Why has the AFC South only produced two AFC Super Bowl representatives in the past 15 years?

[Championshiporbust]

The last AFC South appearance in a Super Bowl was Super Bowl XLIV (44) (2009)'s AFC Champion Indianapolis Colts against the New Orleans Saints. What is wrong with the AFC South? 

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AFC_South

[-Hope-]

because they suck

[Thelonebillsfan]

Just now, -Hope- said:

because they suck

Really really bad

[Shady Slim]

the jags and texans are still semi recent expansion teams keep in mind aren't they? a lot of expansion teams suck for decades before they do anything.

the colts have had peyton and luck but esp with luck he hasn't had much help elsewhere of late

and even the titans are a franchise revisited

[lancerman]

Colts ran into the Patriots/Steelers/Chargers too many times. That's really it. They ran into the Patriots 3 times (2003, 2004, 2014) on the way to Super Bowl wins. They ran into the Steelers on the way to a Super Bowl win. They ran into the Chargers twice who just seemed to have their number for a while). Then when they weren't good the Texans just were missing that QB to put them over the top. 

The reality is the AFC has always been a top heavy conference and it was very easy for teams to run into brick walls. The NFC was the conference where a team could have an up year and run the gauntlet. 

[DontTazeMeBro]

Well. Other than the Patriots, Steelers, and Manning Colts/Broncos the only team to win an AFC Championship was the Ravens. So it's really a question of the entire conference.

[biletnikoff]

It should be referred to as  the Colts and the AFC south.

 

[TitanSlim]

Brady, Manning and Roethlisberger

[TwoToneBlue]

Two in the past 15 years is better than I would’ve guessed. 

[TecmoSuperJoe]

Better question is why can't the Titans, Jaguars, or Texans all not make at least an AFC Championship game appearance in the span of 15 years? That is just sad. They're the only division out of the 8 that hasn't had more than one team from their division at least make a conference championship game in that amount of time. Even the AFC East has done that. 

[Jakuvious]

Beyond the fact that the AFC South has had a stint of poor play (which in itself is not unusual, you'd find similar stints throughout history for other divisions), 2 in 15 years actually isn't that off. 4 divisions in each conference means the average division should have 3.75 superbowl appearances. 2 isn't THAT far off of that. It's not even the only division at that same total. For reference, here's a breakdown by division:

AFC West: 3
AFC South: 2
AFC North: 4
AFC East: 6

NFC West: 5
NFC South: 5
NFC North: 2
NFC East: 3

The NFC North has been the same amount of times and it's been almost as long (a one year difference.) The AFC South actually hasn't been THAT bad over that 15 year stretch. They have over the last 6 or so, but it's really not anything outside the norm for a lesser NFL division. Some division is always going to be worst.

(It's kind of mind blowing that the Packers only have one superbowl appearance in that time frame.)

[Hunter2_1]

2 hours ago, PapaShogun said:

Better question is why can't the Titans, Jaguars, or Texans all not make at least an AFC Championship game appearance in the span of 15 years? That is just sad. They're the only division out of the 8 that hasn't had more than one team from their division at least make a conference championship game in that amount of time. Even the AFC East has done that. 

The answer is the same. Running into Patriots in Foxboro, Broncos in Mile High, and Steelers. Just too tough an ask.

[TecmoSuperJoe]

1 hour ago, Hunter2_1 said:

The answer is the same. Running into Patriots in Foxboro, Broncos in Mile High, and Steelers. Just too tough an ask.

Well...they would increase their chances if their teams over those 15 years weren't largely terrible. If the Jaguars, Titans, or Texans were annual playoff participants. But all three of them have largely been lackluster since the AFC South has formed. 

[Hunter2_1]

1 hour ago, PapaShogun said:

Well...they would increase their chances if their teams over those 15 years weren't largely terrible. If the Jaguars, Titans, or Texans were annual playoff participants. But all three of them have largely been lackluster since the AFC South has formed. 

Yeah. Thought the Colts would be a perennial pain in our A, but it hasn't materialised. Mainly because whoever has been in charge (Grigsom?) hasn't bothered himself much about creating a good roster. With Houston, I think BoB is a bit of a blagger - just, isn't up to much. 9 wins is his ceiling and he cannot develop a QB like he claims. Maybe Tennessee can become the new 2014 Colts, but just seem so inconsistent. Jags time? Good defense, good ST, good run game. Just need an OL and a Qb that isn't hardwired to putting his foot in his dck. 

[childofpudding]

One factor may be that when you're a dome or warm weather team, it's hard to play an away game in a cold weather stadium in January. The division is 5-15 in away playoff games since 2001.