Teams that benefited from the 2002 realignment

[JuggernautJ]

The one change to the 2002 realignment I would make is flipping the Colts and Ravens.

All of the then-“new” teams in one division. All of the former NFL teams in a geographically sensible division.

100% Agreed.
I've said the same thing here several times.

The one change I would make (and it confounded me at the time of realignment) is to swap Indianapolis and Baltimore...
Indianapolis is further North than Baltimore.
And Indiana was pretty solidly in the Union (going back to a previous North/South divide) while Maryland was technically blue but certainly had some divided loyalties.

I know Modell and the original Browns (now Ravens) had to stay in the AFC North to maintain all those old rivalries and bad feelings...
But the single change I would've wanted to see made switched those two teams so that the AFC would have the following divisions:

AFC North
Pittsburgh
Cincinnati
Cleveland
Indianapolis


AFC South
Tennessee
Jacksonville
Houston
Baltimore

Aside from being geographically more precise it has the three teams that left the NFL to join the AFC all in the same division (Steelers, Browns and Colts).