1982 NFL season
 | This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (January 2011) |
| 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 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 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, California 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 Los Angeles 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
- 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 keeping the sack as an official statistic.
Final standings
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
- 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
- Minnesota (4–1), Atlanta (4–3), St. Louis (5–4), Tampa Bay (3–3) seeds were determined by best won-lost record in conference games.
- Detroit finished ahead of New Orleans and the N.Y. Giants based on best conference record (4–4 to Saints' 3–5 to Giants' 3–5).
- San Francisco finished ahead of Chicago, and Chicago finished ahead of Philadelphia, based on conference record (49ers' 2–3 to Bears' 2–5 to Eagles' 1–5).
Playoffs
| First Round | Second Round | Conf. Championship Games | Super Bowl XVII | |||||||||||
| January 9 – Riverfront Stadium | ||||||||||||||
| 6) N.Y. Jets | 44 | |||||||||||||
| January 15 – L.A. Memorial Coliseum | ||||||||||||||
| 3) Cincinnati | 17 | |||||||||||||
| 6) N.Y. Jets | 17 | |||||||||||||
| January 8 – L.A. Memorial Coliseum | ||||||||||||||
| 1) L.A. Raiders | 14 | |||||||||||||
| 8) Cleveland | 10 | |||||||||||||
| January 23 – Miami Orange Bowl | ||||||||||||||
| 1) L.A. Raiders | 27 | |||||||||||||
| 6) N.Y. Jets | 0 | |||||||||||||
| January 9 – Three Rivers Stadium | ||||||||||||||
| 2) Miami | 14 | |||||||||||||
| 5) San Diego | 31 | |||||||||||||
| January 16 – Miami Orange Bowl | ||||||||||||||
| 4) Pittsburgh | 28 | |||||||||||||
| 5) San Diego | 14 | |||||||||||||
| January 8 – Miami Orange Bowl | ||||||||||||||
| 2) Miami | 34 | |||||||||||||
| 7) New England | 13 | |||||||||||||
| January 30 – Rose Bowl | ||||||||||||||
| 2) Miami | 28 | |||||||||||||
| A2) Miami | 17 | |||||||||||||
| January 8 – Lambeau Field | ||||||||||||||
| N1) Washington | 27 | |||||||||||||
| 6) St. Louis | 16 | |||||||||||||
| January 16 – Texas Stadium | ||||||||||||||
| 3) Green Bay | 41 | |||||||||||||
| 3) Green Bay | 26 | |||||||||||||
| January 9 – Texas Stadium | ||||||||||||||
| 2) Dallas | 37 | |||||||||||||
| 7) Tampa Bay | 17 | |||||||||||||
| January 22 – RFK Stadium | ||||||||||||||
| 2) Dallas | 30 | |||||||||||||
| 2) Dallas | 17 | |||||||||||||
| January 9 – Metrodome | ||||||||||||||
| 1) Washington | 31 | |||||||||||||
| 5) Atlanta | 24 | |||||||||||||
| January 15 – RFK Stadium | ||||||||||||||
| 4) Minnesota | 30 | |||||||||||||
| 4) Minnesota | 7 | |||||||||||||
| January 8 – RFK Stadium | ||||||||||||||
| 1) Washington | 21 | |||||||||||||
| 8) Detroit | 7 | |||||||||||||
| 1) Washington | 31 | |||||||||||||
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.[1]
Awards
References
- ^ O'Neil, Danny (January 2, 2011), "Seahawks defeat Rams 16–6 to win NFC West title", The Seattle Times, retrieved January 3, 2011
- 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)
- 1982 NFL season at Football Reference