Conference | American Football Conference |
---|---|
League | National Football League |
Sport | American football |
Founded | 1960 (as the American Football League Eastern Division) |
No. of teams | 4 |
Most recent champion(s) | Buffalo Bills (15th title) |
Most titles | New England Patriots (22 titles) |
The American Football Conference – Eastern Division or AFC East is one of the four divisions of the American Football Conference (AFC) in the National Football League (NFL). There are currently four teams that reside in the division: the Buffalo Bills, the Miami Dolphins, the New England Patriots, and the New York Jets. All four members of the AFC East were previously members of the Eastern Division of the American Football League (AFL).
Both perfect regular seasons in professional football since the adoption of a 14-game schedule in the inaugural AFL season and by the NFL in 1961 have been achieved by teams in this division – the 1972 Dolphins, who completed the only perfect season in professional football at 17–0, and the 2007 Patriots, who finished 18–1 after losing Super Bowl XLII.[a] Since the division's establishment in 1960, with the creation of the AFL, the division has been represented in 22 Super Bowls and won 11 of them. The most recent appearance in the Super Bowl by an AFC East team was the Patriots victory in Super Bowl LIII. Among the current teams, they have a total of nine Super Bowl titles: six for the Patriots, two for the Dolphins, and one for the Jets.
The current champions of the AFC East are the Bills, who have won 5 consecutive division titles from 2020 through 2024. Previously, the Patriots had won eleven consecutively from 2009 through 2019. The Patriots have won the most AFL/AFC East titles, at 22; followed by the Bills at 15 (who also had the best record in the East during the strike shortened 82 season when divisions were scrapped for a seeded playoffs) and the Dolphins at 14. The Jets have won four. Two teams formerly in the division combined for ten AFL/AFC East titles – the Houston Oilers (now the Tennessee Titans) won four division titles (and the 1960 and 1961 AFL titles) during the AFL era[1] while the Baltimore–Indianapolis Colts won six division titles (and Super Bowl V) in the 32 seasons they were in the division.[2]
The AFC East teams have won 26 AFL or AFC championships: including 11 by the Patriots, 6 by the Bills, and 5 by the Dolphins. The now-Titans won 2 followed by the Jets and Colts at 1.
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