1989 NFL season

The 1989 NFL season was the 70th regular season of the National Football League. Before the season, NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle announced his retirement. Paul Tagliabue was eventually chosen to succeed him, taking over on November 5.

1989 National Football League season

Regular season
Duration	September 10 – December 25, 1989
Playoffs
Start date	December 31, 1989
AFC Champions	Denver Broncos
NFC Champions	San Francisco 49ers
Super Bowl XXIV
Date	January 28, 1990
Site	Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans, Louisiana
Champions	San Francisco 49ers
Pro Bowl
Date	February 4, 1990
Site	Aloha Stadium

Due to damage caused by the Loma Prieta earthquake to Candlestick Park, the New England Patriots at San Francisco 49ers game on October 22 was played at Stanford Stadium in Stanford.

The season ended with Super Bowl XXIV where the 49ers defeated the Denver Broncos 55–10 at the Louisiana Superdome.

Draft

The 1989 NFL Draft was held from April 23 to 24, 1989 at New York City's Marriott Marquis. With the first pick, the Dallas Cowboys selected quarterback Troy Aikman from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Referee changes

Fred Silva retired during the 1989 off-season. He joined the NFL in 1968 as a line judge before being promoted to referee in 1969. Games that he officiated include Super Bowl XIV and the Freezer Bowl.

Dale Hamer, the head linesman for Super Bowl XVII and Super Bowl XXII, and Howard Roe were promoted to referee. In addition to replacing Silva, an extra 16th officiating crew was added to help handle the weekly workload of 14 games.

Walt Coleman was hired as a line judge. He was promoted to referee in 1995 and was a crew chief through 2018.

Major rule changes

• After a foul that occurs inside the last two minutes of the first half and inside the last five minutes of the second half or overtime, the game clock will start at the snap, instead of when the ball is spotted and the Referee signals it is ready to be played.
• New rules were enacted, including loss of timeouts or five-yard penalties, to handle the problem of crowd noise when it becomes too loud for the offensive team to hear its signals.
• If a receiver and a defender eventually establish joint control of a pass, the ball will be awarded to whoever was the first player to establish control of the ball.
• While not a rule “change” per se, the “hurry up offense” was recognized as fully legal, and penalties for delay of game would be called against teams whose defenders faked injuries in order to slow down the tempo, unless those teams called for timeouts.

Final standings

AFC East W L T PCT DIV CONF PF PA STK Buffalo Bills^(3) 9 7 0 .563 6–2 8–4 409 317 W1 Indianapolis Colts 8 8 0 .500 4–4 7–5 298 301 L1 Miami Dolphins 8 8 0 .500 4–4 6–8 331 379 L2 New England Patriots 5 11 0 .313 4–4 5–7 297 391 L3 New York Jets 4 12 0 .250 2–6 3–9 253 411 L3 AFC Central W L T PCT DIV CONF PF PA STK Cleveland Browns^(2) 9 6 1 .594 3–3 6–5–1 334 254 W2 Houston Oilers^(4) 9 7 0 .563 3–3 6–6 365 412 L2 Pittsburgh Steelers^(5) 9 7 0 .563 1–5 6–6 265 326 W3 Cincinnati Bengals 8 8 0 .500 5–1 6–6 404 285 L1 AFC West W L T PCT DIV CONF PF PA STK Denver Broncos^(1) 11 5 0 .688 6–2 9–3 362 226 L1 Kansas City Chiefs 8 7 1 .531 3–5 6–7–1 307 286 W1 Los Angeles Raiders 8 8 0 .500 3–5 6–6 315 297 L2 Seattle Seahawks 7 9 0 .438 4–4 7–5 241 327 L1 San Diego Chargers 6 10 0 .375 4–4 4–8 266 290 W2

NFC East W L T PCT DIV CONF PF PA STK New York Giants^(2) 12 4 0 .750 6–2 8–4 348 252 W3 Philadelphia Eagles^(4) 11 5 0 .688 7–1 8–4 342 274 W1 Washington Redskins 10 6 0 .625 4–4 8–4 386 308 W5 Phoenix Cardinals 5 11 0 .313 2–6 4–8 258 377 L6 Dallas Cowboys 1 15 0 .063 1–7 1–13 204 393 L7 NFC Central W L T PCT DIV CONF PF PA STK Minnesota Vikings^(3) 10 6 0 .625 6–2 8–4 362 356 W1 Green Bay Packers 10 6 0 .625 5–3 10–4 362 275 W2 Detroit Lions 7 9 0 .438 4–4 6–6 312 364 W5 Chicago Bears 6 10 0 .375 2–6 4–8 358 377 L6 Tampa Bay Buccaneers 5 11 0 .313 3–5 5–7 320 419 L4 NFC West W L T PCT DIV CONF PF PA STK San Francisco 49ers^(1) 14 2 0 .875 5–1 10–2 442 253 W5 Los Angeles Rams^(5) 11 5 0 .688 4–2 8–4 426 344 W2 New Orleans Saints 9 7 0 .563 3–3 5–7 386 301 W3 Atlanta Falcons 3 13 0 .188 0–6 1–11 279 437 L7

Tiebreakers

• Indianapolis finished ahead of Miami in the AFC East based on better conference record (7–5 vs. Dolphins' 6–8).
• Houston finished ahead of Pittsburgh in the AFC Central based on head-to-head sweep (2–0).
• Philadelphia was first NFC Wild Card ahead of L.A. Rams based on better record against common opponents (7–3 to Rams' 5–4).
• Minnesota finished ahead of Green Bay in the NFC Central based on better division record (6–2 vs. Packers' 5–3).

Playoffs

Main article: 1989–90 NFL playoffs

NOTE: The San Francisco 49ers (the NFC 1 seed) did not play the Los Angeles Rams (the 5 seed) in the Divisional playoff round because both teams were in the same division.

						Divisional Playoffs
						Jan. 7 – Giants Stadium
	NFC Wild Card Game										NFC Championship
						5	LA Rams	19*
	Dec. 31 – Veterans Stadium										Jan. 14 – Candlestick Park
						2	NY Giants	13
	5	LA Rams	21								5	LA Rams	3
						Jan. 6 – Candlestick Park
	4	Philadelphia	7								1	San Francisco	30			Super Bowl XXIV
						3	Minnesota	13
																Jan. 28 – Louisiana Superdome
						1	San Francisco	41
																N1	San Francisco	55
						Jan. 6 – Cleveland Stadium
	AFC Wild Card Game										AFC Championship					A1	Denver	10
						3	Buffalo	30
	Dec. 31 – Astrodome										Jan. 14 – Mile High Stadium
						2	Cleveland	34
	5	Pittsburgh	26*								2	Cleveland	21
						Jan. 7 – Mile High Stadium
	4	Houston	23								1	Denver	37
						5	Pittsburgh	23
						1	Denver	24

* Indicates overtime victory

Statistical leaders

Team

Points scored	San Francisco 49ers (442)
Total yards gained	San Francisco 49ers (6,268)
Yards rushing	Cincinnati Bengals (2,483)
Yards passing	Washington Redskins (4,349)
Fewest points allowed	Denver Broncos (226)
Fewest total yards allowed	Minnesota Vikings (4,184)
Fewest rushing yards allowed	New Orleans Saints (1,326)
Fewest passing yards allowed	Minnesota Vikings (2,501)

Awards

Most Valuable Player	Joe Montana, Quarterback, San Francisco
Coach of the Year	Lindy Infante, Green Bay
Offensive Player of the Year	Joe Montana, Quarterback, San Francisco
Defensive Player of the Year	Keith Millard, Defensive Tackle, Minnesota
Offensive Rookie of the Year	Barry Sanders, Running Back, Detroit
Defensive Rookie of the Year	Derrick Thomas, Linebacker, Kansas City
NFL Comeback Player of the Year	Ottis Anderson, Running Back, NY Giants
NFL Man of the Year	Warren Moon, Quarterback, Houston
Super Bowl Most Valuable Player	Joe Montana, Quarterback, San Francisco

Coaching changes

Offseason

• Cleveland Browns: Marty Schottenheimer left the Browns to coach the Kansas City Chiefs. The Browns turned to Bud Carson to replace Schottenheimer.
• Dallas Cowboys: In a highly publicized move shortly after taking over, the Cowboys' new ownership fired Tom Landry, the team's only head coach in franchise history. Jimmy Johnson, who lead the Miami Hurricanes to a college football national championship in 1987, was named as Landry's replacement.
• Detroit Lions: Wayne Fontes began his first full season as head coach after replacing Darryl Rogers, who was fired after 11 games in 1988.
• Kansas City Chiefs: Frank Gansz was fired. Marty Schottenheimer then joined the Chiefs after leaving the Browns.
• San Diego Chargers: Al Saunders was replaced by Dan Henning.
• San Francisco 49ers: Bill Walsh retired after the team's 1988 NFL/Super Bowl championship. Defensive coordinator George Seifert was promoted to head coach.

In-season

• Atlanta Falcons: Marion Campbell's second tenure with the Falcons ended when was fired after the first 12 games, and former St. Louis Cardinals coach Jim Hanifan served as interim for the final four games.
• Los Angeles Raiders: Mike Shanahan was fired after the first four games. Assistant coach Art Shell served as interim for the last 12 games. Shell was given the position permanently and held it through 1994, then returned for one season in 2006.
• Phoenix Cardinals: Gene Stallings was fired after the first 11 games after announcing he would resign at the end of the season, and Hank Kuhlmann served as interim for the final five games. Stallings became coach of the Alabama Crimson Tide, where he won the 1992 national championship.

Uniform changes

• The Dallas Cowboys removed the elliptical blue circles with the player's number from the hip area of the pants
• The Green Bay Packers removed the helmet monogram from their jersey sleeves
• The Kansas City Chiefs began wearing their white pants with their white jerseys, discontinuing their red pants. It was the first time the Chiefs wore white pants with their white jerseys since 1967. The red pants returned in 2000.
• The Miami Dolphins introduced aqua pants to be worn with their white jerseys. They were not worn again in 1989 after a 39-7 loss at Houston in week four, but returned full-time in 1990.
• The Phoenix Cardinals added the flag of Arizona on top of the sleeve stripes of their white jerseys

References

• NFL Record and Fact Book (ISBN 1-932994-36-X)
• NFL History 1981–1990 (Last accessed December 4, 2005)
• Total Football: The Official Encyclopedia of the National Football League (ISBN 0-06-270174-6)