AMERICAN FOOTBALL CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

(Redirected from AFC Championship Game)

The American Football Conference Champhionship game other wise known as 'AFC Championship Game' is one of the two semi-final matches of the National Football League, the largest professional American football league in the United States. The game is currently played on the penultimate Sunday in January and determines the champion of the American Football Conference. The winner receives the 'Lamar Hunt Trophy' and advances to face the winner of the NFC Championship Game in the Super Bowl on the first Sunday in February. The current AFC Champions are the Indianapolis Colts.
It began in 1970 after the merger between the NFL and the American Football League. The AFC was formed by joining the 10 former AFL teams with 3 NFL teams: the then-Baltimore Colts, the Cleveland Browns, and the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Contents
Playoff structure
Game history
AFC Championship Game Trivia
T-Shirt Trivia
List of Championship Games
AFC Championship Game appearances 1970–present
Footnotes

Playoff structure


At the end of each football season, a series of playoff games involving the top six teams in the AFC are conducted, consisting of the four division champions and two wild card teams. The two teams remaining play in the AFC Championship game.
Since the 1975-76 season, the site of the AFC Championship has been based on playoff seeding. The surviving club with the highest initial seeding in the playoffs hosts the game. A wild card team can not host the game unless both participants are wild cards. Prior to 1975-76, the site of the game was determined on a rotating basis.

Game history


AFC Championship logo, 2001-2005

AFC Championship Game Trivia



★ 'Most Victories' – 6; Denver Broncos (1977, 1986, 1987, 1989, 1997, 1998); Pittsburgh Steelers (1974, 1975, 1978, 1979, 1995, 2005)

★ 'Most Appearances' – 13; Pittsburgh Steelers (1972, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1978, 1979, 1984, 1994, 1995, 1997, 2001, 2004, 2005)

★ 'Most Consecutive Appearances' – 5; Oakland Raiders (1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977)[1]

★ 'The city that has hosted the most AFC Championships' – 9; Pittsburgh (1972, 1975, 1978, 1979, 1994, 1995, 1997, 2001, 2004)

★ 'Highest attendance' – 91,445; Raiders vs. Seahawks in Los Angeles in 1984.

★ 'Overtime Games'[2] – 1986; Denver Broncos vs. Cleveland Browns

★ 'Most points by the winning team'[3] – 51;1990 – Buffalo Bills defeating the Los Angeles Raiders.

★ 'Never to appear in a AFC Championship Game (AFC team)' – Houston Texans[4]

★ 'Never to win an AFC Championship Game' – Cleveland Browns, Houston Texans, Kansas City Chiefs, Jacksonville Jaguars and New York Jets.

★ 'Lineman scoring a touchdown' – 2006;New England Patriots guard Logan Mankins, Indianapolis Colts center Jeff Saturday, and also Indianapolis Colts tackle Dan Klecko.

★ 'AFC Championship Games in a dome' – 1; 2006 Indianapolis, Indiana

★ 'Largest Comeback Ever' – 18 points; 2006; Indianapolis Colts defeating the New England Patriots

T-Shirt Trivia



★ The winning team is rewarded with t-shirts and hats after the game that usually declare them "AFC Conference Champions", an example of a redundant acronym

List of Championship Games


Season Winning Team Score Losing Team Score LocationStadium
1970-71Baltimore Colts 27 Oakland Raiders 17BaltimoreMemorial Stadium
1971-72Miami Dolphins21 Baltimore Colts0MiamiMiami Orange Bowl
1972-73Miami Dolphins21Pittsburgh Steelers17PittsburghThree Rivers Stadium
1973-74Miami Dolphins27 Oakland Raiders10MiamiMiami Orange Bowl
1974-75Pittsburgh Steelers24 Oakland Raiders13OaklandOakland-Alameda County Coliseum
1975-76Pittsburgh Steelers16 Oakland Raiders10PittsburghThree Rivers Stadium
1976-77Oakland Raiders24Pittsburgh Steelers7OaklandOakland-Alameda County Coliseum
1977-78Denver Broncos20Oakland Raiders17DenverMile High Stadium
1978-79Pittsburgh Steelers34Houston Oilers5PittsburghThree Rivers Stadium
1979-80Pittsburgh Steelers27Houston Oilers13PittsburghThree Rivers Stadium
1980-81Oakland Raiders34San Diego Chargers27San DiegoSan Diego Stadium
1981-82 Cincinnati Bengals 27 San Diego Chargers 7 CincinnatiRiverfront Stadium
1982-83Miami Dolphins14New York Jets0MiamiMiami Orange Bowl
1983-84Los Angeles Raiders30 Seattle Seahawks14Los AngelesLos Angeles Memorial Coliseum
1984-85Miami Dolphins45 Pittsburgh Steelers28MiamiMiami Orange Bowl
1985-86New England Patriots31Miami Dolphins14MiamiMiami Orange Bowl
1986-87Denver Broncos23[5]Cleveland Browns20ClevelandCleveland Municipal Stadium
1987-88Denver Broncos38Cleveland Browns33DenverMile High Stadium
1988-89Cincinnati Bengals21Buffalo Bills10CincinnatiRiverfront Stadium
1989-90Denver Broncos37Cleveland Browns21DenverMile High Stadium
1990-91Buffalo Bills51Los Angeles Raiders3Orchard Park, New YorkRich Stadium
1991-92Buffalo Bills10Denver Broncos7Orchard Park, New YorkRich Stadium
1992-93Buffalo Bills29Miami Dolphins10Miami[6]Joe Robbie Stadium
1993-94Buffalo Bills30Kansas City Chiefs13Orchard Park, New YorkRich Stadium
1994-95San Diego Chargers17 Pittsburgh Steelers13PittsburghThree Rivers Stadium
1995-96Pittsburgh Steelers20 Indianapolis Colts16PittsburghThree Rivers Stadium
1996-97New England Patriots20Jacksonville Jaguars6Foxboro, MassachusettsFoxboro Stadium
1997-98Denver Broncos24Pittsburgh Steelers21PittsburghThree Rivers Stadium
1998-99Denver Broncos23New York Jets10DenverMile High Stadium
1999-00Tennessee Titans33Jacksonville Jaguars14JacksonvilleAlltel Stadium
2000-01Baltimore Ravens16Oakland Raiders3OaklandNetwork Associates Coliseum
2001-02New England Patriots24Pittsburgh Steelers17PittsburghHeinz Field
2002-03Oakland Raiders41Tennessee Titans24OaklandNetwork Associates Coliseum
2003-04New England Patriots24Indianapolis Colts14Foxboro, MassachusettsGillette Stadium
2004-05New England Patriots41Pittsburgh Steelers27PittsburghHeinz Field
2005-06Pittsburgh Steelers34Denver Broncos17DenverINVESCO Field at Mile High
2006-07Indianapolis Colts38New England Patriots34IndianapolisRCA Dome

AFC Championship Game appearances 1970–present


NumTeamWLPCT
13Pittsburgh Steelers67.462
11Los Angeles/Oakland Raiders 47.364
8Denver Broncos62.750
7Miami Dolphins52.714
6New England Patriots51.833
5Buffalo Bills41.800
5Baltimore/Indianapolis Colts23.400
4Houston Oilers/Tennessee Oilers/Titans13.250
3San Diego Chargers12.333
3Cleveland Browns03.000
2Cincinnati Bengals201.000
2Jacksonville Jaguars02.000
2New York Jets02.000
1Baltimore Ravens101.000
1Kansas City Chiefs01.000
1Seattle Seahawks[7]01.000

The Houston Texans have never appeared in an AFC Championship Game.

Footnotes


1. The Raiders won only one of those five, defeating the Pittsburgh Steelers 24-7 in 1976 en route to victory in Super Bowl XI.
2. Does not include the 1962 AFL Championship.
3.
4. However it should be noted the franchise was founded in 2002.
5. Sudden-death overtime
6. Joe Robbie Stadium now Dolphin Stadium is located in Miami Gardens. However the city was not incorporated until 2003. Prior to that, the area was an unincorporated area of Miami-Dade County, and the stadium used a Miami address.
7. The Seattle Seahawks are no longer members of the AFC. They moved to the NFC in 2002.

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