Is this year's NFC West the most dominant division in NFL history?

Quizzical

For comparison, the combined records of all NFL divisions this year, excluding intra-divisional games:

AFC East: 22-18
AFC North: 19-21
AFC South: 12-28
AFC West: 25-15
NFC East: 16-24
NFC North: 17-23
NFC South: 19-21
NFC West: 30-10

With only intra-divisional games remaining, the NFC West has won 75% of its non-divisional games. For comparison, only two entire teams in the NFL have won at least 75% of their total games. That's remarkably dominant, and it's the average for an entire division.

Divisions do, of course, play unbalanced schedules: 16 games against one division, 16 against another, and only 8 other non-divisional games in total. The NFC West's divisional record includes 13-3 against the AFC South and 11-5 against the NFC South. Lest you think that the NFC West feasted on inferior competition, the AFC South is 9-15 against other divisions besides the NFC West, while the NFC South is 14-10, so that's just shy of .500 combined against other divisions besides the NFC West. And there's also the matter of the NFC West going 6-2 against other teams besides the AFC South and NFC South.

Has the NFL ever before had a division this dominant? If the Cardinals beat the 49ers next week, 11-5 could be good for third in the division and out of the playoffs. The 2008 Patriots did miss the playoffs at 11-5, but they were second in their division (tied for first, actually) in a year when three AFC divisions had two teams with 11+ wins, but the best overall divisional record was 26-14 for the AFC South.

The 2007 NFC South was also a combined 30-10 in non-divisional games. But they only had a cumulative point differential of +295, as compared to +359 for this years NFC West. Other than that, the best divisional record since the NFL went to 32 teams in 2002 has been 26-14.

But think about that point differential for a moment. In an average game between an NFC West team and a non-NFC West team, the NFC West team has won by 8.975 points, or just shy of 9. That's winning by 9 in an average game, as the average for an entire division. For comparison, only two teams in the league (Seahawks and Broncos) have won an average game by at least 9 points this season.

The next most recent division that is anything like rivaling this year's NFC West was the 1984 AFC West. They were 31-9 in non-divisional games, but with a point differential of only +309. The 1984 San Diego Chargers went 0-8 in divisional play, but 7-1 outside of the division.

Before that, you'd have to go back to the 1975 AFC Central, which went 24-8 in non-divisional play with a cumulative point differential of +218, or under 7 per game. That division had three very good teams, but the 3-11 Cleveland Browns were terrible and dragged down the division as a whole with their 2-6 record in games outside of the division. The other three teams were a combined 22-2 outside of the division.

No other NFL division (besides those mentioned above) since the 1970 merger has come close to the dominance of this year's NFC West.

So pity the poor Rams. A majority of their games this season have been against opponents that have won at least 2/3 of their games, and their hardest game of the year is still to come. They've somehow gone 7-8 against that schedule, which by Pro Football Reference's rankings, is tied for #11 in the league--and would be the best in the division in two different divisions. The Cardinals, meanwhile, would be favored to win no fewer than 5 of the league's 8 divisions--and are probably going to miss the playoffs.