Just how tough are the NFL divisions set to be heading into the 2022 season? Which teams look like they’ll have an easy go, and which ones might be on for more of a fight?

There is an old adage in the NFL that when you draft and put your team together, you do so in order to win your division. Afterall, the quickest and easiest way into the playoffs each year is to win your respective division, and with 6 of your 17 games against the teams in there, results there can go a long way in deciding where you end up and how successful your season is.

The relative strengths of each division change depending on where you look, the NFC East for instance hasn’t had a repeat winner since the 2003-2004 Philadelphia Eagles, or in the case of the AFC East, which was dominated for so long by the New England Patriots for so long, they rattled off 11 division crowns in a row before the Buffalo Bills began to emerge.

This NFL offseason has certainly been a busy one with plenty of moves both in and out from all of the 32 teams around the league, with some making upgrades for the present whilst others have invested in the future, no better exemplified than the trade between the Seattle Seahawks and Denver Broncos for the services of quarterback Russell Wilson. 

And whilst there is still some time for moves to be made, with the majority of the work done and before teams report to minicamp, this seems like a good time to look at the strength of each NFL division. 

Using Tiermaker.com, we have broken the divisions into four categories:

One Horse Race:

One team looks set to dominate the division and leave the rest of them far behind

Two Top-heavy Teams:

Two teams set to battle it out for the division crown, but which one exactly is yet to be seen

Anybody’s Guess:

Either there are too many good teams, or too many bad teams to really separate one or two from the rest of the pack

Group Of Death:

All four teams have a real chance of winning the division

And taking those criteria into account, this is how we have organised the respective divisions across the NFL heading into the 2022 season:

One Horse Race: NFC North (Packers to dominate), NFC South (Buccaneers to dominate)

Two Top-heavy Teams: AFC North (Bengals and Ravens), AFC East (Patriots and Bills), AFC South (Colts and Titans)

Anybody’s Guess: NFC East (No standout candidate), NFC West (49ers, Rams, Cardinals all in with a shout)

Group Of Death: AFC West (All teams stand a fair chance at winning)