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The '''NFC North''' is a division of the ]'s ]. It was created prior to the ] when the league realigned its divisions after expanding to 32 teams. It replaced the '''NFC Central''', which was formed in 1970 after the ], and its predecessor, the '''NFL Central Division'''. |
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The '''NFC North''' is a division of the ]'s ]. It was created prior to the ] when the league realigned its divisions after expanding to 32 teams. It replaced the '''NFC Central''', which was formed in 1970 after the ], and its predecessor, the '''NFL Central Division'''. |
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The NFC North currently has four members: ], ], ], and ]. The division contains the same alignment as the NFL Central Division, which was created in 1967 and existed for three seasons before the AFL-NFL Merger. During its earlier incarnation, the division earned the moniker "Black and Blue Division" due to its intense rivalries and physical style of play. Based on the ages of its teams, the NFC North is the oldest division in the NFL: a combined 299 years old (The Packers are 90 years old (founded 1919),the Bears are 89 years old (founded 1920), the Lions are 80 years old (founded 1929), and the Vikings are 48 years old (founded 1961)). Another nickname for the earlier incarnation of the division was the "Frostbite Division" as all teams played home games in late season winter cold (especially the Packers and Vikings) until the mid 1970's. |
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The NFC North currently has four members: ], ], ], and ]. The division contains the same alignment as the NFL Central Division, which was created in 1967 and existed for three seasons before the AFL-NFL Merger. During its earlier incarnation, the division earned the moniker "Black and Blue Division" due to its intense rivalries and physical style of play. Based on the ages of its teams, the NFC North is the oldest division in the NFL: a combined 299 years old (The Packers are 90 years old (founded 1919),the Bears are 89 years old (founded 1920), the Lions are 80 years old (founded 1930), and the Vikings are 48 years old (founded 1961)). Another nickname for the earlier incarnation of the division was the "Frostbite Division" as all teams played home games in late season winter cold (especially the Packers and Vikings) until the mid 1970s. |
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The ] became the fifth member of the NFC Central in 1977 after they spent their first year in the league as a member of the ], but they were moved to the ] in the 2002 realignment. With the departure of Tampa Bay, the division is sometimes humorously called the "Frozen North" (teams in the NFC North are located further north than those in the ]), although two of its teams, Detroit and Minnesota, have played their home games indoors since 1975 and 1982 respectively. On the other hand, two of the AFC North teams (] and ]) both are known to play late-season games with intense winter weather while another (]) hosted the ] with unusually cold weather in the region. (] is on the border between ] and ], although most of ] as a whole is in the latter.) The NFC North's geography has been compared to that of a college conference since all four of its home cities lie within the territorial boundaries of the ]'s ] (indeed, three of the metro areas in the NFC North have Big Ten members as well). |
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The ] became the fifth member of the NFC Central in 1977 after they spent their first year in the league as a member of the ], but they were moved to the ] in the 2002 realignment. With the departure of Tampa Bay, the division is sometimes humorously called the "Frozen North" (teams in the NFC North are located further north than those in the ]), although two of its teams, Detroit and Minnesota, have played their home games indoors since 1975 and 1982 respectively. On the other hand, two of the AFC North teams (] and ]) both are known to play late-season games with intense winter weather while another (]) hosted the ] with unusually cold weather in the region. (] is on the border between ] and ], although most of ] as a whole is in the latter.) The NFC North's geography has been compared to that of a college conference since all four of its home cities lie within the territorial boundaries of the ]'s ] (indeed, three of the metro areas in the NFC North have Big Ten members as well). |
* A players' strike in 1982 reduced the regular season to nine games. Thus, 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.
