AFC Championship Game


The AFC Championship Game is the annual championship game of the American Football Conference and one of the two semifinal playoff games of the National Football League, the largest professional American football league in the world. The game is played on the last 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 NFC 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 the AFL and founder and longtime owner of 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 AFL. 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, Cleveland Browns, and 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, while the New York Jets and the Tennessee Titans have yet to host one. 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 an NFC conference title game, a win over the Carolina Panthers for Super Bowl XL. The Pittsburgh Steelers have the most losses in the AFC Championship Game at 8 and have hosted the most at 11. The New England Patriots have won the most AFC Championships at 11, and played in a record eight straight AFC title games. The Patriots and Steelers are tied for most appearances, with 16 each. At least one of New England quarterback Tom Brady and Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger played in every championship game between the 2003 and the 2018 seasons, except for the 2009 season. The Kansas City Chiefs have hosted the AFC Championship a record five consecutive times, between the 2018–2022 seasons.
The Denver Broncos and the Pittsburgh Steelers are the only two AFC teams to appear in at least one AFC Championship game in every completed decade since 1970.

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 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 AFC 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 and founder and longtime owner of the Kansas City Chiefs. The original design by Don Weller consisted of a wooden base with a sculpted AFC logo in the front and a relief sculpture of various football players in the back, with raised silver frieze utilized. The George Halas Trophy, awarded to the NFC Champion, used a similar design with a sculpted NFC logo.
For the 2010–11 NFL playoffs, the two conference trophies 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

SeasonPlayoffsDateWinning teamScoreLosing teamScoreLocationStadium
1970–71January 3, 1971Baltimore Colts 27Oakland Raiders 17Baltimore, MarylandMemorial Stadium
1971–72January 2, 1972Miami Dolphins 21Baltimore Colts 0Miami, FloridaMiami Orange Bowl
1972–73December 31, 1972Miami Dolphins 21Pittsburgh Steelers 17Pittsburgh, PennsylvaniaThree Rivers Stadium
1973–74December 30, 1973Miami Dolphins 27Oakland Raiders 10Miami, Florida Miami Orange Bowl
1974–75December 29, 1974Pittsburgh Steelers 24Oakland Raiders 13Oakland, CaliforniaOakland Coliseum
1975–76January 4, 1976Pittsburgh Steelers 16Oakland Raiders 10Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Three Rivers Stadium
1976–77December 26, 1976Oakland Raiders 24Pittsburgh Steelers 7Oakland, California Oakland Coliseum
1977–78January 1, 1978Denver Broncos 20Oakland Raiders 17Denver, ColoradoMile High Stadium
1978–79January 7, 1979Pittsburgh Steelers 34Houston Oilers 5Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Three Rivers Stadium
1979–80January 6, 1980Pittsburgh Steelers 27Houston Oilers 13Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Three Rivers Stadium
1980–81January 11, 1981Oakland Raiders 34San Diego Chargers 27San Diego, CaliforniaJack Murphy Stadium
1981–82January 10, 1982Cincinnati Bengals 27San Diego Chargers 7Cincinnati, OhioRiverfront Stadium
1982–83January 23, 1983Miami Dolphins 14New York Jets 0Miami, Florida Miami Orange Bowl
1983–84January 8, 1984Los Angeles Raiders 30Seattle Seahawks 14Los Angeles, CaliforniaLos Angeles Memorial Coliseum
1984–85January 6, 1985Miami Dolphins 45Pittsburgh Steelers 28Miami, Florida Miami Orange Bowl
1985–86January 12, 1986New England Patriots 31Miami Dolphins 14Miami, Florida Miami Orange Bowl
1986–87January 11, 1987Denver Broncos 23Cleveland Browns 20Cleveland, OhioCleveland Municipal Stadium
1987–88January 17, 1988Denver Broncos 38Cleveland Browns 33Denver, Colorado Mile High Stadium
1988–89January 8, 1989Cincinnati Bengals 21Buffalo Bills 10Cincinnati, Ohio Riverfront Stadium
1989–90January 14, 1990Denver Broncos 37Cleveland Browns 21Denver, Colorado Mile High Stadium
1990–91January 20, 1991Buffalo Bills 51Los Angeles Raiders 3Orchard Park, New YorkRich Stadium
1991–92January 12, 1992Buffalo Bills 10Denver Broncos 7Orchard Park, New York Rich Stadium
1992–93January 17, 1993Buffalo Bills 29Miami Dolphins 10Miami, Florida Joe Robbie Stadium
1993–94January 23, 1994Buffalo Bills 30Kansas City Chiefs 13Orchard Park, New York Rich Stadium
1994–95January 15, 1995San Diego Chargers 17Pittsburgh Steelers 13Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Three Rivers Stadium
1995–96January 14, 1996Pittsburgh Steelers 20Indianapolis Colts 16Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Three Rivers Stadium
1996–97January 12, 1997New England Patriots 20Jacksonville Jaguars 6Foxborough, MassachusettsFoxboro Stadium
1997–98January 11, 1998Denver Broncos 24Pittsburgh Steelers 21Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Three Rivers Stadium
1998–99January 17, 1999Denver Broncos 23New York Jets 10Denver, Colorado Mile High Stadium
1999–00January 23, 2000Tennessee Titans 33Jacksonville Jaguars 14Jacksonville, FloridaAlltel Stadium
2000–01January 14, 2001Baltimore Ravens 16Oakland Raiders 3Oakland, California Oakland Coliseum
2001–02January 27, 2002New England Patriots 24Pittsburgh Steelers 17Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Heinz Field
2002–03January 19, 2003Oakland Raiders 41Tennessee Titans 24Oakland, California Network Associates Coliseum
2003–04January 18, 2004New England Patriots 24Indianapolis Colts 14Foxborough, Massachusetts Gillette Stadium
2004–05January 23, 2005New England Patriots 41Pittsburgh Steelers 27Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Heinz Field
2005–06January 22, 2006Pittsburgh Steelers 34Denver Broncos 17Denver, Colorado Invesco Field at Mile High
2006–07January 21, 2007Indianapolis Colts 38New England Patriots 34Indianapolis, IndianaRCA Dome
2007–08January 20, 2008New England Patriots 21San Diego Chargers 12Foxborough, Massachusetts Gillette Stadium
2008–09January 18, 2009Pittsburgh Steelers 23Baltimore Ravens 14Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Heinz Field
2009–10January 24, 2010Indianapolis Colts 30New York Jets 17Indianapolis, Indiana Lucas Oil Stadium
2010–11January 23, 2011Pittsburgh Steelers 24New York Jets 19Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Heinz Field
2011–12January 22, 2012New England Patriots 23Baltimore Ravens 20Foxborough, Massachusetts Gillette Stadium
2012–13January 20, 2013Baltimore Ravens 28New England Patriots 13Foxborough, Massachusetts Gillette Stadium
2013–14January 19, 2014Denver Broncos 26New England Patriots 16Denver, Colorado Sports Authority Field at Mile High
2014–15January 18, 2015New England Patriots 45Indianapolis Colts 7Foxborough, Massachusetts Gillette Stadium
2015–16January 24, 2016Denver Broncos 20New England Patriots 18Denver, Colorado Sports Authority Field at Mile High
2016–17January 22, 2017New England Patriots 36Pittsburgh Steelers 17Foxborough, Massachusetts Gillette Stadium
2017–18January 21, 2018New England Patriots 24Jacksonville Jaguars 20Foxborough, Massachusetts Gillette Stadium
2018–19January 20, 2019New England Patriots 37Kansas City Chiefs 31Kansas City, MissouriArrowhead Stadium
2019–20January 19, 2020Kansas City Chiefs 35Tennessee Titans 24Kansas City, Missouri Arrowhead Stadium
2020–21January 24, 2021Kansas City Chiefs 38Buffalo Bills 24Kansas City, Missouri Arrowhead Stadium
2021–22January 30, 2022Cincinnati Bengals 27Kansas City Chiefs 24Kansas City, Missouri Arrowhead Stadium
2022–23January 29, 2023Kansas City Chiefs 23Cincinnati Bengals 20Kansas City, Missouri Arrowhead Stadium
2023–24January 28, 2024Kansas City Chiefs 17Baltimore Ravens 10Baltimore, Maryland M&T Bank Stadium
2024–25January 26, 2025Kansas City Chiefs 32Buffalo Bills 29Kansas City, Missouri Arrowhead Stadium
2025–26January 25, 2026New England Patriots 10Denver Broncos 7Denver, Colorado Empower Field at Mile High