Field pass

Realignment for 2002


At the NFL Spring Meeting on May 22, 2001, in Rosemont, Ill., NFL owners unanimously approved the following realignment for 2002 when the Houston Texans begin play:


AFC
East North South West
Buffalo Baltimore Houston Denver
Miami Cincinnati Indianapolis Kansas City
New England Cleveland Jacksonville Oakland
N.Y. Jets Pittsburgh Tennessee San Diego
NFC
East North South West
Dallas Chicago Atlanta Arizona
N.Y. Giants Detroit Carolina St. Louis
Philadelphia Green Bay New Orleans San Francisco
Washington Minnesota Tampa Bay Seattle

Scheduling formula

Each team within a division will play 14 common opponents as follows:

  • Each team will play home and away against its three division opponents (6 games).
  • Each team will play the four teams from another division within its conference on a rotating three-year cycle (4 games).
  • Each team will play the four teams from a division in the other conference on a rotating four-year cycle (4 games).
  • Each team will play a pair of intraconference games based on the prior year's standings (2 games), i.e. first-place teams in a division will play against the first-place teams from another division within the same conference, etc.