American Football Conference - Wikipedia

One of two conferences in the National Football League

The American Football Conference (AFC) is one of the two conferences of the National Football League (NFL), the highest professional level of American football in the United States. The AFC and its counterpart, the National Football Conference (NFC), each contain 16 teams with 4 divisions. Both conferences were created as part of the 1970 merger between the National Football League, and the American Football League (AFL). All ten of the AFL teams, and three NFL teams, became members of the new AFC, with the remaining thirteen NFL teams forming the NFC. A series of league expansions and division realignments have occurred since the merger, thus making the current total of 16 teams in each conference. The current AFC champions are the Kansas City Chiefs, who defeated the Cincinnati Bengals in the 2022 season’s AFC Championship Game for their third conference championship.

Teams[edit]

Like the NFC, the conference has 16 teams organized into four divisions each with four teams : East, North, South và West. [ 1 ] [ 2 ] [ tam ]

Season structure[edit]

Currently, the fourteen opponents each đội faces end the 17 – game regular season schedule are mix using a pre-determined formula :Each AFC đội plays the other teams in their respective division twice ( trang chủ và away ) during the regular season, in addition lớn eleven other games assigned lớn their schedule by the NFL : three games are assigned on the basis of a particular team’s final divisional standing from the previous season, và the remaining eight games are split between the roster of two other NFL divisions. This assignment shifts each year & will follow a standard cycle. Using the đăng nhập ae888
regular season schedule as an example, each nhóm in the AFC West plays against every đội in the AFC North & NFC East. In this way, non-divisional competition will be mostly among common opponents – the exception being the three games assigned based on the team’s prior-season divisional standing .At the over of each season, the four division winners và three wild cards ( non-division winners with best regular season record ) in the AFC qualify for the playoffs. The AFC playoffs culminate in the AFC Championship Game, with the winner receiving the Lamar Hunt Trophy. The AFC champion then plays the NFC champion in the Super Bowl .

History[edit]

Original American Football Conference logo, based on the AFL biệu tượng công ty with xanh starsBoth the AFC & the NFC were created after the NFL merged with the American Football League ( AFL ) in 1970. [ 21 ] The AFL began play in 1960 with eight teams, & added two more expansion clubs ( the Miami Dolphins in 1966 và the Cincinnati Bengals in 1968 ) before the merger. In order mập equalize the number of teams in each conference, three NFL teams that predated the AFL’s launch ( the Cleveland Browns, Pittsburgh Steelers, & the then – Baltimore Colts ) joined the ten former AFL teams bự size the AFC. The two AFL divisions AFL East & AFL West were more or less intact, while the NFL’s Century Division, in which the Browns và the Steelers had played since 1967, was moved from the NFL Khủng become the hot nhất AFC Central. Upon the completion of the merger of the AFL và NFL in 1970, the newly minted American Football Conference had already agreed upon their divisional cài đặt along mostly geographical lines for the 1970 season ; the National Football Conference, however, could not agree upon their cài đặt, & one was chosen from a fishbowl on January 16, 1970 .Since the merger, five expansion teams have joined the AFC & two have left, thus making the current total 16. When the Seattle Seahawks và the Tampa Bay Buccaneers joined the league in 1976, they were temporarily placed in the NFC & AFC respectively. This arrangement lasted for one season only before the two teams switched conferences. The Seahawks eventually returned mập the NFC as a result of the 2002 realignment. The expansion Jacksonville Jaguars joined the AFC in 1995. There have been five teams that have relocated at least once. In 1984, the Baltimore Colts relocated lớn Indianapolis. In 1995, the Cleveland Browns had attempted Khủng move Khủng Baltimore ; the resulting dispute between Cleveland và the đội led lớn Modell establishing the Baltimore Ravens with the players và personnel from the Browns, while the Browns were placed in suspended operations before they were reinstated by the NFL. The Ravens were treated as an expansion đội .In California, the Oakland Raiders relocated lớn Los Angeles in 1982, back mập Oakland in 1995, và then mập Las Vegas in 2020, while the San Diego Chargers returned lớn Los Angeles in 2017 after 56 years in San Diego .The Houston Oilers moved bự Tennessee in 1997, where they were renamed the Tennessee Oilers. The nhóm would change its name again, two years later, Khủng the Tennessee Titans .The NFL would again expand in 2002, adding the Houston Texans béo the AFC. With the exception of the aforementioned relocations since that thời gian, the divisional thiết đặt has remained static ever since .Between 1995 và 2021, the AFC has sent only 9 of its 16 teams lớn the Super Bowl : New England Patriots ( 10 times ), Pittsburgh Steelers ( bốn times ), Denver Broncos ( bốn times ), Baltimore Ravens ( 2 times ), Indianapolis Colts ( 2 times ), Kansas City Chiefs ( 2 times ), Cincinnati Bengals ( 1 thời gian ), Las Vegas Raiders ( 1 thời gian ), Tennessee Titans ( 1 giây phút ). By contrast, the NFC has sent 13 of the 16 NFC teams during that same giây phút frame with only the Detroit Lions, Minnesota Vikings, & Washington Commanders missing out on an appearance in the Super Bowl. 17 of the 19 AFC champions from 2001 béo 2019 have started one of just three quarterbacks – Tom Brady, Peyton Manning và Ben Roethlisberger – in the Super Bowl. The AFC has started 7 quarterbacks in the last 20 Super Bowls, while the NFC has started 16 .

Logo[edit]

2 nd American Football Conference hình ảnh sản phẩm used from 1970 bự 2009The merged league created a hot nhất hình ảnh for the AFC that took elements of the old AFL logo, specifically the ” A ” và the six stars surrounding it. The AFC logo basically remained unchanged from 1970 lớn 2009. The 2010 NFL season introduced an updated AFC logo, with the most notable revision being the removal of two stars ( leaving four representing the four divisions of the AFC ), & moving the stars inside the letter, similar béo the NFC biệu tượng công ty. [ 22 ]

Television[edit]

NBC aired the AFC’s Sunday afternoon và playoff games from 1970 through the 1997 season. From 1998 béo 2013, CBS was the primary broadcast rightsholder mập the AFC ; in those years, all interconference games in which the AFC nhóm was the visiting đội were broadcast on either NBC or CBS. Since năm trước, the cross-flex policy allows select AFC games ( that involve them playing an NFC team at home page or intraconference games ) bự be moved from CBS phệ Fox. Since 1990, select AFC playoff games have been seen on ABC or ESPN .