History of NFL Championships
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Throughout its history, the National Football League and other leagues have used several different formats to determine their league champion, including a period of interleague match-ups determing a true world champion.
The NFL first determined champions through end-of-season standings, but switched over to a playoff system in 1933. The rival AAFC and AFL, who have since merged with the NFL in 1950 and 1970 respectively, began using the playoff system since the creation of their league.
From 1966–1969 prior to the AFL-NFL merger, the NFL and the AFL held the only true professional American football world championship games to date.
Since 1970, the modern era NFL has been become the only major professional league in the United States, and its current league championship game is called the Super Bowl.
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[edit] 1920–1932: The early years
- For a list of APFA-NFL standings champions prior to 1933, see List of NFL end-of-season champions
At its inception in 1920, the NFL had no playoff system or championship game. Rather, the champion was the team with the best record during the season, determined by winning percentage, with ties discounted. This sometimes led to odd results, as teams played anywhere from eight to twenty league games in a season.
In the 1932 season, the Chicago Bears and the Portsmouth Spartans tied with the best regular-season records. To determine the champion, the league voted to hold their first playoff game. The game was held indoors because of very cold weather, which forced some temporary rule changes. Chicago won, 9-0. The playoff proved so popular that the league reorganized into two divisions for the 1933 season, with the winners advancing to a scheduled championship game. A number of new rule changes were instituted: the goal posts were moved forward to the goal line, every play started from between the hash marks, and forward passes could originate from anywhere behind the line of scrimmage (instead of the previous five yards behind).
[edit] 1933–1966: The advent of the postseason
[edit] 1933–1966: NFL Championship Game
- For a list of NFL Championship Games and winners, see List of NFL champions
Starting in 1933, the NFL decided its champion through a single postseason playoff game, called the NFL Championship Game. During this period, the league divided its teams into two groups, through 1949 as divisions and from 1950 onward as conferences.
- Divisions (1933–1949): Eastern and Western
- Conferences (1950–1952): American and National
- Conferences (1953–1966): Eastern and Western
The home team for the NFL Championship Game was determined by a yearly rotation between the conferences (or divisions), not by regular-season records. If there was a tie for first place within the conference, an extra playoff game determined which team would play in the NFL Championship Game. (This occurred nine times in these 34 seasons: 1941, 1943, 1947, 1950 (both conferences), 1952, 1957, 1958, and 1965.)
This last occurred during the 1965 season, when the Green Bay Packers and Baltimore Colts tied for first place in the Western Conference at 10-3-1. Green Bay had won both its games with Baltimore during the regular season, but because no tie-breaker system was in place, a conference playoff game was held on December 26 (the scheduled date for the NFL championship game). The Cleveland Browns, the Eastern champion at 11-3-0, did not play this week. The playoff pushed the championship game to January 2, 1966, the first time the NFL champion was crowned in January. Green Bay won both post-season games at home, beating the injury-riddled Colts (with third-string QB Tom Matte) in overtime by a field goal, and taking the title 23-12 on a very muddy field (in Jim Brown's final NFL game).
For the 1960 through 1969 seasons, the NFL staged an additional postseason game called the "Playoff Bowl" (aka the "Bert Bell Benefit Bowl" or the "Runner-up Bowl"). These games matched the second-place teams from the two conferences; the CBS television network advertised them as "playoff games for third place in the NFL." All ten of these consolation games were played in the Orange Bowl in Miami in January, the week after the NFL championship game. The NFL now classifies these contests as exhibition games and does not include the records, participants, or results in the official league playoff statistics. The Playoff Bowl was discontinued after the AFL-NFL merger; the final edition was played in January 1970.
[edit] 1946–1949: AAFC Championship Game
- For a list of AAFC Championship Games and winners, see List of AAFC champions
The All-America Football Conference was created in June of 1944 to compete against the NFL. Even though the league outdrew the NFL in attendence, the continuing dominance of the Cleveland Browns led to the league's downfall.
For its four seasons, the league was divided into two divisions: Eastern and Western (1946–1948) and a single division in 1949. The site of the championship game just as in the NFL was determined by divisional rotation except for 1949 when the remaining teams with the best record hosted the game.
The Browns behind the guiding of Jim Brown and Otto Graham won all four of the league championship games. A playoff game was played in 1948 to break a tie between the Baltimore Colts and Buffalo Bills (AAFC) and in 1949 to set up a championship game between the Browns and the San Francisco 49ers.
In 1948, the Browns became the first professional football team to complete an entire season undefeated and untied — 24 years before the 1972 Miami Dolphins of the NFL would accomplish the task, but this feat is not recognized by NFL record books. Unlike the AFL statsistics which are apart of the NFL record books, AAFC league and team (which of most folded) are not recognized. However, individual AAFC player statistics are included in Pro Football Hall of Fame records, and the defunct conference is memorialized in the Hall.
[edit] 1960–1966: AFL Championship Game
- For a list of AFL Championship Games and winners, see List of AFL champions
With its creation in 1960, the AFL determined its champion via a single playoff game between the winners of its two divisions, the Eastern and Western. The AFL Championship games featured classics such as the 1962 double-overtime championship game between the Dallas Texans and the defending champion Houston Oilers. At the time it was the longest professional football championship game ever played. Also in 1963, a Eastern Division playoff was needed to determine the divsion winner between the Boston Patriots and Buffalo Bills.
[edit] 1966–1969: NFL vs. AFL - The beginning of the Super Bowl era
- For a list of AFL Championship Games and winners, see List of AFL champions
- For a list of NFL Championship Games and winners, see List of NFL champions
- For a list of AFL-NFL World Championship games, see List of AFL-NFL World champions
In 1966, the success of the rival AFL, the spectre of the NFL's losing more stars to the AFL, and concern over a costly "bidding war" for players precipitated by the NFL's Giants' signing of Pete Gogolak, who was under contract to the AFL's Buffalo Bills, led the two leagues to discuss a merger. Pivotal to this was approval by Congress of a law (PL 89-800) that would waive jeopardy to anti-trust statutes for the merged leagues. The major point of the testimony given by the leagues to obtain the law was that if the merger were permitted, "Professional football operations will be preserved in the 23 cities and 25 stadiums where such operations are presently being conducted." The merger became effective in 1970, and since then, in spite of the testimony to the contrary, there have been over half a dozen franchise moves.
After expanding to enfranchise the New Orleans Saints in 1967, the NFL split its 16 teams into two conferences with two divisions each: the Capitol and Century Divisions in the Eastern Conference, and the Coastal and Central Divisions in the Western Conference. The playoff format was expanded from a single championship game to a four-team tournament, with the four divisional champions participating. The two division winners in each conference met in the "Conference Championships," with the winners advancing to the NFL Championship Game. Again, the home team for each playoff game was determined by a yearly divisional or conference rotation.
The AFL on the other hand, raised its total franchise number to nine in 1966 with the Miami Dolphins, joining the Eastern Divison and a tenth team, the Cincinnati Bengals in 1968. The league kept using the one-game-playoff format except when division tie-breakers were needed. With the addition of the Bengals to the Western Division in 1969, the AFL adopted a four-team playoff to determine its champion.
Following the NFL and AFL Championship Games for the 1966 through 1969 seasons, the NFL champion played the AFL champion in Super Bowls I through IV, the only true inter-league championship games of professional football. These games though were known as the AFL-NFL World Championship Game at the time as the word "Super Bowl" did not become official until 1968. The first two games were convincingly won by the NFL's Packers, the last two by the AFL's New York Jets and Kansas City Chiefs, leaving the leagues even at 2-2 in "World Championship" competition when they subsequently merged.
It is noted that all participants in the four world championship games were given a league championship in NFL record books no matter the outcome of the Super Bowl, but the winning team of the Super Bowl only had the Super Bowl victory count as a league title, while the loser had the NFL or AFL title victory count so in essence the first four games were mere "bragging rights" between the leagues.
[edit] 1970–present: The Super Bowl era
- For a complete list of post-merger Super Bowl winners, see List of Super Bowl champions.
[edit] Post Merger
After the 1969 season and Super Bowl IV, the AFL and NFL fully merged and underwent a re-alignment for the 1970 season. Three of the pre-merger NFL teams were transferred to the AFC (Browns, Colts, and Steelers) to level the conferences (AFC and NFC) at 13 teams each; each conference split into three divisions. Since there was now only one league, the winner of the Super Bowl was the NFL champion.
With only six division winners in the newly merged league, the NFL designed an eight-team playoff tournament, with four clubs from each conference qualifying. Along with the three division winners in each conference, two wild card teams (one from each conference), the second-place finishers with the best records in each conference, were added to the tournament. The first round was named the "Divisional Playoffs", with the winners advancing to the "Conference Championships" (AFC & NFC). Two weeks later, the AFC and NFC champions met in the Super Bowl, now the league's championship game. Thus, Super Bowl V in January 1971 was the first Super Bowl played for the NFL title.
With the introduction of the wild card, a rule was instituted to prohibit two teams from the same division (champion and wild card) from meeting in the first-round (Divisional Playoffs). This rule would remain in effect through the 1989 season. More significantly, the home teams in the playoffs were still decided by a yearly divisional rotation, not on regular-season records (excluding the wild-card teams, who would always play on the road). This lack of "home-field advantage" was most evident in the 1972 playoffs, when the undefeated Miami Dolphins played the AFC Championship Game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, who had recorded three losses during the regular season, at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh.
Beginning in 1972, tie games were included in the computing of each team's winning percentage. Each tie was now counted as half of a win and half of a loss, rather than omitted from the computation.
[edit] The institution of "home-field advantage"
In 1975, the league modified its 1970 playoff format by instituting a seeding system. The surviving clubs with the higher seeds were made the home teams for each playoff round. The three division champions in each conference were seeded first through third based on their regular-season records, with the wild-card team in each conference as the fourth seed.
Teams that earned the top seed became known as clinching "home-field advantage" throughout the playoffs, since they would play all of their playoff games at their home stadium (except for the Super Bowl, played at a neutral site).
However, the league continued to prohibit meetings between teams from the same division in the Divisional Playoffs. Thus, there would be times when the pairing in that round would pit the first seed versus the third, and the second versus the fourth. This system is identical to that now in use by Major League Baseball.
[edit] Further playoff expansion
The league expanded the playoffs to 10 teams in 1978, adding a second wild-card team (a fifth seed) from each conference. The two wild-card teams from each conference (the fourth and fifth seeds) would play each other in the first round, called the "Wild Card Playoffs." The division winners (the first three seeds) would then receive a bye to automatically advance to the Divisional Playoffs, which became the second round of the playoffs. In the divisional round, much like the 1970 playoff format, teams from the same division were still prohibited from playing each other, regardless of seeding. Under the 1978 format, teams from the same division could meet only in the wild-card round or the conference championship.
A players' strike shortened the 1982 season to nine games. The league used a special 16-team playoff tournament for that year. The top eight teams from each conference qualified (ignoring the divisional races -- there were no division standings, and in some cases 2 teams from the same division did not play each other at all that season). The playoffs reverted to the 1978 format in the following year.
In 1990, the NFL expanded the playoffs to twelve teams by adding a third wild-card team (a sixth seed) from each conference. The restrictions on intra-division playoff games during the Divisional Playoffs were removed. However, only the top two division winners in each conference (the 1 and 2 seeds) received byes and automatically advanced to the Divisional Playoffs as host teams. The 3 seed, the division winner with the worst regular season record in each conference, would then host the 6 seed in the Wild Card Playoffs.
In 2002, the NFL realigned into eight divisions, four per conference, to accommodate a 32nd team, the Houston Texans. The playoffs remained a 12-team tournament, with four division winners (the 1, 2, 3, and 4 seeds) and two wild cards (the 5 and 6 seeds) from each conference advancing to the playoffs. Again, only the top two division winners in each conference would automatically advance to the Divisional Playoffs, while everybody else had to play in the Wild Card round. Furthermore, the league still maintains the names "Wild Card Playoffs", "Divisional Playoffs", and "Conference Championships" for the first, second, and third rounds of the playoffs, respectively.
A proposal to expand the playoffs to 14 teams by adding a third wild card team (a seventh seed) from each conference, and only giving the 1 seeds the bye in the first round, was tabled by the league owners in 2003 [1].
[edit] Trivia
- After the 1970 AFL-NFL merger and the emergence of the Super Bowl, all AFL and NFL league championship games prior to merger are listed along with the AFC and NFC conference championship games, respectively, in the NFL's official records, but are recorded as league titles for each victorious franchise between 1920 and 1965 and for each Super Bowl loser between 1966 and 1969.[1]
[edit] Championships by Franchise
These are the championships of professional American football leagues that are recognized by the Pro Football Hall of Fame, but not necessarily the National Football League official record books.
- Key to leagues
Professional Football Leagues Championships (1920–1969)
- NFL: (Old) National Football League Championships (1920–1969)[2]
- AFL: American Football League Championships (1960–1969)
- AAFC: All-America Football Conference Championships (1946–1949)
- AFL VS NFL: AFL-NFL World Championship Games (1966–1969; I-IV)
National Football League (NFL) Championships (1970–present)
- Super Bowl: Super Bowl Championships (1970–present; V-XL)
| Professional Football Champions | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Franchise | Pro Football League Championships (1920–1969) |
NFL (from 1970) |
Total | ||||
| NFL | AFL | AAFC | AFL vs NFL | Super Bowl | |||
| Green Bay Packers | 9[1] | – | – | 2 | 1 | 12[1] | |
| Chicago Bears | 8 | – | – | – | 1 | 9 | |
| Cleveland Browns | 4 | – | 4[3] | – | – | 8 | |
| New York Giants | 4 | – | – | – | 2 | 6 | |
| Dallas Cowboys | – | – | – | – | 5 | 5 | |
| Pittsburgh Steelers | – | – | – | – | 5 | 5 | |
| San Francisco 49ers | – | – | – | – | 5 | 5 | |
| Washington Redskins | 2 | – | – | – | 3 | 5 | |
| Detroit Lions | 4 | – | – | – | – | 4 | |
| Indianapolis Colts | 3 | – | – | – | 1 | 4 | |
| Oakland Raiders | – | 1 | – | – | 3 | 4 | |
| Kansas City Chiefs | – | 2[1] | – | 1 | – | 3[1] | |
| New England Patriots | – | – | – | – | 3 | 3 | |
| Philadelphia Eagles | 3 | – | – | – | – | 3 | |
| St. Louis Rams | 2 | – | – | – | 1 | 3 | |
| Denver Broncos | – | – | – | – | 2 | 2 | |
| Miami Dolphins | – | – | – | – | 2 | 2 | |
| Arizona Cardinals | 2 | – | – | – | – | 2 | |
| Buffalo Bills | – | 2 | – | – | – | 2 | |
| Canton Bulldogs | 2 | – | – | – | – | 2 | |
| Tennessee Titans | – | 2 | – | – | – | 2 | |
| Akron Pros | 1 | – | – | – | – | 1 | |
| Baltimore Ravens | – | – | – | – | 1 | 1 | |
| Cleveland Bulldogs | 1 | – | – | – | – | 1 | |
| Frankford Yellow Jackets | 1 | – | – | – | – | 1 | |
| Minnesota Vikings | 1 | – | – | – | – | 1 | |
| New York Jets | – | [1] | – | 1 | – | 1[1] | |
| Providence Steam Roller | 1 | – | – | – | – | 1 | |
| San Diego Chargers | – | 1 | – | – | – | 1 | |
| Tampa Bay Buccaneers | – | – | – | – | 1 | 1 | |
| Atlanta Falcons | – | – | – | – | - | none | |
| New Orleans Saints | – | – | – | – | - | none | |
| Cincinnati Bengals | – | – | – | – | - | none | |
| Seattle Seahawks | – | – | – | – | - | none | |
| Carolina Panthers | – | – | – | - | – | none | |
| Jacksonville Jaguars | – | – | – | - | – | none | |
| Houston Texans | – | – | – | - | – | none | |
[edit] Footnotes
- ^ a b c d e f g Does not include the league championships that Green Bay Packers, Kansas City Chiefs, and the New York Jets won during the same seasons as when they won the AFL-NFL Super Bowl Championships prior to 1970
- ^ Also known as the "American Professional Football Association" from 1920–1922
- ^ Official NFL record books do not recognize the 4 AAFC Championships by the Cleveland Browns franchise. However, the Pro Football Hall of Fame does list them as apart of the 8 total league championships by the Browns
| Pre-Super Bowl Championships |
| NFL Championship Game |
|---|
|
1933 | 1934 | 1935 | 1936 | 1937 | 1938 | 1939 | 1940 | 1941 | 1942 | 1943 | 1944 | 1945 | 1946 | 1947 | 1948 | 1949 1950 | 1951 | 1952 | 1953 | 1954 | 1955 | 1956 | 1957 | 1958 | 1959 | 1960 | 1961 | 1962 | 1963 | 1964 | 1965 | 1966 |
| AFL Championship Game |
|
1960 | 1961 | 1962 | 1963 | 1964 | 1965 | 1966 | 1967 | 1968 | 1969 |
| NFL | NFL Champions | AFL Champions | 1932 NFL Playoff Game | Super Bowl Champions |
| The Super Bowl |
|---|
| I 1967 | II 1968 | III 1969 | IV 1970 | V 1971 | VI 1972 | VII 1973 | VIII 1974 | IX 1975 | X 1976 | XI 1977 | XII 1978 | XIII 1979 | XIV 1980 | XV 1981 | XVI 1982 | XVII 1983 | XVIII 1984 | XIX 1985 | XX 1986 | XXI 1987 | XXII 1988 | XXIII 1989 | XXIV 1990 | XXV 1991 | XXVI 1992 | XXVII 1993 | XXVIII 1994 | XXIX 1995 | XXX 1996 | XXXI 1997 | XXXII 1998 | XXXIII 1999 | XXXIV 2000 | XXXV 2001 | XXXVI 2002 | XXXVII 2003 | XXXVIII 2004 | XXXIX 2005 | XL 2006 | XLI 2007 | XLII 2008 |
| NFL | Super Bowl Champions | Most Valuable Players | Broadcasters | Pre-Super Bowl NFL champions |
