1989 NFL season
The 1989 NFL season was the 70th regular season of the National Football League. Before the season, NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle announced his retirement. Paul Tagliabue was eventually chosen to succeed him, taking over on November 5.
| Regular season | |
|---|---|
| Duration | September 10 – December 25, 1989 |
| Playoffs | |
| Start date | December 31, 1989 |
| AFC Champions | Denver Broncos |
| NFC Champions | San Francisco 49ers |
| Super Bowl XXIV | |
| Date | January 28, 1990 |
| Site | Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans, Louisiana |
| Champions | San Francisco 49ers |
| Pro Bowl | |
| Date | February 4, 1990 |
| Site | Aloha Stadium |
Due to damage caused by the Loma Prieta earthquake to Candlestick Park, the New England Patriots at San Francisco 49ers game on October 22 was played at Stanford Stadium in Stanford.
The season ended with Super Bowl XXIV where the 49ers defeated the Denver Broncos 55–10 at the Louisiana Superdome.
Contents
Major rule changesEdit
- After a foul that occurs inside the last two minutes of the first half and inside the last five minutes of the second half or overtime, the game clock will start at the snap, instead of when the ball is spotted and the Referee signals it is ready to be played.
- New rules were enacted, including loss of timeouts or five-yard penalties, to handle the problem of crowd noise when it becomes too loud for the offensive team to hear its signals.
- If a receiver and a defender eventually establish joint control of a pass, the ball will be awarded to whoever was the first player to establish control of the ball.
- While not a rule “change” per se, the “hurry up offense” was recognized as fully legal, and penalties for delay of game would be called against teams whose defenders faked injuries in order to slow down the tempo, unless those teams called for timeouts.
Final standingsEdit
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TiebreakersEdit
- Indianapolis finished ahead of Miami in the AFC East based on better conference record (7–5 vs. Dolphins' 6–8).
- Houston finished ahead of Pittsburgh in the AFC Central based on head-to-head sweep (2–0).
- Philadelphia was first NFC Wild Card ahead of L.A. Rams based on better record against common opponents (7–3 to Rams' 5–4).
- Minnesota finished ahead of Green Bay in the NFC Central based on better division record (6–2 vs. Packers' 5–3).
PlayoffsEdit
- NOTE: The San Francisco 49ers (the NFC 1 seed) did not play the Los Angeles Rams (the 5 seed) in the Divisional playoff round because both teams were in the same division.
| Divisional Playoffs | ||||||||||||||||||
| Jan. 7 – Giants Stadium | ||||||||||||||||||
| NFC Wild Card Game | NFC Championship | |||||||||||||||||
| 5 | LA Rams | 19* | ||||||||||||||||
| Dec. 31 – Veterans Stadium | Jan. 14 – Candlestick Park | |||||||||||||||||
| 2 | NY Giants | 13 | ||||||||||||||||
| 5 | LA Rams | 21 | 5 | LA Rams | 3 | |||||||||||||
| Jan. 6 – Candlestick Park | ||||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Philadelphia | 7 | 1 | San Francisco | 30 | Super Bowl XXIV | ||||||||||||
| 3 | Minnesota | 13 | ||||||||||||||||
| Jan. 28 – Louisiana Superdome | ||||||||||||||||||
| 1 | San Francisco | 41 | ||||||||||||||||
| N1 | San Francisco | 55 | ||||||||||||||||
| Jan. 6 – Cleveland Stadium | ||||||||||||||||||
| AFC Wild Card Game | AFC Championship | A1 | Denver | 10 | ||||||||||||||
| 3 | Buffalo | 30 | ||||||||||||||||
| Dec. 31 – Astrodome | Jan. 14 – Mile High Stadium | |||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Cleveland | 34 | ||||||||||||||||
| 5 | Pittsburgh | 26* | 2 | Cleveland | 21 | |||||||||||||
| Jan. 7 – Mile High Stadium | ||||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Houston | 23 | 1 | Denver | 37 | |||||||||||||
| 5 | Pittsburgh | 23 | ||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Denver | 24 | ||||||||||||||||
- * Indicates overtime victory
Statistical leadersEdit
TeamEdit
| Points scored | San Francisco 49ers (442) |
| Total yards gained | San Francisco 49ers (6,268) |
| Yards rushing | Cincinnati Bengals (2,483) |
| Yards passing | Washington Redskins (4,349) |
| Fewest points allowed | Denver Broncos (226) |
| Fewest total yards allowed | Minnesota Vikings (4,184) |
| Fewest rushing yards allowed | New Orleans Saints (1,326) |
| Fewest passing yards allowed | Minnesota Vikings (2,501) |
AwardsEdit
DraftEdit
The 1989 NFL Draft was held from April 23 to 24, 1989 at New York City's Marriott Marquis. With the first pick, the Dallas Cowboys selected quarterback Troy Aikman from the University of California, Los Angeles.
CoachesEdit
American Football ConferenceEdit
- Buffalo Bills: Marv Levy
- Cincinnati Bengals: Sam Wyche
- Cleveland Browns: Bud Carson
- Denver Broncos: Dan Reeves
- Houston Oilers: Jerry Glanville
- Indianapolis Colts: Ron Meyer
- Kansas City Chiefs: Marty Schottenheimer
- Los Angeles Raiders: Mike Shanahan (4 games) and Art Shell (12 games)
- Miami Dolphins: Don Shula
- New England Patriots: Raymond Berry
- New York Jets: Joe Walton
- Pittsburgh Steelers: Chuck Noll
- San Diego Chargers: Dan Henning
- Seattle Seahawks: Chuck Knox
National Football ConferenceEdit
- Atlanta Falcons: Marion Campbell (12 games) and Jim Hanifan (4 games)
- Chicago Bears: Mike Ditka
- Dallas Cowboys: Jimmy Johnson
- Detroit Lions: Wayne Fontes
- Green Bay Packers: Lindy Infante
- Los Angeles Rams: John Robinson
- Minnesota Vikings: Jerry Burns
- New Orleans Saints: Jim Mora
- New York Giants: Bill Parcells
- Philadelphia Eagles: Buddy Ryan
- Phoenix Cardinals: Gene Stallings (11 games) and Hank Kuhlmann (5 games)
- San Francisco 49ers: George Seifert
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Ray Perkins
- Washington Redskins: Joe Gibbs
ReferencesEdit
- NFL Record and Fact Book (ISBN 1-932994-36-X)
- NFL History 1981–1990 (Last accessed December 4, 2005)
- Total Football: The Official Encyclopedia of the National Football League (ISBN 0-06-270174-6)