2014 NFL season
Regular season | |
---|---|
Duration | September 4 – December 28, 2014 |
Playoffs | |
Start date | January 3, 2015 |
Super Bowl XLIX | |
Date | February 1, 2015 |
Site | University of Phoenix Stadium, Glendale, Arizona |
Pro Bowl | |
Date | January 25, 2015 |
Site | University of Phoenix Stadium, Glendale, Arizona |
The 2014 NFL season, the 95th regular season of the National Football League is tentatively set to begin Thursday, September 4, 2014, with the defending Super Bowl champions, the Seattle Seahawks, hosting the Green Bay Packers in the annual kickoff game. The season will end with Super Bowl XLIX, the league's championship game, on Sunday, February 1, 2015, at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.
Schedule
The schedules for all 32 teams were released on April 23, 2014, at 8:00 p.m. EDT.[1] The 2014 NFL Draft will be held from May 8–10, 2014 in New York City. The draft's traditional timeframe in late April will not be available in 2014 due to a scheduling conflict at Radio City Music Hall,[2] where the draft has been held since 2006. The NFL plans to continue holding the draft in May in future years as part of a permanent offseason calendar change.
Under the NFL's scheduling formula, the intraconference and interconference matchups will be:
Intraconference
Interconference
Highlights of the 2014 schedule include:
- NFL Hall of Fame Game: The New York Giants will play the Buffalo Bills, continuing the recent trend of selecting teams whose previous players had been inducted into the Hall. The game will occur on Sunday, August 3, 2014, at 8:00 p.m. ET, and will air on NBC. Wide receiver Andre Reed played 15 of his 16 NFL seasons in Buffalo. Defensive end Michael Strahan spent his entire 15-year career with the Giants.[3]
- NFL Kickoff Game: The 2014 season will begin on Thursday, September 4, 2014, starting at 8:30 p.m. ET (5:30 p.m. PT) on NBC, at CenturyLink Field, where the defending Super Bowl champions Seattle Seahawks will host the Green Bay Packers
- Unlike the 2013 season, where the Super Bowl XLVII champion Baltimore Ravens ran into a conflict with an already-scheduled Baltimore Orioles' Major League Baseball game (which forced the Ravens to open the season on the road, due to the Ravens and Orioles sharing the same parking lot for their respective stadiums), the Seahawks' baseball counterparts — the Seattle Mariners — will be playing on the road on September 4, assuring no event conflicts (the Seahawks' and Mariners' respective stadiums — CenturyLink Field and Safeco Field — also share the same parking lot). Likewise, the Seattle Sounders FC, the Major League Soccer team that shares CenturyLink Field with the Seahawks, also plays on the road that weekend.[4]
- International Series: Three games will be played at Wembley Stadium in London, England in 2014. The Oakland Raiders will play host to the Miami Dolphins on September 28 at 1:00 p.m. ET (6:00 p.m. local time), the Atlanta Falcons will host the Detroit Lions on October 26 at 9:30 a.m. ET (1:30 p.m. local time),[5] and the Jacksonville Jaguars will host the Dallas Cowboys on November 9 at 1:00 p.m. ET (6:00 p.m. local time), in the second of four consecutive appearances for the Jaguars in the International Series.[6][7] CBS will televise the Dolphins–Raiders game, while Fox will televise the Cowboys–Jaguars and Lions–Falcons contests.[8]
- Thanksgiving Day games: These games will occur on Thursday, November 27, 2014. The Detroit Lions will host an AFC team the NY Jets at 12:30 p.m. ET, and will air on CBS, while the Dallas Cowboys will host an NFC team the Philadelphia Eagles at 4:30 p.m. ET (3:30 p.m. CT), and will air on Fox. The prime-time NBC game, featuring Seattle at the San Francisco 49ers in a rematch of the previous year's NFC Championship Game, will be featured at 8:30 p.m. ET.
- Playoffs: The last regular season games will be held on Sunday, December 28. The playoffs are then scheduled to start on Saturday, January 3, 2015. Conference championship games will be held on Sunday, January 18; the NFC Championship will be played at 3:00 p.m. ET on Fox, and the AFC Championship will follow at 6:30 p.m. ET on CBS. Super Bowl XLIX, the league's championship game will occur on February 1 at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, and will be televised by NBC with kickoff around 6:30 p.m. ET.[9][10]
- Pro Bowl: On April 9, 2014, the NFL announced that the 2015 Pro Bowl would be played the week prior to the Super Bowl at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. It will be broadcast by ESPN on Sunday, January 25, 2015. It was also announced that the "unconferenced" format that debuted in the 2014 Pro Bowl would be continued.[11]
On March 4, 2014, the Buffalo Bills' official radio flagship (WGR) confirmed that the Bills Toronto Series would not take place in 2014[12] and that the future of the series, which was otherwise scheduled to run through the 2017 season,[13] was not yet certain.
Rule changes for 2014
The following rule changes were passed for the 2014 NFL Season at the owner's meeting on March 26, 2014:[14]
- Eliminating the Referee's time out after a sack (previously the clock did not stop for a sack only after the two-minute warning).
- Simplify spot of enforcement on defensive fouls committed behind the line of scrimmage to enforce from the previous spot instead of the end of the run or the spot of the foul.
- Raise the height of the goal post to 35 feet from its current height of 30 feet, where it has been since the 1974 NFL Season.
- Extend the restriction on roll-up blocks to include such blocks from the side as well as from the back.
- "Dunking" the football through the goal post/crossbar (or any other means of using the goal post/crossbar as a prop in touchdown celebrations) is now considered unsportsmanlike conduct (15 yards). This rule was in response to New Orleans Saints tight end Jimmy Graham's tendency to dunk the football after scores. One of Graham's dunks during the Saints' Week 12 game against the Atlanta Falcons bent the goal posts so much that the game was delayed several minutes in order for the stadium crew to make repairs. In addition, the aforementioned rule change to extend the goal posts will add extra weight, increasing the chances that it could collapse. This celebration was previously "grandfathered" as legal much like the Lambeau Leap.
- Expand replays to cover recovery of loose balls even if the play is blown dead. This was in response to San Francisco 49ers defensive player NaVorro Bowman's clear recovery of a loose ball and downed by contact in the 2013-14 NFL playoffs but the ball was still given to the Seattle Seahawks after Seahawks running back Michael Robinson took it away from Bowman after Bowman was forced to let go of the ball due to a severe knee injury. Despite the indisputable video evidence of the recovery by Bowman, the play was not reviewable.
- Connecting the officiating command center to the field-to-booth communication relay, allowing the Referee to communicate with the command center during replay reviews. This was in response to some controversial replay reviews during the 2013 season, as well as league officials observing the NHL's command center. Unlike the NHL's replay system however, NFL referees will still make the final decisions instead of the command center.
- Make on-field taunting and use of racial/sexual slurs subject to unsportsmanlike conduct penalties (15 yards).
A proposal to move the spot of the extra point to the 25-yard line to increase their difficulty was tabled (as was a counterproposal from the Cincinnati Bengals to move it up to the 1-yard line, to encourage more two-point conversions),[15] but the owners approved an experiment of kicking extra points from the 20-yard line for the first two weeks of the preseason.
Media
This will be the first season under a nine-year television contract with CBS (all AFC afternoon away games), Fox (all NFC afternoon away games), NBC (Sunday Night Football games, Thanksgiving night game, and the Kickoff game); and an eight-year contract with ESPN (Monday Night Football games).[16][17] Among the changes from the previous TV contracts, NBC will televise a Divisional playoff game. The contract also allows ESPN to air a Wild Card playoff game (which, like other NFL games broadcast on cable, will be simulcast on an over-the-air station in each of the team's primary market).[16] In addition, ESPN will broadcast all Pro Bowls for the next eight seasons. Furthermore, the league will be able to move games between CBS and FOX by way of flexible scheduling, enabling CBS to televise NFC vs. NFC games, and Fox to broadcast AFC vs. AFC games, in the late Sunday afternoon doubleheader slot.[18]
On February 5, 2014, the league announced it had sold off the first eight weeks of the NFL Network's Thursday Night Football package to CBS, who outbid competitors ABC, Fox, NBC, and Turner Sports.[19][20] NFL Network will simulcast CBS' Thursday night games, will continue to carry the Thursday night games from Week 10 onward, and will also carry two Saturday night games (Week 16 doubleheader) for the first time since 2011. All of these games (except for one Saturday night game) will be announced by CBS' lead commentating team of Jim Nantz (play-by-play) and Phil Simms (color analyst); in return, NFL Network's broadcast team will produce the studio pregame and halftime reports. The deal with CBS is only for the 2014 season, with the league having the option to extend it for an additional season.[21]
On April 23, 2014, the league announced further changes to the flexible scheduling procedure: NBC may begin flexing games into the Sunday night time slot as soon as week 5. NBC will be allowed to flex up to two games between weeks 5 and 10, while the same rules applies for the remainder of the season.[22]
Stadiums
- Levi's Stadium, the new stadium for the San Francisco 49ers, is scheduled to open prior to the 2014 season.[23] The stadium will be located in Santa Clara, California, and will be the host of Super Bowl L.[24] In November 2013, stadium and team officials initially requested the NFL to not schedule any weekday home games during the preseason or regular season — including Monday and Thursday Night Football — due to parking issues in the area.[25] Two months later (January 2014), the Santa Clara City Council approved a two-year deal with the Santa Clara Golf & Tennis Club that would have opened up 10,000 additional parking spaces within walking distance of Levi's Stadium, as well as reimbursed the club $250,000 for each year, which also would have enabled the 49ers to host Monday and Thursday night games for both the 2014 and 2015 seasons.[26] However, in March 2014, Howard Katz, the NFL's senior vice president of broadcasting and media operations, stated that the NFL will not schedule any weeknight prime-time games at Levi's Stadium during the 2014 season until traffic flow within the area is figured out.[27] (This turned out to be untrue; the 49ers did end up hosting the Thanksgiving night game.)
- The Minnesota Vikings will play their first of two consecutive seasons at the University of Minnesota's TCF Bank Stadium, as they await the construction of a new stadium at the site of the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome.[28] Due to an agreement with the University of Minnesota, the Vikings would be unable to host any Monday or Thursday night games at the stadium except for times when the university is in recess in order to minimize the disruption of on-campus operations, and must plan around the Gophers' home schedule and other UM events, including student move-in week and academic finals. Thus, the only scenarios in which the Vikings would be able to host a game that does not occur on a Sunday would be on Thanksgiving or during Week 16, the latter of which occurs after academic finals.[29]
- The Oakland Raiders' lease on O.co Coliseum expired after the 2013 season. The Raiders will continue to play at the stadium for seven of their 2014 home games under a one-year emergency extension but its future after that remains unclear.[30] Prior to the season, the Raiders also signed a three-year deal to move one of their home games each year to London as part of the International Series.[31]
Uniforms
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers unveiled a new logo and helmet on February 20, 2014,[32] as well as a new uniform on March 3.[33]
Coaching changes
Preseason
Team: | 2013 head coach: at start of season |
2013 interim head coach: | 2014 replacement: | Reason for leaving: | Story/Accomplishments: |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Houston Texans | Gary Kubiak | Wade Phillips | Bill O'Brien[34] | Fired | Kubiak was fired on December 6, 2013, after accumulating a 61–63 record in just under eight seasons as the Texans' head coach. Wade Phillips was named the interim head coach for the remainder of the 2013 season.[35] Kubiak joined the Baltimore Ravens as offensive coordinator. O'Brien spent the past two seasons as the Penn State head coach and also served as a New England Patriots assistant. |
Cleveland Browns | Rob Chudzinski | Mike Pettine | Chudzinski was fired on December 29, 2013, after going 4–12 in his only season as Browns head coach.[36] Chudzinki joined the Indianapolis Colts as a special assistant to the head coach.[37] Pettine was the Buffalo Bills' defensive coordinator last season.[38] | ||
Detroit Lions | Jim Schwartz | Jim Caldwell | Schwartz was fired on December 30, 2013 after a 1–6 stumble to end the 2013 season despite having led the NFC North earlier in the season. He finished with a 29–51 record over five seasons.[39] Schwartz joined the Buffalo Bills as defensive coordinator. Caldwell was hired as head coach on January 14. He previously was head coach for the Indianapolis Colts from 2009–2011 and finished with a 26–22 record. For the last year and a half, he was the Baltimore Ravens' offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.[40] | ||
Minnesota Vikings | Leslie Frazier | Mike Zimmer | Frazier was fired on December 30, 2013 after more than three seasons as Vikings head coach, ending 2013 with a 5–10–1 record, and his tenure with Minnesota at 21–32–1.[41] Frazier joined the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as defensive coordinator. Zimmer was hired on January 15 and this is his first head-coaching position. He had been the defensive coordinator of the Cincinnati Bengals since 2008. He was also the defensive coordinator for the Atlanta Falcons in 2007 and the Dallas Cowboys from 2000 to 2006.[42] | ||
Tampa Bay Buccaneers | Greg Schiano | Lovie Smith[43] | Schiano and GM Mark Dominik were fired on December 30, 2013. Schiano was 11–21 as head coach over two seasons.[44] Smith, a former Buccaneers assistant, served as the head coach of the Chicago Bears from 2004–2012. | ||
Tennessee Titans | Mike Munchak | Ken Whisenhunt | Munchak was fired on January 4, 2014 after three seasons as Titans head coach, ending his 32-season tenure with the team. He was 22–26 as head coach.[45] Munchak joined the Pittsburgh Steelers as offensive line coach. Whisenhunt was previously the head coach of the Arizona Cardinals from 2007 to 2012, compiling a record of 45–51, and served as the offensive coordinator of the San Diego Chargers in 2013. | ||
Washington Redskins | Mike Shanahan | Jay Gruden | Shanahan and his staff (except for defensive coordinator Jim Haslett) were fired on December 30, 2013 after a 3–13 record in 2013 and a 24–40 career regular season record with the Redskins.[46] Gruden, who had spent the past two seasons as the offensive coordinator of the Cincinnati Bengals, had previously served as head coach of the Florida Tuskers of the UFL and Orlando Predators of the AFL.[47] |
References
- ^ Smith, Michael David (April 22, 2014). "NFL will release schedule on Wednesday night". ProFootballTalk. Retrieved April 22, 2014.
- ^ "2014 draft set for May 8–10". ESPN. May 29, 2013. Retrieved May 29, 2013.
- ^ Patra, Kevin (February 27, 2014). "Buffalo Bills, N.Y. Giants to play in Hall of Fame Game". NFL.com. Retrieved February 27, 2014.
- ^ Chase, Chris (February 3, 2014). "Who will the Seattle Seahawks host in the 2014 NFL season opener?". For the Win blog. USA Today. Retrieved February 4, 2014.
{{cite web}}
: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=
(help) - ^ Zinski, Dan (December 4, 2013). "NFL 2014 Schedule Will Include Lions-Falcons Game With 9:30 AM ET Kickoff". Fansided. Retrieved December 4, 2013.
- ^ Burke, Chris (October 24, 2013). "NFL announces three London games for 2014 season". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved October 28, 2013.
- ^ "NFL announces 2014 London dates". ESPN. Associated Press. November 28, 2013. Retrieved November 28, 2013.
- ^ "2014 International Series Schedule Finalized". NFL Communications. December 4, 2013. Retrieved December 4, 2013.
- ^ Robert Klemko (October 11, 2011). "Arizona, not Tampa, will host Super Bowl XLIX in 2015". The Huddle. USA Today. Retrieved February 2, 2013.
{{cite web}}
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(help) - ^ David Barron (December 14, 2011). "NFL extends broadcast agreements through 2022, generating billions". Ultimate Texans. Chron.com. Retrieved February 2, 2013.
- ^ "2015 Pro Bowl to be Played in Arizona; 2016 Pro Bowl Slated for Hawaii". National Football League. April 9, 2014. Archived from the original on April 9, 2014. Retrieved April 9, 2014.
{{cite web}}
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suggested) (help) - ^ "No Toronto in 2014." WGR. Retrieved March 5, 2014. "WGR has learned that the Buffalo Bills will not play in Toronto this season. The future of the Toronto Series is unclear. Keep it locked to WGR for details"
- ^ Breer, Albert (May 22, 2012). "Five-year extension of Buffalo Bills' Toronto series approved". NFL.com. Retrieved October 28, 2013.
- ^ Five rules changes pass as NFL owners vote at league meeting. Pro Football Talk. Retrieved March 26, 2014.
- ^ King, Peter (March 31, 2014). Jim Kelly ToughJim Kelly Tough. SI.com. Retrieved March 31, 2014.
- ^ a b Updated: ESPN Kicks Off New Eight-Year, $14 Billion NFL Deal Multichannel News September 8, 2011
- ^ The Tradition Continues: NFL to Remain on Network TV, NFL Press Release, December 14, 2011
- ^ Best, Neil (December 14, 2011). "NFL renews lucrative TV deals". Newsday. Retrieved October 29, 2013.
- ^ Wilson, Ryan (January 12, 2014). "NFL is shopping 1-year deal to air Thursday night games". CBS Sports.com. Retrieved January 12, 2014.
- ^ "CBS-NFL marriage extended to Thursday nights in 2014". USA Today. February 5, 2014. Retrieved February 5, 2014.
- ^ "NFL, CBS partner on 'Thursday Night Football' in 2014". NFL.com. February 5, 2014. Retrieved February 5, 2014.
- ^ "2014 NFL Schedule: Flex games can now start in Week 5". NFL.com. Retrieved April 24, 2014.
- ^ Juan Rodriguez (January 27, 2013). "49ers Stadium Will be Ready for 2014 NFL Season". About. Retrieved February 2, 2013.
{{cite web}}
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(help) - ^ Rosenthal, Gregg (May 21, 2013). "San Francisco awarded Super Bowl L; Houston lands LI". NFL.com. Retrieved October 29, 2013.
- ^ Matier, Phil (December 9, 2013). "Lack Of Parking Means No Monday Night Football At Levi's Stadium". CBS San Francisco. Retrieved December 31, 2013.
- ^ Rosenberg, Mike (January 15, 2014). "49ers new stadium adding 10,000 parking spaces; Monday night games back on". San Jose Mercury News. Retrieved January 15, 2014.
- ^ Biggs, Brad (March 25, 2014). "NFL uncertain of release date for 2014 schedule". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved March 25, 2014.
- ^ Christopher Gates (August 17, 2012). "Vikings Might Have Two Seasons At TCF Bank Stadium Instead Of One". Daily Norseman. SB Nation. Retrieved February 2, 2013.
{{cite web}}
: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=
(help) - ^ Tesfatsion, Master (April 4, 2014). "Monday night home games difficult for Vikings at TCF Bank Stadium". Star Tribune. Retrieved April 16, 2014.
- ^ Killion, Ann (December 29, 2013). Raiders' stagnation offers no reason for hope. San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved January 27, 2014. "Will the Raiders, who signed a one-year lease to stay at the Coliseum through 2014, stay in Oakland beyond next year? "
- ^ Roth, Leo (March 5, 2014). Bills should sack Toronto series. Rochester Democrat and Chronicle. Retrieved March 5, 2014.
- ^ Smith, Scott (February 20, 2014). "Bucs Unveil Enhanced Logo and Helmet". Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Retrieved February 20, 2014.
- ^ "New Uniform Design Unveiled". Tampa Bay Buccaneers. March 3, 2014. Retrieved March 3, 2014.
- ^ "Bill O'Brien named Texans coach". ESPN.com. January 2, 2014. Retrieved January 2, 2014.
- ^ Sessler, Marc (December 6, 2013). "Gary Kubiak out as Houston Texans head coach". NFL.com. Retrieved December 6, 2013.
- ^ Sessler, Marc (December 29, 2013). "Rob Chudzinski fired by Cleveland Browns". National Football League. Retrieved December 29, 2013.
- ^ Brinson, Will (February 8, 2014). "Colts hire Rob Chudzinksi as special assistant to head coach". CBS Sports. Retrieved February 8, 2014.
- ^ Rosenthal, Gregg (January 23, 2014). "Mike Pettine hired as Cleveland Browns coach". NFL.com. Retrieved January 23, 2014.
- ^ Patra, Kevin (December 30, 2013). "Jim Schwartz fired by Detroit Lions after five seasons". National Football League. Retrieved December 30, 2013.
- ^ "Jim Caldwell hired by Detroit Lions as next coach". NFL.com. August 30, 2013. Retrieved April 24, 2014.
- ^ "Vikings fire Leslie Frazier". Fox News Channel. December 30, 2013. Retrieved December 30, 2013.
- ^ "Vikings hire Mike Zimmer as next head coach | ProFootballTalk". Profootballtalk.nbcsports.com. Retrieved April 24, 2014.
- ^ "Lovie Smith Returns to Coach Buccaneers". January 2, 2014. Retrieved January 5, 2014.
- ^ Brinson, Will (December 30, 2013). "Greg Schiano and GM Mark Dominik fired by Buccaneers". CBS Sports. Retrieved December 30, 2013.
- ^ "Titans fire coach Mike Munchak". ESPN.com. January 4, 2014. Retrieved January 4, 2014.
- ^ "Mike Shanahan fired by Washington Redskins after four seasons". Sports Illustrated. December 30, 2013. Retrieved December 30, 2013.
- ^ Jay Gruden expected to be hired as Redskins coach. The Washington Post. Retrieved January 9, 2014.