Here's a stat that should make every other AFC team absolutely sick.
In January 2011, the Pittsburgh Steelers played the New York Jets in the AFC Championship Game. It was a great game. The Steelers won. Ben Roethlisberger was still in his prime. Rex Ryan was still talking trash in New York.
And that game - that 2011 AFC Championship - is the most recent one that didn't feature either the Kansas City Chiefs or the New England Patriots.
Let me say that again for the people in the back: 15 straight AFC Championship games have had either Kansas City or New England competing in them.
The Patriots made nine appearances. The Chiefs have made seven. They played each other once.
Fifteen years. Two franchises. Complete and total conference dominance.
Folks, this is unprecedented. This doesn't happen in professional sports. Leagues are designed for parity. Salary caps exist specifically to prevent dynasties. Free agency is supposed to spread talent around. The draft is structured to help bad teams get better.
And yet, for a decade and a half, two teams have basically owned the AFC.
First it was Tom Brady and the Patriots. From 2011 to 2019, New England went to eight consecutive AFC Championship games. Eight in a row. They won five of them. They made it to four Super Bowls during that stretch and won three.
and turned the AFC into their personal playground. Every January, you knew where you'd find the - in the final four, usually hosting at , usually favored to win.
