AFC South

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Tennessee Titans wordmark, 2018.svg Jacksonville Jaguars wordmark.svg
Houston Texans wordmark.svg Indianapolis Colts new wordmark.svg

The AFC South is one of the four divisions of the American Football Conference (AFC), which, along with the National Football Conference (NFC), is one of the two Conferences of the National Football League (NFL). The AFC South was re-established with the restructuring of the NFL in 2002. As in all divisions of the NFL, four teams play in the AFC South. These are the Indianapolis Colts , which won the Super Bowl in the 2006 season as the first and so far only team in this division , the Houston Texans , the Tennessee Titans and the Jacksonville Jaguars .

history

founding

For the first time the NFL introduced divisions in 1933, as they were able to play a championship game between the respective division winners. After the merger of the NFL with the All-America Football Conference in 1950, the divisions were renamed Conferences.

In 1967, after the New Orleans Saints were admitted as the sixteenth member , the NFL split the two conferences into two divisions each. Following the merger of the NFL with the American Football League (AFL) in 1970, the conferences and divisions were rearranged, with each conference now having three divisions. The AFL was founded in 1960 with two divisions. One of the conferences was the American Football Conference , which was based on the AFL and also included all ten former AFL teams and three NFL teams.

In 2001, when the Houston Texans became the 32nd team, the team owners of the NFL decided to divide the conferences into four divisions of four teams each. While the Western and Eastern Divisions were allowed to keep their names, the Central Divisions were renamed the Northern Divisions and the NFC South and AFC South were re-established. The founding members of the AFC South were the newly founded Houston Texans, the Indianapolis Colts coming from the AFC East and the Jacksonville Jaguars and Tennessee Titans coming from the AFC Central .

development

The first division winners were the Tennessee Titans , who made it to the AFC Championship Game that same season . Nevertheless, in the first years of the division, the Indianapolis Colts dominated, which under Peyton Manning were able to achieve seven division victories in the first nine years. In 2003, the AFC South again put the Colts into the AFC Championship Game, as did in 2006 and 2009. In 2006 a division member even won the Super Bowl with the Colts . In 2009, the Colts made it to the Super Bowl, but lost there.

After the Colts could only achieve two wins in 2011, they made it back to the top of the AFC South under quarterback Andrew Luck in the following seasons . In 2014 they even got back into the AFC Championship Game. But when Luck began to have shoulder problems the following season, the Colts went downhill and the Texans took the lead again. They had already won the division in 2011 and 2012. In 2017 the Jacksonville Jaguars managed to win the division for the first time and made it into the AFC Championship Game. In the following two seasons, the Texans won the division again.

Intradivisional rivalries

There are two rivalries between members of the AFC South: Texans – Titans and Jaguars – Titans.

Jaguars – Titans

The Jaguars and the Titans have played in the same division since the Jaguars joined the league in 1995. Initially still in the AFC Central , a rivalry quickly developed between the two teams, as both were very successful in sport and therefore the battle for the division victory took place almost exclusively between the two teams. The climax of the rivalry came in 1999 when both teams had their best seasons. They met in the AFC Championship Game , where the Titans beat the Jaguars 33:14 and so moved into the Super Bowl , which they later lost. In the AFC South, the rivalry weakened as the Indianapolis Colts under Peyton Manning dominated the division. Both teams failed to reach the play-offs between 2009 and 2016 and had a combined play-off record of 3-8 in the first 15 years of AFC South. Only since 2015 has the rivalry experienced an upswing due to the recovery of both teams.

The first four games of this rivalry took place when the Titans were still known as the Houston Oilers. In the 1990s, both teams achieved five wins each in the regular season, with the Titans also able to achieve a play-off win in the AFC Championship Game during the 1999 season . In the 2000s, Tennessee took the lead in the rivalry when they won 60% of the games, five games in a row between 2001 and 2003. In 2017 , the Titans beat the Jaguars, who won the AFC South for the first time this season, twice, making it the first time since 2008 that a team was able to win both games of the season. The Jaguars 'biggest win was a 37-7 win in 2006 and the Titans' biggest win was 41:14 in 1999.

Texans – Titans

The Titans' rivalry with the Texans is based on the city of Houston . From their inception until 1997, the Titans played under the name Oilers in Houston before they left the city and the entire state of Texas. It wasn't until 2002 that the NFL returned to Houston with the Texans. The rivalry was weak at first. The rivalry finally grew in 2006 when the Titans selected Houston local talent Vince Young in the first round of the NFL Draft . He was able to win in the second meeting in his rookie season with a touchdown run in overtime and thus further strengthen the rivalry. Nevertheless, the rivalry remained dominated by one of the two teams for long periods of time. Between 2002 and 2009 the Titans won 12 out of 16 games, and between 2010 and 2017 the Texans won 11 out of 16 games. The Texans' highest win was in 2017, when the Titans won 57:14, the Titans highest win in 2003, 38:17.

Teams

team City / region Stadion Founded Joining the NFL Head coach owner
Houston Texans Houston , TX NRG Stadium Oct 6, 1999 2002 Bill O'Brien Bob McNair
Indianapolis Colts Indianapolis , IN Lucas Oil Stadium Jan. 23, 1953 1953 Frank Reich Jim Irsay
Jacksonville Jaguars Jacksonville , FL TIAA Bank Field Nov. 30, 1993 1995 Doug Marrone Shahid Khan
Tennessee Titans Nashville , TN Nissan Stadium 14 Aug 1959 (AFL) 1970 Mike Vrabel Bud Adams

Reorganization

In 2003, John E. Mitchell of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute proposed changes to the divisions to shorten travel distances and thus minimize the impact on players and the environment. When investigating a reorganization, he only came to the conclusion within the existing conferences that the Indianapolis Colts belong to the AFC North and the Miami Dolphins to the AFC South.

Division pairing

With the division of the NFL into eight divisions, a new game plan was also introduced. This stipulates that each team has 16 games and one game-free week (Bye Week). Both a home and an away game are played against each team in their own division (six games). As part of the annual rotation, there are four games against the teams in a division from their own conference (intraconference) and four games against the teams in a division from the opposing conference (interconference). The last two matches will be played against the teams from their own conference who have reached the same final position in their division in the previous season and are not already determined as opponents due to the annual rotation. The rotation order was set in 2001 for the first eight seasons, after which it was decided whether the rotation should be retained or modified. Only slight changes have been made after the cycle, so teams that meet AFC West and NFC West in the same year don't have to travel to the West Coast four times. The pairings of the AFC South are there:

season AFC
(Intraconference)
NFC
(Interconference)
2002 AFC North NFC East
2003 AFC East NFC South
2004 AFC West NFC North
2005 AFC North NFC West
2006 AFC East NFC East
2007 AFC West NFC South
2008 AFC North NFC North
2009 AFC East NFC West
2010 AFC West NFC East
2011 AFC North NFC South
2012 AFC East NFC North
2013 AFC West NFC West
2014 AFC North NFC East
2015 AFC East NFC South
2016 AFC West NFC North
2017 AFC North NFC West
2018 AFC East NFC East
2019 AFC West NFC South
2020 AFC North NFC North
2021 AFC East NFC West
2022 AFC West NFC East

statistics

Season overview

AFC South season end tables
2002
team S. N U SQ DIV
(2) Tennessee Titans 11 5 0 .688 6-0
(5) Indianapolis Colts 10 6th 0 .625 4-2
Jacksonville Jaguars 6th 10 0 .375 1-5
Houston Texans 4th 12 0 .250 1-5
2003
team S. N U SQ DIV
(3) Indianapolis Colts 12 4th 0 .750 5–1
(5) Tennessee Titans 12 4th 0 .750 4-2
Jacksonville Jaguars 5 11 0 .313 2-4
Houston Texans 5 11 0 .313 1-5
2004
team S. N U SQ DIV
(3) Indianapolis Colts 12 4th 0 .750 5–1
(5) Tennessee Titans 12 4th 0 .750 4-2
Jacksonville Jaguars 5 11 0 .313 2-4
Houston Texans 5 11 0 .313 1-5
2005
team S. N U SQ DIV
(1) Indianapolis Colts 14th 2 0 .875 6-0
(5) Jacksonville Jaguars 12 4th 0 .750 4-2
Tennessee Titans 4th 12 0 .250 2-4
Houston Texans 2 14th 0 .125 0-6
2006
team S. N U SQ DIV
(3) Indianapolis Colts 12 4th 0 .750 3–3
Tennessee Titans 8th 8th 0 .500 4-2
Jacksonville Jaguars 8th 8th 0 .500 2-4
Houston Texans 6th 10 0 .375 3–3
2007
team S. N U SQ DIV
(2) Indianapolis Colts 13 3 0 .813 5–1
(5) Jacksonville Jaguars 11 5 0 .688 2-4
(6) Tennessee Titans 10 6th 0 .625 4-2
Houston Texans 8th 8th 0 .500 1-5
2008
team S. N U SQ DIV
(1) Tennessee Titans 13 3 0 .813 4-2
(5) Indianapolis Colts 12 4th 0 .750 4-2
Houston Texans 8th 8th 0 .500 2-4
Jacksonville Jaguars 5 11 0 .313 2-4
2009
team S. N U SQ DIV
(1) Indianapolis Colts 14th 2 0 .875 6-0
Houston Texans 9 7th 0 .563 1-5
Tennessee Titans 8th 8th 0 .500 2-4
Jacksonville Jaguars 7th 9 0 .438 3–3
2010
team S. N U SQ DIV
(3) Indianapolis Colts 10 6th 0 .625 4-2
Jacksonville Jaguars 8th 8th 0 .500 3–3
Houston Texans 6th 10 0 .375 3–3
Tennessee Titans 6th 10 0 .375 2-4
2011
team S. N U SQ DIV
(3) Houston Texans 10 6th 0 .625 4-2
Tennessee Titans 9 7th 0 .563 3–3
Jacksonville Jaguars 5 11 0 .313 3–3
Indianapolis Colts 2 14th 0 .125 2-4
2012
team S. N U SQ DIV
(3) Houston Texans 12 4th 0 .750 5–1
(5) Indianapolis Colts 11 5 0 .688 4-2
Tennessee Titans 6th 10 0 .375 1-5
Jacksonville Jaguars 2 14th 0 .125 2-4
2013
team S. N U SQ DIV
(4) Indianapolis Colts 11 5 0 .688 6-0
Tennessee Titans 7th 9 0 .438 2-4
Jacksonville Jaguars 4th 12 0 .250 3-3
Houston Texans 2 14th 0 .12 1-5
2014
team S. N U SQ DIV
(4) Indianapolis Colts 11 5 0 .688 6-0
Houston Texans 9 7th 0 .563 4-2
Jacksonville Jaguars 3 13 0 .188 1-5
Tennessee Titans 2 14th 0 .125 1-5
2015
team S. N U SQ DIV
(4) Houston Texans 9 7th 0 .533 5-1
Indianapolis Colts 8th 8th 0 .500 4-2
Jacksonville Jaguars 5 11 0 .313 2-4
Tennessee Titans 3 13 0 .188 1-5
2016
team S. N U SQ DIV
(4) Houston Texans 9 7th 0 .563 5-1
Tennessee Titans 9 7th 0 .563 2-4
Indianapolis Colts 8th 8th 0 .500 3-3
Jacksonville Jaguars 3 13 0 .188 2-4
2017
team S. N U SQ DIV
(3) Jacksonville Jaguars 10 6th 0 .625 4-2
(5) Tennessee Titans 9 7th 0 .563 5-1
Indianapolis Colts 4th 12 0 .250 2-4
Houston Texans 4th 12 0 .250 1-5
2018
team S. N U SQ DIV
(3) Houston Texans 11 5 0 .688 4-2
(6) Indianapolis Colts 10 6th 0 .625 4-2
Tennessee Titans 9 7th 0 .563 3–3
Jacksonville Jaguars 5 11 0 .313 1-5
2019
team S. N U SQ DIV
(4) Houston Texans 10 6th 0 .625 4-2
(6) Tennessee Titans 9 7th 0 .563 3–3
Indianapolis Colts 7th 9 0 .438 3–3
Jacksonville Jaguars 6th 10 0 .375 2-4

Play-offs

Play-off statistics

Status: end of season 2019

team Play-off
participation
Divisional
championships
Year (s) of Division
Championship
AFC -
Championship
Super Bowl -
Victory
Indianapolis Colts 13 9 2003 , 2004 , 2005 , 2006 , 2007 , 2009 , 2010 , 2013 , 2014 2 1
Houston Texans 6th 6th 2011 , 2012 , 2015 , 2016 , 2018 , 2019 0 0
Tennessee Titans 6th 2 2002 , 2008 0 0
Jacksonville Jaguars 3 1 2017 0 0

Play-off results

season team Balance sheet Play-off results
2002 Tennessee Titans 11-5 Victory in the Divisional Play-offs ( Steelers ) 34:31 (OT);
defeat in the AFC Championship Game (in the Raiders ) 24:41
Indianapolis Colts 10-6 Loss in the wild card play-offs (in the Jets ) 0:41
2003 Indianapolis Colts 12-4 Victory in the Wild Card Play-offs ( Broncos ) 41:10
Victory in the Divisional Play-offs (for the Chiefs ) 38:31;
Loss in the AFC Championship Game (for the Patriots ) 14:24
Tennessee Titans 12-4 Victory in the wild card play-offs (with the Ravens ) 20:17,
defeat in the divisional play-offs (with the Patriots ) 14:17
2004 Indianapolis Colts 12-4 Victory in the wild card play-offs ( Broncos ) 49:24,
defeat in the divisional play-offs (for the Patriots ) 3:20
2005 Indianapolis Colts 14-2 Loss in the Divisional Play-offs ( Steelers ) 18:21
Jacksonville Jaguars 12-4 Loss in the wild card play-offs (for the Patriots ) 3:28
2006 Indianapolis Colts 12-4 Victory in the Wild Card Play-offs ( Chiefs ) 23: 8
Victory in the Divisional Play-offs (with the Ravens ) 15: 6
Victory in the AFC Championship Game ( Patriots ) 38:34
Victory in Super Bowl XLI (vs. Bears ) 29:17
2007 Indianapolis Colts 13-3 Loss in the Divisional Play-offs ( Chargers ) 24:28
Jacksonville Jaguars 11-5 Victory in the wild card play-offs (for the Steelers ) 31:29,
defeat in the divisional play-offs (for the Patriots ) 20:31
Tennessee Titans 10-6 Loss in the wild card play-offs (for the Chargers ) 6:17
2008 Tennessee Titans 13-3 Defeat in the Divisional Play-offs ( Ravens ) 10:13
Indianapolis Colts 12-4 Loss in the wild card play-offs (with the Chargers ) 17:23 (OT)
2009 Indianapolis Colts 14-2 Victory in the Divisional Play-offs ( Ravens ) 20: 3
Victory in the AFC Championship Game ( Jets ) 30:17
Defeat in Super Bowl XLIV (vs. Saints ) 17:31
2010 Indianapolis Colts 10-6 Loss in the wild card play-offs ( Jets ) 16:17
2011 Houston Texans 10-6 Victory in the wild card play-offs ( Bengals ) 31:10;
defeat in the divisional play-offs (in the Ravens ) 13:20
2012 Houston Texans 12-4 Victory in the wild card play-offs ( Bengals ) 19:13,
defeat in the divisional play-offs (in the Patriots ) 28:41
Indianapolis Colts 11-5 Loss in the wild card play-offs (at the Ravens ) 9:24
2013 Indianapolis Colts 11-5 Victory in the wild card play-offs ( Chiefs ) 45:44;
defeat in the divisional play-offs (for the Patriots ) 22:43
2014 Indianapolis Colts 11-5 Victory in the Wild Card Play-offs ( Bengals ) 26:10
Victory in the Divisional Play-offs (in the Broncos ) 24:13;
Loss in the AFC Championship Game (in the Patriots ) 7:45
2015 Houston Texans 9-7 Loss in the Wild Card Play-offs ( Chiefs ) 0:30
2016 Houston Texans 9-7 Victory in the wild card play-offs ( Raiders ) 27:14;
defeat in the divisional play-offs (in the Patriots ) 16:34
2017 Jacksonville Jaguars 10-6 Victory in the Wild Card Play-offs ( Bills ) 10: 3
Victory in the Divisional Play-offs (with the Steelers ) 45:42
Defeat in the AFC Championship Game (with the Patriots ) 20:24
Tennessee Titans 9-7 Victory in the wild card play-offs (for the Chiefs ) 22:21,
defeat in the divisional play-offs (for the Patriots ) 14:35
2018 Houston Texans 11-5 Loss in the wild card play-offs ( Colts ) 7:21
Indianapolis Colts 10-6 Victory in the wild card play-offs (for the Texans ) 21: 7,
defeat in the divisional play-offs (for the Chiefs ) 13:31
2019 Houston Texans 10-6 Victory in the wild card play-offs (for the Bills ) 22:19,
defeat in the divisional play-offs (for the Chiefs ) 31:51
Tennessee Titans 9-7 Victory in the Wild Card Play-offs (for the Patriots ) 20:13
Victory in the Divisional Play-offs (for the Ravens ) 28:12;
Loss in the AFC Championship Game (for the Chiefs ) 24:35

Divisional balances

Balance sheets of the teams against the other members of the AFC South. Also includes games before AFC South was founded, but not play-off games. Status: end of season 2019

The Indianapolis Colts have achieved more wins than losses against each division member and as the only member of the AFC South also overall more wins than losses against division opponents. The Jacksonville Jaguars are the only member to have more losses than wins against any other team in their division. The Titans have a small lead over the Houston Texans with two more wins.

team HOU IND JAX TEN total
Houston Texans 9-27 23-13 17-19 49-59
Indianapolis Colts 27-9 24-14 34-16 85-39
Jacksonville Jaguars 13-23 14-24 21-29 48-76
Tennessee Titans 19-17 16-34 29-21 64-72

Individual evidence

  1. Dieter Hoch, Holger Korber, Dirk Ladwig: The history of the NFL: From the small beginnings to the rise of the largest professional league in the world . Huddle Verlags GmbH , 2016, ISBN 978-3-9811390-6-8 , p. 29 .
  2. Dieter Hoch, Holger Korber, Dirk Ladwig: The history of the NFL: From the small beginnings to the rise of the largest professional league in the world . Huddle Verlags GmbH , 2016, ISBN 978-3-9811390-6-8 , p. 51 .
  3. ^ Frank P. Jozsa: American Sports Empire: How the Leagues Breed Success . Greenwood Publishing Group, 2003, ISBN 978-1-56720-559-6 , pp. 42 .
  4. Dieter Hoch, Holger Korber, Dirk Ladwig: The history of the NFL: From the small beginnings to the rise of the largest professional league in the world . Huddle Verlags GmbH , 2016, ISBN 978-3-9811390-6-8 , p. 87 .
  5. ^ A b Ivan Urena: Pro Football Schedules: A Complete Historical Guide from 1933 to the Present . McFarland, 2013, ISBN 978-0-7864-7351-9 , pp. 14 .
  6. ^ When the NFL added two divisions - and weakened the AFC West. Retrieved March 17, 2019 .
  7. Greatest Moments: 2002 AFC Championship Game. Accessed March 29, 2019 .
  8. The AFC South is 'going to be a dogfight' in 2018. Accessed March 29, 2019 .
  9. Peyton Manning actually 'owns' Tom Brady in AFC championship games. Accessed March 29, 2019 .
  10. a b Which Team Owns The AFC South? Accessed March 29, 2019 .
  11. a b For the first time in a while, the AFC South has hope for the future. Accessed March 29, 2019 .
  12. Texans wrap up AFC South title, eye No. 3 seed. In: espn.com. ESPN.com, 2019, accessed June 26, 2020 .
  13. The NFL's worst rivalry? Jaguars-Titans is a little more complex than that. Retrieved March 16, 2019 .
  14. Tennessee Titans vs. Jacksonville Jaguars series history: Divisional rivals through and through. Retrieved March 16, 2019 .
  15. ^ Texans-Titans: A Future Classic Rivalry. Retrieved March 17, 2019 .
  16. ^ Robertson: As rivalries go, not much to Texans-Titans. Retrieved March 17, 2019 .
  17. ^ History: History of NFL franchises, 1920-present . Profootballhof.com. Retrieved December 20, 2010.
  18. ^ John E. Mitchell: Realignment in the National Football League . In: Naval Research Logistics . tape 50 , no. 7 , 2003, p. 683-701 .
  19. NFL ANNOUNCES 2002-2009 SCHEDULE ROTATION. Retrieved March 17, 2019 .
  20. a b c d e f g h i j k l m n A LITTLE LESSON IN THE NFL SCHEDULE ROTATION FOR COMMON OPPONENTS. Retrieved March 17, 2019 .
  21. a b c d e f g h History of the NFL's structure and formats, part two. Retrieved March 17, 2019 .
  22. ^ Houston Texans Head To Head Records. Retrieved February 6, 2020 .
  23. ^ Indianapolis Colts Head To Head Records. Retrieved February 6, 2020 .
  24. Jacksonville Jaguars Head To Head Records. Retrieved February 6, 2020 .
  25. ^ Tennessee Titans Head To Head Records. Retrieved February 6, 2020 .
This version was added to the list of articles worth reading on July 11, 2020 .