AFC North

The AFC North is a division in the NFL’s American Football Conference, formed when the league restructured its divisions after expanding to 32 teams in 2002. Its four current members are the Baltimore Ravens, Cincinnati Bengals, Cleveland Browns, and Pittsburgh Steelers. Before the realignment, these teams played in the AFC Central alongside the Tennessee Titans and Jacksonville Jaguars. This is the only NFL division where no team has ever hosted a Super Bowl in its own stadium, though the division has won eight Super Bowls total—six by the Steelers and two by the Ravens. It also has the shortest driving distances between its member cities of any division in the league.

The division’s roots go back to the AFC Central, which formed in 1970 when the Browns and Steelers moved from the NFL’s Century Division to the AFC, joining the Houston Oilers and Cincinnati Bengals. The Bengals won the first AFC Central title in 1970, but the Steelers dominated the 1970s, winning four Super Bowls. In the 1980s, the Browns ended Pittsburgh’s six-year division streak in 1980 but lost in the playoffs on a play called Red Right 88. The Bengals represented the division in Super Bowls XVI and XXIII, losing both times to the San Francisco 49ers.

The Steelers returned to dominance in the 1990s, winning five division titles in six years and appearing in Super Bowl XXX, where they lost to the Dallas Cowboys. The Oilers, still in the division, were part of the 1992 playoff game known as The Comeback, blowing a 32-point lead to the Buffalo Bills and losing in overtime—the largest blown lead in NFL history for nearly 30 years.

The division expanded in 1995 when the Jacksonville Jaguars joined as an expansion team, marking the first change to the AFC Central’s structure. In 1996, the Cleveland Browns moved to Baltimore and became the Ravens, a controversial decision. The Oilers moved to Tennessee in 1997, later renaming themselves the Titans in 1999. The Browns were reactivated in 1999, giving the division six teams from 1999 to 2001—the only post-merger division with that many. The Titans reached Super Bowl XXXIV, falling one yard short of forcing overtime, and earlier beat the Bills in the Music City Miracle playoff game. The Ravens won the division and Super Bowl XXXV in 2000, led by a historically dominant defense. The Steelers won the AFC Central in 2001.