- American Football Conference West Division
The AFC West is a division of the
National Football League 'sAmerican Football Conference .The AFC West was formed as a result of the
AFL-NFL merger in 1970. The new NFL was aligned into six divisions (two conferences of three divisions each). The original AFC West had four members - theDenver Broncos ,Kansas City Chiefs ,Oakland Raiders andSan Diego Chargers . All four teams were previously members of theAmerican Football League 's Western Division. These four teams have remained in the AFC West since its inception, and are currently the only teams in the division. When the Raiders played in Los Angeles from 1982 to 1994, they remained in the AFC West.When the
Seattle Seahawks and theTampa Bay Buccaneers began play in 1976, the Buccaneers were put into the AFC West and the Seahawks were put into theNFC West . After one year, Seattle was moved into the AFC West and Tampa Bay was moved into theNFC Central . The Seahawks played in the AFC West until the 2002 re-alignment, when they were put back into the NFC West, thus restoring the pre-1976 alignment.ESPN 'sChris Berman often calls this division the "AFC Smythe" due to its geographical similarity to the oldSmythe Division of the NHL, now known as the Pacific Division.In recent years, the division is often cited as one of the NFL's "Toughest Divisions"Facts|date=October 2008 due partially to the home-field advantages of Invesco Field,
Arrowhead Stadium ,Qualcomm Stadium and the Oakland Coliseum(The Black Hole).Division champions
{| class="wikitable"
- bgcolor="#efefef"! Season !! Team !! Record !! Playoff Results
-
1970 ||Oakland Raiders || 8-4-2 || Lost AFC Championship Game
-
1971 ||Kansas City Chiefs || 10-3-1 || Lost AFC Divisional Playoffs
-
1972 ||Oakland Raiders || 10-3-1 || Lost AFC Divisional Playoffs
-
1973 ||Oakland Raiders || 9-4-0 || Lost AFC Championship Game
-
1974 ||Oakland Raiders || 12-2-0 || Lost AFC Championship Game
-
1975 ||Oakland Raiders || 11-3-0 || Lost AFC Championship Game
-
1976 ||Oakland Raiders || 13-1-0 || WonSuper Bowl XI
-
1977 ||Denver Broncos || 12-2-0 || LostSuper Bowl XII
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1978 ||Denver Broncos || 10-6-0 || Lost AFC Divisional Playoffs
-
1979 ||San Diego Chargers || 12-4-0 || Lost AFC Divisional Playoffs
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1980 ||San Diego Chargers || 11-5-0 || Lost AFC Championship Game
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1981 ||San Diego Chargers || 10-6-0 || Lost AFC Championship Game
-
1982# || Los Angeles Raiders || 8-1-0 || Lost AFC Second Round
-
1983 || Los Angeles Raiders || 12-4-0 || WonSuper Bowl XVIII
-
1984 ||Denver Broncos || 13-3-0 || Lost AFC Divisional Playoffs
-
1985 || Los Angeles Raiders || 12-4-0 || Lost AFC Divisional Playoffs
-
1986 ||Denver Broncos || 11-5-0 || LostSuper Bowl XXI
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1987 ||Denver Broncos || 10-4-1 || LostSuper Bowl XXII
-
1988 ||Seattle Seahawks || 9-7-0 || Lost AFC Divisional Playoffs
-
1989 ||Denver Broncos || 11-5-0 || LostSuper Bowl XXIV
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1990 ||Los Angeles Raiders || 12-4-0 || Lost AFC Championship Game
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1991 ||Denver Broncos || 12-4-0 || Lost AFC Championship Game
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1992 ||San Diego Chargers || 11-5-0 || Lost AFC Divisional Playoffs
-
1993 ||Kansas City Chiefs || 11-5-0 || Lost AFC Championship Game
-
1994 ||San Diego Chargers || 11-5-0 || LostSuper Bowl XXIX
-
1995 ||Kansas City Chiefs || 13-3-0 || Lost AFC Divisional Playoffs
-
1996 ||Denver Broncos || 13-3-0 || Lost AFC Divisional Playoffs
-
1997 ||Kansas City Chiefs || 13-3-0 || Lost AFC Divisional Playoffs
-
1998 ||Denver Broncos || 14-2-0 || WonSuper Bowl XXXIII
-
1999 ||Seattle Seahawks || 9-7-0 || Lost AFC Wild Card Playoffs
-
2000 ||Oakland Raiders || 12-4-0 || Lost AFC Championship Game
-
2001 ||Oakland Raiders || 10-6-0 || Lost AFC Divisional Playoffs
-
2002 ||Oakland Raiders || 11-5-0 || LostSuper Bowl XXXVII
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2003 ||Kansas City Chiefs || 13-3-0 || Lost AFC Divisional Playoffs
-
2004 ||San Diego Chargers || 12-4-0 || Lost AFC Wild Card Playoffs
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2005 ||Denver Broncos || 13-3-0 || Lost AFC Championship Game
-
2006 ||San Diego Chargers || 14-2-0 || Lost AFC Divisional Playoffs
-
2007 ||San Diego Chargers || 11-5-0 || Lost AFC Championship Game
-
###@@@KEYEND@@@###
* #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, the Los Angeles Raiders had the best record of the division teams.Wild Card qualifiers
{| class="wikitable"
- bgcolor="#efefef"! Season !! Team !! Record !! Playoff Results
-
1970 || "None" || -- || --
-
1971 || "None" || -- || --
-
1972 || "None" || -- || --
-
1973 || "None" || -- || --
-
1974 || "None" || -- || --
-
1975 || "None" || -- || --
-
1976 || "None" || -- || --
-
1977 ||Oakland Raiders || 11-3-0 || Lost AFC Championship Game
-
1978 || "None" || -- || --
-
1979 ||Denver Broncos || 10-6-0 || Lost AFC Wild Card Playoffs
-
1980 ||Oakland Raiders || 11-5-0 || WonSuper Bowl XV
-
1981 || "None" || -- || --
-
1982+ ||San Diego Chargers || 6-3-0 || Lost AFC Second Round
-
1983 ||Seattle Seahawks Denver Broncos || 9-7-0
9-7-0 || Lost AFC Championship Game
Lost AFC Wild Card Playoffs
-
1984 ||Seattle Seahawks Los Angeles Raiders || 12-4-0
11-5-0 || Lost AFC Divisional Playoffs
Lost AFC Wild Card Playoffs
-
1985 || "None" || -- || --
-
1986 ||Kansas City Chiefs || 10-6-0 || Lost AFC Wild Card Playoffs
-
1987 ||Seattle Seahawks || 9-6-0 || Lost AFC Wild Card Playoffs
-
1988 || "None" || -- || --
-
1989 || "None" || -- || --
-
1990 ||Kansas City Chiefs || 11-5-0 || Lost AFC Wild Card Playoffs
-
1991 ||Kansas City Chiefs Los Angeles Raiders || 10-6-0
9-7-0 || Lost AFC Divisional Playoffs
Lost AFC Wild Card Playoffs
-
1992 ||Kansas City Chiefs || 10-6-0 || Lost AFC Wild Card Playoffs
-
1993 ||Los Angeles Raiders Denver Broncos || 10-6-0
9-7-0 || Lost AFC Divisional Playoffs
Lost AFC Wild Card Playoffs
-
1994 ||Kansas City Chiefs || 9-7-0 || Lost AFC Wild Card Playoffs
-
1995 ||San Diego Chargers || 9-7-0 || Lost AFC Wild Card Playoffs
-
1996 || "None" || -- || --
-
1997 ||Denver Broncos || 12-4-0 || WonSuper Bowl XXXII
-
1998 || "None" || -- || --
-
1999 || "None" || -- || --
-
2000 ||Denver Broncos || 11-5-0 || Lost AFC Wild Card Playoffs
-
2001 || "None" || -- || --
-
2002 || "None" || -- || --
-
2003 ||Denver Broncos || 10-6-0 || Lost AFC Wild Card Playoffs
-
2004 ||Denver Broncos || 10-6-0 || Lost AFC Wild Card Playoffs
-
2005 || "None" || -- || --
-
2006 ||Kansas City Chiefs || 9-7-0 || Lost AFC Wild Card Playoffs
-
2007 || "None" || -- || --
###@@@KEYEND@@@###
* 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, the Los Angeles Raiders had the best record of the division teams.Total playoff berths
{| class="wikitable"
- bgcolor="#efefef"! Team !! Championships !! Playoff Berths !! Super Bowls/Wins
-
Los Angeles/Oakland Raiders1 || 13 || 18 || 5/3
-
Denver Broncos || 10 || 17 || 6/2
-
San Diego Chargers || 8 || 10 || 1/0
-
Kansas City Chiefs || 5 || 11 || 2/1
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Seattle Seahawks 2 || 2 || 5 || 0/03
-
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 4 || 0 || 0 || 1/13
###@@@KEYEND@@@###1 Known as the Los Angeles Raiders from 1982 until 1994, before moving back to Oakland.
2 Realigned into theNFC West prior to the2002 NFL season .
3 Have played in one Super Bowl after realignment to NFC.
4 Realigned into theNFC Central prior to the1977 NFL season .
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