AFC Championship Game


The AFC Championship Game is the annual championship game of the American Football Conference and one of the two semi-final playoff games of the National Football League, the largest professional American football league in the United States. The game is played on the penultimate Sunday in January by the two remaining playoff teams, following the AFC postseason's first two rounds. The AFC champion then advances to face the winner of the National Football Conference Championship Game in the Super Bowl.
The game was established as part of the 1970 merger between the NFL and the American Football League, with the merged league realigning into two conferences. Since 1984, each winner of the AFC Championship Game has also received the Lamar Hunt Trophy, named after the founder of both the AFL and the Kansas City Chiefs, Lamar Hunt.

History

The first AFC Championship Game was played following the 1970 regular season after the merger between the NFL and the American Football League. The game is considered the successor to the former AFL Championship, and its game results are listed with that of its predecessor in the annual NFL Record and Fact Book. Since the pre-merger NFL consisted of six more teams than the AFL, a realignment was required as part of the merger to create two conferences with an equal number of teams: The NFL's Baltimore Colts, the Cleveland Browns, and the Pittsburgh Steelers joined the ten former AFL teams to form the AFC; while the remaining 13 pre-merger NFL clubs formed the NFC.
Every current AFC team except the Houston Texans has played in an AFC Championship Game at least once. The Seattle Seahawks, who have been members in both the AFC and the NFC, hold the distinction of appearing in both conference title games, a loss in the AFC conference title game to the Los Angeles Raiders for Super Bowl XVIII and, in their first appearance in a NFC conference title game, a win over the Carolina Panthers for Super Bowl XL. The Pittsburgh Steelers have the most appearances in the AFC Championship Game at 16, with 11 of those games being in Pittsburgh, the most for either conference. The New England Patriots have won the most AFC Championships at 11, and have played in a record eight straight AFC title games. Between Peyton Manning, Tom Brady and Ben Roethlisberger, at least one of the three quarterbacks has been in every championship game between the 2003 and the 2018 seasons.

Playoff structure

The structure of the NFL playoffs has changed several times since 1970. At the end of each regular season, the top teams in the AFC qualify for the postseason, including all division champions and a set number of "wild card" teams that possess the two best win-loss records after the regular season yet fail to win their division. The two teams remaining following the Wild Card round and the divisional round play in the NFC Championship Game, with the winner advancing to the Super Bowl.
Initially, the site of the AFC Championship Game was determined on a rotating basis. Since the 1975–76 season, the site of the game has been based on playoff seeding based on the regular season won-loss record, with the highest surviving seed hosting the game. A wild card team can only host the game if both participants are wild cards; such an instance has yet to occur in the NFL.

Lamar Hunt Trophy

Beginning with the 1984–85 NFL playoffs, the winner of the AFC Championship Game has received the Lamar Hunt Trophy, named after the founder of the AFL. The original trophy consisted of a wooden base with a sculpted AFC logo in the front and a sculpture of various football players in the back.
For the 2010–11 NFL playoffs, the Lamar Hunt Trophy and the George Halas Trophy, which is awarded to the NFC Champion, were redesigned by Tiffany & Co. at the request of the NFL, in an attempt to make both awards more significant. The trophies are now a new, silver design with the outline of a hollow football positioned on a small base to more closely resemble the Vince Lombardi Trophy, which is awarded to the winner of the Super Bowl.
In recent years Conference championship rings are also awarded to members of the team who wins the AFC or NFC championship since they are the winners of the conference, even though they may not necessarily follow it up with a win in the Super Bowl.

List of AFC Championship Games

SeasonPlayoffsWinning teamScoreLosing teamScoreLocationStadium
1970–71Baltimore Colts 27Oakland Raiders17Baltimore, MarylandMemorial Stadium
1971–72Miami Dolphins 21Baltimore Colts0Miami, FloridaMiami Orange Bowl
1972–73Miami Dolphins 21Pittsburgh Steelers17Pittsburgh, PennsylvaniaThree Rivers Stadium
1973–74Miami Dolphins 27Oakland Raiders10Miami, Florida Miami Orange Bowl
1974–75Pittsburgh Steelers 24Oakland Raiders13Oakland, CaliforniaOakland Coliseum
1975–76Pittsburgh Steelers 16Oakland Raiders10Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Three Rivers Stadium
1976–77Oakland Raiders 24Pittsburgh Steelers7Oakland, California Oakland Coliseum
1977–78Denver Broncos 20Oakland Raiders17Denver, ColoradoMile High Stadium
1978–79Pittsburgh Steelers 34Houston Oilers5Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Three Rivers Stadium
1979–80Pittsburgh Steelers 27Houston Oilers13Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Three Rivers Stadium
1980–81Oakland Raiders 34San Diego Chargers27San Diego, CaliforniaJack Murphy Stadium
1981–82Cincinnati Bengals 27San Diego Chargers7Cincinnati, OhioRiverfront Stadium
1982–83Miami Dolphins 14New York Jets0Miami, Florida Miami Orange Bowl
1983–84Los Angeles Raiders 30Seattle Seahawks14Los Angeles, CaliforniaLos Angeles Memorial Coliseum
1984–85Miami Dolphins 45Pittsburgh Steelers28Miami, Florida Miami Orange Bowl
1985–86New England Patriots 31Miami Dolphins14Miami, Florida Miami Orange Bowl
1986–87Denver Broncos 23Cleveland Browns20Cleveland, OhioCleveland Municipal Stadium
1987–88Denver Broncos 38Cleveland Browns33Denver, Colorado Mile High Stadium
1988–89Cincinnati Bengals 21Buffalo Bills10Cincinnati, Ohio Riverfront Stadium
1989–90Denver Broncos 37Cleveland Browns21Denver, Colorado Mile High Stadium
1990–91Buffalo Bills 51Los Angeles Raiders3Orchard Park, New YorkRich Stadium
1991–92Buffalo Bills 10Denver Broncos7Orchard Park, New York Rich Stadium
1992–93Buffalo Bills 29Miami Dolphins10Miami, Florida Joe Robbie Stadium
1993–94Buffalo Bills 30Kansas City Chiefs13Orchard Park, New York Rich Stadium
1994–95San Diego Chargers 17Pittsburgh Steelers13Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Three Rivers Stadium
1995–96Pittsburgh Steelers 20Indianapolis Colts16Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Three Rivers Stadium
1996–97New England Patriots 20Jacksonville Jaguars6Foxborough, MassachusettsFoxboro Stadium
1997–98Denver Broncos 24Pittsburgh Steelers21Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Three Rivers Stadium
1998–99Denver Broncos 23New York Jets10Denver, Colorado Mile High Stadium
1999–00Tennessee Titans 33Jacksonville Jaguars14Jacksonville, FloridaAlltel Stadium
2000–01Baltimore Ravens 16Oakland Raiders3Oakland, California Oakland Coliseum
2001–02New England Patriots 24Pittsburgh Steelers17Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Heinz Field
2002–03Oakland Raiders 41Tennessee Titans24Oakland, California Network Associates Coliseum
2003–04New England Patriots 24Indianapolis Colts14Foxborough, Massachusetts Gillette Stadium
2004–05New England Patriots 41Pittsburgh Steelers27Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Heinz Field
2005–06Pittsburgh Steelers 34Denver Broncos17Denver, Colorado Invesco Field at Mile High
2006–07Indianapolis Colts 38New England Patriots34Indianapolis, IndianaRCA Dome
2007–08New England Patriots 21San Diego Chargers12Foxborough, Massachusetts Gillette Stadium
2008–09Pittsburgh Steelers 23Baltimore Ravens14Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Heinz Field
2009–10Indianapolis Colts 30New York Jets17Indianapolis, Indiana Lucas Oil Stadium
2010–11Pittsburgh Steelers 24New York Jets19Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Heinz Field
2011–12New England Patriots 23Baltimore Ravens20Foxborough, Massachusetts Gillette Stadium
2012–13Baltimore Ravens 28New England Patriots13Foxborough, Massachusetts Gillette Stadium
2013–14Denver Broncos 26New England Patriots16Denver, Colorado Sports Authority Field at Mile High
2014–15New England Patriots 45Indianapolis Colts7Foxborough, Massachusetts Gillette Stadium
2015–16Denver Broncos 20New England Patriots18Denver, Colorado Sports Authority Field at Mile High
2016–17New England Patriots 36Pittsburgh Steelers17Foxborough, Massachusetts Gillette Stadium
2017–18New England Patriots 24Jacksonville Jaguars20Foxborough, Massachusetts Gillette Stadium
2018–19New England Patriots 37Kansas City Chiefs31Kansas City, MissouriArrowhead Stadium
2019–20Kansas City Chiefs 35Tennessee Titans24Kansas City, Missouri Arrowhead Stadium

Appearances 1970–present

Records

Notes: