POS
AFC East
AFC Central
AFC West
1st
Bills
Bengals
Raiders
2nd
Dolphins
Oilers
Chiefs
3rd
Colts
Steelers
Seahawks
4th
Jets
Browns
Chargers
5th
Patriots
Broncos
POS
NFC East
NFC Central
NFC West
1st
Giants
Bears
49ers
2nd
Eagles
Buccaneers
Saints
3rd
Redskins
Lions
Rams
4th
Cowboys
Packers
Falcons
5th
Cardinals
Vikings
This is an example of the formula used for determining opponents for teams that finished in last place in each of the five-team divisions between 1978 and 1994, when the league consisted of 28 teams playing 16 games each.
The 1990 New England Patriots finished in last place in the
AFC East. Therefore, in
1991, they played all of their division rivals (marked in blue) twice each, one game against each team in the four-team
AFC Central (marked in yellow), two games against the last-place finisher in the
AFC West (marked in orange), and one game each against the last-place finishers in the
NFC East and
NFC Central (marked in red).