SafekipediaNFC South
Adapted from Wikipedia · Adventurer experience
The National Football Conference – Southern Division, also known as the NFC South, is one of the four divisions in the National Football Conference of the National Football League. It started before the 2002 NFL season when the league grew to 32 teams and changed its divisions.
The NFC South has four teams: the Atlanta Falcons, Carolina Panthers, New Orleans Saints, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Each of these teams has played in the Super Bowl. Tampa Bay, Atlanta, Carolina, and New Orleans have all had big moments there. Every team in the NFC South has won at least four division titles since 2002.
In 2021, the New Orleans Saints were the first to win the NFC South every time during the regular season, but they lost in the playoffs. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers then went on to win the Super Bowl that year.
As of 2025, the New Orleans Saints have the most wins in the NFC South. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the New Orleans Saints are tied for the most division titles, with seven each. The NFC South is special because none of its teams were in the NFL before 1960.
Division lineups
Place cursor over year for division champ or Super Bowl team.
Division champions
The NFC South is one of the four divisions in the National Football Conference of the NFL. It started before the 2002 season when the league had 32 teams. The division has four teams: the Atlanta Falcons, Carolina Panthers, New Orleans Saints, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. These teams have been in the division since it began.
Wild Card qualifiers
| Season | Team | Record | Playoff Results |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Atlanta Falcons | 9–6–1 | Won Wild Card playoffs (at Packers) 27–7 Lost Divisional playoffs (at Eagles) 6–20 |
| 2005 | Carolina Panthers | 11–5 | Won Wild Card playoffs (at Giants) 23–0 Won Divisional playoffs (at Bears) 29–21 Lost NFC Championship (at Seahawks) 14–34 |
| 2008 | Atlanta Falcons | 11–5 | Lost Wild Card playoffs (at Cardinals) 24–30 |
| 2010 | New Orleans Saints | 11–5 | Lost Wild Card playoffs (at Seahawks) 36–41 |
| 2011 | Atlanta Falcons | 10–6 | Lost Wild Card playoffs (at Giants) 2–24 |
| 2013 | New Orleans Saints | 11–5 | Won Wild Card playoffs (at Eagles) 26–24 Lost Divisional playoffs (at Seahawks) 15–23 |
| 2017 | Carolina Panthers | 11–5 | Lost Wild Card playoffs (at Saints) 26–31 |
| Atlanta Falcons | 10–6 | Won Wild Card playoffs (at Rams) 26–13 Lost Divisional playoffs (at Eagles) 10–15 | |
| 2020 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 11–5 | Won Wild Card playoffs (at Washington) 31–23 Won Divisional playoffs (at Saints) 30–20 Won NFC Championship (at Packers) 31–26 Won Super Bowl LV (vs. Chiefs) 31–9 |
Total Playoff Berths as members of the NFC South
(NFC South records since the division's creation in 2002)
| Team | Division Titles | Playoff Berths | NFC Championships | Super Bowl Championships |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atlanta Falcons | 4 | 8 | 2 | 0 |
| Carolina Panthers | 6 | 8 | 2 | 0 |
| New Orleans Saints | 7 | 9 | 1 | 1 |
| Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 7 | 8 | 2 | 2 |
Season results
Asterisk (*) Denotes Current Year
| (#) | Denotes team that won the Super Bowl |
| (#) | Denotes team that won the NFC Championship |
| (#) | Denotes team that qualified for the NFL Playoffs |
| Placement at Season End | Atlanta Falcons | Carolina Panthers | New Orleans Saints | Tampa Bay Buccaneers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 4 (2016) | 6 (2025)* | 7 (2020) | 7 (2024) |
| 2nd | 8 (2024) | 6 (2022) | 7 (2023) | 3 (2025)* |
| 3rd | 8 (2025)* | 6 (2024) | 6 (2022) | 4 (2019) |
| 4th | 4 (2022) | 6 (2023) | 4 (2025)* | 10 (2018) |
Schedule rotation
| Year | Opponents | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Interconf. | Intraconf. | 17th game | |||
| 2021 | 2033 | 2045 | AFC East | NFC East | AFC South |
| 2022 | 2034 | 2046 | AFC North | NFC West | AFC West |
| 2023 | 2035 | 2047 | AFC South | NFC North | AFC East |
| 2024 | 2036 | 2048 | AFC West | NFC East | AFC North |
| 2025 | 2037 | 2049 | AFC East | NFC West | AFC South |
| 2026 | 2038 | 2050 | AFC North | NFC North | AFC West |
| 2027 | 2039 | 2051 | AFC South | NFC East | AFC East |
| 2028 | 2040 | 2052 | AFC West | NFC West | AFC North |
| 2029 | 2041 | 2053 | AFC East | NFC North | AFC South |
| 2030 | 2042 | 2054 | AFC North | NFC East | AFC West |
| 2031 | 2043 | 2055 | AFC South | NFC West | AFC East |
| 2032 | 2044 | 2056 | AFC West | NFC North | AFC North |
Oddities and facts
From 2003 to 2009, any team that finished last in the NFC South the year before would often improve enough to make the playoffs the next year. Tampa Bay almost did this in 2010 but lost out on a tiebreaker to Green Bay.
No team in the NFC South made the playoffs in back-to-back years from 2002 to 2009. New Orleans ended this streak in 2010 and went to the playoffs three years in a row from 2009 to 2011, and then again from 2017 to 2020. Atlanta also made the playoffs three years straight from 2010 to 2012, and Carolina did the same from 2013 to 2015. Tampa Bay made the playoffs three years in a row from 2020 to 2022.
Each team in the NFC South has won the division at least four times and made the playoffs at least five times since the division started. Each team has also finished last in the division at least twice. Before 2012, no team had finished last two years in a row, but Tampa Bay was the first to do so.
In 2014, Carolina became the first team in the division to win it two years in a row. New Orleans later did this when they won in 2018 and 2019. Carolina was also the second team in NFL history to win its division and make the playoffs with a losing record (7–8–1). The first was the 2010 Seahawks, who won the NFC West with a 7–9 record.
When Atlanta won the 2016–17 NFC Championship, the NFC South became the first division since the 2002 realignment to have all four of its teams play in the Super Bowl.
In the 2017 season, three NFC South teams (Carolina, New Orleans, and Atlanta) made the playoffs. This was the first time two NFC South teams met in the playoffs, with New Orleans beating Carolina in the Wild Card round.
In 2020, New Orleans became the first team to win all its division games in the regular season and win four division titles in a row. They lost in the playoffs to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who went on to win the Super Bowl.
In 2022, Tampa Bay became the fourth team in NFL history to win its division and make the playoffs with a losing record (8–9).
In 2024, Tampa Bay tied with New Orleans for the most division titles (7) and most consecutive division titles (4). Tampa Bay also set a record with five straight playoff appearances.
In 2025, Carolina, Tampa Bay, and Atlanta all finished tied for first place with an 8–9 record. The outcome of the Atlanta-New Orleans game decided the division winner, with Atlanta winning and sending Carolina to the playoffs instead of Tampa Bay.
Related articles
This article is a child-friendly adaptation of the Wikipedia article on NFC South, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.