The year 2016 wasn't just another page on the calendar for football fans. It was a chaotic, narrative-shifting whirlwind that basically reset the hierarchy of the AFC and NFC for the next half-decade. If you look back at the NFL league standings 2016, you'll see a league in total transition. Peyton Manning had just ridden off into the sunset with a Lombardi trophy, leaving a massive power vacuum. Meanwhile, a young guy named Dak Prescott was busy making everyone forget that Tony Romo was ever the "franchise" in Dallas.
It was weird. Honestly, seeing the Cleveland Browns finish 1-15 while the Dallas Cowboys soared to 13-3 feels like a fever dream now, but that was the reality.
The NFC East flipped the script
The Cowboys were the story. Period. After Tony Romo went down with a vertebral compression fracture in the preseason, most experts—myself included—thought Dallas was cooked. Instead, a fourth-round rookie quarterback and a bruising running back from Ohio State named Ezekiel Elliott turned the league upside down. They didn't just win; they bullied people.
Behind them, the New York Giants actually looked like contenders. They finished 11-5, riding a defense that they spent a literal fortune on in free agency (shoutout to Janoris Jenkins and Olivier Vernon). The Redskins stayed mediocre at 8-7-1, and the Eagles were just starting the Carson Wentz experiment, finishing last in the division at 7-9. It’s wild to think that just one year later, Philly would be Super Bowl champs, but in the 2016 standings, they were the basement dwellers.
Matt Ryan and the "Greatest Offense" that met a dark fate
Over in the NFC South, the Atlanta Falcons were an absolute juggernaut. Matt Ryan earned his MVP that year, throwing for nearly 5,000 yards. They finished 11-5, but their point differential was staggering. They scored 540 points. To put that in perspective, the next closest team in the NFC was New Orleans at 469.
The Saints, despite Drew Brees throwing for over 5,000 yards (again), finished 7-9. It was that classic mid-2010s Saints era where the offense was historic and the defense couldn't stop a high school team. Tampa Bay showed flashes of life at 9-7 under Jameis Winston, while the Carolina Panthers suffered the ultimate Super Bowl hangover. After going 15-1 in 2015, Cam Newton and company spiraled to a 6-10 finish in 2016. It was a brutal fall from grace.
The AFC North and the "Big Ben" era dominance
Pittsburgh. Baltimore. Cincinnati.
The AFC North was a bloodbath as usual. The Steelers took the crown at 11-5. This was the peak of the "Killer B’s"—Roethlisberger, Antonio Brown, and Le'Veon Bell. When those three were on the field together, they were arguably the most talented offensive trio in NFL history. They pushed the Ravens (8-8) out of the playoffs in a legendary Christmas Day game where Antonio Brown stretched the ball over the goal line in what fans call the "Immaculate Extension."
Then there's Cleveland. 1-15. Their only win came against the Chargers on Christmas Eve. It was a grim time to be a Browns fan, but looking at the NFL league standings 2016, that single win prevented them from the ignominy of 0-16, a feat they’d unfortunately achieve just one year later.
New England and the "Deflategate" revenge tour
You can't talk about 2016 without mentioning the New England Patriots. Tom Brady was suspended for the first four games. Jimmy Garoppolo and Jacoby Brissett filled in, and the Pats still went 3-1 during that stretch. When Brady came back? He was a man possessed. He threw 28 touchdowns and only 2 interceptions.
The Patriots finished 14-2. They owned the AFC East. The Dolphins actually made the playoffs that year at 10-6 under Adam Gase (yes, that really happened), while the Bills and Jets hovered in the 7-9 and 5-11 range. But the gap between New England and everyone else was a canyon.
Breaking down the 2016 division winners
To keep it simple, here is how the top of the pile looked when the dust settled in December.
In the AFC, the seeds were:
- New England Patriots (14-2)
- Kansas City Chiefs (12-4)
- Pittsburgh Steelers (11-5)
- Houston Texans (9-7)
- Oakland Raiders (12-4)
- Miami Dolphins (10-6)
In the NFC, the bracket looked like this:
- Dallas Cowboys (13-3)
- Atlanta Falcons (11-5)
- Seattle Seahawks (10-5-1)
- Green Bay Packers (10-6)
- New York Giants (11-5)
- Detroit Lions (9-7)
Wait, did you catch that? The Oakland Raiders actually went 12-4. This was the year Derek Carr looked like a legitimate MVP candidate before breaking his fibula in Week 16 against the Colts. It’s one of the great "what ifs" of the modern era. If Carr doesn't get hurt, do the Raiders challenge the Patriots in the AFC Championship? Probably not, because Bill Belichick existed, but it would have been a lot closer than the Matt McGloin/Connor Cook disaster we ended up seeing.
The weirdness of the ties
2016 was also the year of the tie. We had two of them. Seattle and Arizona played a 6-6 defensive slog that was honestly one of the most entertaining "bad" games I’ve ever seen. Both kickers missed chip shots in overtime. It was pure comedy. Then the Redskins and Bengals tied 27-27 in London. These ties significantly impacted the NFL league standings 2016, especially for the Seahawks, who ended up with that weird 10-5-1 record that secured them the NFC West over the 4-12 Cardinals and the 4-12 Rams (the Jeff Fisher era finale).
Why the 2016 standings still matter
Looking back at these numbers helps us understand the trajectory of the league today. 2016 was the birth of the Dak Prescott era. It was the peak of the Falcons' "Brotherhood" before the 28-3 collapse changed the franchise's DNA forever. It was the beginning of Tyreek Hill's dominance in Kansas City—he was just a rookie return specialist then.
Most importantly, it showed that the NFL is a league of sudden shifts. The Panthers went from 15 wins to 6. The Cowboys went from 4 wins to 13.
How to use this data for historical analysis
If you're a sports bettor or a dynasty fantasy football manager, the 2016 season is a case study in "regression to the mean."
- Look for outliers: Teams like the 2016 Raiders often overperform their point differential. They won a lot of close games, which usually isn't sustainable.
- Watch the coaching changes: This was the year Sean McVay was still an OC in Washington. The following year, he'd take over the Rams and change the league's offensive philosophy.
- Injury impact: The 2016 standings are a reminder that a single injury (like Derek Carr's) can invalidate an entire 16-game body of work.
If you're digging into the NFL league standings 2016 for a project or just a trip down memory lane, pay attention to the turnover margins. The teams at the top weren't always the most talented—though New England certainly was—but they were the ones who protected the ball. Except for the Falcons. They just outscored their problems until they ran into a wall in Houston during Super Bowl LI.
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Check the Pro Football Reference pages for the specific "Strength of Schedule" (SOS) metrics from that year. You'll find that the AFC West was arguably the toughest division in football, which explains why both the Chiefs and Raiders hit 12 wins. It’s a level of competition we rarely see across an entire division.
Go back and watch the highlights of that Dallas/Pittsburgh Week 10 game. It’s 2016 football in a nutshell: high scoring, star-driven, and decided by a rookie who didn't know he was supposed to be nervous. That season was a blast.