 National Football Conference logo (2010–present) | |
| Formerly | National Football League (NFL), pre–merger |
|---|---|
| League | National Football League |
| Sport | American football |
| Founded | 1970 |
| No. of teams | 16 |
| Most recent champion | Philadelphia Eagles (5th title) |
| Most titles | Dallas Cowboys San Francisco 49ers (8 titles) |
TheNational Football Conference (NFC) is aconference of theNational Football League (NFL), the highest level of professionalAmerican football in the United States. The NFC and its counterpart, theAmerican Football Conference (AFC), each have 16 teams organized into fourdivisions.Both conferences were created as part of the1970 NFL merger with the rivalAmerican Football League (AFL). All ten of the former AFL teams and three NFL teams formed the AFC while the remaining thirteen NFL clubs formed the NFC. A series of league expansions and division realignments have occurred since the merger, thus making a total of 16 clubs in each conference.
The defending champions of the NFC are thePhiladelphia Eagles, who defeated theWashington Commanders in the2024 season'sNFC Championship Game for their fifth conference championship in the team's history.
As of 2025 the NFC only has one defined officer, the president, which is essentially an honorary position with few powers and mostly ceremonial duties, including awarding the conference championship trophy.
Since 2002, like the AFC, the NFC has 16 teams that organized into fourdivisions each with four teams:East,North,South, andWest.
| POS | AFC East | AFC North | AFC South | AFC West |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Bills | Ravens | Texans | Chiefs |
| 2nd | Dolphins | Steelers | Colts | Chargers |
| 3rd | Jets | Bengals | Jaguars | Broncos |
| 4th | Patriots | Browns | Titans | Raiders |
| POS | NFC East | NFC North | NFC South | NFC West |
| 1st | Eagles | Lions | Buccaneers | Rams |
| 2nd | Commanders | Vikings | Falcons | Seahawks |
| 3rd | Cowboys | Packers | Panthers | Cardinals |
| 4th | Giants | Bears | Saints | 49ers |
The fourteen opponents each team faces over the 17-game regular season schedule are set using a predetermined formula:
Each NFC team plays the other teams in their respective division twice (home and away) during the regular season, in addition to eleven other games assigned to their schedule by the NFL: three games are assigned on the basis of a particular team's final divisional standing from the previous season, and the remaining eight games are split between the roster of two other NFL divisions. This assignment shifts each year and will follow a standard cycle. Using the 2023 regular season schedule as an example, each team in the NFC East plays against every team in the NFC West and AFC East. In this way, non-divisional competition will be mostly among common opponents – the exception being the three games assigned based on the team's prior-season divisional standing.
At the end of each season, the four division winners and threewild cards (non-division winners with best regular season record) in the NFC qualify for theplayoffs. The NFC playoffs culminate in theNFC Championship Game with the winner receiving theGeorge S. Halas Trophy.[1] The NFC champion then plays theAFC champion in theSuper Bowl. As of 2025 the NFC representative team has won the Super Bowl 29 out of the 55 total editions with thePhiladelphia Eagles being the most recent to do so in2025. TheDallas Cowboys andSan Francisco 49ers are currently both tied for the most NFC conference championships with 8 and the most super bowls won by a member of the NFC with 5.
Both the AFC and NFC were created after the NFLmerged with theAmerican Football League (AFL) in 1970.[2] When the AFL began play in 1960 with eight teams, the NFL consisted of 13 clubs. By 1969, the AFL had expanded to ten teams and the NFL to 16 clubs. In order to balance the merged league, all ten of the former AFL teams along with the NFL'sCleveland Browns,Pittsburgh Steelers, andBaltimore Colts formed the AFC, while the remaining 13 NFL teams formed the NFC.
While the newly formed AFC had already agreed upon and set up their divisional alignment plan along almost purely geographic lines, team owners could not agree to a plan on how to align the clubs in the NFC. The alignment proposals were narrowed down to five finalists (each one sealed in an envelope), and then the plan that was eventually selected was picked out of a glass bowl by then-NFL commissionerPete Rozelle's secretary, Thelma Elkjer,[3] on January 16, 1970.[4]
The five alignment plans for the NFC in 1970 were as follows, with Plan 3 eventually selected:
Threeexpansion teams have joined the NFC since the merger, thus making the total 16. When theSeattle Seahawks and theTampa Bay Buccaneers joined the league in1976, they were temporarily placed in the NFC and AFC, respectively, for one season before they switched conferences. The Seahawks returned to the NFC as a result of the2002 realignment. TheCarolina Panthers joined the NFC in1995.[5]
Parity is generally greater among NFC teams than AFC teams. The only NFC team that has never made aSuper Bowl appearance is theDetroit Lions. Since the 2002 division realignment, the NFC has sent 12 different teams to the Super Bowl—all except the Lions, Vikings, Cowboys, and Commanders—whereas the AFC has only sent 8: theBaltimore Ravens (1 time), theCincinnati Bengals (1 time), theLas Vegas Raiders (1 time), theKansas City Chiefs (4 times), theDenver Broncos (2 times), theIndianapolis Colts (2 times), thePittsburgh Steelers (3 times) and theNew England Patriots (8 times). The only NFC team to make back to back Super Bowls since 2002 are theSeattle Seahawks.
As of 2021, the only pre-merger team that does not play in its 1969 market is theSt. Louis Cardinals, who moved in 1988 toPhoenix suburb ofTempe (they moved toGlendale in 2006). TheLos Angeles Ramsmoved to St. Louis in 1995, but moved back to Los Angeles in 2016. None of the expansion teams added after 1970 have relocated.
With the exception of the aforementioned relocations since that time, thedivisional setup established in 2002 has remained static ever since.
The original NFC logo, in use from 1970 to 2009, depicted a blue 'N' with three stars across it. The new logo was similar to that of the AFC (which itself was similar to the AFL logo) in that unlike the NFL logo it consisted of a single letter instead of a full abbreviation. The three stars represented the three divisions that were used from 1970 to 2001 (Eastern, Central and Western).[6] The 2010 NFL season brought an updated NFC logo. Largely similar to the old logo, the new logo has a fourth star, representing the four divisions that have composed the NFC since 2002,[7] with the AFC logo being simultaneously updated in a similar manner.
CBS aired the NFC's Sunday afternoon and playoffs games from 1970 through the 1993 season. From 1994 to 2013,Fox was the primary rightsholder to the NFC's games. In those years, all interconference games in which the NFC team was the visiting team were broadcast on either CBS or Fox. Since 2014, the cross-flex policy allows select NFC games (that involve them playing an AFC team at home or intraconference games) to be moved from Fox to CBS. Since 1990, select NFC playoff games have been seen on ABC or ESPN.
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