| Conference | National Football Conference |
|---|---|
| League | National Football League |
| Sport | American football |
| Founded | 2002 |
| No. of teams | 4 |
| Country | United States |
| Most recent champion | Tampa Bay Buccaneers (7th title) |
| Most titles | New Orleans Saints Tampa Bay Buccaneers (7 titles each) |
The National Football Conference – Southern Division or NFC South is one of the four divisions of the National Football Conference (NFC) in the National Football League (NFL). It was created before the 2002 NFL season when the league realigned divisions after expanding to 32 teams. The NFC South currently has four member clubs: the Atlanta Falcons, Carolina Panthers, New Orleans Saints, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Contents
- Division lineups
- Division champions
- Wild Card qualifiers
- Total Playoff Berths as members of the NFC South
- Season results
- Schedule rotation
- Postseason oddities and facts
- See also
- References
Before the 2002 season, the Buccaneers belonged to the AFC West (1976) and NFC Central (1977–2001) (with their four division rivals in the Upper Midwest), while the other three teams were part of the geographically inaccurate NFC West.
The NFC South is one of two divisions to have each of its teams make a Super Bowl appearance since the 2002 realignment (along with the NFC West): Tampa Bay (2002 and 2020), Atlanta (2016), Carolina (2003 and 2015) and New Orleans (2009). Also since 2002, each team has won at least four division titles, making it the only division that holds that distinction. On January 3, 2021, the Saints became the first-ever team to sweep the NFC South in the regular season, they nevertheless lost to the Buccaneers (eventual Super Bowl champions) in the playoffs.
Entering 2025, the Saints have the most wins and highest winning percentage among division members. The Saints' record is 417-480-5; their win in Super Bowl XLIV is the highlight of a 10–13 playoff record. The Falcons' record is 398–512–6 with a playoff record of 10–14; the Falcons lost in Super Bowls XXXIII and LI. The Buccaneers' record is 318–457–1 with a victory in both their Super Bowl appearances, Super Bowl XXXVII and Super Bowl LV, and an overall playoff record of 12-13. The Panthers have the best playoff winning percentage (9–8) of any team in the division with losses in Super Bowls XXXVIII and 50, with a regular season record of 195–204–1.
The NFC South is the only NFC division not to have any of the twelve "old-line" franchises that predate the 1960 launch of the American Football League, the NFL's former rival league. The oldest team is the Falcons, who began play in 1966, and the Saints began play only a year later in 1967. Each of the other NFC divisions has three clubs that began play earlier than 1960, while the remaining three such teams are in the American Football Conference.
The NFC South became the second division in five years to have a champion with a losing record, as the 2014 Carolina Panthers won the division with a 7–8–1 record (The 2010 Seattle Seahawks won the NFC West with a 7–9 record). Additionally, Carolina became the first team to repeat as NFC South champions since the creation of the division. The Panthers were the first team to win the NFC South three consecutive times, from 2013 to 2015; while the Saints were the first team to win the division four consecutive times from 2017 to 2020. On January 7, 2018, two NFC South teams (the Carolina Panthers and New Orleans Saints) met in the NFL playoffs for the first time since the division's creation in 2002. Before then, they were the only division left in the NFL that had never had teams face off against each other in the postseason. In 2024 Tampa Bay Buccaneers tied with the New Orleans Saints for the most division titles, with seven. They also tied with the Saints for most consecutive division titles, with four, and broke the division record of most consecutive playoff appearances, with five.
