NFC North

History

This division has some of the oldest and most storied franchises in the NFL, including the Packers (founded 1919), the Bears (founded 1920), the Lions (founded 1930), and the most recently-founded team being the Minnesota Vikings (1961). The Tampa Bay Buccaneers were also members from 1977, one year after they joined the league as an expansion team, until 2002 when they moved to the NFC South.

The division was created in 1967 as the Central Division of the NFL's Western Conference and existed for three seasons before the AFL–NFL merger. After the merger, it was renamed the NFC Central in 1970 and retained that name until the NFL split into eight divisions in 2002. The four current division teams have been together in the same division or conference since the Vikings joined the league in 1961. The Bears (known as the Decatur Staleys in 1920 and the Chicago Staleys in 1921), Lions (known as the Portsmouth Spartans until 1934) and Packers have been in the same division or conference since the NFL began a conference format in 1933. Largely because the four teams have played each other at least twice a year, with the exception of the strike-shortened 1982 season, for more than 60 years (more than 80 years in the case of the Bears, Lions and Packers), the entire division is considered one very large rivalry. All four teams currently representing the NFC North have all finished a regular season with 15 regular season wins at some point; the Bears in 1985, the Vikings in 1998, the Packers in 2011, and the Lions in 2024; the only division to do so.

The division has a total of five Super Bowl wins. The Packers have won four and the Bears one, with the most recent happening at the conclusion of the 2010 season. Of the ten NFL teams with the highest winning percentage throughout their respective franchise histories, three of them are in the NFC North (the Packers, the Bears, and the Vikings). Conversely, the Lions have one of the lowest winning percentages in the NFL, including the first winless 16-game season in NFL history, in 2008.

The Packers hold an overall regular season record of 810–604–38 (through the end of the 2024 season) with an overall playoff record of 37–27, four Super Bowl titles in five Super Bowl appearances, and nine pre-Super Bowl league titles. The Bears hold an overall regular season record of 798–646–42 with an overall playoff record of 17–20, one Super Bowl title in two Super Bowl appearances, and eight pre-Super Bowl league titles. The Vikings hold an overall regular season record of 537–438–11 with an overall playoff record of 21–32, no Super Bowl titles in four Super Bowl appearances, and one league title. The Lions hold an overall regular season record of 606–709–34 with an overall playoff record of 9–15, and four pre-Super Bowl league titles. They have yet to appear in a Super Bowl.

In recent years, the division has been less successful in the playoffs than their contemporaries, holding the second-longest active Super Bowl drought (only ahead of the AFC South) and a 1–9 record in conference championships since 2007, with the only win being the Packers over the Bears in 2010. They have clinched two Super Bowl berths in the 21st century, compared to the other NFC divisions which each have six or more.

Nicknames

The division earned the moniker "Black and Blue Division" due to its intense rivalries and physical style of play, and this nickname is still used regularly today. It is also known as the "Frostbite Division" as all teams played home games in late season winter cold until the mid-1970s. The division is also humorously called the "Frozen North", although Detroit has played its home games indoors since 1975, and Minnesota also did so from 1982 to 2013 and returned to indoor home games at U.S. Bank Stadium in 2016. The entire division is geographically further north than its American Football Conference counterpart, the AFC North (Chicago barely edging out Cleveland), though that division currently has all four teams playing outdoors and all receive brutal winters.

ESPN sportscaster Chris Berman often refers to this division as the "NFC Norris" because of its grittiness and its geographical similarity to the National Hockey League's former Norris Division, although in a twist of irony the NHL dropped the Norris name in favor of Central almost a decade before the NFL dropped the Central name in favor of North.

Division lineups

Place cursor over year for division champ or Super Bowl team.

:The NFL Western Conference was divided into the Coastal and Central divisions. The Packers had won Super Bowl I in 1966 in the NFL Western Conference. :Starting in the 1970 season, the division became the National Football Conference – Central Division (or NFC Central for short), after the AFL–NFL merger. :Tampa Bay moved from the AFC West in 1977 :For the 2002 season, the league realigned to have 8 four team divisions. Division adopts current name. Tampa Bay moves to the NFC South.

Division champions

• A players' strike in 1982 reduced the regular season to nine games, so the league used a special 16-team playoff tournament just for this year. Division standings were ignored; Green Bay had the best record of the division teams.

• Regular season still underway.--

Wild Card qualifiers

• A players' strike in 1982 reduced the regular season to nine games, so the league used a special 16-team playoff tournament just for this year.

Total playoff berths

Total playoff berths as members of the NFC Central/North

(1967–2025 seasons)

(1)Does not include Green Bay's 1966 season Super Bowl I win

(2)Does not include Tampa Bay's 1976 season (AFC West) and 2002+ seasons (NFC South)

Total playoff berths in team history

(1920–2024 seasons)

:1 From 1966 to 1969, this means winning both the NFL Championship Game and the Super Bowl. As such, the Vikings' NFL championship in 1969 is not counted. The Packers had two NFL titles during this timeframe and also won Super Bowl I and II.

Season results

• 2002: The NFC Central was realigned for 4 members and was renamed the NFC North. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers moved to the newly formed NFC South.

Schedule assignments

References

References

1. "Super Bowl History".
2. Jenkins, Chris. (December 28, 2008). "Lions make history as NFL's first 0–16 team".