1992 NFL season
The 1992 NFL season was the 73rd regular season of the National Football League. Due to the damage caused by Hurricane Andrew, the New England Patriots at Miami Dolphins game that was scheduled for September 6 at Joe Robbie Stadium was rescheduled to October 18. Both teams originally had that weekend off. This marked the first time since the 1966 NFL season and the AFL seasons of 1966 and 1967 that there were byes in week 1; in those years, byes were necessary every week since there were an odd number of teams, which would happen again between 1999 and 2001. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Dolphins also had their 2017 season opener postponed due to Hurricane Irma.
| Regular season | |
|---|---|
| Duration | September 6 – December 28, 1992 |
| Playoffs | |
| Start date | January 2, 1993 |
| AFC Champions | Buffalo Bills |
| NFC Champions | Dallas Cowboys |
| Super Bowl XXVII | |
| Date | January 31, 1993 |
| Site | Rose Bowl, Pasadena, California |
| Champions | Dallas Cowboys |
| Pro Bowl | |
| Date | February 7, 1993 |
| Site | Aloha Stadium |
The season ended with Super Bowl XXVII when the Dallas Cowboys defeated the Buffalo Bills 52–17 at the Rose Bowl. This would be the third of the Bills’ four consecutive Super Bowl losses. Buffalo would join the Miami Dolphins of the early 1970s as the only team to reach three straight Super Bowls and not until the New England Patriots of the late 2010s would another team reach three in a row.
Draft
The 1992 NFL Draft was held from April 26 to 27, 1992 at New York City's Marriott Marquis. With the first pick, the Indianapolis Colts selected defensive tackle Steve Emtman from the University of Washington.
Referee changes
After one season as referee, Stan Kemp stepped down after he was diagnosed with Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Tom Dooley also retired during the off-season. Gary Lane and Ed Hochuli were then promoted to referee.
Major rule changes
- The NFL ceases to use the instant replay system that was in effect since the 1986 NFL season to review questionable on-field calls, due to many reviews taking up long periods of time. Instant replay would not return to the league until a more comprehensive instant replay review system with time limits was introduced in the 1999 NFL season.
- To reduce injuries, any offensive player who is lined up in the backfield before the snap cannot chop block a defensive player who is already engaged above the waist by another offensive player.
Final regular season standings
There was an unusual deviation between good teams and bad teams in the NFL in 1992. Only one team, the Denver Broncos; finished with eight wins and eight losses, nine teams had at least 11 wins, and eight teams had at least 11 losses. Only six teams had between seven, eight or nine wins in 1992.
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Tiebreakers
- Pittsburgh was the top AFC playoff seed, and Miami was the second AFC playoff seed ahead of San Diego, based on conference record (10–2 to Dolphins’ 9–3 to Chargers’ 9–5).
- Miami finished ahead of Buffalo in the AFC East based on better conference record (9–3 to Bills” 7–5).
- Houston was the second AFC Wild Card based on head-to-head victory over Kansas City (1–0).
- Washington was the third NFC Wild Card based on better conference record than Green Bay (7–5 to Packers' 6–6).
- Tampa Bay finished ahead of Chicago and Detroit in the NFC Central based on better conference record (5–9 to Bears’ 4–8 and Lions’ 3–9).
- Atlanta finished ahead of L.A. Rams in the NFC West based on better record against common opponents (5–7 to Rams’ 4–8).
Playoffs
| Jan. 3 – Rich Stadium | Jan. 9 – Three Rivers Stadium | |||||||||||||||||
| 5 | Houston | 38 | ||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Buffalo | 24 | ||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Buffalo | 41* | Jan. 17 – Joe Robbie Stadium | |||||||||||||||
| 1 | Pittsburgh | 3 | ||||||||||||||||
| AFC | ||||||||||||||||||
| Jan. 2 – Jack Murphy Stadium | 4 | Buffalo | 29 | |||||||||||||||
| Jan. 10 – Joe Robbie Stadium | ||||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Miami | 10 | ||||||||||||||||
| 6 | Kansas City | 0 | AFC Championship | |||||||||||||||
| 3 | San Diego | 0 | ||||||||||||||||
| 3 | San Diego | 17 | Jan. 31 – Rose Bowl | |||||||||||||||
| 2 | Miami | 31 | ||||||||||||||||
| Wild card playoffs | ||||||||||||||||||
| Divisional playoffs | ||||||||||||||||||
| Jan. 3 – Louisiana Superdome | A4 | Buffalo | 17 | |||||||||||||||
| Jan. 10 – Texas Stadium | ||||||||||||||||||
| N2 | Dallas | 52 | ||||||||||||||||
| 5 | Philadelphia | 36 | Super Bowl XXVII | |||||||||||||||
| 5 | Philadelphia | 10 | ||||||||||||||||
| 4 | New Orleans | 20 | Jan. 17 – Candlestick Park | |||||||||||||||
| 2 | Dallas | 34 | ||||||||||||||||
| NFC | ||||||||||||||||||
| Jan. 2 – Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome | 2 | Dallas | 30 | |||||||||||||||
| Jan. 9 – Candlestick Park | ||||||||||||||||||
| 1 | San Francisco | 20 | ||||||||||||||||
| 6 | Washington | 24 | NFC Championship | |||||||||||||||
| 6 | Washington | 13 | ||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Minnesota | 7 | ||||||||||||||||
| 1 | San Francisco | 20 | ||||||||||||||||
* Indicates overtime victory; see The Comeback (American football)
Awards
| Most Valuable Player | Steve Young, quarterback, San Francisco |
| Coach of the Year | Bill Cowher, Pittsburgh |
| Offensive Player of the Year | Steve Young, Quarterback, San Francisco |
| Defensive Player of the Year | Cortez Kennedy, Defensive Tackle, Seattle |
| Offensive Rookie of the Year | Carl Pickens, Wide Receiver, Cincinnati |
| Defensive Rookie of the Year | Dale Carter, Cornerback, Kansas City |
| NFL Comeback Player of the Year | Randall Cunningham, Quarterback, Philadelphia |
| NFL Man of the Year | John Elway, Quarterback, Denver |
| Super Bowl Most Valuable Player | Troy Aikman, Quarterback, Dallas |
Coaching changes
- Cincinnati Bengals: Dave Shula replaced the fired Sam Wyche.
- Green Bay Packers: Mike Holmgren replaced the fired Lindy Infante.
- Indianapolis Colts: Ted Marchibroda was named the permanent replacement, after Ron Meyer was fired after five games in 1991 and Rick Venturi served as interim for the final 11 games.
- Los Angeles Rams: Chuck Knox replaced the fired John Robinson, having previously served as Rams head coach from 1973 to 1977.
- Minnesota Vikings: Dennis Green replaced the retired Jerry Burns.
- Pittsburgh Steelers: Bill Cowher replaced the retired Chuck Noll.
- San Diego Chargers: Bobby Ross replaced the fired Dan Henning.
- Seattle Seahawks: Tom Flores replaced Chuck Knox, who resigned to become the Rams' head coach.
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Sam Wyche replaced the fired Richard Williamson.
Stadium changes
The Atlanta Falcons played their first season in the new Georgia Dome, replacing Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium. The Falcons would play at the Georgia Dome until 2016.
Uniform changes
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers began wearing orange pants with their white jerseys
External links
References
- NFL Record and Fact Book (ISBN 1-932994-36-X)
- NFL History 1991–2000 (Last accessed December 4, 2005)
- Total Football: The Official Encyclopedia of the National Football League (ISBN 0-06-270174-6)
- 1992 NFL season at Pro-Football Reference