The AFL or AFC champion is not necessarily the team with the best record in the regular season. Rather, the champion is decided by the
AFC Championship Game (formerly the AFL Championship Game) as part of the post-season playoffs involving the teams with the best regular season records. The
Houston Oilers won the first two AFL championships, in
1960 and
1961.[1] The only other team to win two consecutive AFL championships prior to the merger was the
Buffalo Bills, who won in
1964 and
1965 with future
United States Congressman,
HUD Secretary and
Vice-Presidential nomineeJack Kemp at
quarterback.[1][2] The first team to win three consecutive AFL or AFC championships was the
Miami Dolphins in
1971 through
1973.[1] The only team to win four consecutive AFL or AFC championships was the
Buffalo Bills in
1990 through
1993.[1] The
New England Patriots are the only other AFC team to win three consecutive championships, from
2016 through
2018.[1]
Through the 2019 season, the most AFL or AFC championships won by any team is eleven, by the Patriots. The
Pittsburgh Steelers and
Denver Broncos each have eight AFC championships. The Buffalo Bills won six AFL or AFC championships and the Miami Dolphins and
Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders have each won five AFL or AFC championships.[1] The Raiders have also been the AFL or AFC runner up, as a result of losing the AFL or AFC Championship Game, a record nine times.[3] The Steelers have been the runner up eight times, while the
Los Angeles/San Diego Chargers have been the runner up seven times.[4][5]
The record for the most regular-season wins by an AFL or AFC champion is 16, by the
2007 New England Patriots, with a perfect 16–0 record. No AFL or AFC champion has won exactly 15 games. Seven AFL or AFC champions have won 14 games, including two Miami Dolphins teams and three New England Patriots teams (2003, 2004, 2016). Six of the teams that won 14 games did so in a 16-game season. Only the
1972 Miami Dolphins won 14 games in a 14-game season, with their perfect 14–0 record.[1]
At the end of the 1966 season, the
Super Bowl began to be played between the AFL champion and the NFL champion. After the AFL/NFL merger in 1970, the Super Bowl continued to be played between the AFC champion and the
NFC champion. The AFL champion lost the first two Super Bowls. The 1968 AFL champion
New York Jets with
Joe Namath at quarterback became the first AFL team to win the Super Bowl. Starting with that Super Bowl, the AFL or AFC champion won 11 out of 13 Super Bowls. However, the AFC champion lost 13 consecutive Super Bowls, from the 1984 AFC champion
Miami Dolphins through the 1996 AFC champion New England Patriots. Overall, the AFL or AFC champion has won 27 of the 55 Super Bowls played through the end of the 2018 season.[1]
Key
Season
Each year is linked to an article about that particular
AFL or
NFL season.
Team
Name of AFL or
AFC Championship team, linked to the team's championship season
Record
Championship team's regular season record wins–losses; if the team played any tie games the record is shown as wins–losses–ties
Head coach
Championship team's
head coach; if the team had multiple head coaches for the season they are shown in decreasing order of number of regular season wins
Quarterback
Name of quarterback with most
passing attempts for the AFL/AFC champion during the regular season
Leading Rusher
Name of player with most
rushing yards for the AFL/AFC champion during the regular season
Leading Receiver
Name of player with most
receiving yards for the AFL/AFC champion during the regular season
All-Pros
List of 1st team AP
All-Pros on that season's AFL/AFC champion
aLou Rymkus began the 1961 season as the Houston Oilers' head coach. After the Oilers started the season with a 1–3–1 record,
Wally Lemm took over as head coach. The Oilers won all nine games with Lemm as their head coach and went on to win the
1961 AFL Championship Game.[14]
bBob Griese began the 1972 season as the Miami Dolphins' starting quarterback. After Griese suffered an ankle injury in the 5th game of the season, Morrall became the starting quarterback for the remainder of the season and ended the season with more passing attempts than Griese. Morrall started the AFC Championship game, but Griese replaced him with the Dolphins behind in the second half and led the Dolphins to the victory. Griese then started
Super Bowl VII.[25][79][80][81]*
c In 1972 both Larry Csonka and
Mercury Morris rushed for
1000 or more yards for the Miami Dolphins. Csonka led the team in rushing yardage, making Morris the only player on an AFC (or NFC) championship team to have at least 1000 rushing yards but not lead the team.[25][82]
dTony Banks and
Trent Dilfer each started 8 games for the 2000 Baltimore Ravens. Banks is listed here because had 274 passing attempts and Dilfer had 226. But Dilfer was the starting quarterback in the AFC Championship game and in
Super Bowl XXXV.[53][83][84]
^Neft, D., Cohen, R. & Korch, R. (1995). The Sports Encyclopedia Pro Football (13th ed.). St. Martin's Griffin. pp. 234–243.
ISBN0-312-13186-0.{{
cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (
link)
^"1972 AFC Championship". Pro-Football-Reference. Sports Reference LLC.
Archived from the original on 2009-01-02. Retrieved 2008-11-22.
^"Super Bowl VII". Pro-Football-Reference. Sports Reference LLC.
Archived from the original on 2016-11-07. Retrieved 2008-11-22.