2008 NFL season

2008 NFL season

The NFL's newly revamped shield.
Regular season
Duration	September 4 to December 28, 2008
Playoffs
Start date	January 3, 2009
Super Bowl XLIII
Date	February 1, 2009
Site	Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, Florida
Pro Bowl
Date	February 8, 2009
Site	Aloha Stadium

The 2008 NFL Season is the 89th season of the National Football League, the major professional American football league in the United States, themed with the slogan "Believe in Now." Super Bowl XLIII, the league's championship game, is scheduled to be played at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida on February 1, 2009. The regular season began on September 4 with the Super Bowl champion New York Giants defeating the Washington Redskins 16-7, and will conclude with the 2009 Pro Bowl on February 8, 2009 in Honolulu.

Schedule

Preseason

In preseason games, the annual Pro Football Hall of Fame Game was played August 3 between the Indianapolis Colts and Washington Redskins, which aired on NBC Sunday Night Football. Washington won the game, 30–16. On April 3, the league revealed the other preseason games which includes the first game of the Toronto Series, which was played August 14 between the Buffalo Bills and the Pittsburgh Steelers at Toronto's Rogers Centre. The Bills won that game, 24–21.

Regular Season

Formula

Based on the NFL's scheduling formula, the intraconference and interconference matchups for 2008 are:

Division	AFC opponent	NFC opponent
AFC East	West	West
AFC North	South	East
AFC South	North	North
AFC West	East	South
NFC East	North	West
NFC North	South	South
NFC South	West	North
NFC West	East	East

Opening Weekend

The annual NFL Kickoff Game to start the season took place on September 4 and featured the Super Bowl XLII champion New York Giants winning over their division rivals, the Washington Redskins, at Giants Stadium by a score of 16–7. The game's kickoff was ninety minutes earlier than previous years, at 7 p.m. EDT, because of a time conflict with the 2008 Republican National Convention.

Other featured games during the opening week included the NBC Sunday Night Football game between the Chicago Bears and the Indianapolis Colts (the first regular season game at Lucas Oil Stadium, and a rematch of Super Bowl XLI), in which the Kyle Orton-led Bears upset the Colts 29–13. In addition, there were two Monday Night Football contests, both division rivalries, as part of the now annual doubleheader: The Minnesota Vikings at the Green Bay Packers (the Packers' first time without Brett Favre since 1992, in which Aaron Rodgers helped the Packers win, 24–18), and the Denver Broncos at the Oakland Raiders, where Jay Cutler and Eddie Royal led the Broncos in beating the Raiders, 41–14.

Flexible scheduling

The 2008 season also is the third season of the use of the "flexible scheduling" for Sunday games starting with Week 11.

International play

This will be the second consecutive season that the league will play at least one regular season game outside the United States as part of its International Series. The contest between the San Diego Chargers and the New Orleans Saints was played at Wembley Stadium in London on October 26, with New Orleans winning 37–32. The Chargers played at Buffalo the week beforehand on October 19 so they could immediately travel to London afterward in order to get used to the time difference.

The league has also approved the Bills' request to play at least one regular season home game at Toronto's Rogers Centre over each of the next five seasons. Team owner Ralph C. Wilson Jr. petitioned the league to play at least one game in Canada to strengthen his club's fan base in Ontario. The game in Toronto was on December 7, after the end of the 2008 CFL season, against the Miami Dolphins; Miami won 16-3. CBS televised both games regionally; the Toronto game was carried across Canada on Rogers Sportsnet and City TV.

Thanksgiving

Meanwhile, the traditional Thanksgiving Day games were held on November 27, with the Detroit Lions hosting the Tennessee Titans at 12:30 PM EST on CBS (with the then 10-1 Titans handily defeating the then 0–11 Lions by a 47–10 score), and the Dallas Cowboys' home game following suit on FOX at 4:15 PM EST against the Seattle Seahawks (Dallas defeated then 2–9 Seattle by a score of 34–9). A third game on NFL Network, featuring the Arizona Cardinals and the Philadelphia Eagles followed at 8:15 PM EST. It was the first home game for the Eagles on Thanksgiving Day since 1940, and their first Thanksgiving game at any location since the infamous Bounty Bowl Game in 1989; the Eagles defeated the Cardinals by a score of 48–20.

Christmas

Despite NFL tradition to play games on Christmas if the holiday lands on a day of the week when the NFL normally plays, and the fact that Christmas lands on a Thursday in 2008, the NFL opted not to hold a Christmas game this season, instead scheduling all of its week 17 matchups for Sunday.

Pro Bowl

The NFL's Pro Bowl all-star game at the end of the season will be played at Aloha Stadium in the Honolulu suburb of ʻAiea, Hawaiʻi for the 30th consecutive season. The league had the option under their current contract to hold the game elsewhere, including the possibility of moving it to the host site of the Super Bowl.

Standings

Standings as of Sunday December 21, 2008:

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

 x  - clinched playoff berth,  y  - clinched division title,  z  - first-round bye,  *  - home-field advantage,  †  - eliminated from playoff contention

AFC East
Team	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA
Miami Dolphins	10	5	0	.667	321	300	Details
New England Patriots	10	5	0	.667	397	309	Details
New York Jets	9	6	0	.600	388	332	Details
Buffalo Bills†	7	8	0	.467	336	329	Details
AFC North
Team	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA
Pittsburgh Steelers - yz	11	4	0	.733	316	223	Details
Baltimore Ravens	10	5	0	.667	358	237	Details
Cleveland Browns†	4	11	0	.267	232	319	Details
Cincinnati Bengals†	3	11	1	.233	188	358	Details
AFC South
Team	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA
Tennessee Titans - yz*	13	2	0	.867	375	211	Details
Indianapolis Colts - x	11	4	0	.733	354	298	Details
Houston Texans†	7	8	0	.467	335	370	Details
Jacksonville Jaguars†	5	10	0	.333	295	340	Details
AFC West
Team	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA
Denver Broncos	8	7	0	.533	349	396	Details
San Diego Chargers	7	8	0	.467	387	326	Details
Oakland Raiders†	4	11	0	.267	232	364	Details
Kansas City Chiefs†	2	13	0	.133	285	424	Details

NFC East
Team	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA
New York Giants - yz*	12	3	0	.800	408	274	Details
Dallas Cowboys	9	6	0	.600	356	321	Details
Philadelphia Eagles	8	6	1	.566	372	283	Details
Washington Redskins†	8	7	0	.533	241	269	Details
NFC North
Team	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA
Minnesota Vikings	9	6	0	.600	359	314	Details
Chicago Bears	9	6	0	.571	331	302	Details
Green Bay Packers†	5	10	0	.357	371	339	Details
Detroit Lions†	0	15	0	.000	247	486	Details
NFC South
Team	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA
Carolina Panthers - x	11	4	0	.733	381	298	Details
Atlanta Falcons - x	10	5	0	.667	360	298	Details
Tampa Bay Buccaneers	9	6	0	.600	337	292	Details
New Orleans Saints†	8	7	0	.533	432	360	Details
NFC West
Team	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA
Arizona Cardinals - y	8	7	0	.533	393	405	Details
San Francisco 49ers†	6	9	0	.400	312	357	Details
Seattle Seahawks†	4	11	0	.267	273	358	Details
St. Louis Rams†	2	13	0	.133	205	434	Details

Playoffs

Main article: NFL playoffs, 2008-09

The playoffs are scheduled to start with Wild Card Weekend on January 3–4, 2009. The Divisional Playoffs are scheduled for January 10–11, while the Conference Championship Games will be held on January 18. Super Bowl XLIII will then be played on February 1 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida.

Playoff scenarios

The following team(s) can qualify for the playoffs during Week 17:

AFC

AFC East

• Miami can clinch the AFC East title and the #3 seed with a win over the Jets regardless of what the Patriots do.

• New England:
  • Can clinch the AFC East title and the #3 seed with a win and a Miami loss.
  • Can clinch a wild card berth (the #6 seed) with a win and a Baltimore loss.

• N.Y. Jets:
  • Can clinch the AFC East title and the #3 seed with a win and a New England loss.
  • Can clinch a wild card berth (the #6 seed) with a win and a Baltimore loss.

AFC North

• Pittsburgh has clinched the AFC North title and a first round bye (the #2 seed).
• Baltimore can clinch a wild card berth (the #6 seed) with a win or a New England loss.

AFC South

• Tennessee has clinched the AFC South title, a first round bye, and home-field advantage throughout the AFC Playoffs (the #1 seed).

• Indianapolis has clinched a playoff berth and the #5 seed

AFC West

• The winner of the Denver-San Diego game will clinch the AFC West title and the #4 seed. Should the game end in a tie, Denver wins the division and the #4 seed.

Locked AFC seeds (assuming no ties in Week 17)
Seed	Team	Tiebreakers (if necessary)
1	TEN
2	PIT	Has clinched AFC North based on head-to-head sweep over BAL
4	DEN-SD winner	If SD wins, they win AFC West based on better division record
5	IND	Has clinched #5 seed based on head-to-head tiebreakers over BAL and NE

Remaining AFC scenarios (assuming no ties in Week 17)
Game				Seeds		Tiebreakers
JAX@BAL	NE@BUF	MIA@NYJ		#3	#6
BAL	NE	MIA		MIA	BAL	MIA wins AFC East based on better conference record over NE; BAL clinches wild card based on better conference record over NE
		NYJ		NE	BAL	None
	BUF	MIA		MIA	BAL	None
		NYJ		NYJ	BAL	NYJ wins AFC East based on head-to-head over MIA and NE
JAX	NE	MIA		MIA	NE	MIA wins AFC East based on better conference record over NE
		NYJ		NE	NYJ	NYJ finishes in second place in the AFC East based on head-to-head sweep over MIA; NYJ clinches wild card based on better conference record over BAL
	BUF	MIA		MIA	BAL	BAL clinches wild card based on better conference record over NE
		NYJ		NYJ	BAL	NYJ wins AFC East based on head-to-head over MIA and NE; MIA finishes in second place in the AFC East based on better conference record over NE; BAL clinches wild card based on head-to-head over MIA

NFC

NFC East

• N.Y. Giants has clinched the NFC East title, a first round bye, and home-field advantage throughout the NFC Playoffs (the #1 seed).

• Dallas can clinch a wild card berth with either:
  • A win over Philadelphia.
  • A tie, a Chicago loss or tie to Houston, and a Tampa Bay loss to Oakland.
  • A tie, a Minnesota loss or tie to the N.Y. Giants, and a Tampa Bay loss.
  • A tie, a Chicago or Minnesota loss, and a Tampa Bay loss.

• Philadelphia can clinch a wild card berth with either:
  • A win over Dallas, a Tampa Bay loss to Oakland, and a Minnesota loss to the N.Y. Giants or a Chicago loss to Houston.

NFC North

• Minnesota can clinch the NFC North title and #3 seed with either:
  • A win over the N.Y. Giants.
  • A tie and a Chicago loss or tie to Houston.
  • A Chicago loss.

• Chicago can clinch:
  • The NFC North title and #3 seed with either:
    • A win over Houston and a Minnesota loss or tie to the N.Y. Giants.
    • A tie and a Minnesota loss
  • A wild card berth with either:
    • A win, a Dallas loss to Philadelphia, and a Tampa Bay loss or tie to Oakland.

NFC South

• Carolina has clinched a playoff spot.
  • Can clinch the NFC South title and the #2 seed with either:
    • A win or tie over New Orleans.
    • An Atlanta loss or tie to St. Louis.

• Atlanta has clinched a playoff spot.
  • Can clinch the NFC South title and the #2 seed with a win over St. Louis and a Carolina loss to New Orleans.

• Tampa Bay can clinch a wild card berth with either:
  • A win over Oakland and a Dallas loss or tie to Philadelphia.
  • A tie, a Dallas loss, and a Minnesota loss or tie to the N.Y. Giants or and a Chicago loss or tie to Houston.
  • A tie, a Dallas tie, a Minnesota tie, and a Chicago win or tie.
  • A tie, a Dallas tie, a Chicago tie, and a Minnesota win or tie.

NFC West

• Arizona has clinched the NFC West title and the #4 seed.

Eliminated teams

The following teams have been eliminated from playoff contention:

• AFC: Cincinnati (Week 12), Kansas City (Week 13), Cleveland (Week 14), Houston (Week 14), Jacksonville (Week 14), Oakland (Week 14) and Buffalo (Week 15)
• NFC: Detroit (Week 11), St. Louis (Week 12), Seattle (Week 13), San Francisco (Week 14), Green Bay (Week 15), New Orleans (Week 15), and Washington (Week 16)

Rule changes

The following rule changes were passed at the league's annual owners meeting in Palm Beach, Florida during the week of March 31:

• One defensive player will be allowed to wear a radio similar to the one worn by the quarterback to communicate with the coaching staff on the field.
• The "force-out" rule on catches made near the sidelines has been eliminated. A receiver now must come down with the ball and both feet in bounds for a pass to be ruled complete; previously, passes would be ruled complete if the receiver was pushed by a defender while in the air and the official judged that he would have come down in bounds had he not been pushed. However, if a receiver is wrapped up in mid-air by a defender and carried out of bounds before both feet touch the ground, the official can still rule the play a completion.
• The 5-yard incidental grabbing of the face mask penalty has been eliminated; incidental contact will not result in a penalty, though intentional grabbing of the face mask will remain a 15-yard personal foul.
• Teams that win the opening coin toss now have the option to defer the decision until the start of the second half, the same as in college football.
• Field goal attempts that bounce off the goal post are now reviewable under instant replay. This change followed a decision during the previous season during a Browns-Ravens game when Phil Dawson's game-tying field goal hit an upright, then the crossbar and the back of the goal post.
• Legal forward hand offs that touch the ground and attempted snaps when the ball hits the ground before the quarterback touches it are now considered fumbles; previously, forward hand offs were treated as incomplete passes, while a snap that hit the ground before the quarterback touched it was a 5-yard illegal procedure penalty.

Media

Television

Further information: NFL on television

This is the third season under the league's current television contracts with its American broadcast partners. CBS Sports and FOX Sports are televising Sunday afternoon AFC and NFC games, respectively. For primetime games, NBC broadcasts Sunday Night Football and ESPN airs Monday Night Football. The NFL Network's Run to the Playoffs will also broadcast selected seven Thursday and one Saturday late season night games, although there were reportedly negotiations to move those games to ESPN Classic. This is also the last NFL season to be broadcast over the air in analog television in the United States; the digital television transition occurs on February 17, 2009, just eight days after the Pro Bowl. Border stations in Canada and Mexico will continue to broadcast in analog; cable stations are unaffected and will be distributed in the format of the cable provider's choice.

NBC has the rights to broadcast Super Bowl XLIII, their first Super Bowl since Super Bowl XXXII at the end of the 1997 season.

Changes

ESPN has reduced the on-air roles of sideline reporters Michele Tafoya and Suzy Kolber during the Monday Night Football telecast. Also, Emmitt Smith has been replaced on Sunday NFL Countdown by Cris Carter, who comes over from HBO.

Meanwhile, NBC's Football Night in America reunites Dan Patrick with Keith Olbermann on television for the first time since 1997 when they co-hosted SportsCenter.

The in-house NFL Network saw Bryant Gumbel resign as their play-by-play announcer after two seasons on the network's Run to the Playoffs package after critics described his play-by-play calling as "lackluster." Taking his place will be New York Giants radio announcer Bob Papa.

Additionally, NFL Films-produced Inside the NFL has changed premium cable homes from Time Warner's HBO after three decades to CBS' Showtime. Also changed: James Brown (from the parent network's The NFL Today) as host and Phil Simms as one of the analysts. Cris Collinsworth is staying, but Dan Marino has been dropped as a studio analyst, and the aforementioned Cris Carter moved to ESPN. Taking their place is Warren Sapp.

3-D Telecast

On December 4th, the NFL Network broadcast its game between the Oakland Raiders and the San Diego Chargers to theatres in New York City, Boston and Los Angeles using state of the art 3-D technology. The viewings, which will be limited to NFL and consumer electronics executives, will serve as a test for future use of 3D in NFL television games. Because of a technical glitch, the first half was not shown.

Radio

On radio, Westwood One has separated from its longtime corporate sister, CBS Radio. This could possibly affect the network's NFL on Westwood One coverage, which it has carried since the two networks merged in the late 1990s. The Westwood One coverage currently uses the NFL on CBS branding on its broadcasts. Also, the Sports USA Radio Network, another syndicator, has been sold along with parent company Jones Radio Networks to the Triton Media Group.

Internet television

On Internet television, both NFL.com and NBCSports.com are carrying complete live games, for the first time ever, of NBC Sunday Night Football. Meanwhile, NFL.com will continue its live coverage of Thursday and Saturday Night Football, which began in 2007.

Changes

Coaching

The following teams hired new head coaches prior to the start of the 2008 season:

Team	2008 Coach	Former Coach(es)	Reason for leaving	Story/Accomplishments
Atlanta Falcons	Mike Smith, Jacksonville Jaguars defensive coordinator	Bobby Petrino; Emmitt Thomas, interim for 3 games	Petrino resigned after 13 games to take the head coaching job at the University of Arkansas.	In his first and only season, Petrino went 3–10 before resigning. Under interim head coach Thomas, the Falcons went 1–2 over the remainder of the season. Thomas would be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2008, and remain as a special assistant coach for the Falcons.
Baltimore Ravens	John Harbaugh, Philadelphia Eagles defensive backs coach	Brian Billick	Fired	Billick coached the Ravens to a victory in Super Bowl XXXV, and was 80–64 with the Ravens in the regular season and 5–3 in the postseason, but went 5–11 in 2007, the worst record the Ravens had in his nine-year tenure. Became a color commentator for Fox Sports in 2008.
Miami Dolphins	Tony Sparano, Dallas Cowboys assistant head coach/offensive line coach	Cam Cameron	Fired	In his first and only season, the Cameron-led Dolphins finished with a league worst 1–15 record. After his sacking, Cameron became John Harbaugh's offensive coordinator at Baltimore.
Washington Redskins	Jim Zorn, Seattle Seahawks quarterbacks coach	Joe Gibbs	Retired	Finished 16 overall seasons as Redskins head coach. During his first tenure, 1981–92, the club won three Super Bowls (XVII, XXII, and XXVI) and four NFC Championships (1982, 1983, 1987 and 1991). After being inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1996, he rejoined the team in 2004, and returned to running the day-to-day operations of his self-owned racing team after his second retirement.

The following head coaches were fired or resigned during the 2008 season:

Team	Interim Coach	Former Coach	Reason for leaving	Story/Accomplishments
St. Louis Rams	Jim Haslett, defensive coordinator; former head coach of the New Orleans Saints	Scott Linehan	Dismissed September 29 four games into the season	Linehan went 11–25 (.306 percentage) in his 2¼ seasons as Rams coach.
Oakland Raiders	Tom Cable, offensive line coach	Lane Kiffin	Relieved of duties September 30 after four games	Kiffin was fired in spite of being hired as the yougest coach in the NFL one year earlier, as shown by a 5-15 record (.250 percentage) in his 1¼ seasons as the fourth coach since Jon Gruden left. A dispute with owner Al Davis was said to be behind his dismissal.
San Francisco 49ers	Mike Singletary, assistant head coach and linebackers coach	Mike Nolan	Fired October 20 after seven games	The son of former coach Dick Nolan went 18–37 (.327 percentage) after nearly 3½ seasons as 49ers coach

The firing of Kiffin and Linehan marked the first time since the AFL-NFL merger in 1970, the start of the "modern era," that multiple head coaches were fired before Week 5 of the season, and the first since 1989 that any coach was fired this early in a season. Both were also released heading into their teams' respective bye weeks, while Nolan was released prior to the game just before the 49ers' bye.

Firing of Matt Millen

On September 23, the Detroit Lions fired President/General Manager Matt Millen after seven seasons. During that time, the Lions compiled the worst record in the league (35-84, .294 percentage) and had many questionable draft choices.

Milestones

The following teams and players set all-time NFL records during the regular season:

Record	Player/Team	Date Broken/Opponent	Previous Record Holder
Longest Field Goal Attempt (76 yards)	Sebastian Janikowski, Oakland	September 28, vs San Diego	Unknown; record is presumed since the league has not kept records on this statistic prior to this kick. (Kick was unsuccessful)
Most Receiving Yards by a Tight End, Career (10,079 yards)	Tony Gonzalez, Kansas City	October 5, at Carolina	Shannon Sharpe, 1990-2003 (10,060)
Longest Overtime Blocked Punt Return for a Touchdown (3 yards)	Monty Beisel, Arizona	October 12, vs Dallas	None, first time in NFL history
Longest Overtime Field Goal (57 yards)	Sebastian Janikowski, Oakland	October 19, vs NY Jets	Chris Jacke, Oct. 4, 1996 (53)
Consecutive Games with 6+ Receptions, Start of Season (11 games)	Wes Welker, New England	November 9, vs Buffalo	Jimmy Smith, 2001 (8)
Longest Interception Return (108 yards)	Ed Reed, Baltimore	November 23, vs Philadelphia	Ed Reed, Nov. 7, 2004 (106)
Most Passing Yards, First 10 Weeks of Season (3,254 yards)	Drew Brees, New Orleans	November 23, vs Green Bay	Dan Fouts 1982 (3,164 yards)
Highest Total Points Scored in a Single Week (837 points)	All 32 teams	Nov 20-24, 2008	Done three times: Sept 5-9, 2002; Dec 5-6, 2004; and Dec 29-30, 2007 (788 points)
Most Wins by a Quarterback, First 5 Seasons (50 games)	Ben Roethlisberger, Pittsburgh	2004 - 2008	Otto Graham, Cleveland, 1950-54; Dan Marino, Miami, 1983-87; Tom Brady, New England, 2000-04; (All three won 48 games)
Longest Regular Season Interception Return without TD (98 yards)	Brandon McDonald, Cleveland	December 15, at Philadelphia	Champ Bailey 2005 (97 yards)
Most Consecutive Games Lost, Start of Season (15)	Detroit	December 21, vs New Orleans	Tied by 2 teams

Season highlights

2008 AFC Players of the Week

Week	Offense	Defense	Special Teams
1	RB Willie Parker, Pittsburgh	CB Cortland Finnegan, Tennessee	WR-KR Roscoe Parrish, Buffalo
2	WR Brandon Marshall, Denver	S Troy Polamalu, Pittsburgh	LB Keith Bulluck, Tennessee
3	RB Ronnie Brown, Miami	CB Antonio Cromartie, San Diego	K Josh Scobee, Jacksonville
4	QB Brett Favre, New York	LB Derrick Johnson, Kansas City	K Jeff Reed, Pittsburgh
5	QB Ben Roethlisberger, Pittsburgh	LB Gary Brackett, Indianapolis	K Matt Prater, Denver
6	QB Peyton Manning, Indianapolis	CB Eric Wright, Cleveland	WR-PR Jacoby Jones, Houston
7	QB Matt Cassel, New England	LB Terrell Suggs, Baltimore	K Sebastian Janikowski, Oakland
8	QB Chad Pennington, Miami	S Chris Hope, Tennessee	WR-PR Jacoby Jones, Houston
9	QB Joe Flacco, Baltimore	DT Kris Jenkins, New York	K Adam Vinatieri, Indianapolis
10	QB Jay Cutler, Denver	LB Ray Lewis, Baltimore	P Craig Hentrich, Tennessee
11	QB Peyton Manning, Indianapolis	LB James Harrison, Pittsburgh	KR-RB Leon Washington, New York
12	QB Matt Cassel, New England	S Ed Reed, Baltimore	PR-WR Johnnie Lee Higgins, Oakland
13	RB Steve Slaton, Houston	DE Robert Mathis, Indianapolis	CB Maurice Leggett, Kansas City
14	QB Matt Schaub, Houston	S Ed Reed, Baltimore	K Dan Carpenter, Miami
15	QB Philip Rivers, San Diego	DE Aaron Smith, Pittsburgh	KR-CB Ellis Hobbs, New England
16
17

New logo

This is the first season that the league uses a new, updated logo. Unveiled on August 31, 2007 in USA Today, the new design features eight white stars, representing each of the league's eight divisions, instead of 23 on the old logo. The football has been redesigned and rotated to the same angle as the one on the top of the Vince Lombardi Trophy given to the Super Bowl champion. Darker shades of red and blue, specifically navy blue, are also used, along with font lettering to that of the league's current typeface for other logos. The new logo officially made its debut during the 2008 NFL Draft on April 26.

New stadiums

In addition to the Bills playing one home game in Toronto's Rogers Centre, this is the first season that the Indianapolis Colts will play their home games at Lucas Oil Stadium. Meanwhile, 2008 is the final year that the Dallas Cowboys will play at Texas Stadium; they are scheduled to move into their new stadium in Arlington, Texas in 2009.

Retirement/Unretirement of Brett Favre

The 2008 season marked the first time since September 20, 1992 that someone other than Brett Favre started at quarterback for the Green Bay Packers, as Aaron Rodgers became the new offensive "Leader of The Pack." At first, this was given Favre's announcement on March 4 that he would retire from the league after seventeen seasons. He owns many NFL records, including most wins as a quarterback, most touchdowns thrown, and most consecutive starts at quarterback, as well as most interceptions. He started every Packers game, regular season and postseason, for nearly sixteen full seasons (September 27, 1992–January 20, 2008). The Packers were scheduled to retire Favre's #4 jersey in a ceremony during the first week of the season. However, in July he publicly indicated that he wanted to play again as the starting quarterback. The Packers did not give it to him, but they were willing to release him and he was reinstated on August 3 by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. Three days later, Favre was traded to the New York Jets for a draft pick.

Hurricane Ike

Main article: Hurricane Ike

Hurricane Ike forced several changes to the 2008 schedule. The Houston Texans' Week 2 home game against the Baltimore Ravens was first postponed to Monday, September 15, before Ike made landfall; damage to Reliant Stadium forced a further postponement, to Week 10, on Sunday, November 9, giving the Texans and the Ravens their bye weeks in Week 2. Furthermore, to accommodate this move, the Texans' home game against the Cincinnati Bengals was moved up from November 9 to Sunday, October 26, pushing the Bengals' bye week from Week 8 to Week 10.

New formations result in high scores

The 2008 season saw a marked increase in the use of two new offensive philosophies (at least new to the NFL, these offenses have previously seen extensive use in college football for a few years): the "wildcat formation," a formation based on the halfback option play, and "spread offense," which uses multiple wide-receiver sets and the quarterback frequently in shotgun). In week 3 of the season, the wildcat formation, used up until this point primarily as a trick play, was used eight times, including four times in a Miami Dolphins game and three times in a game between the Oakland Raiders and Buffalo Bills. Season-ending injuries to the starting and backup quarterbacks for the Chiefs prompted the team's offensive coordinator Chan Gailey to switch to a spread offense after six games. Due mainly to the new formations, 837 points were scored league wide in Week 12, the most ever for one NFL weekend. The wildcat formation in particular was credited with turning the Miami Dolphins from a last-place team to a division contender.

Tie game

On November 16, during Week 11, a game between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Cincinnati Bengals at Paul Brown Stadium ended in a 13-13 tie, the first NFL tie game since November 10, 2002, when the Atlanta Falcons and the Pittsburgh Steelers ended in a 34–34 draw.

Tributes

St. Louis Rams and Georgia Frontiere

On January 18, 2008, Georgia Frontiere, owner of the St. Louis Rams died due to complications with breast cancer. The Rams announced that during the 2008 season they will wear a commemorative patch in her honor, with her signature on their left shoulder.

Kansas City Chiefs and Lamar Hunt

On January 31, 2008, Clark Hunt, chairman of the board for the Kansas City Chiefs announced that henceforth the team's Lamar Hunt/American Football League tribute patch that was introduced in the 2007 season will be a permanent part of the Chiefs' uniform. joining the Chicago Bears (with George Halas) and the Cleveland Browns (with Al Lerner) with such a patch.

Tim Russert

The stretch of highway outside Ralph Wilson Stadium along U.S. Route 20A in Orchard Park, New York has been named the Timothy J. Russert Highway. Russert, who was NBC News's chief Washington bureau correspondent and the host of Meet the Press, was a noted Buffalo Bills fan. He died of a heart attack in June 2008.

Gene Upshaw

The league is also honoring the memory of NFLPA leader Gene Upshaw, who died suddenly at age 63 on August 20th just three days after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. For the entire season, the Oakland Raiders are wearing a patch on the left chest of the jerseys with the initials "GU" and his number 63, his jersey number with the Raiders. All NFL teams also honored Upshaw with a video tribute and a replica of the uniform patch painted onto the field during the opening weekend. Originally, the patch on the field and the video tribute were only going to be done in Oakland at the Raiders' home opener against the Denver Broncos as Upshaw played his entire 15 year Hall of Fame career with the Silver and Black, and at Giants Stadium, when the Giants and Redskins opened the NFL season on September 4th. All players wore the same patch during Week One, and have since changed to a smaller helmet decal. The Raiders will still wear the patch through the remainder of the season.

Sean Taylor

The Washington Redskins honored the death of Sean Taylor this season in a home game against the visiting New York Giants.

Steelers ownership restructure

On July 7, 2008, owners of the Pittsburgh Steelers, including Art Rooney's five sons who own 80% of the franchise, looked to restructure the ownership plan of the franchise in order to comply with NFL ownership regulations. Current Steelers Chairman, Dan Rooney, and his son, Art Rooney II, President of the franchise, wished to stay involved with the franchise, while the remainder of the brothers — Art Jr., Timothy, Patrick and John — wished to further pursue racetracks that they own in Florida and New York. Since 2006, many of the racetracks have added video slot machines, causing them to violate "NFL policy that prohibits involvement with racetrack and gambling interests". On July 11, it was confirmed that investor Stanley Druckenmiller had been in discussion with the five Rooney brothers. A Steelers fan for many years, Druckenmiller "has been known to paint his face black and gold" during games. Coach Mike Tomlin stated that the situation could become a distraction, but "I'm here to coach, they're [the players] here to play. Those questions will be answered by the Rooneys." On September 18, Druckenmiller withdrew his bid to purchase the team.

NFL owners unanimously approved the restructuring of ownership on December 17, 2008, with Dan & Art II getting the mandated 30% stake. Meanwhile, brothers Timothy and Patrick (the ones who own race tracks with slot machines, which violate NFL ownership rules) selling their shares outright, while Art Jr., John, and the McGinley family selling some shares but retaining smaller ownership roles, with the brothers reducing their shares from 16% to 6% and the McGinley family reducing their shares from 20% to 10%. Also coming on as partners are Pilot Corporation & Pilot Travel Centers president Jim Haslam III (son of founder Jim Haslam Jr. and brother of Knoxville, Tennessee mayor Bill Haslam), Legendary Pictures president & CEO Thomas Tull, and the Paul family of Pittsburgh & Los Angeles (who are primarilly involved with Pittsburgh-based Ampco Pittsburgh Corporation and serve on numerous boards, including UPMC and Pitt), each getting a 16% stake in the team. Dan Rooney mentioned he has no ill will towards Druckenmiller, mentioning he's a great Steelers fan and wishes he remains one.

Apparel

The 2008 season will mark just the third time in the salary cap era (and first since 2001) that no NFL team made major changes to their uniforms or logo. Since 1993, half of the league's teams (Arizona, Atlanta, Buffalo, Cincinnati, Denver, Minnesota, New England, New York Giants, New York Jets, Philadelphia, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, St. Louis, Tampa Bay, and Tennessee) have completely redesigned their uniforms (The Patriots doing it three times, though none since 2000) while another five (Detroit, Green Bay, Miami, New Orleans, and Pittsburgh) making minor, though noticeable, changes. The Titans are swapping home and alternate designations on their light blue and navy blue jerseys though.

The Detroit Lions, in celebration of their 75th season in Motown as well as by popular demand by the fans, abandoned their black third jerseys in favor of their '50s style throwback uniforms. They wore these uniforms against Jacksonville (November 9) and Tennessee (Thanksgiving Day – November 27). In addition, the Pittsburgh Steelers will make their throwbacks from the previous season their alternate uniform, wearing them against the Baltimore Ravens on September 29 and the New York Giants on October 26. The Jets wore their New York Titans throwbacks at home against Arizona on September 28 and Cincinnati on October 12 this season, and the Bills donned their retro uniforms at home against Oakland Raiders September 21.

See also

• Super Bowl XLIII
• 2008 NFL Draft