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The AFC East is a division of the National Football League's American Football Conference. It has four members: Buffalo Bills, Miami Dolphins, New England Patriots (representing Boston, formerly known as the Boston Patriots through 1970), and New York Jets (formerly nicknamed the Titans through 1962). They are all former members of the American Football League (AFL), three of which are charter members of the AFL (the Dolphins were an AFL expansion team in 1966).
The division was formed in 1960 as the AFL's Eastern Division. The Bills, Patriots, and (New York) Titans were joined by the Houston Oilers in the original alignment, with the Dolphins joining in 1966. The division was absorbed nearly intact with the AFL-NFL Merger in 1970, but Houston was moved to the AFC Central (formerly the NFL Century Division, now the AFC North) and replaced by the closer Baltimore Colts (from the NFL Coastal Division, which became the NFC West). Despite relocating to Indianapolis, Indiana in 1984, the Colts continued to play in the AFC East until the 2002 re-alignment when they were moved to the AFC South (the successor franchise to the Oilers, the Tennessee Titans, is also in the AFC South).
Although Miami is farther south than the home cities of the other three teams, all of which are in the Northeast, all four AFC East teams have historical rivalries among them, dating from their years in the AFL during the 1960s.
None of the AFC East teams currently play within the central city of their metropolitan area:
- The Patriots play in the Boston suburb of Foxborough, Massachusetts (they played in Boston proper from 1960-70)
- The Jets play in East Rutherford, New Jersey (they played in the New York City borough of Manhattan from 1960-63, and in the borough of Queens from 1964-83)
- The Dolphins play in Miami Gardens, Florida (they played in Miami proper from 1966-86)
- The Bills play 7 games in Orchard Park, New York and 1 in Toronto, Ontario (they played in Buffalo proper from 1960-72).
All of the teams are coached by a 1st or second generation member of the Bill Parcells Coaching Tree, the Patriots have Bill Belichick, the Dolphins have Tony Sparano, the Jets had Eric Mangini (who served as an assistant with both Belichick and Parcells) and the Bills have Dick Jauron, who served as an assistant with former Parcells assistant Tom Coughlin.
Parcells himself coached the Patriots (1993-6) and the Jets (1997-9) and is currently Vice President of Football Operations for the Dolphins.
ESPN's Chris Berman often calls this division the "AFC Adams" due to its geographical similarity to the old Adams Division of the NHL, now known as the Northeast Division.
Division champions
- ! - The Patriots and Bills each finished with identical 7-6-1 records in the regular season. The Patriots would win the ensuing playoff game for the right to represent the East in the AFL Championship Game.
- + - A players' strike in 1982 reduced the regular season to nine games. Thus, the league used a special 16-team playoff tournament just for this year. Division standings were ignored, Miami had the best record of the division teams.
Wild Card qualifiers
- Since 1969
- 1969 - Houston Oilers
- 1970 - Miami Dolphins
- 1971 - Baltimore Colts
- 1972 - None
- 1973 - None
- 1974 - Buffalo Bills
- 1975 - None
- 1976 - New England Patriots
- 1977 - None
- 1978 - Miami Dolphins
- 1979 - None
- 1980 - None
- 1981 - Buffalo Bills, New York Jets
- 1982 - *
- 1983 - None
- 1984 - None
- 1985 - New England Patriots, New York Jets
- 1986 - New York Jets
- 1987 - None
- 1988 - None
- 1989 - None
- 1990 - Miami Dolphins
- 1991 - New York Jets
- 1992 - Buffalo Bills
- 1993 - None
- 1994 - New England Patriots
- 1995 - Indianapolis Colts, Miami Dolphins
- 1996 - Buffalo Bills, Indianapolis Colts
- 1997 - Miami Dolphins
- 1998 - Buffalo Bills, Miami Dolphins, New England Patriots
- 1999 - Buffalo Bills, Miami Dolphins
- 2000 - Indianapolis Colts
- 2001 - Miami Dolphins, New York Jets
- 2002 - None
- 2003 - None
- 2004 - New York Jets
- 2005 - None
- 2006 - New York Jets
- 2007 - None
- 2008 - None
* - A players' strike in 1982 reduced the regular season to nine games. Thus, the league used a special 16-team playoff tournament just for this year. Division standings were ignored.
Total playoff berths
| Team | Division Championships | Playoff Berths | Super Bowl championships |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miami Dolphins | 14 | 22 | 2 |
| New England Patriots | 11 | 15 | 3 |
| Buffalo Bills | 111 | 18 | 0 |
| Baltimore/Indianapolis Colts2 | 6 | 10 | 23 |
| Houston Oilers4 | 4 | 5 | 0 |
| New York Jets | 4 | 11 | 1 |
1 The Bills tied the Patriots for their 1963 regular season division title, but lost the ensuing playoff game.
2 Known as the Baltimore Colts before 1984. Realigned into the AFC South beginning with the 2002 NFL season.
3 Won Super Bowl V as member of AFC East.
4 Realigned into the AFC Central in 1970, and into the AFC South in 2002. Known as Tennessee Oilers from 1997-98, and Tennessee Titans since 1999.
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