The New England Patriots have had the best record in the NFL over the past decade. One of the reasons for this dominance has been the fact that they have been almost unbeatable within their division, the AFC East. Consider this: In the last ten seasons, the Pats have gone 48-12 (.800 winning percentage) in games against their fellow AFC East teams, the best division record of any NFL team in the last 10 seasons. Of the four teams in the AFC East (New England, Miami, Buffalo and the New York Jets), the Patriots are also the only one of those four to have a winning record in division games from 2004-2013.

It’s interesting to note, however, that the Patriots are not the only team that has dominated play within their division in the past 10 seasons. The Indianapolis Colts rank second to New England with a 45-15 record (.750 winning percentage) in division games since 2003. The Colts are also the only AFC South team with a winning record in division games in the past 10 years.

Let’s take this division play a step further. Did you know that the San Francisco 49ers have the biggest difference in winning percentage between division games and non-division games in the last 10 seasons? The 49ers have a .592 winning percentage in games against their fellow NFC West teams, but have won only 40 percent of their games outside their division, a difference of .192 percentage points. At the other end of the scale are the Cleveland Browns. The Browns have a .217 winning percentage in games against their fellow AFC North teams, but they have a .380 winning percentage outside their division, a difference of 163 percentage points.

Here’s a look at each teams’ winning percentage within their division and in games outside their division from 2004-2013.

Teams, Winning pct. within division/winning pct. outside division, difference
San Francisco… .592/.400   +.192
Green Bay… .692/.550   +.142
San Diego… .700/.580   +.120
Seattle… .617/.510   +.107
Arizona… .500/.410   +.090
Indianapolis… .750/.660   +.090
Carolina… .550/.470   +.080
Pittsburgh… .683/.640   +.043
New England… .800/.760    +.040
Chicago… .567/.550   +.017
New York Giants… .567/.560   +.017
Oakland… .317/.300   +.017
Minnesota… .492/.480   +.012
Tampa Bay… .417/.410   +.007
Denver… .583/.580   +.003
Cincinnati… .517/.515   +.002

New Orleans… .567/.570   -.003
Philadelphia… .550/.565   -.015
Baltimore… .583/.600   -.017
Jacksonville… .433/.450  -.017
New York Jets… .483/.500   -.017
Kansas City… .400/.420   -.020
Dallas… .517/.560   -.043
St. Louis… .292/.340   -.048
Houston… .400/.460   -.060
Buffalo… .350/.420   -.070
Miami… .367/.440   -.073
Washington… .367/.440   -.073
Tennessee… .417/.510   -.093
Detroit… .250/.350   -.100
Atlanta… .467/.620   -.153
Cleveland… .217/.380   -.163

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