2009 NFL season

2009 NFL season

Regular season
Duration	September 10, 2009 - January 3, 2010
Playoffs
Start date	January 9, 2010
Super Bowl XLIV
Date	February 7, 2010
Site	Dolphin Stadium, Miami Gardens, Florida
Pro Bowl
Date	January 31, 2010 Dolphin Stadium, Miami Gardens, Florida
Site	Aloha Stadium

The 2009 NFL Season is the 90th season of the National Football League, the major Professional American football league in the United States. The preseason started with the Pro Football Hall of Fame Game on August 9, 2009, and the regular season began September 10. The season will end with Super Bowl XLIV, the league's championship game, on February 7, 2010 at Land Shark Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida.

Regular season 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

 x  - clinched wild card berth,  y  - clinched division title,  z  - clinched bye week,  †  - eliminated from playoff contention

AFC East
	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
(3) New England Patriots	10	6	0	.625	4–2	7–5	427	285	L1
(5) New York Jets	9	7	0	.563	2–4	7–5	348	236	W2
Miami Dolphins	7	9	0	.438	4–2	5–7	360	390	L3
Buffalo Bills	6	10	0	.375	2–4	4–8	258	326	W1

AFC North
	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
(4) Cincinnati Bengals	10	6	0	.625	6–0	7–5	305	291	L1
(6) Baltimore Ravens	9	7	0	.563	3–3	7–5	391	261	W1
Pittsburgh Steelers	9	7	0	.563	2–4	6–6	368	324	W3
Cleveland Browns	5	11	0	.313	1–5	5–7	245	375	W4

AFC South
	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
(1) Indianapolis Colts	14	2	0	.875	6–0	10–2	416	307	L2
Houston Texans	9	7	0	.563	1–5	6–6	388	333	W4
Tennessee Titans	8	8	0	.500	2–4	4–8	354	402	W1
Jacksonville Jaguars	7	9	0	.438	3–3	6–6	290	380	L4

AFC West
	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
(2) San Diego Chargers	13	3	0	.813	5–1	9–3	454	320	W11
Denver Broncos	8	8	0	.500	3–3	6–6	326	324	L4
Oakland Raiders	5	11	0	.313	2–4	4–8	197	379	L2
Kansas City Chiefs	4	12	0	.250	2–4	3–9	294	424	W1

NFC East
	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
(3) Dallas Cowboys	11	5	0	.688	4–2	9–3	361	250	W3
(6) Philadelphia Eagles	11	5	0	.688	4–2	9–3	429	337	L1
New York Giants	8	8	0	.500	4–2	6–6	402	427	L2
Washington Redskins	4	12	0	.250	0–6	2–10	266	336	L3

NFC North
	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
(2) Minnesota Vikings	12	4	0	.750	5–1	9–3	470	312	W1
(5) Green Bay Packers	11	5	0	.688	4–2	9–3	461	297	W2
Chicago Bears	7	9	0	.438	3–3	5–7	327	375	W2
Detroit Lions	2	14	0	.125	0–6	1–11	262	494	L6

NFC South
	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
(1) New Orleans Saints	13	3	0	.813	4–2	9–3	510	341	L3
Atlanta Falcons	9	7	0	.563	3–3	6–6	363	325	W3
Carolina Panthers	8	8	0	.500	4–2	8–4	315	308	W3
Tampa Bay Buccaneers	3	13	0	.188	1–5	3–9	244	400	L1

NFC West
	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
(4) Arizona Cardinals	10	6	0	.625	4–2	8–4	375	325	L1
San Francisco 49ers	8	8	0	.500	5–1	7–5	330	281	W2
Seattle Seahawks	5	11	0	.313	3–3	4–8	280	390	L4
St. Louis Rams	1	15	0	.063	0–6	1–11	175	436	L8

Playoff scenarios

Playoff clinching scenarios

In week 16 (games from December 22-28):

AFC

• Indianapolis Colts have clinched the AFC South division title and home-field through the playoffs
• San Diego Chargers have clinched the AFC West division title

• New England Patriots can clinch the AFC East with a win or tie or both a New York Jets and Miami Dolphins loss or tie.

• Cincinnati Bengals can clinch the AFC North with a win or tie or a Baltimore Ravens loss or tie.

• Baltimore Ravens will secure a play-off spot if they win and both Jacksonville Jaguars and New York Jets lose.

• Jacksonville Jaguars, Miami Dolphins, New York Jets, Pittsburgh Steelers, Tennesee Titans and Houston Texans would be eliminated from playoff contention with a loss.

NFC

• Minnesota Vikings have clinched the NFC North division title
• New Orleans Saints have clinched the NFC South division title and a first-round bye
• Arizona Cardinals have clinched the NFC West division title
• Philadelphia Eagles have clinched a NFC playoff spot

• Green Bay Packers and Dallas Cowboys can clinch a playoff spot with a win or tie a New York Giants loss or tie.

Playoff elimination scenarios

The following teams have been eliminated:

• Week 12 - Detroit Lions, Cleveland Browns, St. Louis Rams and Tampa Bay Buccaneers
• Week 13 - Kansas City Chiefs and Washington Redskins
• Week 14 - Chicago Bears and Oakland Raiders
• Week 15 - Atlanta Falcons, Buffalo Bills, Carolina Panthers, San Francisco 49ers and Seattle Seahawks

Playoffs

Further information: [[:2009–10 NFL playoffs]]

The playoffs begin with Wild Card Weekend on January 9–10, 2010. The Divisional Playoffs will be played on January 16–17 and the Conference Championship Games on January 24. Super Bowl XLIV will be played on February 7 at Dolphin Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida.

Fiftieth anniversary of the American Football League

The 2009 NFL season marks the 50th season of the original eight charter members of the American Football League.

This season marks the fiftieth season of the Original Eight charter members of the American Football League, whose owners became collectively known as "The Foolish Club." The fifth league to use the AFL moniker (previous leagues in 1926, 1934, 1936-37, and 1940-41, all had failed) began play in 1960 and would form the major portion of the American Football Conference (AFC) when the NFL completed its merger with the AFL in 1970:

• Boston Patriots, now the New England Patriots
• Buffalo Bills
• Dallas Texans, now the Kansas City Chiefs
• Denver Broncos
• Houston Oilers, now the Tennessee Titans
• Los Angeles Chargers, now the San Diego Chargers
• The Titans of New York, now the New York Jets
• Oakland Raiders (Originally the Oakland Señores, but changed name to Raiders prior to first game)

The Bills and Jets currently use AFL-era throwback uniforms as their alternate jerseys. The league will have the other six teams use a third jersey replicating those from the AFL in their heyday. Each of the Original Eight will play another original AFL team, one at home and one away, on two "AFL Legacy Weekends", and have a special 50th Anniversary AFL patch on the throwback uniforms. In a waiver given by these eight, they can wear the anniversary throwbacks a maximum of four times a season, whereas all of the other teams have a limit of twice per season. The Bills, Patriots, Raiders, and Titans (Oilers) will wear the throwbacks the maximum four times, while the Chiefs (Texans), Chargers, and Jets (Titans) will wear them three times. The Chargers also wore their regular powder blue alternate jersey of the current design for two other allowed games. The Broncos elected to wear their throwbacks only twice (the team is wearing the infamous 1960-1961 brown and yellow throwbacks with the vertically-striped socks) and wore wear their regular orange alternate jersey of the current design in the other two allowed games, giving the team six different uniforms over a 16-game season. Both of the games involving the orange jerseys involved the Dallas Cowboys and the Pittsburgh Steelers--two "old" NFL teams before the merger, with the Steelers joining the Broncos in the AFC in 1970 as a result of the merger.

An AFL patch is already a permanent part of the Kansas City Chiefs' jerseys, in honor of team and AFL founder Lamar Hunt, who died in December 2006. The program kicked off on August 9 in the 2009 Pro Football Hall of Fame Game with the Bills playing the Titans (Oilers). Besides the Legacy Games, the Chiefs wore Dallas Texans uniforms in one home game against the NFC's Dallas Cowboys, who also wore throwbacks, while the Cowboys hosted the Raiders in a Thanksgiving Classic game in Arlington, Texas. (The Chiefs and Cowboys throwbacks both feature team-colored jerseys, making it the first dark color vs. dark color game since the Patriots-Lions 2002 Thanksgiving game.) For all games other than those cited above, the Original Eight will wear their 2009 uniforms, each with a team-specific 50th Anniversary shoulder patch, save for the Titans, who wore the AFL 50th Anniversary logo on all uniforms. For the legacy weekends, on-field officials working the Original Eight's games will wear their own throwbacks - shirts with Chinese-red stripes, and an AFL chest and cap logo. The fields for the regular season games will be painted in the innovative designs introduced by the AFL in the 1960s (for instance, the Broncos' end zones are painted in an argyle pattern).

Although the Dolphins and Bengals were both part of the AFL, they did not join the league until 1966 and 1968, respectively. The Dolphins will play in three Legacy games (wearing their current uniforms), while the Bengals will not be part of the events.

Original Eight AFL League Uniforms
Team	Year	Uniform feature
Buffalo Bills	1965	AFL Championship season (Dark jerseys current third uniform).
Denver Broncos	1960	Featured infamous brown and yellow (or brown and white) vertically striped socks
Kansas City Chiefs (Dallas Texans)	1962	AFL Championship season; same as current but with State of Texas outline.
New England Patriots (Boston Patriots)	1963	First divisional championship.
New York Jets (The Titans of New York)	1961	Dark jerseys are current third uniform.
Oakland Raiders	1963	White jerseys with silver numbers trimmed in black.
San Diego Chargers	1963	AFL Championship Season.
Tennessee Titans (Houston Oilers)	1960	First season of existence.

AFL Legacy Game Schedule
Date	Site	Teams
August 9	Canton, Ohio	Bills vs. Houston Oilers (Tennessee Titans)
September 14	Foxborough, MA	Bills at Boston Patriots (New England Patriots)
	Oakland	Chargers at Raiders
September 27	East Rutherford, NJ	Houston Oilers at The Titans of New York (Tennessee Titans at NY Jets)
October 11	Kansas City	Dallas Cowboys at Dallas Texans (Kansas City Chiefs)
	Denver	Boston Patriots (New England Patriots) at Broncos
October 18	Foxborough, MA	Houston Oilers at Boston Patriots (Tennessee Titans at New England Patriots)
October 19	San Diego	Broncos at Chargers
October 25	Kansas City	Chargers at Dallas Texans (Kansas City Chiefs)
	Oakland	The Titans of New York (NY Jets) at Raiders
November 1	East Rutherford	Dolphins at The Titans of New York (NY Jets)
November 15	Nashville	Bills at Houston Oilers (Tennessee Titans)
	Oakland	Dallas Texans (Kansas City Chiefs) at Raiders
November 26	Arlington, TX	Raiders at Dallas Cowboys
November 29	Orchard Park, NY	Dolphins at Bills
December 6	Miami Gardens, FL	Boston Patriots (New England Patriots) at Dolphins

Other anniversaries

It is the fortieth season since the AFL–NFL merger was officially completed in 1970, and also the sixtieth season since the All-America Football Conference merged with the NFL, adding the Cleveland Browns and San Francisco 49ers to the league. No celebrations are planned for any of those teams, but Cleveland will likely continue using their throwback jersey as in previous years, while San Francisco reverted back to their old colors (lighter shades of red and gold from their glory seasons of five Super Bowl victories) in an unrelated move.

Dallas Cowboys

The NFC's Dallas Cowboys also celebrate their fiftieth season in 2009. After the NFL had rebuffed Lamar Hunt's overtures to place an NFL team in Dallas, saying they had no plans to expand, the league granted the Cowboys a franchise in 1960 in reaction to Hunt's AFL Dallas Texans. The NFL's Cowboys franchise started out in 1960 with a record of no wins, eleven losses and one tie, but has since gone on to appear in eight Super Bowls (more than any other team), winning five of them, tied for second with the San Francisco 49ers behind only the Pittsburgh Steelers. Ironically, the Texans' franchise, which left Dallas to become the Kansas City Chiefs, won Super Bowl IV, two years before the Cowboys won their first. Though there was never an actual game between the Dallas Texans and the Cowboys, the 2009 "throwback" game played against Kansas City (Dallas Texans) and the Dallas Cowboys was played as "The Game that Never Was". The [Dallas] Cowboys won the game at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, MO, 26-20 in overtime.

NFC North

All four members of the NFC North are celebrating significant anniversaries.

The Green Bay Packers and Chicago Bears, two of the oldest teams of the NFL remaining in the league, are marking 90 years in 2009. While the Packers did not join the NFL until 1921, the team marks its founding with the team's creation in 1919. Neither team is planning any celebrations, though the first Sunday Night Football game of the season featured the two teams, pitted in "The League's Oldest Rivalry."

Likewise, the Minnesota Vikings will also have been in existence for 50 years. The team traces its existence to the founding of the AFL in 1959, but although they participated in that league's inaugural draft, they were instead lured to the NFL before playing a game. (The Oakland Raiders replaced Minnesota in the AFL.) The Minnesota team, not named the Vikings until after they joined the NFL, did not take any of their drafted players with them, were granted their own expansion draft by the NFL, and did not play until 1961. As such, the Vikings are only in their 49th season, while the Detroit Lions will be in its 80th season in the NFL, and their 75th in Detroit. Last season, Detroit reintroduced its throwback jersey, while Minnesota continues using theirs. None of the teams will have significant celebrations this season.

Media

Television

Further information: NFL on television

This is the fourth season under the current television contracts with the league's television partners: CBS (all AFC Sunday afternoon away games and one Thanksgiving game), Fox (all NFC Sunday afternoon away games and one Thanksgiving game), NBC (16 Sunday night games and the kickoff game), ESPN (17 Monday night games over sixteen weeks), NFL Network (eight late-season games on Thursday and Saturday nights, including one Thanksgiving game and a Christmas night game), and DirecTV's NFL Sunday Ticket package. The current agreements with CBS, Fox and DirecTV were extended two years through the 2013 season on May 19, 2009; NBC's contract was extended through that same season on August 19 of the same year.

CBS celebrates its 50th season of NFL coverage; CBS has covered NFL games from 1956 to 1993 and again from 1998 to the present. Ironically, CBS which was ordered by the NFL not to give American Football League scores during its NFL broadcasts of the 1960s, now covers the AFC, while Fox covers the NFC. This season is also the fortieth consecutive season that Monday Night Football has been a permanent part of the NFL schedule, though the league had played games on Monday night sporadically before this. Monday Night Football originally aired on ABC before switching to ESPN in 2006, when the two networks' sports operations were merged. The first Monday night of the regular season featured two AFL Original Eight games, a doubleheader with the Bills at the Patriots and the Chargers at the Raiders.

NFL Network continues to have coverage disputes with major cable providers. In particular, Comcast, the largest cable provider in the United States, was considering removing the network from its lineups on April 30, 2009, shortly after the draft but before the start of the preseason. Comcast was carrying the network on a digital sports tier and negotiations continued past the April 30 deadline as NFLN would continue on Comcast, which ended with a resolution on May 19 that could open the door for other major cable providers such as Cablevision and Cox to carry the network on a what would be equal to Comcast's digital classic tier, with around 10 million subscribers. However, the most notable holdout, Time Warner Cable, still is nowhere near a deal. Additionally, the NFL Network will create a new "Red Zone Channel" starting with the season openers September 13. Comcast-owned Versus has signed a deal to carry United Football League games on Thursday nights; the tail end of the UFL schedule will overlap with the first few weeks of the Thursday night NFL package. In related news, the NFL has reached a settlement with DISH Network over the satellite provider's decision to move NFL Network to a higher tier. NFL Network has also dropped the use of the names "Run to the Playoffs" and "Saturday Night Football," opting to standardize all of its broadcasts under the "Thursday Night Football" banner. The Saturday night and Friday night games airing on the network will be marketed as "Thursday Night Football Special Edition."

This is also the first NFL season after the DTV transition in the United States, which was originally scheduled to take place on February 17, 2009 but was delayed until June 12, 2009. Hawaii made the digital switchover on January 15, 2009. (Low-power translators will still be allowed to broadcast in analog until at least 2012, and cable providers will continue to distribute analog signals for the foreseeable future.)

After fifty seasons as a player, coach, broadcaster and video game maven, John Madden retired on April 16 from his position on Sunday Night Football. Cris Collinsworth moved from NFL Network to NBC to assume Madden's in-game analyst role with Al Michaels; Matt Millen replaces Collinsworth on NFL Network. In addition, Tony Kornheiser left MNF and former Raiders and Buccaneers coach Jon Gruden replaced him.

Radio

In radio, it was reported that the league was exploring ending its contract with Westwood One or sharing games with another network due to Westwood One's financial problems. The Sports USA Radio Network, ESPN Radio and Sporting News Radio were mentioned as possible partners; Fox Sports Radio was notably excluded from consideration. Sports USA currently carries Sunday afternoon games by agreement with individual teams, while ESPN carries the NBA and Major League Baseball, the latter causing a potential schedule conflict between Sunday Night Football and Sunday Night Baseball, plus the MLB Playoffs. Sunday night, Monday night, Thanksgiving and all other Thursday and Saturday games are covered by the contract. Of the offers, Westwood One was the high bidder (and reportedly the only one offering guaranteed money), ESPN requested a longer-term deal, the Sporting News offered a revenue-sharing plan in lieu of rights fees, and Sports USA was described as a "long shot." After a restructuring shored up the company's financial situation, Westwood One in March 2009 earned a two-year extension for all of the night games, paying US$33,000,000 for the two-year deal.

In addition to the official feature game package, three networks will carry nationwide radio broadcasts of Sunday afternoon games. The newest such network is Compass Media Networks, which has signed deals with eight teams. Sports USA and Westwood One will carry games from the other 24 teams. Dial Global, which previously backed Sports USA's coverage in 2008, will instead handle Compass's package for 2009.

Stadiums new and old

The 2009 season is the first season for the new self-named stadium of the Dallas Cowboys. It is also the last season for Giants Stadium, as both the New York Giants and Jets move into a new stadium for 2010.

Uniforms

After having no major uniform changes for the 2008 NFL season, the trend of at least one major uniform change per season among the 32 teams will return with two major uniform changes, as well as one with some minor modifications.

The San Francisco 49ers, who had been long-rumored to be returning to their 1964-1995 uniforms (and have had the red variation of those uniforms as their third uniform since the 2002 season) are doing so for this season. The team has confirmed that it will return to a brighter, scarlet red and a less metallic "49ers gold" as its team colors, replacing the darker cardinal red and the more metallic "49ers gold" which the team has worn since it last overhauled their uniforms in 1996. The new uniforms were unveiled on April 25, 2009.

The Jacksonville Jaguars are also getting new uniforms for the 2009 season. Team owner Wayne Weaver reportedly wanted to "clean up" the look, feeling that the team has too many uniform styles. The changes aren't a complete overhaul, but similar to the Atlanta Falcons and Minnesota Vikings' recent overhauls. The new uniforms were introduced at a press conference on April 22.

The Detroit Lions designated their popular 1950's-era throwbacks as their third uniform and have completely dropped the unpopular black jerseys. The team had not worn the throwbacks from 2005–07 to make room for the Matt Millen-designated black jerseys. In addition, the team unveiled a new helmet logo on April 20, updating "Bubbles" with a fiercer look and wordmark, with modified uniforms. Those logos were accidentally leaked by NFL.com in their online shop, then quickly removed on March 23, 2009.

Besides the above-mentioned throwbacks for the 50th anniversary season of the AFL, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers wore their "Creamsicle" throwbacks for the November 8 home game vs. the Green Bay Packers, in conjunction with the creation of the Buccaneers Ring of Honor.

The St. Louis Rams will wear their 1973-1999 blue uniforms in some games to remember former owner Georgia Frontiere, who died in early 2008 (too late to inform the NFL about wearing a throwback uniform in her honor during the 2008 season; the team instead opted for a memorial patch for that season) and also celebrate the tenth anniversary of their win in Super Bowl XXXIV. Ironically, the Rams cut ties with its last two remaining offensive players from the Greatest Show on Turf era during the offseason by releasing Orlando Pace and Torry Holt for both salary cap reasons as well as the team opting for a rebuilding mode after a 2-14 season in 2008 (second only to the Lions historic 0-16 season) and no trips to the postseason since the 2004 season. Defensive end Leonard Little is the only player remaining that wore the pre-2000 uniforms that will wear them again this season, and are scheduled for October 11 against the Vikings and December 20 against the Texans.

The Cleveland Browns, Dallas Cowboys, Minnesota Vikings, and Pittsburgh Steelers are expected to retain their throwback alternates worn in previous seasons. And the Atlanta Falcons will don replicas of their 1966 uniforms, the team's first season in lieu of their all-black uniforms.

The Tennessee Titans will wear a Number 9 decal on the back of their helmets to honor former Titans QB Steve McNair, who was killed on July 4, while the Philadelphia Eagles will wear a decal with the initials of Jim Johnson, their long time defensive coordinator who died on July 28.

The Seattle Seahawks have also unveiled a lime green jersey with blue shoulders, to pay tribute to the new Major League Soccer team, the Seattle Sounders FC, with whom they share Qwest Field. The jersey was retired early, on December 9, 2009.

Tentative final season of the salary cap

The salary cap, before team-by-team adjustments, for the 2009 season will be $127 million. NFL owners voted in 2008 not to continue the current salary cap system after the 2009 season (the vote was 23 in favor, 9 against; the extension measure needed 24 to pass). Unless a new collective-bargaining agreement is reached with the National Football League Players Association, 2010 will be an uncapped season.

In addition, owner Jerry Jones, whose legendary Dallas Cowboys team is the wealthiest franchise in the NFL, has hinted that he may push for the elimination or severe reduction of revenue sharing for the uncapped season.

Rule changes

Several rule changes were passed at the league's annual owners meeting in Dana Point, California during the week of March 23.

The following rules were passed to improve player safety and reduce injuries:

• A blindside block cannot be initially delivered by a helmet, forearm or shoulder to an opponent's head or neck.
• The initial contact to the head of a defenseless receiver is also prohibited.
• On kickoffs, a blocking wedge cannot consist of more than two players.
• During onside kickoff attempts, the kicking team cannot have more than five players bunched together.

The replay system will now be allowed to cover the following situations:

• Whether a loose ball from a passer is definitely a fumble or an incomplete pass. This was passed in response to a play in the San Diego Chargers–Denver Broncos Week 2 regular season game where, in the final minutes, referee Ed Hochuli ruled that Broncos quarterback Jay Cutler threw an incomplete pass. Replays clearly showed it was a fumble, but the play was previously not reviewable.
• Whether a loose ball actually hit the sideline. This change was passed in response to a play in the NFC Championship Game between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Arizona Cardinals where a Cardinals kickoff was ruled to have gone out of bounds, but replays clearly showed it was recovered in bounds by Arizona.

Other new rules include:

• If onside kick does not go 10 yards, goes out of bounds, or is touched illegally at anytime during the kick, the ball is immediately awarded to the receiving team. This amends a rule that was first implemented during the 2003 season. Previously, if the kicking team committed this foul before the final five minutes of the game, they had another chance to kick again from five yards back.
• On all fumbles and laterals that go out of bounds, the clock will immediately start when the referee signals ready for play instead of waiting until next snap.

After the first pre-season game was played at the new Cowboys Stadium, with the Tennessee Titans' A.J. Trapasso's punt hitting the center-hung video display boards during the game, the league temporarily modified the rule regarding balls in play that strike an object such as a video board or a guy wire: in addition for the down being replayed, the game clock will also be reset to the time when the original play was snapped. This change currently only applies for this year, allowing the league to have the option of ordering the video displays to be raised for next season.

Events

There were several events occuring during the 2009 season

Brett Favre signs with Minnesota

Brett Favre officially signed with the Minnesota Vikings on August 18, 2009. When Favre un-retired for the second time. He was signed to a two-year, $25 million deal.

Return of Michael Vick

Free Agent Quarterback Michael Vick was reinstated after finishing his 2-year prison term and was signed a one year contract for the Philadelphia Eagles.

Incidents with Tom Cable

On August 17, 2009 Oakland Raiders head coach Tom Cable was accused of punching assistant coach Randy Hanson in the face and fracturing his jaw. The incident allegedly took place on August 5th during the Raiders training camp, held in Napa. On October 22, 2009, the Napa district attorney announced that no charges would be filed against Cable.

Death of Chris Henry

Cinncinati Bengals wide receiver Chris Henry died on December 17, 2009. He was placed on the injured reserved list four weeks before the accident. He suffered from injuries after falling from the back of his pick-up truck in Charlotte, North Carolina the previous day.

Schedule

The 2009 NFL Draft was held at Radio City Music Hall in New York City on April 25 and 26, 2009. The 2009 season began on September 10, 2009 (under the current scheduling system, this is the latest date the NFL can start its season as the season typically starts the weekend after Labor Day, which falls on its latest possible date in 2009). This will be the eighth and tentatively final year that the league uses its current scheduling rotation. Implemented in 2002, this rotation schedules all teams to play each other at least once every four years and to play in every other team's stadium at least once every eight years (notwithstanding the regular season games played overseas as part of the NFL International Series). No later than the end of the 2009 season, a decision will be made whether to continue using this scheduling formula. There are proposals to expand the regular season schedule to 17 or 18 games per team, possibly allowing for all teams to play abroad in the International Series. There is also a proposal to modify the scheduling formula to ease the burden of cross-country road trips, especially to relieve East Coast teams from having to travel to Oakland & San Diego or San Francisco & Seattle during the same season.

For the 2009 season, the intraconference and interconference matchups are:

Intraconference

• AFC East vs. AFC South
• AFC North vs. AFC West
• NFC East vs. NFC South
• NFC North vs. NFC West

Interconference

• AFC East vs. NFC South
• AFC North vs. NFC North
• AFC South vs. NFC West
• AFC West vs. NFC East

The 2009 schedule was released on April 14, 2009 and features the following highlights:

Preseason games

The Pro Football Hall of Fame Game was on August 9, 2009 at 8:00 p.m. EDT on NBC. The Tennessee Titans defeated the Buffalo Bills 21-18, and both wore "throwback" jerseys celebrating the two franchises' AFL origins. It was the first time since 1970 that the teams have not been from opposing conferences; also, both Bills owner Ralph Wilson, a 2009 Hall of Fame inductee, and Titans owner Bud Adams have owned their teams continuously since the AFL's inception in 1960, making them the longest-tenured team owners in the league. Both teams made their first Hall of Fame Game appearance since the 1980s (Buffalo last played in Canton in 1989, Tennessee in 1985 as the former Houston Oilers).

The rest of the pre-season matchups were announced March 30, 2009. Highlights, among others, included a rematch of Super Bowl XLIII between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Arizona Cardinals on ESPN.

Regular season

The first game of the season was on Thursday, September 10, at 8:30 pm EDT, with the Super Bowl XLIII champion Pittsburgh Steelers defeating the Tennessee Titans 13–10 in overtime at Heinz Field. The opening weekend game on NBC Sunday Night Football featured the Chicago Bears at Green Bay Packers, which the Packers won, 21-15. The opening weekend doubleheader games on Monday Night Football were both part of the AFL 50th Anniversary celebration: Buffalo Bills at New England Patriots in the first game, and San Diego Chargers at Oakland Raiders in the second game. New England defeated Buffalo in an epic end-of-game rally, coming from behind 24-13 to win 25-24 in the final three minutes in what has been dubbed the "Nightmare in New England" by at least one newspaper. San Diego defeated Oakland by a score of 24-20 in the nightcap with their own fourth quarter comeback.

During the month of October, teams across the league honored National Breast Cancer Awareness Month by wearing gloves, wristbands, patches, towels and shoes accented with pink. Banners were hung around league stadiums to raise awareness, and the NFL's website featured a pink background. Referees and coaches hats also had pink accents. In addition, the NFL Referee's Association donated $24,000 to breast cancer charities throughout the month. Also used were pink goal post padding, pink coins, and pink ribbon decals on the field and on footballs.

This year's International Series game was played October 25, 2009 at 1:00 pm EDT (5:00 pm local time in London) again at Wembley Stadium in London. The New England Patriots defeated the designated "home" team, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 35-7. CBS televised this game on a regional basis as the Patriots were the "visiting" team.

The Thanksgiving Day games were contested on Thursday, November 26, 2009. On Fox, Green Bay won over Detroit, 34-12. The Dallas Cowboys defeated the Oakland Raiders, 24-7 on CBS, and in the prime time NFL Network game, the Denver Broncos were victorious over the New York Giants, 26-6.

The second regular-season game of the Bills Toronto Series, in which the Buffalo Bills play in the Rogers Centre in Template:City-state, will feature the New York Jets on Thursday Night Football December 3. Earlier reports on a potential Bills-Toronto Argonauts doubleheader and reports of the league favoring other teams were proven inaccurate. No preseason game was played in this series for 2009.

The league has scheduled a rare Friday night game on December 25, Christmas Day, in lieu of a Thursday night game that week. The game will feature the San Diego Chargers at the Tennessee Titans (although both are part of the AFL anniversary, this game won't be a part of the celebrations).

All other games were announced on April 14, 2009 on the NFL Network and the NFL website, though several teams had partial details leaked prior to that time. This season marked the first time ever that the Buffalo Bills and Tampa Bay Buccaneers met at Ralph Wilson Stadium in Buffalo in regular season play. In 2002, when the current scheduling formula was arranged, the fact that Buffalo had never hosted Tampa Bay in the Buccaneers' history was one of the quirks cited in creating the formula.

Postseason

The playoffs will begin Saturday, January 9, 2010 with Wild Card Weekend. Divisional playoffs will follow the next week.

The AFC Championship Game is set for Sunday, January 24, 2010 at 3:00 p.m., followed by the NFC Championship Game at 6:30 p.m. Super Bowl XLIV, to be held at Dolphin Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida, follows two weeks later, on February 7.

The 2010 Pro Bowl will be held on January 31, one week before Super Bowl XLIV, at the same site of the league championship game, Dolphin Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida. This is the first time since 1979 (held for the 1978 season) that the Pro Bowl will be held in the Continental United States as opposed to Hawaii. The NFL also announced that the site and date of Pro Bowl games after 2010 will include playing the game on a rotating basis in Honolulu. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said the move was made after looking at alternatives to strengthen the Pro Bowl and to make the end of the season more climactic. As a result of the move, players will not be allowed to play in both the Super Bowl and the Pro Bowl in the same year. In addition, ESPN will replace CBS as broadcaster, with kickoff scheduled for 8:05 pm EST.

Scheduling changes

• China Bowl: The China Bowl, a proposed pre-season game between the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks, would have taken place in Beijing, China. It had been postponed from the 2007 season to 2009, but after the 2008 economic crisis, the Patriots closed their Chinese operations and the game was canceled.
• The NFL moved the September 27 game between the Tennessee Titans and New York Jets at Giants Stadium from 4:15 p.m. EDT to 1:00 p.m. EDT, in response to a request from Jets owner Woody Johnson to change the time to accommodate the Jewish Yom Kippur holiday that began at sundown that evening. This marked a rare occasion when the Jets and Giants played at the same time (the Giants played at Tampa Bay). In general, both New York City teams are not scheduled to play at the same time. The Jets game aired on CBS (WCBS-TV in New York), while the Giants game aired on Fox (WNYW-TV).
• The Jets and Giants played again at the same time on November 1. The Jets hosted the Miami Dolphins at Giants Stadium, while the Giants played at Philadelphia. The Giants–Eagles game was originally scheduled for 4:15 p.m. EST, but moved forward to 1:00 p.m. EST in order to avoid coinciding with the Phillies hosting Game 4 of the 2009 World Series that evening at Citizens Bank Park, which is directly across Pattison Avenue from Lincoln Financial Field. The Vikings–Packers game, originally scheduled for 1:00 p.m. EST that same day, was moved to 4:15 p.m. EST.
• The Bears–Vikings and Cardinals–Titans games on November 29 were rescheduled from 1:00 p.m. EST to 4:15 p.m. EST.
• By way of Flex Scheduling, the Vikings–Cardinals game on December 6 was moved to the 8:20 p.m. EST slot to replace the Patriots–Dolphins matchup.
• The Rams–Titans game on December 13 was rescheduled from 1:00 p.m. EST to 4:05 p.m. EST.
• The Packers–Steelers game on December 20 was rescheduled from 1:00 p.m. EST to 4:15 p.m. EST. That same day, a major east coast blizzard forced the Bears–Ravens and 49ers–Eagles games to be pushed back from 1:00 p.m. EST to 4:15 p.m. EST on only two days notice.
• The Broncos–Eagles game on December 27 was moved from 1:00 p.m. EST to 4:15 p.m. EST.

Coaching changes

Pre-season

Eight teams hired new head coaches prior to the start of the 2009 season, while two made their interim coaches permament, and another moved from one team to another after being fired by a team:

Team	2009 Coach	2008 Coach(es)	Reason for leaving	Story/Accomplishments
Cleveland Browns	Eric Mangini, former head coach of the New York Jets (see below)	Romeo Crennel	Fired	Crennel compiled a 24-40 (.375) record in four seasons as the Browns' head coach. Browns GM Phil Savage was fired at the same time.
Denver Broncos	Josh McDaniels, former offensive coordinator of the New England Patriots	Mike Shanahan	Fired	Shanahan, the second-longest tenured head coach in the league (hired in 1995), was relieved of his duties after a 146-91 record (.616), two Super Bowl titles (XXXII and XXXIII), three division titles, and seven playoff appearances in fourteen seasons in Colorado. The Broncos let a three-game division lead slip away over the last month of the 2008 season and missed the playoffs for the third straight year. McDaniels, who has been an offensive and defensive assistant with the Patriots, led the Patriots offense (led by Matt Cassel, who had not started a football game since high school) to an 11-win season in 2008. Cassel became the starter after Tom Brady suffered a season ending knee injury.
Detroit Lions	Jim Schwartz, former defensive coordinator for the Tennessee Titans	Rod Marinelli	Fired	Marinelli was fired after the Lions suffered the worst season in NFL history, a record 0–16 finish, the NFL's first perfectly bad season in 32 years. In three years with the Lions, he compiled a 10–38 (.208) record. (Earlier in the season, team president and general manager Matt Millen had also been sacked.) Schwartz had been with the Titans since 2001, and in 2008, under Schwartz's leadership, the Titans allowed only 14.6 points per game, second in the NFL. Marinelli would later become the defensive line/assistant head coach for the Chicago Bears.
Kansas City Chiefs	Todd Haley, former Arizona Cardinals offensive coordinator	Herm Edwards	Fired	Edwards was released on January 23 by new team General Manager Scott Pioli, who was hired a week earlier. Edwards has been the coach in Kansas City the past three seasons, and during his tenure, the Chiefs focused on becoming younger. This lack of experience was reflected in a record of 6–26 (.188) under Edwards the last two seasons, after a 9–7 record his first season. Before joining the Chiefs, Edwards was head coach of the New York Jets for five seasons. Haley, whose high-powered passing offense was the predominant factor in the Cardinals' run to their first ever Super Bowl appearance, was named head coach February 6. Edwards would become an analyst for ESPN.
Indianapolis Colts	Jim Caldwell, associate head coach and quarterback coach	Tony Dungy	Retired	Dungy retired on January 12, after a 13-year head coaching career that saw him go 148-79 (.652) with Tampa Bay (1996-2001) and Indianapolis (2002-08), including a win in Super Bowl XLI in 2007, beating his friend, Lovie Smith (Chicago Bears coach) and becoming the first African-American coach to win a Super Bowl. This followed a 16-year career (1980-95) as a defensive assistant coach in both college football and the NFL. Dungy appeared on NBC's coverage of Super Bowl XLIII and is now an analyst on NBC's Football Night in America.
New York Jets	Rex Ryan, former Baltimore Ravens defensive coordinator	Eric Mangini	Fired	Despite an 8-3 start in 2008, the Jets finished the season 1-4, with the only win coming against an equally skidding Buffalo Bills team, leading to Mangini's firing. Mangini coached three seasons with the Jets and compiled a 23-25 (.479) record; he was hired as the head coach of the Cleveland Browns nine days after being released by the Jets. Ryan, one of the two identical twin sons of former Jets defensive coach and Eagles and Cardinals head coach Buddy Ryan, agreed to a four-year contract hours following the Ravens' loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC Championship Game.
Oakland Raiders	Tom Cable, offensive line coach	Lane Kiffin	Fired	Kiffin was fired September 30, 2008 after 5-15 mark (.250) in 1¼ seasons as coach and a feud with owner Al Davis. Kiffin would be named the new coach at the University of Tennessee on December 1, replacing Phillip Fulmer. Cable, who previously served as the offensive line coach under Kiffin and previously coached at the University of Idaho, went 4-8 as interim coach of the Raiders and was retained as coach February 4, 2009.
St. Louis Rams	Steve Spagnuolo, former New York Giants defensive coordinator	Scott Linehan; Defensive coordinator Jim Haslett (interim for 12 games)	Fired	Linehan was fired September 29, 2008 after going 11-25 (.306) over 2¼ seasons as coach; After turning down an offer from the San Francisco 49ers to be their offensive coordinator, he took the position of offensive coordinator with the Detroit Lions. Haslett went 2-10 as interim coach, but was told he would not be retained on January 15; Haslett has jumped to the United Football League, where he is now the coach of the Florida Tuskers. Spagnoulo rose to fame after his defense led the Giants to a win in Super Bowl XLII (ruining the New England Patriots' perfect season), and got a four-year contract on January 17 to take over as Rams coach.
San Francisco 49ers	Mike Singletary, assistant head coach and linebackers coach	Mike Nolan	Fired	Nolan was fired October 20 after an 18-37 mark (.327) over nearly 3½ seasons as coach. Singletary, who went 5-4 as interim coach in 2008, was rewarded with a four-year contract on December 28 following their 27-24 win over the Washington Redskins. Nolan would become defensive coordinator for the Denver Broncos.
Seattle Seahawks	Jim L. Mora, assistant head coach and defensive backs coach and former head coach of the Atlanta Falcons.	Mike Holmgren	Retired	After 10 years of head coaching with the Seahawks, it was announced that Holmgren would step down as head coach after the 2008 season, with Mora as his automatic successor. In his time with the Seahawks, Holmgren compiled a record of 86-74 (.541), with five division titles, six playoff appearances, including the Seahawks' first appearance in the Super Bowl and its first conference title (2005).
Tampa Bay Buccaneers	Raheem Morris, defensive backs coach	Jon Gruden	Fired	After his arrival from Oakland for two first-round picks, two second-round picks, and $8 million, Gruden - who was fired along with general manager Bruce Allen - became the Buccaneers' most successful coach, winning Super Bowl XXXVII over the Raiders in 2003. The team's late season collapse after starting with a 9–3 record and the lead position in the NFC South may have been the main reason for Gruden's firing. In seven seasons with the Buccaneers, Gruden compiled a 57–55 (.509) regular season record and was 3–2 in the playoffs. Morris, who was previously the defensive backs coach, was promoted to defensive coordinator after Monte Kiffin announced he would leave to join his son Lane at the University of Tennessee. Gruden worked for NFL Network at the 2009 Draft and is an analyst for Monday Night Football on ESPN.

In-season

The following coaches were fired during the 2009 season:

Team	Interim coach	Ex-coach	Reason for leaving	Story/Accomplishments
Buffalo Bills	Perry Fewell, defensive coordinator	Dick Jauron	Fired Nov. 17 after 9 games	In 3½ years with the Bills, all of them losing seasons, Jauron compiled a 24-33 (.421) record, including a 3-6 record at the time of his firing. He had particularly poor records against the AFC East (8-13), in night games (winless) and against teams with winning records (2-21). Perry Fewell, Jauron's replacement, had never been a head coach at any level.

Players of the Week

The following are the players of the week during the 2009 season:

AFC

Week	Offense	Defense	Special Teams
14	WR Brandon Marshall, Denver Broncos	LB Keith Bulluck, Tennessee Titans	KR-WR Joshua Cribbs, Cleveland Browns
13	QB Bruce Gradkowski, Oakland Raiders	LB Justin Durant, Jacksonville Jaguars	K Dan Carpenter, Miami Dolphins
12	QB Vince Young, Tennessee Titans	CB Darrelle Revis, New York Jets	K Matt Prater, Denver Broncos
11	RB Ricky Williams, Miami Dolphins	CB Leigh Bodden, New England Patriots	KR-RB Jamaal Charles, Kansas City Chiefs
10	QB Peyton Manning, Indianapolis Colts	S Mike Brown, Kansas City Chiefs	KR-RB Bernard Scott, Cincinnati Bengals
9	TE Dallas Clark, Indianapolis Colts	S Tyrone Carter, Pittsburgh Steelers	K Stephen Gostkowski, New England Patriots
8	RB Chris Johnson, Tennessee Titans	LB Brian Cushing, Houston Texans	WR-KR Ted Ginn, Jr., Miami Dolphins
7	QB Carson Palmer, Cincinnati Bengals	S Brandon Meriweather, New England Patriots	P Brian Moorman, Buffalo Bills
6	QB Tom Brady, New England Patriots	LB Brian Cushing, Houston Texans	KR-PR-WR Eddie Royal, Denver Broncos
5	QB Kyle Orton, Denver Broncos	LB James Harrison, Pittsburgh Steelers	P Dave Zastudil, Cleveland Browns
4	RB Rashard Mendenhall, Pittsburgh Steelers	CB Champ Bailey, Denver Broncos	KR-WR Jacoby Jones, Houston Texans
3	RB Maurice Jones-Drew, Jacksonville Jaguars	LB Brendon Ayanbadejo, Baltimore Ravens	LB Jason Trusnik, New York Jets
2	QB Matt Schaub, Houston Texans	DE Antwan Odom, Cincinnati Bengals	K Rian Lindell, Buffalo Bills
1	QB Tom Brady, New England Patriots	LB David Harris, New York Jets	K Jeff Reed, Pittsburgh Steelers

NFC

Week	Offense	Defense	Special Teams
14	RB Frank Gore, San Francisco 49ers	LB Brian Orakpo, Washington Redskins	PR-WR DeSean Jackson, Philadelphia Eagles
13	QB Kurt Warner, Arizona Cardinals	LB Clay Matthews, Green Bay Packers	PR Domenik Hixon, New York Giants
12	QB Drew Brees, New Orleans Saints	CB Charles Woodson, Green Bay Packers	KR LaRod Stephens-Howling, Arizona Cardinals
11	QB Matthew Stafford, Detroit Lions	LB Michael Boley, New York Giants	P Thomas Morstead, New Orleans Saints
10	WR Sidney Rice, Minnesota Vikings	CB Charles Woodson, Green Bay Packers	P Hunter Smith, Washington Redskins
9	QB Kurt Warner, Arizona Cardinals	DT Anthony Hargrove, New Orleans Saints	KR-PR Clifton Smith, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
8	QB Brett Favre, Minnesota Vikings	DE Julius Peppers, Carolina Panthers	K Josh Brown, St. Louis Rams
7	WR DeSean Jackson, Philadelphia Eagles	S Adrian Wilson, Arizona Cardinals	PR-WR Patrick Crayton, Dallas Cowboys
6	QB Drew Brees, New Orleans Saints	S Thomas DeCoud, Atlanta Falcons	KR-WR Sammie Stroughter, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
5	WR Miles Austin, Dallas Cowboys	CB Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, Arizona Cardinals	P Jason Baker, Carolina Panthers
4	QB Brett Favre, Minnesota Vikings	S Darren Sharper, New Orleans Saints	KR-WR Johnny Knox, Chicago Bears
3	QB Kevin Kolb, Philadelphia Eagles	LB Lance Briggs, Chicago Bears	KR-WR Percy Harvin, Minnesota Vikings
2	RB Frank Gore, San Francisco 49ers	LB Chad Greenway, Minnesota Vikings	DE Calais Campbell, Arizona Cardinals
1	QB Drew Brees, New Orleans Saints	DE Justin Tuck, New York Giants	PR-WR DeSean Jackson, Philadelphia Eagles

Players of the Month

The following are the players of the month during the 2009 season:

AFC

Month	Offense	Defense	Special Teams
November	RB Chris Johnson, Tennessee Titans	DE Robert Mathis, Indianapolis Colts	KR-WR Ted Ginn, Jr., Miami Dolphins
October	QB Tom Brady, New England Patriots	LB James Harrison, Pittsburgh Steelers	KR-WR Eddie Royal, Denver Broncos
September	QB Peyton Manning, Indianapolis Colts	DE Antwan Odom, Cincinnati Bengals	K Matt Prater, Denver Broncos

NFC

Month	Offense	Defense	Special Teams
November	QB Brett Favre, Minnesota Vikings	CB Charles Woodson, Green Bay Packers	K David Akers, Philadelphia Eagles
October	QB Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay Packers	S Darren Sharper, New Orleans Saints	KR-WR Johnny Knox, Chicago Bears
September	QB Drew Brees, New Orleans Saints	CB Charles Woodson, Green Bay Packers	PR-WR DeSean Jackson, Philadelphia Eagles

Rookies

The following are the rookies of the month during the 2009 season:

Month	Offense (College)	Defense (College)
November	WR-KR Percy Harvin, Minnesota Vikings (Florida)	LB Brian Cushing, Houston Texans (University of Southern California)
October	WR Hakeem Nicks, New York Giants (North Carolina)	S Jairus Byrd, Buffalo Bills (University of Oregon)
September	QB Mark Sanchez, New York Jets (University of Southern California)	S Louis Delmas, Detroit Lions (Western Michigan University)

External links

• Schedule of American Football League Legacy Games
• ESPN.com article on AFL Legacy Games
• USA TODAY series on the American Football League
• Sports Illustrated ~ "Where are They Now" ~ American Football League
• NFL.com article "Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the American Football League"
• 2009 NFL season at ESPN
• 2009 NFL season at Pro-Football Reference