The American Football Conference North Division, or AFC North, is a division of the National Football League's American Football Conference. It was created prior to the 2002 season when the league realigned divisions after expanding to 32 teams. The AFC North replaced the AFC Central, a division which existed from the 1970 season through the 2001 season.

The AFC North currently has four members: Baltimore Ravens, Cincinnati Bengals, Cleveland Browns, and Pittsburgh Steelers. The original four members of the AFC Central were the Houston Oilers (now the Tennessee Titans), the Browns, the Bengals and the Steelers. The Jacksonville Jaguars joined the AFC Central in 1995 and the Ravens did so in 1996. The Jaguars and Titans have since been realigned to the AFC South.

ESPN sportscaster Chris Berman has called this division the "AFC Blackjack" division in the past due to the tendency of teams that reach 17 points or more to "hold" and rely on their defenses to win the game.^[1]

History

1970s

Although the Bengals won the first AFC Central Division Championship in 1970, the Steelers dominated the division for most of the 1970s, a decade that also saw them win four Super Bowls.

1980s

The 1980 Cleveland Browns broke the Steelers' six-year run as division champions, but failed to advance past the divisional round of the playoffs, losing to the Oakland Raiders. The Bengals were the only team to represent the AFC Central in the Super Bowl during the decade, appearing in Super Bowls XVI and XXIII. Both appearances resulted in close losses to the San Francisco 49ers.

1990s

The Steelers returned as the dominant team in the division in 1992. They won five divisional titles in six years, and played in Super Bowl XXX. The 1992, Oilers were involved in one of the most famous playoff games in NFL history. In a game now known as The Comeback, the Oilers surrendered a 32-point lead to the Buffalo Bills and lost in overtime, 41-38. It is the largest deficit ever overcome in the history of the NFL.

In 1995, the Jacksonville Jaguars joined the league through expansion and were placed in the AFC Central. It was the first change to the structure of the division since its inception. Two years later, the Cleveland Browns relocation controversy forced the league to officially establish a new AFC Central franchise, the Baltimore Ravens. Then in 1997, the Oilers moved to Tennessee but remained in the division (the team later was renamed the Titans in 1999).

The makeup of the AFC Central changed once again in 1999 when the Cleveland Browns were reactivated. The division had six teams for the 1999, 2000 and 2001 seasons.

2000s

In 2002 the NFL realigned into eight divisions of four teams, and the AFC Central became the AFC North. In this new decade, the Steelers have won the division title three times, the Ravens have won twice, while the Bengals have won the division once.

In 2005, although finishing second in the division to the Bengals, the Steelers became the first team in NFL history to enter the playoffs as a #6 seeded wild card team to win the Super Bowl. The Steelers finished the season with the same record as the Bengals, but the Bengals were the division winner due to the outcome of their regular season matchups.

Division champions

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