1989 NFL season

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

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.

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.

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

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

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.

Coaches

American Football Conference

National Football Conference

Atlanta Falcons: Marion Campbell (12 games) and Jim Hanifan (4 games)
Chicago Bears: Mike Ditka
Dallas Cowboys: Jimmy Johnson
Detroit Lions: Wayne Fontes
Green Bay Packers: Lindy Infante
Los Angeles Rams: John Robinson
Minnesota Vikings: Jerry Burns
New Orleans Saints: Jim Mora
New York Giants: Bill Parcells
Philadelphia Eagles: Buddy Ryan
Phoenix Cardinals: Gene Stallings (11 games) and Hank Kuhlmann (5 games)
San Francisco 49ers: George Seifert
Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Ray Perkins
Washington Redskins: Joe Gibbs

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)

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