wilson made the throw while running to his left, which he was quick to point out when a reporter asked him about it following the 11-10 win.

Great line postgame from Russell Wilson about his 27-yard throw to Kendall Hinton on third down during the touchdown drive:

“I guess I can still go left”

Russ says offense needed to find ways to get first downs in the 4th. He had to use his legs.

— Phil Milani (@philmilani) September 26, 2022

That was Wilson’s way of taking a swipe at Pete Carroll. After the Seattle Seahawks beat the Broncos in Week 1, Carroll noted that one of the goals for his defense was to get Wilson moving to his left. The coach said Wilson is less effective when rolling left, which is pretty much true of any right-handed quarterback. In this instance, Wilson made a beautiful throw at a crucial point in the game.

Wilson’s completion to Hinton was one of very few offensive highlights for either team on Sunday night. The game was so ugly that everyone made the same joke about it on social media. Despite that, Wilson came away with a win and got to prove his former coach wrong. That had to have felt pretty good.

BUFFALO

OC Ken Dorsey says he will learn from having a meltdown captured on television.  Alaina Getzenberg of ESPN.com:

A day after Buffalo Bills offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey’s emotional reaction to his team’s 21-19 loss to the Miami Dolphins went viral, he said he would “learn from” his response and “correct” it moving forward.

The Bills (2-1) suffered their first loss of the year in Miami despite having the ball at their own 23-yard line down two points with 1:33 remaining in the game. Time, however, ran off the clock when quarterback Josh Allen connected with wide receiver Isaiah McKenzie, who appeared to have the opportunity to run out of bounds but said after the game he was trying to reach kicker Tyler Bass’ range and pick up yardage when he was tackled.

“If I could take it back,” McKenzie said, “I would probably just go up field, get down, put it on the hash myself and live to fight another down.”

After time expired, Dorsey was shown on the CBS broadcast slamming his headset, hat and tablet into the desk and crumpling the papers in front of him.

“I’m up in the box, I’m watching my guys down there just give us everything they possibly have in ’em with effort and from start to finish, playing 90-something snaps in the game,” Dorsey said Monday. “And it was a playoff atmosphere, a lot of credit to the Miami Dolphins, and obviously we weren’t on the winning end of it so it’s frustrating that I reacted that way, and obviously that’s something that I’m definitely going to learn from.

“And I don’t ever want to take the passion out of the game, we’re all in this to win football games obviously for the Bills, for our fans, and we’re going to give them everything we got, but it’s something I’m gonna learn from and make sure let’s correct moving forward.”

Dorsey is in his first season as an offensive coordinator after taking over for now-New York Giants coach Brian Daboll. The former University of Miami quarterback spent the previous three seasons as the Bills’ quarterback coach and 2013 to 2017 as the Carolina Panthers’ quarterback coach.

Bills coach Sean McDermott said he spoke to Dorsey about his reaction Monday.

“I think it’s something that a) we’ve got to keep our poise and he’s well aware of that and knows that and b) I love the fact that he cares that much about doing his job and putting his players in a position to be successful,” McDermott said. “I think that says a lot about him as a coach and how hard he works at it and how important it is to him. But again, that said, it’s important that we as leaders keep our poise and that we model that to our players.”

The last drive of the game followed Dolphins punter Thomas Morstead kicking the ball into his own teammate, which resulted in a safety, giving the Bills the ball back after a free kick. The Bills were unable to come away with a win despite running 90 offensive plays, winning the time of possession battle 40:40 to 19:20 and picking up 31 first downs to Miami’s 15. Finishing drives was a problem (2-of-4 in the red zone, including kicking a field goal after a 20-play drive) and mismanaging offensive drives at the end of both halves proved crucial.

“Look, we’re all human, I’m human, as we saw,” Dorsey said. “I’m human, I’ll make mistakes, just like those guys. The key is hey, how do we learn from those mistakes? How do we move on and make sure that we continue to progress and grow as a team.”

Injuries also played a major role in the loss. The Bills went into the game against Miami down starters due to injury, and at least eight additional players suffered some sort of injury during the contest, which saw multiple Buffalo players dealing with heat-related issues.

The secondary has been hit especially hard with starting rookie cornerback Christian Benford breaking his right hand in the game. McDermott said the sixth-round pick will have surgery Tuesday and miss a couple of weeks “give or take.” Practice squad cornerback Ja’Marcus Ingram, an undrafted rookie out of Buffalo, came in for Benford, who still helped on special teams despite the injury.

MIAMI

Ben Volin has a Tweet:

@BenVolin

In the last 16 years, NFL teams are 2-106 when being out-gained by at least 275 yards. The two wins:

2020 Dolphins vs Rams (Tua)

2022 Dolphins vs Bills (Tua)

And this, from the DB

MOST WINS SINCE 9^th GAME OF 2021

Miami                   11

Kansas City          10

Tampa Bay            9

Philadelphia          9

Frank Schwab of YahooSports.com advises caution on the Dolphins:

The Dolphins are undeniably better this season. They’ve been adding talent for the past few years and it’s finally paying off. They’re probably a playoff team. Through the years, 76 percent of teams that start 3-0 make the playoffs, and it’s easier now since the playoffs expanded to 14 teams in the 2020 season. The Dolphins look like they got the right coach in Mike McDaniel, the Tyreek Hill trade has transformed the offense and Tua Tagovailoa is making strides. The defense has given up a lot of yards and points the past two weeks but there is talent on that side of the ball. They also have a one-game lead on the Buffalo Bills after Sunday with a head-to-head win in hand, which is big for tiebreakers.

But it’s hard to buy the Dolphins as the new AFC East favorite, and really hard to believe they could be more than that. Miami had a great, memorable comeback in Week 2, but you can only have a comeback if you played really poorly for most of a game. The Dolphins were down 35-14 to the Baltimore Ravens before getting hot in the fourth quarter. In Week 3, the Bills outgained Miami 497-212, had 90 plays to 39 for Miami, and Buffalo held the ball for 40:40. The Bills dominated play and came up short on the scoreboard. It happens. The Bills should have won but Josh Allen short-armed a pass to wide-open Isaiah McKenzie in the end zone late in the game. The Bills lost by two points on the road with multiple starters either injured or dealing with problems from the heat. It’s not like the Dolphins dominated the game.

And all of that is OK. Miami is 3-0 and has a great quality win in its pocket for the rest of the season. The Ravens win will age well too. For a team that has been to the playoffs just once since 2008 and hasn’t had a playoff win since 2000, there’s nothing wrong with a step this season that doesn’t include them being launched into the tier of Super Bowl contenders. The Dolphins are much better. They look like a playoff team. They have a promising coach and can feel a lot better about their quarterback than they did three games ago. All that’s positive. Now we’ll see what comes next.

– – –

Although he finished out the win over Buffalo, QB TUA TAGOVIALOA is not a sure thing to play Thursday in Cincinnati.  Josh Alper of ProFootballTalk.com:

Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa‘s availability is a big question mark for Thursday night’s game against the Bengals and he told reporters on Tuesday that he’s doing everything he can to get “as close to 100 percent as possible” ahead of the game.

Tagovailoa is dealing with back and ankle injuries after Sunday’s win over the Bills, but he said at his press conference that the back is the major concern. He called the ankle “after the game soreness” while his back injury has a serious impact on his ability to run the offense.

 “I would say everything. Having to twist to hand the ball off, having to toss the ball, having to throw the ball. Every aspect of it,” Tagovailoa said when asked how the injury affects him on the field.

Tagovailoa said that he had not thrown on Tuesday, but that he would do so before the team’s walkthrough later in the day. Head coach Mike McDaniel called Tagovailoa questionable earlier in the day and that sounds likely to be his injury designation on Wednesday if all goes well with his throwing session.

NEW ENGLAND

Patriots QB MAC JONES suffered a fairly severe ankle injury late in Sunday’s game.  Mike Reiss of ESPN.com:

New England Patriots quarterback Mac Jones is dealing with what doctors have diagnosed as a severe high ankle sprain that would cause many to have surgery, sources told ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

Jones is likely to miss multiple games, the sources said, and he and the Patriots still are discussing his options and the best way to proceed.

Jones, who suffered the sprain on Sunday in the 37-26 home loss to the Baltimore Ravens, deflected questions on his timetable for recovery when asked about it earlier Monday.

In a videoconference with reporters from the Patriots’ facility, Jones repeated the words “day by day” or “day to day” nine times.

“I’m just going to take it day by day, get my treatment and do what I do. Just see how I feel,” he said. “If you have any more of those type questions, talk to Coach [Bill] Belichick. I think he likes those questions.”

Jones, who was in considerable pain as he hopped off the field on Sunday, laughed and flashed a smile as he delivered the line about Belichick, who famously disdains addressing injuries with reporters.

The Patriots (1-2) visit the Green Bay Packers (2-1) on Sunday, and Belichick said early Monday he wouldn’t speculate if Jones might be placed on injured reserve.

Jones echoed those thoughts, saying: “A lot of times, you don’t really know exactly what happens. You just have to get your treatment, and hopefully, you feel better the next day, and you grow from there. … I’m just waiting on the time here, just kind of letting it play out, seeing how I feel. Honestly, I’m just trying to make it to tomorrow and get my rehab going.”

Veteran Brian Hoyer is the Patriots’ top backup, and fourth-round draft pick Bailey Zappe out of Western Kentucky has been the No. 3 option.

Longtime captain Matthew Slater was asked Monday how the Patriots might respond if they are without Jones.

“I hope we don’t have to find that out, but I do believe we’ll respond the right way,” he said. “We’re very early in our season, and if we don’t handle it the right way, this thing could spiral away from us.”

Hoyer has lost 11 consecutive starts (from 2016 to 2020), which is the longest active streak in the NFL.

Meanwhile, the Packers have won 14 straight regular-season home games, also the longest active streak.

THIS AND THAT

DIVISIONAL BALANCE OF POWER

Greg Auman of The Athletic takes note that the 32 member clubs have been in the same 8 divisions for the last 20 years.  He notes their achievements.  Before we look we say the teams with the most divisional wins are Patriots (duh), Steelers, Colts, Chiefs, Eagles, Packers, Saints, Seahawks.

Fans look at the NFL standings constantly, and over the past 20 years, perhaps we take for granted the symmetry and balance of eight four-team groupings, remembering how long the league went with unevenly sized divisions.

This season presents a chance to look back on two decades of football since the NFL’s 2002 realignment, to appreciate the dominance in some divisions and the parity in others. Each NFL team plays 120 divisional games during a 20-year span, so a .500 record would yield a 60-60 record — only two teams, the Falcons and Titans, have that.

So we look at each division and where the balance of power has fallen during the past 20 years, remembering the current contenders like the Rams or Bucs are still last in their divisions over two long decades before this season. For each division, we’ll show the combined division wins, division titles and Super Bowl wins over the 20-year span.

AFC East: Patriots, Tom Brady dominate

Wins: Patriots 91, Bills 53, Dolphins 51, Jets 45.

Division titles: Patriots 16, Bills 2, Jets 1, Dolphins 1.

Super Bowl wins: Patriots 5.

To no surprise, the Patriots have been the NFL’s dominant franchise over the last 20 years. Their first Super Bowl came in 2001, right before realignment, but they’ve been to eight Super Bowls and won five in this span. They have two of the most lopsided division rivalries in the NFL, going 33-7 against the Bills and Jets. Their supremacy leads to the other three teams having a losing record in division — Buffalo has the consolation of going 26-14 against Miami, though the Dolphins had more wins against the Patriots (15) than the Jets and Bills combined. Largely from the Patriots’ success, the AFC East has the best combined non-division record of any NFL division since 2002, with a .534 winning percentage.

AFC North: Steelers in front, Browns way in the back

Wins: Steelers 83.5, Ravens 68, Bengals 55, Browns 33.5.

Division titles: Steelers 9, Ravens 6, Bengals 5, Browns 0.

Super Bowl wins: Steelers 2, Ravens 1.

The Steelers have the second-best division record in the NFL in the 32-team era, just edging the Colts and Packers behind the sustained success of Bill Cowher and Mike Tomlin. Pittsburgh’s 33-6-1 record against the Browns is the single most lopsided division rivalry in the NFL over this 20-year span, and the Browns have easily the fewest division wins, with 5.5 less than even the Lions. Baltimore, one of the league’s best division runner-ups, is 30-10 against the Browns and nip-and-tuck with the Steelers, who have a 21-19 advantage since 2002. It’s also worth noting that no division produced more wild cards (14) in 20 years than the AFC North.

AFC South: Manning, Luck power Colts to dominance

Wins: Colts 83, Titans 60, Texans 54, Jaguars 43.

Division titles: Colts 9, Texans 6, Titans 4, Jaguars 1.

Super Bowl wins: Colts 1.

This is a division of uneven rivalries, as even between the top two teams, the Colts have a 28-12 record against the Titans. The Titans in turn have a 26-14 record against the Jaguars, still not as lopsided as the Texans’ 27-13 record against the Jaguars. Outsiders watching the Texans’ current downturn might be surprised to see them with more division titles than the Titans, who had two in 18 years before winning the past two. Collectively, this is the worst division in football over the past 20 years, with a .474 record outside the division since 2002, or a game and a half back of the NFC West.

AFC West: Chiefs lead a tight trio, then there are the Raiders

Wins: Chiefs 70, Broncos 64, Chargers 62, Raiders 44.

Division titles: Chiefs 8, Broncos 6, Chargers 5, Raiders 1.

Super Bowl wins: Broncos 1, Chiefs 1.

The top three are closely contested — Kansas City has just a 21-19 edge on both Denver and Los Angeles, so the difference is in the level of success against the Raiders, whose lone division title came in the first year of this realignment in 2002. The Chiefs are 28-12 against the Raiders, the Chargers are 26-14 against them, and Las Vegas has come closest with Denver, which is 22-18 against the Raiders since 2002. Of the eight last-place teams, only the Lions and Browns are farther out of third than the Raiders.

NFC East: Single win separates Eagles and Cowboys

Wins: Eagles 71, Cowboys 70, Giants 57, Commanders 42.

Division titles: Eagles 8, Cowboys 6, Giants 3, Commanders 3.

Super Bowl wins: Giants 2, Eagles 1.

The NFC is much more the share-the-wealth conference, with three divisions where all four teams have at least three division titles. None of the AFC divisions can boast that balance. Dallas actually has the head-to-head advantage on Philadelphia, going 21-19 over these 20 years, but the Eagles had greater success against New York (27-13) and Washington (25-15) to pull ahead in the 20-year standings. The Commanders are the only team in the NFL with a 15-25 record or worse against all three division rivals, struggling evenly against the rest of the group. There’s a power shift within the 20 years, as in the first decade after realignment, this division had nine wild cards, most of any division, but in the past decade, they have just three, the least of any division.

NFC North: Aaron Rodgers leads Packers to dominance

Wins: Packers 82, Vikings 64, Bears 55, Lions 39.

Division titles: Packers 12, Bears 4, Vikings 4, Lions 0.

Super Bowl wins: Packers 1.

Brett Favre had the first six years after realignment and four division titles, but Rodgers has owned the North in his time as well. The Packers have matching 29-11 records against the Bears and Lions and still a strong edge on the Vikings (23-15-2), leading to the fourth-most division wins over the 20 years. Minnesota has nine more division wins than Chicago in this span, but the Bears hold the head-to-head advantage in the series, going 21-19 against the Vikings.

NFC South: Saints ahead in tightly-bunched foursome

Wins: Saints 71, Falcons 60, Panthers 58, Bucs 51.

Division titles: Saints 7, Panthers 5, Falcons 4, Bucs 4.

Super Bowl wins: Bucs 2, Saints 1.

The best team in the South has only 20 more division wins than the worst — that matches the closest range in any division, compared to the AFC North (50) and AFC East (46). Tampa Bay has bookended the 20 years, winning in three of the first six years, then again last year, while the division has supplied three MVP quarterbacks in Drew Brees, Matt Ryan and Cam Newton. There are only four division rivalries out of 48 with dead-even records, and the NFC South has two of them, with the Saints and Panthers 20-20 against each other and the same for the Bucs and Falcons.

NFC West: Seahawks well ahead of middling logjam

Wins: Seahawks 72.5, 49ers 59.5, Cardinals 55.5, Rams 52.5.

Division titles: Seahawks 9, 49ers 4, Rams 4, Cardinals 3.

Super Bowl wins: Rams 1, Seahawks 1.

Everybody’s had a few years at the top, but Seattle is well ahead on overall success, in a division where three of the four teams have losing records in division over a 20-year span. Everybody has somebody’s number: The Seahawks are 27-13 against the 49ers, who are 26-13-1 against the Rams, who are 22-18 against the Cardinals. NFC West teams certainly are surging now. In the past decade, the NFC West has produced nine wild-card teams, most of any division, but in the previous decade from 2002-11, they had just two, the least of any division.

Hey, we went 8-for-8.

The Browns and Lions are the two teams without a division title in the last 20 seasons.