The Buffalo Bills keep winning the AFC East.
The Buffalo Bills didn’t make the playoffs for 17 seasons in the early 2000s and most of you reading this lived through every painful year. An even longer drought was winning the AFC East title. Buffalo won is six times in eight seasons from 1988 to 1995, but then didn’t win the division again until the year 2020, a span of 25 years.
The Bills have won every division title since 2020 to claim five straight division titles. If the Bills pull off what most of you seem likely and win a sixth straight AFC East championship, it will put them in rarified air in NFL annals.
Only six NFL teams have won six straight division titles in NFL history. Buffalo would be the seventh.
The longest division title streaks in NFL history
Eleven straight NFL division titles
The longest division-winning streak is familiar to Bills fans, as the New England Patriots won eleven straight titles from 2009 and 2019. It should probably be even longer. The 2008 Patriots went 11-5 despite losing Tom Brady in Week 1 and failed to qualify for the playoffs. If Brady doesn’t get hurt, there is a real chance the Patriots go from 2003 to 2019 without someone else winning the East.
Nine straight NFL division titles
The Kansas City Chiefs are currently in the middle of a nine-season streak winning the AFC West. Their streak pre-dates Patrick Mahomes when Alex Smith still slung it in KC.
Seven straight NFL division titles
The Los Angeles Rams of the 1970s won seven straight from 1973 to 1979. In a league where some divisions had five teams, the NFC West only had four for most of that run.
Six straight NFL division titles
Three teams are tied with six straight division championships — a list Buffalo hopes to join in 2025. The 1950-55 Cleveland Browns, the 1973-1978 Minnesota Vikings, and the 1974-1979 Pittsburgh Steelers all share the number.
The Browns won the NFL American and NFL Eastern divisions in the early 1950s which featured six teams, making their streak the only one on the list with so may potential teams ready to strike.
The Vikings began their NFC Central run in 1973 with four total teams in the division, but finished with five after the expansion Tampa Bay Buccaneers joined in 1976.
The 1973 Steelers lost the division on a tiebreaker before rattling off their consecutive titles.
Division-winning dynasties usually means a Super Bowl trip
Every team on the division-title dynasty list has at least gone to a league championship game.
The Patriots’ history of winning the big game is well-documented, and you’re familiar with the recent Chiefs dynasty. The 1950s Browns won three NFL Championships during their dynastic run and the ‘70s Steelers won four Super Bowls.
The 1979 Rams won the NFC Championship before falling to Pittsburgh in the Super Bowl. Both teams ended their division-title streaks the following season. The 1970s Vikings made it to three Super Bowls, but lost each one.
Should the Bills win the AFC East and again fail to qualify for the Super Bowl, it will be another dubious footnote.
Bills fans think Buffalo wins another division title in 2025
Recently, fans voted in our NFL Reacts survey. A vast majority of Bills fans think Buffalo will do it again and join the list. In similar polls, 15% of Dolphins fans and 8% of Jets fans think they will come out on top.
It’s somewhat unfortunate for the Miami Dolphins and New York Jets. From 2003 to 2024, they only have one division title between the two of them. Miami plucked it in 2008. New York won the division in 2002, immediately preceding the Patriots’ long run. They have both won the same number of titles as the Indianapolis Colts over the last 25 seasons. Indy won the division in 1999 and left the AFC East in 2002.