The 1991 NFL season was the 72nd regular season of the National Football League. The season ended with Super Bowl XXVI when the Washington Redskins defeated the Buffalo Bills.
[edit] Major rule changes
- Source: Total Football: The Official Encyclopedia of the National Football League (ISBN 0-06-270174-6). pp 1583–1592.
- The definition of a drop kick, field goal, and punt is modified: all three can only be attempted from behind the line of scrimmage.
- If a foul by a player causes an injury to an opponent, a team time out will not be charged to the penalized team anytime during the game instead of only during the last two minutes of a half.
- The game clock will not start until the next snap following any change of possession, even if the player went out of bounds.
- Officials will immediately blow the play dead when a defensive player is offsides before the snap and clearly rushes beyond the offensive line in such a way that he becomes an unabated threat to the quarterback.
- A touchback will be ruled when a player fumbles the ball in the field of play and it goes out of bounds in the opponent's end zone.
- A touchback, not a safety, will also be ruled when a player fumbles the ball in his own end zone and the opponent is the one that knocks the fumble out of bounds in the end zone.
- An offensive player cannot deliberately bat a backward pass forward.
- The NFL shield was added to the yoke of the jerseys and the left thigh of the pants.
[edit] Final regular season standings
W = Wins, L = Losses, PCT = Winning Percentage, PF= Points For, PA = Points Against
Clinched playoff seeds are marked in parentheses and shaded in green. No ties occurred this season.
[edit] Tiebreakers
- N.Y. Jets finished ahead of Miami in the AFC East based on head-to-head sweep (2–0).
- Chicago was the first NFC Wild Card based on better conference record than Dallas (9–3 to Cowboys' 8–4).
- Atlanta finished ahead of San Francisco in the NFC West based on head-to-head sweep (2–0), and was the third NFC Wild Card ahead of Philadelphia based on better conference record (7–5 to Eagles' 6–6).
[edit] Playoffs
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Wild Card Playoffs |
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Divisional Playoffs |
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Conference Championships |
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Super Bowl XXVI |
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5 |
Dallas |
17 |
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4 |
Chicago |
13 |
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5 |
Dallas |
6 |
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2 |
Detroit |
38 |
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2 |
Detroit |
10 |
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NFC |
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1 |
Washington |
41 |
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6 |
Atlanta |
27 |
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3 |
New Orleans |
20 |
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6 |
Atlanta |
7 |
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1 |
Washington |
24 |
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N1 |
Washington |
37 |
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A1 |
Buffalo |
24 |
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6 |
N.Y. Jets |
10 |
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3 |
Houston |
17 |
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3 |
Houston |
24 |
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2 |
Denver |
26 |
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2 |
Denver |
7 |
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AFC |
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1 |
Buffalo |
10 |
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5 |
L.A. Raiders |
6 |
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4 |
Kansas City |
10 |
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4 |
Kansas City |
14 |
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1 |
Buffalo |
37 |
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[edit] Awards
| Most Valuable Player |
Thurman Thomas, Running Back, Buffalo |
| Coach of the Year |
Wayne Fontes, Detroit |
| Offensive Player of the Year |
Thurman Thomas, Running Back, Buffalo |
| Defensive Player of the Year |
Pat Swilling, Linebacker, New Orleans |
| Offensive Rookie of the Year |
Leonard Russell, Running Back, New England |
| Defensive Rookie of the Year |
Mike Croel, Linebacker, Denver |
[edit] References
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Early era
(1920–1969) |
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Modern era
(1970–present) |
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