division winners with losing record in divisional play

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JWL
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Location: New Jersey

division winners with losing record in divisional play

Post by JWL »

There is a lot of stuff jammed into the Record & Fact Book and there is a lot of stuff on stat sites such as pro-football-reference and Pro Football Archives but I don't believe any of them have division W-L-T records. I might have to tabulate all that on my own by going through every team's schedule.

I am certain there have been division winners who had losing records vs their division foes. I cannot recall who but I think a team recently won a division with a 2-4 record vs their division rivals.

Obviously, this is not something that would happen with great frequency.

Is there a site or book that has this information?
BD Sullivan
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Joined: Mon Oct 13, 2014 1:30 pm

Re: division winners with losing record in divisional play

Post by BD Sullivan »

Since the merger:

1971 49ers 2-4
*1982 Packers 1-2 (Strike Year)
2010 Chiefs 2-4

Here's a website to check before that: http://www.shrpsports.com/nfl/stand.htm
BD Sullivan
Posts: 2318
Joined: Mon Oct 13, 2014 1:30 pm

Re: division winners with losing record in divisional play

Post by BD Sullivan »

A .500 record in the division has been relatively common:

3-3: 70 Bengals, 84 Steelers, 85 Rams. 89 Browns, 04 Seahawks, 06 Seahawks, 06 Colts, 11 Broncos, 11 Giants, 12 Falcons, 13 Bengals
4-4: 80 Bills, 96 Steelers, 99 Seahawks

Interestingly, the 1963 Chargers only had a 3-3 mark in their conference--which only had three other teams. That was Al Davis' first year as HC in Oakland and he got them to 10-4, beating SD both times. The other "conference" loss was in Denver, where their defense didn't show up in a 50-34 loss.
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