In the early 1990s, when three different NFC East teams won three consecutive Super Bowls, there was no doubting the best division in football.

The New York Giants won the NFL championship in 1990, the Washington Redskins in 1991 and the Cowboys in 1992. From 1986 to '95, the NFC East won seven of the 10 Super Bowls. The only East team that didn't win a Lombardi Trophy during that stretch was the Eagles.

But free agency, the salary cap and parity arrived in the mid-90s — and there has been no such dominance by any division since then.

New England has made a great run since 2001 with coach Bill Belichick and quarterback Tom Brady to put a claim on Team of the Decade honors, winning three of the seven Super Bowls. But the Patriots have been the NFL's only constant.

New England has won 75 games in the regular season and 12 more in the playoffs to propel the AFC East to the top of the power poll. Collectively, the division has won NFL-highs of 239 games in the regular season and 15 in the postseason.

But it's the NFC East that has the most playoff appearances this decade with 13. All four NFC East teams have qualified for the playoffs since 2000 — one of only four divisions that can make that claim. The AFC North, AFC West and NFC South are the others.

The NFC South is the only division that has seen all of its teams win in the postseason this decade. So Atlanta, Carolina, New Orleans and Tampa Bay may not compose the best division in the NFL — but the NFC South is certainly the most competitive.

All of its teams have qualified for the playoffs at least twice this decade. The only other division that can make that claim is the AFC West. All four NFC South teams have reached the conference championship game.

In fact, the AFC South has advanced a team to the NFC title game each of the last five seasons: New Orleans in 2006, Carolina in 2005, Atlanta in 2004, Carolina again in 2003 and Tampa Bay in 2002. The Buccaneers won their first NFL championship in 2002 and the Panthers lost in the Super Bowl in the 2003 season.

The best of the decade

The AFC East, behind New England's success, has been the NFL's best division this decade. Here's a look at the scorecard for the NFL's eight divisions since 2000, listing the number of regular-season victories, playoff appearances, playoff victories and NFL championships:

Division ... Wins ... PO ... Wins ... Titles

AFC East ... 239 ... 11 ... 15 ... 3

NFC East ... 231 ... 13 ... 11 ... 0

AFC West ... 231 ... 11 ... 5 ... 0

AFC North ... 224 ... 10 ... 12 ... 2

NFC South ... 216 ... 10 ... 12 ... 1

AFC South ... 213 ... 10 ... 9 ... 1

NFC West ... 211 ... 10 ... 7 ... 0

NFC North ... 210 ... 9 ... 6 ... 0