After months of football, the NFL comes down to the best of the best. On Sunday, the Baltimore Ravens will host the Kansas City Chiefs at M&T Bank Stadium for the Lamar Hunt Trophy and a spot in the Super Bowl. This will be the first time the Ravens have faced the Chiefs in the playoffs since the 2010 playoffs when the Ravens won 30-7 in Kansas City in a first-round game.

This will be the sixth straight season that Kansas City plays in the AFC Championship Game, although it will be the first time during the streak that they will be playing on the road. The Chiefs won in both 2020, 2021 and a year ago, taking home the Lombardi Trophy in 2020 and 2023.

The team will try to return to the Super Bowl to defend their title last season with the help of Patrick Mahomes. The quarterback has won two NFL MVPs and has made it to the conference championship game in all of his seasons as a starter.

On the other side of the matchup, the Ravens will be attempting to reach the Super Bowl for the first time since winning it in 2013. Leading the Ravens is quarterback Lamar Jackson, who is the favorite to win the MVP for the 2023 season.

This matchup between the Chiefs and Ravens has the potential of being a historic game featuring the 2023 MVP against a two-time MVP. Still, it would be a chapter in the long history of this conference game. Now let's look at some of the AFC Championship Game history throughout the last 53 years.

Who has the most AFC Championship Game wins?

The New England Patriots led the way with 11 wins in AFC Championship Games. Their most recent victory was in 2019 against the Chiefs in Mahomes' first year as a starter and when he took home the MVP trophy. This was also the last year New England won the Super Bowl as Tom Brady departed a season later.

Nine of those 11 wins came during Brady's tenure as a starter for the Patriots from 2001 to 2019. In that span, New England took home six Super Bowls. Thanks to Brady and head coach Bill Belichick, the Patriots tied with the Pittsburgh Steelers for most league championships.

The Steelers, alongside the Denver Broncos, have the second-most AFC Championship Game victories with eight. Pittsburgh's most recent win was in 2011, and Denver's was in 2016. Next, the Miami Dolphins have five wins with the last one being in 1985.

A contender for this Sunday's matchup, Kansas City has three conference championship victories, all with Mahomes as its quarterback. Baltimore has two AFC Championship Game wins.

Who has the most AFC Championship Game losses?

In addition to eight wins, Pittsburgh also has eight losses in AFC Championship Games. The latter is the most in the NFL.

After the Steelers, the Las Vegas Raiders have seven losses. Then, the Patriots, Indianapolis Colts, Tennessee Titans, and New York Jets are tied with four losses each.

The Jets, Jacksonville Jaguars, Cleveland Browns, and Seattle Seahawks are the only organizations with appearances in the AFC Championship Game with no victories.

The Chiefs have three losses in conference title games, two of them coming in Mahomes' tenure. The Ravens have lost the conference championship twice, the last time in 2012.

Who has the most AFC Championship Game appearances?

Pittsburgh has the most AFC Championship Game appearances with 16, most recently in 2016. The Steelers are followed by the Patriots with 15. Other than them, only the Raiders and Broncos have double-digit appearances with 11 and 10, respectively. Kansas City will play its seventh AFC Championship Game on Sunday, and Baltimore will be playing it for the fifth time.

Since the NFL merger with the American Football League, a total of 16 teams have appeared in at least one AFC Championship Game. However, not all of them compose the current AFC. The Seahawks were part of the conference from 1976 until 2002 when they joined the NFC West.

The only current AFC member that has never played in the conference title game is the Houston Texans. The only former AFC member that also failed to reach the AFC Championship Game is the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who only played in the conference in 1976, their first year as members of the NFL.

Here is the full list of teams listed by AFC Championship Game appearances and their respective records:

1. Pittsburgh Steelers: 16 (8-8)

2. New England Patriots: 15 (11-4)

3. Las Vegas Raiders: 11 (4-7)

4. Denver Broncos: 10 (8-2)

T-5. Kansas City Chiefs: 7 (3-3)

T-5. Miami Dolphins: 7 (5-2)

T-5. Indianapolis Colts: 7 (3-4)

8. Buffalo Bills: 6 (4-2)

T-9. Baltimore Ravens: 5 (2-2)

T-9. Tennessee Titans: 5 (1-4)

T-10. Cincinnati Bengals: 4 (3-0)

T-10. Los Angeles Chargers: 4 (1-3)

T-10. New York Jets: 4 (0-4)

T-14. Jacksonville Jaguars: 3 (0-3)

T-14. Cleveland Browns: 3 (0-3)

16. Seattle Seahawks: 1 (0-1)

T-17. Houston Texans: 0

T-17. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 0