NFC North is 20–3 outside the division with four teams in the playoff field, while no NFC South team has more than three wins

The NFC North has lost three games to teams from outside the division all season. Detroit won 19–9 at Miami, Green Bay won 45–27 at New England and Chicago beat Tampa Bay 27–24 on Sunday night, so the division is 20–3 against the rest of the league through Sunday of Week 9. In those 23 games, the four teams have outscored opponents by 162 points.

All four NFC North teams have at least six wins. Chicago is 7–2, Minnesota 6–1, Detroit 6–2 and Green Bay 6–3. No other division has more than two teams with six wins, and if the season ended Sunday night, all four would be in the NFC playoff field.

The NFC South is at the other end. Carolina and New Orleans are 3–5, and Tampa Bay and Atlanta are 3–6. No team in the division has more than three wins. The four teams are 8–18 outside the division and 2–10 against the AFC.

Every division’s record outside the division

Division	All games	Outside division	Win pct. outside	Point diff. outside	Teams with 6+ wins
NFC North	25–8	20–3	.870	+162	4
AFC North	21–13	16–8	.667	+19	2
NFC West	20–15	14–9	.609	+75	1
AFC West	17–17	11–11	.500	-57	2
AFC East	14–19	10–15	.400	-59	1
NFC East	13–19–2	7–13	.350	-83	0
NFC South	12–22	8–18	.308	-62	0
AFC South	12–21	7–16	.304	+5	1

The table counts every game played by a division’s four teams. Games between two teams in the same division appear once as a win and once as a loss in the “All games” column, so the “Outside division” column is the cleaner measure. Minnesota and Buffalo meet on Monday night, so the NFC North and AFC East lines will change.

Got it done. pic.twitter.com/YtSUid9DDc

— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) November 9, 2026

NFC North: 25–8 in all games

Team	Record	In division	Outside division	PF	PA	Diff	Seed if season ended Sunday	Week 9
Minnesota	6–1	2–1	4–0	140	93	+47	2	vs. Buffalo, Tue 03:15 Cairo
Chicago	7–2	0–2	7–0	241	184	+57	5	W 27–24 vs. Tampa Bay
Detroit	6–2	2–0	4–2	222	189	+33	6	W 19–9 at Miami
Green Bay	6–3	1–2	5–1	216	191	+25	7	W 45–27 at New England

Chicago is 7–0 outside the division and Minnesota is 4–0, so the three losses belong to Detroit and Green Bay. Buffalo beat Detroit 41–31 in Week 2, Atlanta beat Green Bay 35–14 in Week 3 and Carolina beat Detroit 32–26 in Week 4. Two of those three losses came against teams that are now in the NFC South.

The Bears’ two losses both came inside the division, where they are 0–2. Detroit is 2–0 in the division, Minnesota 2–1 and Green Bay 1–2. Minnesota plays at Green Bay in Week 10.

NFC South: no team above three wins

Team	Record	In division	Outside division	PF	PA	Diff	Seed if season ended Sunday	Week 9
Carolina	3–5	1–1	2–4	199	219	-20	4	L 21–26 vs. Denver
New Orleans	3–5	0–1	3–4	185	216	-31	11	W 23–22 vs. Cleveland
Tampa Bay	3–6	2–0	1–6	202	178	+24	12	L 24–27 at Chicago
Atlanta	3–6	1–2	2–4	188	223	-35	13	L 17–34 vs. Cincinnati (Madrid)

Carolina leads the division at 3–5 after a 26–21 home loss to Denver, its third loss in a row, and would be the No. 4 seed on tiebreakers if the season ended Sunday night. That would put the Panthers at home in the wild-card round against the No. 5 seed, Chicago, at 7–2. Carolina plays at New Orleans in Week 10 with first place in the division at stake.

Tampa Bay has the division’s only positive point differential at +24. The Buccaneers are 2–0 inside the division but 1–6 against everyone else, including the three-point loss in Chicago.

NFC playoff seeds if the season ended Sunday night

Seed	Team	Record	Diff	Division	Week 9
1	San Francisco	7–1	+79	NFC West leader	W 38–17 vs. Las Vegas
2	Minnesota	6–1	+47	NFC North leader	vs. Buffalo, Tue 03:15 Cairo
3	NY Giants	5–2–1	+10	NFC East leader	W 19–11 at Philadelphia
4	Carolina	3–5	-20	NFC South leader	L 21–26 vs. Denver
5	Chicago	7–2	+57	NFC North	W 27–24 vs. Tampa Bay
6	Detroit	6–2	+33	NFC North	W 19–9 at Miami
7	Green Bay	6–3	+25	NFC North	W 45–27 at New England
8 (out)	Seattle	5–4	+40	NFC West	W 17–3 vs. Arizona
9 (out)	LA Rams	5–4	+33	NFC West	W 20–13 at Washington

San Francisco is the No. 1 seed at 7–1 after a 38–17 win over Las Vegas, and its +79 differential is now second in the league behind Jacksonville’s +108. The Giants hold the No. 3 seed at 5–2–1 as NFC East leaders. Seattle (5–4) and the Rams (5–4) are the first two teams out.

AFC playoff seeds if the season ended Sunday night

Seed	Team	Record	Diff	Division	Week 9
1	Buffalo	6–1	+52	AFC East leader	at Minnesota, Tue 03:15 Cairo
2	Denver	7–2	+12	AFC West leader	W 26–21 at Carolina
3	Jacksonville	6–2	+108	AFC South leader	W 33–10 at Baltimore
4	Pittsburgh	6–2	+36	AFC North leader	Bye
5	Kansas City	6–2	+59	AFC West	W 35–12 vs. NY Jets
6	Cincinnati	6–2	+65	AFC North	W 34–17 vs. Atlanta (Madrid)
7	New England	5–4	+4	AFC East	L 27–45 vs. Green Bay
8 (out)	Cleveland	5–4	-35	AFC North	L 22–23 at New Orleans
9 (out)	Las Vegas	4–5	-30	AFC West	L 17–38 at San Francisco

The AFC South has a similar split to the NFC South, with one exception. Jacksonville is 5–1 outside the division and leads the league at +108. Houston, Indianapolis and Tennessee are a combined 2–15 against teams from other divisions,, and the division is 7–16 against teams from other divisions.

What to watch

Buffalo, the AFC’s No. 1 seed at 6–1, plays at Minnesota on Tuesday at 03:15 Cairo time. A Vikings win would move the NFC North to 21–3 outside the division and put Minnesota at 7–1, level with San Francisco for the NFC’s best record. A Bills win would make it 20–4.

These records, points and seeds match the league standings through Sunday of Week 9 and a second, independent standings count. The outside-division records are our count from all 135 games played so far.