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1982 NFL season
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - Cite This SourceThe 1982 NFL season was the 63rd regular season of the National Football League. Before the season, a verdict was handed down against the league in the trial brought by the Oakland Raiders and the Los Angeles Coliseum back in 1980. The jury ruled that the NFL violated antitrust laws when it declined to approve the proposed move by the team from Oakland, California to Los Angeles. Thus, the league was forced to let the officially renamed Los Angeles Raiders play in the second largest city in the United States.
The league faced another problem when a 57-day long players' strike reduced the 1982 season from a 16-game schedule per team to 9. Because of the shortened season, the NFL adopted a special 16-team playoff tournament. Division standings were ignored. Eight teams from each conference were seeded 1-8 based on their regular season records.
The season ended with Super Bowl XVII when the Washington Redskins defeated the Miami Dolphins.
Major rule changes
- The penalty for incidental grabbing of a facemask that is committed by the defensive team is changed from 5 yards and an automatic first down to just 5 yards.
- The penalties for illegally kicking, batting, or punching the ball are changed from 15 yards to 10 yards.
- The league discontinued the 1979 numbering system for officials, with officials numbered separately by position, and reverted back to the original system where each NFL official was assigned a different number. Also the officials position was now abbreviated on the back of the uniform instead of being spelled out.
Final standings
W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, PCT= Winning Percentage, PF= Points For, PA = Points Against| Qualified for playoffs |
| AFC | ||||||
| Team | W | L | T | PCT | PF | PA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles Raiders | 8 | 1 | 0 | .889 | 260 | 200 |
| Miami Dolphins | 7 | 2 | 0 | .778 | 198 | 131 |
| Cincinnati Bengals | 7 | 2 | 0 | .778 | 232 | 177 |
| Pittsburgh Steelers | 6 | 3 | 0 | .667 | 204 | 146 |
| San Diego Chargers | 6 | 3 | 0 | .667 | 288 | 221 |
| New York Jets | 6 | 3 | 0 | .667 | 245 | 166 |
| New England Patriots | 5 | 4 | 0 | .556 | 143 | 157 |
| Cleveland Browns | 4 | 5 | 0 | .444 | 140 | 182 |
| Buffalo Bills | 4 | 5 | 0 | .444 | 150 | 154 |
| Seattle Seahawks | 4 | 5 | 0 | .444 | 127 | 147 |
| Kansas City Chiefs | 3 | 6 | 0 | .333 | 176 | 184 |
| Denver Broncos | 2 | 7 | 0 | .222 | 148 | 226 |
| Houston Oilers | 1 | 8 | 0 | .111 | 136 | 245 |
| Baltimore Colts | 0 | 8 | 1 | .056 | 113 | 236 |
| NFC | ||||||
| Team | W | L | T | PCT | PF | PA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Washington Redskins | 8 | 1 | 0 | .889 | 190 | 128 |
| Dallas Cowboys | 6 | 3 | 0 | .667 | 226 | 145 |
| Green Bay Packers | 5 | 3 | 1 | .611 | 226 | 169 |
| Minnesota Vikings | 5 | 4 | 0 | .556 | 187 | 198 |
| Atlanta Falcons | 5 | 4 | 0 | .556 | 183 | 199 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 5 | 4 | 0 | .556 | 135 | 170 |
| Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 5 | 4 | 0 | .556 | 158 | 178 |
| Detroit Lions | 4 | 5 | 0 | .444 | 181 | 176 |
| New Orleans Saints | 4 | 5 | 0 | .444 | 129 | 160 |
| New York Giants | 4 | 5 | 0 | .444 | 164 | 160 |
| San Francisco 49ers | 3 | 6 | 0 | .333 | 209 | 206 |
| Chicago Bears | 3 | 6 | 0 | .333 | 141 | 174 |
| Philadelphia Eagles | 3 | 6 | 0 | .333 | 191 | 195 |
| Los Angeles Rams | 2 | 7 | 0 | .222 | 200 | 250 |
Tiebreakers
- AFC
- Miami finished ahead of Cincinnati based on better conference record (6-1 to Bengals' 6-2).
- Pittsburgh finished ahead of San Diego based on better record against common opponents (3-1 to Chargers' 2-1) after N.Y. Jets were eliminated from three-way tie based on conference record (Pittsburgh and San Diego 5-3 to Jets' 2-3).
- Cleveland finished ahead of Buffalo and Seattle based on better conference record (4-3 to Bills' 3-3 to Seahawks' 3-5).
- Buffalo finished ahead of Seattle based on better conference record (3-3 to Seahawks' 3-5).
- NFC
- Minnesota (4-1), Atlanta (4-3), St. Louis (5-4), Tampa Bay (3-3) seeds were determined by best won-lost record in conference games.
- Detroit finished ahead of New Orleans and the N.Y. Giants based on best conference record (4-4 to Saints' 3-5 to Giants' 3-5).
- San Francisco finished ahead of Chicago, and Chicago finished ahead of Philadelphia, based on conference record (49ers' 2-3 to Bears' 2-5 to Eagles' 1-5).
Playoffs
References
- NFL Record and Fact Book (ISBN 1-932994-36-X)
- NFL History 1981-1990 (Last accessed December 4, 2005)
- 1982 season in details
- Total Football: The Official Encyclopedia of the National Football League (ISBN 0-06-270174-6)
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Last updated on Monday March 10, 2008 at 12:26:52 PDT (GMT -0700)
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