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AFC North
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The AFC North refers to the Northern Division of the American Football Conference of the National Football League that was created prior to the 2002 season when the league realigned divisions after expanding to 32 teams. It replaced the AFC Central, a division which existed from the 1970 season through the 2001 season.
The AFC North currently has four members: Baltimore Ravens, Cincinnati Bengals, Cleveland Browns, and Pittsburgh Steelers. The original four members of the AFC Central were the Houston Oilers (now the Tennessee Titans), the Browns, the Bengals and the Steelers. The Jacksonville Jaguars joined the AFC Central in 1995 and the Ravens did so in 1996. The Jaguars and Titans have since been realigned to the AFC South.
Chris Berman has called this division the "AFC Blackjack" division in the past due to the tendency of teams that reach 17 points or more to "hold" and rely on their defenses to win the game[1]
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Although the Bengals won the first AFC Central Division Championship in 1970, the Steelers dominated the division for most of the 1970s, a decade that also saw them win four Super Bowls.
The 1980 Cleveland Browns broke the Steelers' six-year run as division champions, but failed to advance past the divisional round of the playoffs, losing to the Oakland Raiders. The Bengals were the only team to represent the AFC Central in the Super Bowl during the decade, appearing in Super Bowls XVI and XXIII. Both appearances resulted in close losses to the San Francisco 49ers.
The Steelers returned as the dominant team in the division in 1992. They won five divisional titles in six years, and played in Super Bowl XXX. The 1992, Oilers were involved in one of the most famous playoff games in NFL history. In a game now known as The Comeback, the Oilers surrendered a 32-point lead to the Buffalo Bills and lost in overtime, 41-38. It is the largest deficit ever overcome in the history of the NFL.
In 1995, the Jacksonville Jaguars joined the league through expansion and were placed in the AFC Central. It was the first change to the structure of the division since its inception. Two years later, the Cleveland Browns relocation controversy forced the league to officially establish a new AFC Central franchise, the Baltimore Ravens. Then in 1997, the Oilers moved to Tennessee but remained in the division (the team later was renamed the Titans in 1999).
The makeup of the AFC Central changed once again in 1999 when the Cleveland Browns were "reactivated". The division had six teams for the 1999, 2000 and 2001 seasons.
In 2002 the NFL realigned into eight divisions of four teams, and the AFC Central became the AFC North. In this new decade, the Steelers and Ravens have each won the division twice, while the Bengals have won the division once.
In 2006, although finishing second in the division to the Bengals, the Steelers became the first team in NFL history to enter the playoffs as a #6 seeded wild card team and win the Super Bowl.
In 2007, with the Steelers hiring Mike Tomlin, the division has half of the NFL's black head coaches. Only Baltimore does not.
- A players' strike in 1982 reduced the regular season to nine games. Because of the strike, the league used for its playoffs a special 16-team "Super Bowl Tournament" just for this year. Division standings were not formally acknowledged; Cincinnati had the best record of the division teams (and so has been unofficially recognized as the winner of the AFC Central for 1982).
| Team | Championships | Playoff Berths |
|---|---|---|
| Pittsburgh Steelers | 17 | 23 |
| Cincinnati Bengals | 7 | 8 |
| Cleveland Browns[2] | 6 | 12 |
| Houston Oilers/Tennessee Titans[3] | 3 | 12 |
| Jacksonville Jaguars[4] | 2 | 4 |
| Baltimore Ravens[5] | 2 | 4 |
- ^ ESPN.com page 2
- ^ This refers to the team that the league officially views as one continuous franchise that entered the division in 1970, suspended operations from 1996-1998, and resumed play in 1999.
- ^ Known as the Houston Oilers until 1996, as the Tennessee Oilers in 1997 and 1998, and the Tennessee Titans since 1999. Realigned into the AFC South during the 2002 NFL season.
- ^ Realigned into the AFC South during the 2002 NFL season.
- ^ This refers to the team that the league officially views as an expansion team that began play in 1996.