Which Division is the Best in the NFL?

We were polishing off our Preseason Preview Issue at PossessionPoints.com when it struck us that two of the divisions in the NFL are lacking the typical weak teams that often give the rest of the division the easy wins they need to pump up their season records. With so much strength in these divisions, it is difficult to predict which team will finish first - or fourth for that matter- as they each present unique and potent threats. Frequently, when there is a difficult division, those teams fight it out among themselves and their records cluster around .500 with the winners being slightly above and the losers slightly below.

This year, the two tough divisions will be taking their crushing strength outside to other league opponents. We forecast all the teams in the NFC East and the AFC South to finish above .500 which is rarely seen in the same division. We also think that both Wildcards from each of the conferences will come from those two divisions (another rare event). The NFC East is composed of the Cowboys, Giants, Eagles and Redskins. The AFC South includes the Colts, Jaguars, Titans and Texans. People may wonder about the Texans finishing above .500, but the improvements they have shown under Coach Gary Kubiak were enough for our computer algorithms to propel them to a 9-7 projected record in 2008.

When we saw such strength, we had to pose the question to fans on the Web, “Who do you think is the strongest division?” We actually have the NFC East and AFC South pretty even performing well above and beyond any other division. Our analysis makes us feel sorry for the AFC North who have to play both the NFC East and AFC South this season. This is why our projections are for the Steelers to have the toughest schedule in the league this year with the Bengals, Browns and Ravens not too far behind.

Further details and insight into the strength of the divisions as well as projections on all teams are available in our Preseason Preview Issue at PossessionPoints.com.