| Conference | American Football Conference |
|---|---|
| League | National Football League |
| Sport | American football |
| Founded | 2002 |
| No. of teams | 4 |
| Most recent champions | Houston Texans (8th title) |
| Most titles | Indianapolis Colts (9 titles) |
TheAmerican Football Conference – Southern Division orAFC South is one of the fourdivisions of theAmerican Football Conference (AFC) in theNational Football League (NFL). It was created before the2002 season when the league realigned divisions after expanding to 32 teams. Since its creation, the division has had the same four members: theHouston Texans,Indianapolis Colts,Jacksonville Jaguars, andTennessee Titans.
Before the2002 season, the Texans did not exist, the Colts belonged to theAFC East, and the Titans and Jaguars were members of theAFC Central. The AFC South is often regarded as the NFL's "newest" division since at the time of its establishment none of the new division's members had played more than eighteen seasons in their current cities. The Colts had played inBaltimore until the end of the 1983 season, the Jaguars commenced play in 1995 and the Titans had been based in Houston (where they were known as the Oilers) until 1996. However, Indianapolis, Tennessee and Jacksonville had all won multiple division titles and wild card berths in their prior respective divisions.
The Colts hold a 534–474–7 record and a 23–25 playoff record with two NFL league crowns, fourSuper Bowl appearances and two wins. The Titans hold a record of 451–475–6 with a playoff record of 17–21 including twoAFL championships (as the Houston Oilers) and a loss inSuper Bowl XXXIV. The Jaguars hold a 177–239 record and a 7–7 playoff record. The Texans made the playoffs for the first time in their ten-season existence in2011 and hold a 135–169 record and a 4–6 playoff record.
The Colts'Super Bowl XLI victory in 2006 is the only Super Bowl win from the AFC South to date, although the Colts have won another Super Bowl while playing in a different division (and a different city). The division owns the longest active Super Bowl victory drought, since at least one team from each of the other seven divisions has won one of the eighteen subsequent Super Bowls — in fact seven divisions won seven Super Bowls between 2009 and 2015 — although the Colts did participate in 2009'sSuper Bowl XLIV. The AFC South is also the only division with more than one team (the Jaguars and Texans) that has never played in a Super Bowl.
When theNFL realigned for the 2002 schedule, the newly created AFC South was formed from two former AFC Central teams, anAFC East team, and anexpansion team. Its inaugural season was won by theTennessee Titans who went on to play in theAFC Championship game.[1] For the next five years, theIndianapolis Colts won the division including their victory inSuper Bowl XLI.[2] In 2007, the AFC South had the best division record of all time based on the combined 42–22 (.656 winning percentage). The record was previously held by the 1975 AFC Central's .643 winning percentage.[3] In 2008, the Tennessee Titans won the division, ending Indianapolis' five-year streak of division titles.[4] However, in 2009, the Colts would storm back to win their 6th division championship in Week 12 of the season with a win over theHouston Texans and a loss by theJacksonville Jaguars to theSan Francisco 49ers.
In 2010, theIndianapolis Colts again won their division with a 10–6 record.[5] They won their final four games, including a victory over the Jaguars that tied the records of the two teams. The Colts controlled their own destiny, with theJacksonville Jaguars losing its last three games of the season. In 2011, theHouston Texans won their first AFC South title, qualifying for the playoffs for the first time in franchise history. In Week 14, Houston had to beat Cincinnati and New Orleans had to beat theTennessee Titans to secure the playoffs for Houston. Houston won 20–19 and New Orleans won 22–17 against the Titans, giving Houston its first ever playoff spot. The Texans had won their first Playoff game against theCincinnati Bengals 31–10 but then lost to theBaltimore Ravens 20–13 in the Divisional game. The Texans repeated as AFC South champions in 2012 as well after beating Indianapolis 29–17 in Week 15 that season. In the playoffs, the Texans beat the Bengals once again, 19–13, but lost to theNew England Patriots 41–28 during the Divisional Weekend. The Colts would retake the AFC South division crown in 2013. Indianapolis swept all three of its divisional opponents during the 2013 campaign to reclaim its first division title since 2010. Again in 2014, the Colts claimed the division title by defeating the Texans in a week 15 matchup, 17–10. The Texans took over as AFC South champions in 2015 following their 30–6 win over Jacksonville in week 16. Houston repeated as division champions in 2016; despite finishing with matching 9–7 records along with Tennessee, the Texans earned the AFC South's automatic berth into the NFL playoffs based on finishing better against the division (5–1) than the Titans (2–4). In 2017, the Jaguars won their first AFC South title after a Titans loss to the Rams in Week 16. In the previous week, the Jaguars had clinched their first playoff berth since 2007, with a win against the Texans. The Texans reclaimed the division crown with an 11–5 record in 2018, though the Colts also made the playoffs as a wild card and defeated the Texans in Houston in the first round by a score of 21–7. In 2019, the Texans won their sixth division title with a 10–6 record, and the Titans reached the Wildcard with 9–7. The Texans would win in the Wildcard vs. theBuffalo Bills and make it to the divisional round, losing 51–31 to theKansas City Chiefs. The Titans, however, would make it to theAFC Championship, also losing 35–24 to the Chiefs.[6]
Place cursor over year for division champ or Super Bowl team.
| AFC South Division | |||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 |
| Houston Texans | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Indianapolis Colts | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Jacksonville Jaguars | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tennessee Titans | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Division Won Super Bowl Division Won AFC Championship | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Season | Team | Record | Playoff results |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Indianapolis Colts | 10–6 | LostWild Card playoffs (atJets) 0–41 |
| 2003 | Tennessee Titans | 12–4 | WonWild Card playoffs (atRavens) 20–17 LostDivisional playoffs (atPatriots) 14–17 |
| 2005 | Jacksonville Jaguars | 12–4 | LostWild Card playoffs (atPatriots) 3–28 |
| 2007 | Jacksonville Jaguars | 11–5 | WonWild Card playoffs (atSteelers) 31–29 LostDivisional playoffs (atPatriots) 20–31 |
| Tennessee Titans | 10–6 | LostWild Card playoffs (atChargers) 6–17 | |
| 2008 | Indianapolis Colts | 12–4 | LostWild Card playoffs (atChargers) 17–23(OT) |
| 2012 | Indianapolis Colts | 11–5 | LostWild Card playoffs (atRavens) 9–24 |
| 2017 | Tennessee Titans | 9–7 | WonWild Card playoffs (atChiefs) 22–21 LostDivisional playoffs (atPatriots) 14–35 |
| 2018 | Indianapolis Colts | 10–6 | WonWild Card playoffs (atTexans) 21–7 LostDivisional playoffs (atChiefs) 13–31 |
| 2019 | Tennessee Titans | 9–7 | WonWild Card playoffs (atPatriots) 20–13 WonDivisional playoffs (atRavens) 28–12 LostAFC Championship (atChiefs) 24–35 |
| 2020 | Indianapolis Colts | 11–5 | LostWild Card playoffs (atBills) 24–27 |
Stats updated through the 2021 Season
In the sortable table below, teams can be ordered by name, number of division wins, playoff berths, or titles. To change, click button to right of heading.
| Team | Division Titles | Playoff Berths | AFC Championship Game Appearances | AFC Championships | Super Bowl Championships |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Indianapolis Colts | 9 | 14 | 4 | 2 | 1 |
| Houston Texans | 8 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Tennessee Titans | 4 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Jacksonville Jaguars | 2 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
In the sortable table below, teams can be ordered by name, number of division wins, playoff berths, or titles. To change, click button to right of heading.
| Team | Division Titles | Playoff Berths | Conference Championships | NFL/AFL1 Titles | Super Bowl Championships |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Indianapolis Colts | 16 | 29 | 7 | 3 | 2 |
| Tennessee Titans | 11 | 25 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| Houston Texans | 8 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jacksonville Jaguars | 4 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
1Colts won NFL Titles as the Baltimore Colts. Titans won AFL Titles as the Houston Oilers.
| (#) | Denotes team that won theSuper Bowl |
| (#) | Denotes team that won theAFC Championship |
| (#) | Denotes team that qualified for theNFL Playoffs |
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