AFC South
The American Football Conference – Southern Division or AFC South is one of the four divisions of the American Football Conference in the National Football League. It was created before the 2002 season when the league realigned divisions after expanding to 32 teams. Since its creation, the division has had the same four members: the Houston Texans, Indianapolis Colts, Jacksonville Jaguars, and Tennessee Titans.
Before the 2002 season, the Texans did not exist, the Colts belonged to the AFC East, and the Titans and Jaguars were members of the AFC 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 in Baltimore until the end of the 1983 season, the Jaguars commenced play in 1995 and the Titans had been based in Houston 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 572–514–8 record and a 23–25 playoff record with two NFL league crowns, four Super Bowl appearances and two wins. The Titans hold a record of 480–526–6 with a playoff record of 17–23 including two AFL championships and a loss in Super Bowl XXXIV. The Jaguars hold a 210–286–0 record and a 8–8 playoff record. The Texans made the playoffs for the first time in their ten-season existence in 2011 and hold a 169–214–1 record and a 6–8 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. 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's Super Bowl XLIV. The AFC South is also the only division with more than one team that has never played in a Super Bowl.
History
2000s
When the NFL realigned for the 2002 schedule, the newly created AFC South was formed from two former AFC Central teams, an AFC East team, and an expansion team. Its inaugural season was won by the Tennessee Titans who went on to play in the AFC Championship game. For the next five years, the Indianapolis Colts won the division including their victory in Super Bowl XLI. In 2007, the AFC South had the best division record of all time based on the combined 42–22. The record was previously held by the 1975 AFC Central's.643 winning percentage. In 2008, the Tennessee Titans won the division, ending Indianapolis' five-year streak of division titles. However, in 2009, the Colts would storm back to win their 6th division championship in Week 12 of the season with a win over the Houston Texans and a loss by the Jacksonville Jaguars to the San Francisco 49ers.2010s
In 2010, the Indianapolis Colts again won their division with a 10–6 record. 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 the Jacksonville Jaguars losing its last three games of the season. In 2011, the Houston 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 the Tennessee 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 the Cincinnati Bengals 31–10 but then lost to the Baltimore 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 the New 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 than the Titans. 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. the Buffalo Bills and make it to the divisional round, losing 51–31 to the Kansas City Chiefs. The Titans, however, would make it to the AFC Championship, also losing 35–24 to the Chiefs.Division lineups
''' Place cursor over year for division champ or Super Bowl team.'''Division champions
| Season | Team | Record | Playoff results |
| 2002 Tennessee Titans season| | 11–5 | Won Divisional playoffs 34–31 Lost AFC Championship 24–41 | |
| 2003 Indianapolis Colts season| | 12–4 | Won Wild Card playoffs 41–10 Won Divisional playoffs 38–31 Lost AFC Championship 14–24 | |
| 2004 Indianapolis Colts season| | 12–4 | Won Wild Card playoffs 49–24 Lost Divisional playoffs 3–20 | |
| 2005 Indianapolis Colts season| | 14–2 | Lost Divisional playoffs 18–21 | |
| 2006 Indianapolis Colts season| | 12–4 | Won Wild Card playoffs 23–8 Won Divisional playoffs 15–6 Won AFC Championship 38–34 Won Super Bowl XLI 29–17 | |
| 2007 Indianapolis Colts season| | 13–3 | Lost Divisional playoffs 24–28 | |
| 2008 Tennessee Titans season| | 13–3 | Lost Divisional playoffs 10–13 | |
| 2009 Indianapolis Colts season| | 14–2 | Won Divisional playoffs 20–3 Won AFC Championship 30–17 Lost Super Bowl XLIV 17–31 | |
| 2010 Indianapolis Colts season| | 10–6 | Lost Wild Card playoffs 16–17 | |
| 2011 Houston Texans season| | 10–6 | Won Wild Card playoffs 31–10 Lost Divisional playoffs 13–20 | |
| 2012 Houston Texans season| | 12–4 | Won Wild Card playoffs 19–13 Lost Divisional playoffs 28–41 | |
| 2013 Indianapolis Colts season| | 11–5 | Won Wild Card playoffs 45–44 Lost Divisional playoffs 22–43 | |
| 2014 Indianapolis Colts season| | 11–5 | Won Wild Card playoffs 26–10 Won Divisional playoffs 24–13 Lost AFC Championship 7–45 | |
| 2015 Houston Texans season| | 9–7 | Lost Wild Card playoffs 0–30 | |
| 2016 Houston Texans season| | 9–7 | Won Wild Card playoffs 27–14 Lost Divisional playoffs 16–34 | |
| 2017 Jacksonville Jaguars season| | 10–6 | Won Wild Card playoffs 10–3 Won Divisional playoffs 45–42 Lost AFC Championship 20–24 | |
| 2018 Houston Texans season| | 11–5 | Lost Wild Card playoffs 7–21 | |
| 2019 Houston Texans season| | 10–6 | Won Wild Card playoffs 22–19 Lost Divisional playoffs 31–51 | |
| 2020 Tennessee Titans season| | 11–5 | Lost Wild Card playoffs 13–20 | |
| 2021 Tennessee Titans season| | 12–5 | Lost Divisional playoffs 16–19 | |
| 2022 Jacksonville Jaguars season| | 9–8 | Won Wild Card playoffs 31–30 Lost Divisional playoffs 20–27 | |
| 2023 Houston Texans season| | 10–7 | Won Wild Card playoffs 45–14 Lost Divisional playoffs 10–34 | |
| 2024 Houston Texans season| | 10–7 | Won Wild Card playoffs 32–12 Lost Divisional playoffs 14–23 | |
| 2025 Jacksonville Jaguars season| | 13–4 | Lost Wild Card playoffs 24–27 |
Wild Card qualifiers
Team playoff berths
Stats updated through the 2025 seasonTotal playoff berths as members of the AFC South
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 | 14 | 4 | 2 | 1 | |
| Houston Texans | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Jacksonville Jaguars | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Tennessee Titans | 2 | 0 | 0 |