 | This articledoes notcite anysources. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged andremoved. Find sources: "Eastern and Western Conferences (NFL) 1933–1969" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(September 2016) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
The Eastern and Western Divisions of theNational Football League, renamed the American and National Conferences in 1950 and then back to the Eastern and Western Conferences in 1953, were organized as a result of theNFL championship of 1932. NFL owners agreed that henceforth there would be an annualchampionship game, to be played between the teams with the best records from two divisions, Eastern and Western. The two-division/conference structure remained essentially stable for over 35 years, including the absorption of formerAll-America Football Conference teams in 1950, and the earlyexpansion teams added in the 1960s in response to theAmerican Football League. With the 1970AFL–NFL merger the new, larger league was reorganized.
| Eastern Division | Western Division |
|---|---|
| Boston Redskins (Washington from 1937) | Chicago Bears |
| Brooklyn Dodgers (Tigers 1944, defunct) | Chicago Cardinals |
| New York Giants | Cincinnati Reds (1933–34, defunct) |
| Philadelphia Eagles | Green Bay Packers |
| Pittsburgh Pirates (Steelers from 1940, merged with Philadelphia (Steagles) in 1943, and Chicago Cardinals (Card-Pitt) in 1944, resuming in 1945) | Portsmouth Spartans (Detroit Lions from 1934) |
| Boston Yanks (1944–1948, New York Bulldogs 1949) | St. Louis Gunners (1934, defunct) |
| Cleveland Rams (1937, suspended operations for one year in 1943, Los Angeles from 1946) |
| American Conference 1950–1952 Eastern Conference 1953–1966 | National Conference 1950–1952 Western Conference 1953–1966 |
|---|---|
| Chicago Cardinals (St. Louis from 1960) | Baltimore Colts (I) (ex-AAFC, 1950, defunct) |
| Cleveland Browns (ex-AAFC, from 1950) | Chicago Bears |
| New York Giants | Detroit Lions |
| Philadelphia Eagles | Green Bay Packers |
| Pittsburgh Steelers | Los Angeles Rams |
| Washington Redskins | New York Yanks (1950–51, ex-Bulldogs,Dallas Texans (I) 1952, defunct) |
| San Francisco 49ers (ex-AAFC, from 1950) | |
| Baltimore Colts (II) (from 1953) | |
| Dallas Cowboys (from 1961) | Dallas Cowboys (1960 only) |
| Atlanta Falcons (1966 only) | Minnesota Vikings (from 1961) |
| Eastern Conference | Western Conference | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Capitol Division | Century Division | Central Division | Coastal Division |
| Dallas Cowboys | Cleveland Browns | Chicago Bears | Atlanta Falcons |
| New Orleans Saints (1967 & 1969) | New York Giants (1967 & 1969) | Detroit Lions | Baltimore Colts (II) |
| Philadelphia Eagles | Pittsburgh Steelers | Green Bay Packers | Los Angeles Rams |
| Washington Redskins | St. Louis Cardinals | Minnesota Vikings | San Francisco 49ers |
| New York Giants (1968 only) | New Orleans Saints (1968 only) | ||
| Eastern Conference | Western Conference | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Capitol Division | Record | Century Division | Record | Coastal Division | Record | Central Division | Record |
| 1967 | Dallas Cowboys | 9–5 | Cleveland Browns | 9–5 | Los Angeles Rams | 11–1–2 | Green Bay Packers | 9–4–1 |
| 1968 | Dallas Cowboys | 12–2 | Cleveland Browns | 10–4 | Baltimore Colts | 13–1 | Minnesota Vikings | 8–6 |
| 1969 | Dallas Cowboys | 11–2–1 | Cleveland Browns | 10–3–1 | Los Angeles Rams | 11–3 | Minnesota Vikings | 12–2 |