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Factoid

New champs in AFC East

Buffalo Bills end long dry streak with division title

Good to see the Buffalo Bills capturing the AFC East title for the first time since 1995. Always nice to see somebody new having some success – both for the team and the long-suffering fans.

Going a quarter century between division titles, that’s a long wait.

I played around with the numbers some on this. Only 16 teams have gone 20-plus years between division titles.

That includes two teams that have been waiting longer than the Bills. The Browns won their last division title in 1989. That’s 31 years (and 28 seasons, since the franchise went on hiatus for three years in the late ‘90s). And the Lions last won a division title in 1993.

The Cardinals are the kings of this category, with three different long runs of futility, including the longest in league history. The St. Louis Cardinals won an NFC East title in 1975, then became the Phoenix Cardinals and Arizona Cardinals before finally winning another division crown in 2008.

YEARS BETWEEN DIVISION TITLES
TeamStartEndYears
St.L./Ariz. Cardinals1975200833
• Cleveland Browns1989--31
New York Jets1969199829
• Detroit Lions1993--27
Washington1945197227
Detroit Lions1957198326
Chi./St.L. Cardinals1948197426
Buffalo Bills1995202025
Pittsburgh Steelers1947197225
Houston Oilers1967199124
New Orleans Saints--199124
New York Giants1963198623
Kansas City Chiefs1971199322
Chicago Cardinals1925194722
Chicago Bears1963198421
Philadelphia Eagles1960198020

—Ian Allan

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