1987 NFL season
Encyclopedia
The 1987 NFL season was the 68th regular season of the National Football League
. A 24-day players' strike reduced the 16-game season to 15. The games that were scheduled for the third week of the season were canceled
, but the games for weeks 4–6 were played with replacement players. 85% of the veteran players did not cross picket lines during the strike.
The replacement player teams were given mock names like "Chicago Spare Bears", "San Francisco Phoney Niners", "New Orleans Saint Elsewheres", "Washington ScabSkins", and "Seattle Sea-scabs". Final television revenues were down by about 20%, a smaller drop than the networks had expected. The defending Super Bowl
Champion New York Giants went 0–3 in replacement games, ultimately costing them a chance to make the playoffs and repeat their championship.
Starting on November 8, 1987, ESPN
debuted ESPN Sunday Night Football
, in which the cable network
started to broadcast NFL Sunday night games primarily during the second half of the season.
Due to Game 7 of the 1987 World Series
, the Denver Broncos
– Minnesota Vikings
game at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome
was moved back one day to Monday, October 26.
Walter Payton
played his last NFL season retiring as the NFL all-time leading rusher.
The season ended with Super Bowl XXII
when the Washington Redskins
defeated the Denver Broncos
.
– clinched wild card
berth, – clinched division title
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
. A 24-day players' strike reduced the 16-game season to 15. The games that were scheduled for the third week of the season were canceled
Cancelled NFL games
The following is a list of regular season games that have been canceled by the National Football League since 1933. While canceling games was extremely common prior to this date, since that year, the NFL has only seen four instances in which games have been canceled and not been rescheduled...
, but the games for weeks 4–6 were played with replacement players. 85% of the veteran players did not cross picket lines during the strike.
The replacement player teams were given mock names like "Chicago Spare Bears", "San Francisco Phoney Niners", "New Orleans Saint Elsewheres", "Washington ScabSkins", and "Seattle Sea-scabs". Final television revenues were down by about 20%, a smaller drop than the networks had expected. The defending Super Bowl
Super Bowl
The Super Bowl is the championship game of the National Football League , the highest level of professional American football in the United States, culminating a season that begins in the late summer of the previous calendar year. The Super Bowl uses Roman numerals to identify each game, rather...
Champion New York Giants went 0–3 in replacement games, ultimately costing them a chance to make the playoffs and repeat their championship.
Starting on November 8, 1987, ESPN
ESPN
Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....
debuted ESPN Sunday Night Football
ESPN Sunday Night Football
ESPN Sunday Night Football is the ESPN cable network's weekly television broadcasts of Sunday evening National Football League games. The first ESPN Sunday night broadcast occurred on November 8, 1987, while the last one aired on January 1, 2006....
, in which the cable network
Cable network
A cable channel is a television channel available via cable television. Such channels are usually also available via satellite television, including direct broadcast satellite providers such as DirecTV, Dish Network and BSkyB...
started to broadcast NFL Sunday night games primarily during the second half of the season.
Due to Game 7 of the 1987 World Series
1987 World Series
The 1987 World Series pitted the Minnesota Twins versus the St. Louis Cardinals.Minnesota was victorious in a World Series that was the first in which the home team won every game...
, the Denver Broncos
Denver Broncos
The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver, Colorado. They are currently members of the West Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
– Minnesota Vikings
Minnesota Vikings
The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Vikings joined the National Football League as an expansion team in 1960...
game at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome
Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome
The Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, commonly called the Metrodome, is a domed sports stadium in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. Opened in 1982, it replaced Metropolitan Stadium, which was on the current site of the Mall of America in Bloomington and Memorial Stadium on the University...
was moved back one day to Monday, October 26.
Walter Payton
Walter Payton
Walter Jerry Payton was an American football running back who played for the Chicago Bears of the National Football League for thirteen seasons. Walter Payton was known around the NFL as "Sweetness". He is remembered as one of the most prolific running backs in the history of American football...
played his last NFL season retiring as the NFL all-time leading rusher.
The season ended with Super Bowl XXII
Super Bowl XXII
Super Bowl XXII was an American football game played on January 31, 1988 at Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego, California to decide the National Football League champion following the 1987 regular season...
when the Washington Redskins
Washington Redskins
The Washington Redskins are a professional American football team and members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team plays at FedExField in Landover, Maryland, while its headquarters and training facility are at Redskin Park in Ashburn,...
defeated the Denver Broncos
Denver Broncos
The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver, Colorado. They are currently members of the West Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
.
Major rule changes
- If a defensive player commits pass interference in his own end zone, the ball is placed at the 1-yard line, or if the previous spot was inside the 2-yard line, the penalty is half the distance to the goal line.
- Except for the first onside kick attempt, if a kickoff goes out of bounds, the receiving team takes possession of the ball 30 yards from the spot of the kick or the spot it went out of bounds.
- In order to stop the clock, the quarterback is permitted to throw the ball out of bounds or to the ground as long as he throws it immediately after receiving the snap.
- During passing plays, an offensive player cannot chop block (block a defender below the thigh while the defensive player is already engaging another offensive player).
- Illegal contact by a defensive player beyond the 5-yard zone from the line of scrimmage will not be called if the offensive team is in an obvious punt formation.
- During kicks and punts, players on the receiving team cannot block below the waist. However, players on the kicking team may block below the waist, but only before the kick is made. On all other plays after a change of possession, no player can block below the waist.
Final standings
W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, PCT = Winning Percentage, PF= Points For, PA = Points Against– clinched wild card
Wild card (sports)
The term wild card refers broadly to a tournament or playoff berth awarded to an individual or team that has not qualified through normal play.-International sports:...
berth, – clinched division title
Tiebreakers
- New England finished ahead of Miami in the AFC East based on head-to-head sweep (2–0).
- Houston was the first AFC Wild Card ahead of Seattle based on better conference record (7–4 to Seahawks' 5–6).
- Chicago was the second NFC playoff seed ahead of Washington based on better conference record (9–2 to Redskins' 9–3).
- Dallas finished ahead of St. Louis and Philadelphia in the NFC East based on better division record (4–4 to Cardinals' 3–5 and Eagles' 3–5).
- St. Louis finished ahead of Philadelphia in the NFC East based on better conference record (7–7 to Eagles' 4–7).
- Tampa Bay finished ahead of Detroit in the NFC Central based on better division record (3–4 to Lions' 2–5).
AFC
- Wild-Card playoff: HOUSTON 23, Seattle 20 (OT)
- Divisional playoffs: CLEVELAND 38, Indianapolis 21; DENVER 34, Houston 10
- AFC Championship: DENVER 38, Cleveland 33 at Mile High StadiumMile High StadiumMile High Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium, that stood in Denver, Colorado, from 1948 until 2001.It hosted the Denver Broncos, of the AFL and the NFL, from 1960-2000, the Colorado Rockies, of the National League, of the MLB, from 1993-1994, the Colorado Rapids, of MLS, from 1996-2001, the...
, Denver, ColoradoColoradoColorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
January 17, 1988
NFC
- Wild-Card playoff: Minnesota 44, NEW ORLEANS 10
- Divisional playoffs: Minnesota 36, SAN FRANCISCO 24; Washington 21, CHICAGO 17
- NFC Championship: WASHINGTON 17, Minnesota 10 at RFK Stadium, Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
January 17, 1988
Super Bowl
- Super Bowl XXIISuper Bowl XXIISuper Bowl XXII was an American football game played on January 31, 1988 at Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego, California to decide the National Football League champion following the 1987 regular season...
: Washington (NFC) 42, Denver (AFC) 10, at Jack Murphy Stadium, San Diego, CaliforniaSan Diego, CaliforniaSan Diego is the eighth-largest city in the United States and second-largest city in California. The city is located on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, immediately adjacent to the Mexican border. The birthplace of California, San Diego is known for its mild year-round...
, January 31, 1988
Awards
- As awarded by the Associated PressAssociated PressThe Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
Most Valuable Player NFL Most Valuable Player AwardThe National Football League Most Valuable Player Award is given by various entities, most notably the Associated Press , to the player who is considered most valuable in the league. When the award is referred to without mentioning the organization, it generally means the AP award. The AP NFL MVP...John Elway John ElwayJohn Albert Elway, Jr. is a former American football quarterback and currently is the executive vice president of football operations for the Denver Broncos of the National Football League . He played college football at Stanford and his entire professional career with the Denver Broncos...
, QuarterbackQuarterbackQuarterback is a position in American and Canadian football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive team and line up directly behind the offensive line...
, DenverCoach of the Year NFL Coach of the Year AwardThe National Football League Coach of the Year Award is presented annually by various news and sports organizations to the NFL head coach who has done the most outstanding job of working with the talent he has at his disposal. Currently, the most widely recognized award is presented by the...Jim Mora Jim E. MoraJames Earnest Mora is the former head coach of the USFL's Philadelphia/Baltimore Stars and the NFL's New Orleans Saints and Indianapolis Colts. He played football at Occidental College where he was also a member of the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity. His son Jim L...
, New OrleansOffensive Player of the Year NFL Offensive Player of the Year AwardThe NFL Offensive Player of the Year Award is given annually by the Associated Press to the offensive player of the National Football League believed to have had the most outstanding season...Jerry Rice Jerry RiceJerry Lee Rice is a retired American football wide receiver. He is generally regarded as the greatest wide receiver of all time and one of the greatest players in National Football League history...
, Wide ReceiverWide receiverA wide receiver is an offensive position in American and Canadian football, and is the key player in most of the passing plays. Only players in the backfield or the ends on the line are eligible to catch a forward pass. The two players who begin play at the ends of the offensive line are eligible...
, San FranciscoDefensive Player of the Year NFL Defensive Player of the Year AwardThe NFL Defensive Player of the Year Award is given by the Associated Press to the league's most outstanding defensive player at the end of every NFL season since 1971. Multiple-award winners include Lawrence Taylor, who won it three times, and Joe Greene, Mike Singletary, Bruce Smith, Reggie...Reggie White Reggie WhiteReginald Howard "Reggie" White was a professional American football player. He played 15 seasons as a defensive end in the National Football League for the Philadelphia Eagles, Green Bay Packers and Carolina Panthers, becoming one of the most decorated players in NFL history...
, Defensive EndDefensive endDefensive end is the name of a defensive position in the sport of American and Canadian football.This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formations have substantially changed how the position is played over the years...
, PhiladelphiaOffensive Rookie of the Year Troy Stradford Troy StradfordTroy Edwin Stradford is a former professional American football running back who was selected by the Miami Dolphins in the fourth round of the 1987 NFL Draft. Stradford won the 1987 Offensive Rookie of the Year Award for the Dolphins and played for Miami until the end of the 1990 season...
, Running Back, MiamiDefensive Rookie of the Year Shane Conlan Shane ConlanShane Patrick Conlan is a former professional American football player. He played college football at Penn State University, where he won two national championships...
, Linebacker, BuffaloNFL Comeback Player of the Year NFL Comeback Player of the Year AwardThe NFL Comeback Player of the Year Award has been given out after every season since 1972 by Pro Football Weekly. The player named Comeback Player of the Year shows perseverance in overcoming adversity, in the form of not being in the NFL the previous year, a severe injury, or simply poor...Charles White Charles White (American football)Charles White is a former professional American football running back. He had a distinguished college career and later played in the National Football League for the Cleveland Browns and the Los Angeles Rams.-College football:...
, Running Back, L.A. Rams