1982 NFL season

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1982 National Football League season
Regular season
Duration September 12 – January 3, 1983
A player's strike shortened the regular season to 9 games.
Playoffs
Start date January 8, 1983
AFC Champions Miami Dolphins
NFC Champions Washington Redskins
Super Bowl XVII
Date January 30, 1983
Site Rose Bowl, Pasadena, California
Champions Washington Redskins
Pro Bowl
Date February 6, 1983
Site Aloha Stadium
The Redskins playing against the Dolphins in Super Bowl XVII.

The 1982 NFL season was the 63rd regular season of the National Football League. A 57-day-long players' strike reduced the 1982 season from a 16-game schedule per team to an abbreviated nine game schedule. Because of the shortened season, the NFL adopted a special 16-team playoff tournament; division standings were ignored (although each division except the NFC West sent at least two teams to the playoffs, and the NFC Central sent four of five). Eight teams from each conference were seeded 1–8 based on their regular season records. Two teams qualified for the playoffs despite losing records (the Cleveland Browns and the Detroit Lions). The season ended with Super Bowl XVII when the Washington Redskins defeated the Miami Dolphins 27-17 at the Rose Bowl.

Before the season, a verdict was handed down against the league in the trial brought by the Oakland Raiders and the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum back in 1980. The jury ruled that the NFL violated antitrust laws when it declined to approve the proposed move by the team from Oakland to Los Angeles. Thus, the league was forced to let the officially renamed Los Angeles Raiders play in the second largest city in the United States, returning football to the Los Angeles area proper following a two-year absence (the Los Angeles Rams left the Coliseum for Anaheim Stadium in Orange County in 1980).

For the start of the 1982 season, the Minnesota Vikings moved from Metropolitan Stadium to the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome.

Major rule changes[edit]

  • The penalty for incidental grabbing of a facemask that is committed by the defensive team is changed from 5 yards and an automatic first down to just 5 yards.
  • The penalties for illegally kicking, batting, or punching the ball are changed from 15 yards to 10 yards.
  • The league discontinued the 1979 numbering system for officials, with officials numbered separately by position, and reverted to the original system where each NFL official was assigned a different number. Also the officials' position was now abbreviated on the back of the uniform instead of being spelled out.
  • This was the first season that the NFL began having the sack as an official statistic.
  • For the first time all Sunday afternoon games began in one of two windows: 1 p.m. Eastern/Noon Central for early games, or 4 p.m. Eastern/3 p.m. Central/2 p.m. Mountain/1 p.m. Pacific for late games. From 1970-81, most games began at 1 p.m. local time regardless of the home team, (except in Denver, where the Broncos kicked off at 2 p.m. Mountain). The exception to this rule were the Colts, who were forced to begin no earlier than 2 p.m. Eastern due to a Baltimore ordinance which prohibited sporting events from beginning prior to that hour on Sundays. That ordinance was cited by owner Robert Irsay as a burden when he moved the franchise to Indianapolis in March 1984.

Final standings[edit]

W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, PCT = Winning Percentage, PF= Points For, PA = Points Against

Clinched playoff seeds are marked in parentheses and shaded in green

AFC
Team W L T PCT PF PA
(1) Los Angeles Raiders 8 1 0 .889 260 200
(2) Miami Dolphins 7 2 0 .778 198 131
(3) Cincinnati Bengals 7 2 0 .778 232 177
(4) Pittsburgh Steelers 6 3 0 .667 204 146
(5) San Diego Chargers 6 3 0 .667 288 221
(6) New York Jets 6 3 0 .667 245 166
(7) New England Patriots 5 4 0 .556 143 157
(8) Cleveland Browns 4 5 0 .444 140 182
Buffalo Bills 4 5 0 .444 150 154
Seattle Seahawks 4 5 0 .444 127 147
Kansas City Chiefs 3 6 0 .333 176 184
Denver Broncos 2 7 0 .222 148 226
Houston Oilers 1 8 0 .111 136 245
Baltimore Colts 0 8 1 .056 113 236
NFC
Team W L T PCT PF PA
(1) Washington Redskins 8 1 0 .889 190 128
(2) Dallas Cowboys 6 3 0 .667 226 145
(3) Green Bay Packers 5 3 1 .611 226 169
(4) Minnesota Vikings 5 4 0 .556 187 198
(5) Atlanta Falcons 5 4 0 .556 183 199
(6) St. Louis Cardinals 5 4 0 .556 135 170
(7) Tampa Bay Buccaneers 5 4 0 .556 158 178
(8) Detroit Lions 4 5 0 .444 181 176
New Orleans Saints 4 5 0 .444 129 160
New York Giants 4 5 0 .444 164 160
San Francisco 49ers 3 6 0 .333 209 206
Chicago Bears 3 6 0 .333 141 174
Philadelphia Eagles 3 6 0 .333 191 195
Los Angeles Rams 2 7 0 .222 200 250

Tiebreakers[edit]

  • AFC
    • Miami finished ahead of Cincinnati based on better conference record (6–1 to Bengals' 6–2).
    • Pittsburgh finished ahead of San Diego based on better record against common opponents (3–1 to Chargers' 2–1) after N.Y. Jets were bumped to the 6th seed from three-way tie based on conference record (Pittsburgh and San Diego 5–3 to Jets' 2–3).
    • Cleveland finished ahead of Buffalo and Seattle based on better conference record (4–3 to Bills' 3–3 to Seahawks' 3–5).
    • Buffalo finished ahead of Seattle based on better conference record (3–3 to Seahawks' 3–5).
  • NFC

Playoffs[edit]

The Packers playing against the Cardinals in the 1982 NFC First Round Playoff game.
Main article: 1982–83 NFL playoffs
 
First RoundSecond RoundConf. Championship GamesSuper Bowl XVII
 
              
 
January 9 – Riverfront Stadium
 
 
6) N.Y. Jets44
 
January 15 – L.A. Memorial Coliseum
 
3) Cincinnati17
 
6) N.Y. Jets17
 
January 8 – L.A. Memorial Coliseum
 
1) L.A. Raiders14
 
8) Cleveland10
 
January 23 – Miami Orange Bowl
 
1) L.A. Raiders27
 
6) N.Y. Jets0
 
January 9 – Three Rivers Stadium
 
2) Miami14
 
5) San Diego31
 
January 16 – Miami Orange Bowl
 
4) Pittsburgh28
 
5) San Diego14
 
January 8 – Miami Orange Bowl
 
2) Miami34
 
7) New England13
 
January 30 – Rose Bowl
 
2) Miami28
 
A2) Miami17
 
January 8 – Lambeau Field
 
N1) Washington27
 
6) St. Louis16
 
January 16 – Texas Stadium
 
3) Green Bay41
 
3) Green Bay26
 
January 9 – Texas Stadium
 
2) Dallas37
 
7) Tampa Bay17
 
January 22 – RFK Stadium
 
2) Dallas30
 
2) Dallas17
 
January 9 – Metrodome
 
1) Washington31
 
5) Atlanta24
 
January 15 – RFK Stadium
 
4) Minnesota30
 
4) Minnesota7
 
January 8 – RFK Stadium
 
1) Washington21
 
8) Detroit7
 
 
1) Washington31
 

Bold type indicates the winning team.

Until this season, no team ever reached the post-season with a losing record. The Cleveland Browns and Detroit Lions both made playoff appearances with 4–5 records. It would be 28 years before another team with a losing record would make the post-season (however, this would be accomplished in a full season).[1]

Awards[edit]

Most Valuable Player Mark Moseley, Placekicker, Washington
Coach of the Year Joe Gibbs, Washington
Offensive Player of the Year Dan Fouts, Quarterback, San Diego
Defensive Player of the Year Lawrence Taylor, Linebacker, NY Giants
Offensive Rookie of the Year Marcus Allen, Running Back, LA Raiders
Defensive Rookie of the Year Chip Banks, Linebacker, Cleveland
Man of the Year Joe Theismann, Quarterback, Redskins
Comeback Player of the Year Lyle Alzado, Defensive End, LA Raiders
Super Bowl Most Valuable Player John Riggins, Running Back, Washington

Draft[edit]

The 1982 NFL Draft was held from April 27 to 28, 1982 at New York City's Sheraton Hotel. With the first pick, the New England Patriots selected defensive end Kenneth Sims from the University of Texas.

Coaches[edit]

American Football Conference[edit]

National Football Conference[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ O'Neil, Danny (January 2, 2011), "Seahawks defeat Rams 16–6 to win NFC West title", The Seattle Times, retrieved January 3, 2011 
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