With just one Super Bowl win in the last three decades, there has been plenty of disappointment to go around for everyone in the AFC South division.
Part 1: AFC East, Part 2: AFC North
While the National Football League essentially owns a day of a week for four months out of the year, dominating the live television landscape and holding a unique level of cultural significance, it isn’t as if fans of all 32 teams have had a chance to celebrate in recent years.
It’s no secret that parity hasn’t exactly been a strong suit of the league over the past three decades when considering Super Bowl appearances and championships.
The New England Patriots are winners of six Super Bowls since the turn of the century, while teams like the Baltimore Ravens, Pittsburgh Steelers, Kansas City Chiefs, New York Giants and Tampa Bay Buccaneers have all won at least twice since Y2K.
On the flip side, several franchises have spent decades shrouded in poor play, with fans yearning for even a chance at January football while keeping an “Any Given Sunday” mindset.
There is perhaps no division where this is more apparent than the AFC South, which features four fledgling franchises who have mostly struggled to find their footing in recent generations. Between the four teams, only the Indianapolis Colts have won a Super Bowl in the last 30 years, with the Tennessee Titans being the only other divisional rival that has made it that far.
With that said, there have still been plenty of gut-wrenching losses for all four teams, who have all posted impressive regular seasons throughout the past few decades before falling short come January.
In the third part of this series, I take a look at the most stinging losses for all four AFC South teams over the course of my nearly 30-year lifetime.
Houston Texans: 2019 AFC Divisional Round (51-31 loss to Kansas City Chiefs)
Honorable mentions: 2024 AFC Divisional Round, 2016 AFC Divisional Round
Still the newest NFL franchise having been established ahead of the 2002 season, the Texans have still failed to qualify for an AFC Championship Game, let alone a Super Bowl.
Yet the team has still compiled eight postseason appearances, losing in either the Wild Card Round or Divisional Round each year. None of these losses stand out like their 2019 defeat in the Divisional Round to the Kansas City Chiefs, however.
After years of falling short, the Texans finally appeared to be in business in the postseason, barging into Arrowhead Stadium and jumping out to a 24-0 lead early on in the second quarter.
Somehow remarkably, the ensuing collapse came as fast as the climb to the top did for the Texans, who completely imploded in the game’s second quarter. After Ka’imi Fairbairn kicked a 31-yard field goal to give Houston a 24-0 lead with 10:54 left in the second quarter, Kansas City went on to score 41 (!) unanswered points, with 28 of the 41 points being scored throughout the remainder of the second quarter.
The Chiefs somehow turned a 24-point deficit into a halftime lead and didn’t look back from there, ultimately scoring another 23 points to secure what was ultimately a 51-31 victory over Deshaun Watson and the Texans.
After 20 minutes of sheer dominance, the Texans seemingly forgot how to play football, being dwarfed by an all-time great who embarked on a legacy performance en route to the Chiefs’ first Super Bowl since 1969.
Indianapolis Colts: Super Bowl XLIV (31-17 loss to New Orleans Saints)
Honorable mentions: 2005 AFC Divisional Round, 2003 AFC Championship Game, 1999 AFC Divisional Round
The lone AFC South team to have a Super Bowl in their trophy case, the Colts’ most painful loss in the last 30 years came in the other Super Bowl they made it to, losing 31-17 to Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints.
An incredible clash of the titans between the two best regular season teams, it was the Colts who took control early in Miami Gardens, with a 19-yard touchdown reception from Pierre Garcon accompanying a Matt Stover field goal for a 10-0 first quarter Indianapolis lead.
The Colts appeared to maintain momentum in the second quarter as well – despite the Saints picking up two field goals to cut the deficit to 10-6, Indianapolis’ defense delivered on a crucial 4th & Goal stop at their own 1-yard line to prevent the Saints from reaching the end zone.
While the Colts likely felt great in the locker room having limited the damage, they were simply not prepared for what was waiting for them on the other side of a halftime show from The Who.
In one of the most famous plays a fan will ever see to start a half of football, Sean Payton opted for the Saints to do an onside kick coming out of the half, completely catching Indianapolis off-guard as New Orleans successfully recovered the kick.
The Saints picked up possession with excellent field position, as Brees completed all five of his pass attempts on a 58-yard touchdown drive that put New Orleans ahead by a score of 13-10.
Peyton Manning and the Colts managed to answer right back, embarking on a 76-yard touchdown drive of their own to regain the lead as they moved back ahead 17-13. The Saints would trim the deficit to a single point on their following drive, with a 47-yard field goal from Garrett Hartley bringing the score to a 17-16 Indianapolis advantage.
The Colts began the fourth quarter in the middle of a lengthy drive down the field that began at their own 11-yard line, with Manning going on to complete six of eight passes before the offense stalled at the New Orleans 33-yard line. A 51-yard field goal attempt from all-time great Matt Stover in his final NFL game was no good, giving New Orleans a prime opportunity to jump ahead.
Beginning the ensuing drive at their own 41-yard line, Brees was a perfect 7-7 on a go-ahead touchdown drive that also included a successful two-point conversion, putting New Orleans up 24-17 with only 5:46 left in regulation.
The Colts’ fate would be sealed on the following drive, with Manning making it to the New Orleans 31-yard line before throwing a gut-wrenching pick to Tracy Porter, who returned the interception 74 yards to seal the Saints’ first-ever Super Bowl championship.
Though the Colts had won it all just three years prior, a victory in this game would have put Manning closer to the level of Tom Brady as an individually great quarterback, while it also would have solidified Manning’s Colts as a definitive team of the era. Though the latter point is still true to an extent, a win would have been paramount for the legacy of both Manning and the franchise.
Jacksonville Jaguars: 2017 AFC Championship Game (24-20 loss to New England Patriots)
Honorable mentions: 1999 AFC Championship Game, 1996 AFC Championship Game, 2022 AFC Divisional Round
Though there is plenty of hope that the Jaguars will make some noise in the postseason this year, the relatively new franchise has certainly had its share of playoff heartbreakers – despite only having eight playoff appearances in team history.
Of their eight trips to the playoffs, the Jags were a game away from the Super Bowl three times, with their defeat to Tom Brady and the New England Patriots in the 2017 AFC title game standing out as the most painful.
Despite a 10-6 record and clear underdog status, the Jaguars were quietly elite in 2017 – holding the fifth-most points in the NFL while also boasting the league’s second-best defense.
The quietly balanced unit led by Blake Bortles at quarterback made noise early on in the AFC title game, bouncing back from a first-quarter New England field goal with second-quarter touchdowns from Leonard Fournette and Marcedes Lewis putting Jacksonville up 14-3.
Though New England answered back before halftime with a 1-yard touchdown run from Super Bowl hero James White, the Jaguars were able to rebuild a two-score lead – adding a field goal early in the third quarter before tacking on another one shortly after the start of the fourth quarter, giving the Jaguars a 20-10 advantage in the final frame.
Despite a fumble recovery from the Jaguars on the very next New England possession, Bortles and the Jags failed to take advantage, punting the ball back to Brady and the Pats with over 12 minutes left in the game.
Brady went on to convert on five of seven pass attempts on the following 85-yard drive, connecting with Danny Amendola on a nine-yard touchdown pass that put the Pats back within three points.
The two teams exchanged punts on the next three possessions, giving the Patriots yet another opportunity with less than five minutes left in regulation time. New England began the drive with excellent field position thanks to a 20-yard punt return from Amendola that set up the Pats’ drive at the Jacksonville 30-yard line.
Brady calmly took the Pats the rest of the way, once again finding Amendola in the end zone for a go-ahead touchdown scored with 2:48 left on the clock as New England took a 24-20 lead.
While Bortles was able to take Jacksonville as far as the New England 38-yard line on the following drive, a sack and ensuing fumble took the Jags back another nine yards, with Bortles failing to convert on another first down as the Patriots secured their second-straight trip to the Super Bowl.
Though a heavy underdog, the Jaguars had about as good of an opportunity to win this game as any fan could have imagined – a two-score lead on the road in the fourth quarter that ultimately fell apart as the Jacksonville offense could not find any steam in the final frame.
Tennessee Titans: Super Bowl XXXIV (23-16 loss to St. Louis Rams)
Honorable mentions: 2008 AFC Divisional Round, 2019 AFC Championship Game, 2002 AFC Championship Game
I mean, could it really be anything else?
Since becoming the Tennessee Titans in 1999, the franchise has not exactly encountered a great deal of success, making 10 playoff appearances since then but only making it as far as the AFC Championship Game on three occasions.
Even 26 years later, the peak of the Tennessee Titans remains what they were able to accomplish in their first year under the moniker, which included a stellar 13-3 regular season record and their only berth to the Super Bowl.
Facing a St. Louis Rams team known as “The Greatest Show on Turf” for their historically high-octane offense, it was both teams’ defenses that held serve early on. The Titans were unable to get on the board at all in the first half, while a trio of Jeff Wilkins field goals provided all of the scoring in a 9-0 game at the half, with St. Louis on top.
It was the Rams who found the end zone first, as Kurt Warner connected with Torry Holt for a nine-yard touchdown pass around midway through the third quarter that gave St. Louis a healthy 16-0 advantage.
The climb back for Tennessee came late in the frame, with running back Eddie George pounding his way to the end zone with 14 seconds left in the third quarter to get the Titans back within 10 points, as a two-point conversion attempt to make it a one score game was unsuccessful.
After forcing a three-and-out from the Rams, Titans quarterback Steve McNair and Eddie George embarked on a 79-yard drive that ate up almost seven minutes of clock, with George eventually converting for his second touchdown of the game. The Titans opted to kick for the extra point this time, cutting the Rams’ lead to 16-13 with just under eight minutes to play.
The Titans went on to force another three-and-out, getting the ball back near midfield with just over six minutes left. McNair and George brought the Titans as far as the St. Louis 25-yard line, enough to set up a game-tying 43-yard field goal from Al Del Greco with just 2:12 left in regulation.
Following a 17-yard kickoff return from Tony Horne, it took one play from the line of scrimmage for the Rams to get what they needed. A bullet from Warner to Isaac Bruce ultimately went the distance for a 73-yard touchdown, giving St. Louis a 23-16 lead with only 1:54 remaining on the clock.
In a way, the Rams may have worried that they scored too early, as the Titans had nearly two minutes to get to work along with a timeout. Despite a 21-yard kick return from Derrick Mason, a holding penalty on Joe Bowden brought Tennessee back to their own 12-yard line to start the drive.
After converting an early first down on the drive, the Titans were greatly boosted after a 12-yard McNair run came alongside a 15-yard facemask penalty to Dre’ Bly, setting up Tennessee at the Rams’ 45-yard line.
An offside penalty moved the Titans up to the St. Louis 40-yard line, simplifying a first-down conversion that was achieved by a two-yard McNair rush and a seven-yard pass to Kevin Dyson. Set up at the St. Louis 31-yard line, the Titans gained another five yards thanks to a neutral zone infraction penalty, putting Tennessee in ideal distance for a shot at the end zone.
With 22 seconds left in the game, McNair found Dyson for a 16-yard gain, giving the Titans one play from the Rams’ 10-yard line for a chance to tie up the Super Bowl and force overtime.
While McNair found Dyson once again inside the five-yard line, a final lunge towards the end zone famously came up “one yard short,” with Dyson’s reach not enough to break the plane as the Rams held on to win their first-ever Super Bowl.
Had the Titans tied the game at the end of regulation, the two teams would have played in the first-ever Super Bowl overtime, which has since happened twice (Super Bowl LI and Super Bowl LVIII).
Tennessee hasn’t come anywhere quite as close since, with the state of Tennessee still awaiting their first championship in any of the major North American professional sports.
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