AFC South
The American Football Conference β Southern Division or AFC South is one of the four divisions of the American Football Conference (AFC) in the National Football League (NFL). It was created before the 2002 season when the league realigned divisions after expanding to 32 teams. Since its creation, the division has had the same four members: the Houston Texans, Indianapolis Colts, Jacksonville Jaguars, and Tennessee Titans.
Conference | American Football Conference |
---|---|
League | National Football League |
Sport | American football |
Founded | 2002 |
No. of teams | 4 |
Most recent champion(s) | Houston Texans (7th title) |
Most titles | Indianapolis Colts (9 titles) |
Before the 2002 season, the Texans did not exist, the Colts belonged to the AFC East, and the Titans and Jaguars were members of the AFC Central. The AFC South is often regarded as the NFL's "newest" division since at the time of its establishment none of the new division's members had played more than eighteen seasons in their current cities. The Colts had played in Baltimore until the end of the 1983 season, the Jaguars commenced play in 1995 and the Titans had been based in Houston (where they were known as the Oilers) until 1996. However, Indianapolis, Tennessee and Jacksonville had all won multiple division titles and wild card berths in their prior respective divisions.
The Colts hold a 534β474β7 record and a 23β25 playoff record with two NFL league crowns, four Super Bowl appearances and two wins. The Titans hold a record of 451β475β6 with a playoff record of 17β21 including two AFL championships (as the Houston Oilers) and a loss in Super Bowl XXXIV. The Jaguars hold a 177β239 record and a 7β7 playoff record. The Texans made the playoffs for the first time in their ten-season existence in 2011 and hold a 135β169 record and a 4β6 playoff record.
The Colts' Super Bowl XLI victory in 2006 is the only Super Bowl win from the AFC South to date, although the Colts have won another Super Bowl while playing in a different division (and a different city). The division owns the longest active Super Bowl victory drought, since at least one team from each of the other seven divisions has won one of the eighteen subsequenct Super Bowls β in fact seven divisions won seven Super Bowls between 2009 and 2015 β although the Colts did participate in 2009βs Super Bowl XLIV.
History
2000s
When the NFL realigned for the 2002 schedule, the newly created AFC South was formed from two former AFC Central teams, an AFC East team, and an expansion team. Its inaugural season was won by the Tennessee Titans who went on to play in the AFC Championship game. For the next five years, the Indianapolis Colts won the division including their victory in Super Bowl XLI. In 2007, the AFC South had the best division record of all time based on the combined 42β22 (.656 winning percentage). The record was previously held by the 1975 AFC Central's .643 winning percentage.[1] In 2008, the Tennessee Titans won the division, ending Indianapolis' five-year streak of division titles. However, in 2009, the Colts would storm back to win their 6th division championship in Week 12 of the season with a win over the Houston Texans and a loss by the Jacksonville Jaguars to the San Francisco 49ers.
2010s
In 2010, the Indianapolis Colts again won their division by winning their final four games, including a victory over the Jaguars that tied the records of the two teams. The Colts controlled their own destiny, with the Jacksonville Jaguars losing its last three games of the season. In 2011, the Houston Texans won their first AFC South title, qualifying for the playoffs for the first time in franchise history. In Week 14, Houston had to beat Cincinnati and New Orleans had to beat the Tennessee Titans to secure the playoffs for Houston. Houston won 20β19 and New Orleans won 22β17 against the Titans, giving Houston its first ever playoff spot. The Texans had won their first Playoff game against the Cincinnati Bengals 31β10 but then lost to the Baltimore Ravens 20β13 in the Divisional game. The Texans repeated as AFC South champions in 2012 as well after beating Indianapolis 29β17 in Week 15 that season. In the playoffs, the Texans beat the Bengals once again, 19β13, but lost to the New England Patriots 41β28 during the Divisional Weekend. The Colts would retake the AFC South division crown in 2013. Indianapolis swept all three of its divisional opponents during the 2013 campaign to reclaim its first division title since 2010. Again in 2014, the Colts claimed the division title by defeating the Texans in a week 15 matchup, 17β10. The Texans took over as AFC South champions in 2015 following their 30β6 win over Jacksonville in week 16. Houston repeated as division champions in 2016; despite finishing with matching 9β7 records along with Tennessee, the Texans earned the AFC South's automatic berth into the NFL playoffs based on finishing better against the division (5β1) than the Titans (2β4). In 2017, the Jaguars won their first AFC South title after a Titans loss to the Rams in Week 16. In the previous week, the Jaguars had clinched their first playoff berth since 2007, with a win against the Texans. The Texans reclaimed the division crown with an 11β5 record in 2018, though the Colts also made the playoffs as a wild card and defeated the Texans in Houston in the first round by a score of 21β7. In 2019, the Texans won their sixth division title with a 10β6 record, and the Titans reached the Wildcard with 9β7. The Texans would win in the Wildcard vs. the Buffalo Bills and make it to the divisional round, losing 51β31 to the Kansas City Chiefs. The Titans, however, would make it to the AFC Championship, also losing 35β24 to the Chiefs.
Division lineups
Place cursor over year for division champ or Super Bowl team.
AFC South Division | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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Years | |||||||||||||||||||||||
02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 |
Houston Texans | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Indianapolis Colts | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Jacksonville Jaguars | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Tennessee Titans | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Division Won Super Bowl Division Won AFC Championship |
Division champions
Wild Card qualifiers
Team playoff berths
Stats updated through the 2021 Season
Total playoff berths as members of the AFC South
In the sortable table below, teams can be ordered by name, number of division wins, playoff berths, or titles. To change, click button to right of heading.
Team | Division Titles | Playoff Berths | AFC Championship Game Appearances | AFC Championships | Super Bowl Championships |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Indianapolis Colts | 9 | 14 | 4 | 2 | 1 |
Houston Texans | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Tennessee Titans | 4 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
Jacksonville Jaguars | 2 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
Total playoff berths in team history
In the sortable table below, teams can be ordered by name, number of division wins, playoff berths, or titles. To change, click button to right of heading.
Team | Division Titles | Playoff Berths | Conference Championships | NFL/AFL1 Titles | Super Bowl Championships |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Indianapolis Colts | 16 | 29 | 7 | 3 | 2 |
Tennessee Titans | 11 | 25 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
Houston Texans | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Jacksonville Jaguars | 4 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
1 Colts won NFL Titles as the Baltimore Colts. Titans won AFL Titles as the Houston Oilers.
Season results
(#) | Denotes team that won the Super Bowl |
(#) | Denotes team that won the AFC Championship |
(#) | Denotes team that qualified for the NFL Playoffs |
Season | Team (record) | |||
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1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | |
| ||||
2002 | (2) Tennessee (11β5) | (5) Indianapolis (10β6) | Jacksonville (6β10) | Houston (4β12) |
2003 | (3) Indianapolis (12β4) | (5) Tennessee (12β4) | Jacksonville (5β11) | Houston (5β11) |
2004 | (3) Indianapolis (12β4) | Jacksonville (9β7) | Houston (7β9) | Tennessee (5β11) |
2005 | (1) Indianapolis (14β2) | (5) Jacksonville (12β4) | Tennessee (4β12) | Houston (2β14) |
2006 | (3) Indianapolis (12β4) | Tennessee (8β8) | Jacksonville (8β8) | Houston (6β10) |
2007 | (2) Indianapolis (13β3) | (5) Jacksonville (11β5) | (6) Tennessee (10β6) | Houston (8β8) |
2008 | (1) Tennessee (13β3) | (5) Indianapolis (12β4) | Houston (8β8) | Jacksonville (5β11) |
2009 | (1) Indianapolis (14β2) | Houston (9β7) | Tennessee (8β8) | Jacksonville (7β9) |
2010 | (3) Indianapolis (10β6) | Jacksonville (8β8) | Houston (6β10) | Tennessee (6β10) |
2011 | (3) Houston (10β6) | Tennessee (9β7) | Jacksonville (5β11) | Indianapolis (2β14) |
2012 | (3) Houston (12β4) | (5) Indianapolis (11β5) | Tennessee (6β10) | Jacksonville (2β14) |
2013 | (4) Indianapolis (11β5) | Tennessee (7β9) | Jacksonville (4β12) | Houston (2β14) |
2014 | (4) Indianapolis (11β5) | Houston (9β7) | Jacksonville (3β13) | Tennessee (2β14) |
2015 | (4) Houston (9β7) | Indianapolis (8β8) | Jacksonville (5β11) | Tennessee (3β13) |
2016 | (4) Houston (9β7) | Tennessee (9β7) | Indianapolis (8β8) | Jacksonville (3β13) |
2017 | (3) Jacksonville (10β6) | (5) Tennessee (9β7) | Indianapolis (4β12) | Houston (4β12) |
2018 | (3) Houston (11β5) | (6) Indianapolis (10β6) | Tennessee (9β7) | Jacksonville (5β11) |
2019 | (4) Houston (10β6) | (6) Tennessee (9β7) | Indianapolis (7β9) | Jacksonville (6β10) |
2020 | (4) Tennessee (11β5) | (7) Indianapolis (11β5) | Houston (4β12) | Jacksonville (1β15) |
2021 | (1) Tennessee (12β5) | Indianapolis (9β8) | Houston (4β13) | Jacksonville (3β14) |
2022 | (4) Jacksonville (9β8) | Tennessee (7β10) | Indianapolis (4β12β1) | Houston (3β13β1) |
2023 | (4) Houston (10β7) | Jacksonville (9β8) | Indianapolis (9β8) | Tennessee (6β11) |
References
- "Cold, Hard Football Facts.com". Archived from the original on December 27, 2007. Retrieved December 31, 2007.