1984 NFL season
The 1984 NFL season was the 65th regular season of the National Football League. The Colts relocated from Baltimore, Maryland to Indianapolis, Indiana before the season.
The season ended with Super Bowl XIX when the San Francisco 49ers defeated the Miami Dolphins 38–16 at Stanford Stadium in California. This was the first Super Bowl televised by ABC, who entered into the annual championship game rotation with CBS and NBC. This game marked the second shortest distance between the Super Bowl host stadium and a Super Bowl team.
The 49ers became the first team in NFL history to win 15 games in a regular season and to win 18 in an entire season. Additionally, two major offensive records were set this season, with quarterback Dan Marino establishing a new single-season passing yards record with 5,084 and Eric Dickerson establishing a new single-season rushing yards record with 2,105. Another statistical record broken was Mark Gastineau for most sacks in a single season, with 22.
Also during the season, San Diego Chargers wide receiver Charlie Joiner became the all-time leader in career receptions; he set that mark in a game between the Chargers and the Pittsburgh Steelers at Pittsburgh's Three Rivers Stadium.
A week 10 game against the Kansas City Chiefs the Seattle Seahawks set numerous NFL records for interception returns, including most interception return yardage in a game and most interceptions returned for touchdowns in a game with 4. The Seahawks also tied an NFL record with 63 defensive takeaways on the season.
Salaries increased significantly over the past two seasons in the NFL, up nearly fifty percent; new Houston Oilers quarterback Warren Moon led the list at $1.1 million.
Draft
The 1984 NFL Draft was held from May 1 to May 2, 1984 at New York City's Omni Park Central Hotel. With the first pick, the New England Patriots selected wide receiver Irving Fryar from the University of Nebraska.Major rule changes
- Linebackers are permitted to wear numbers 90 to 99.
- The penalty for a kickoff or onside kick that goes out of bounds is 5 yards from the previous spot and a re-kick must be made. However, if the second kickoff or onside kick goes out of bounds, the receiving team may choose instead to take possession of the ball at the out of bounds spot.
- Leaping to try to block a field goal or an extra point is illegal unless the defensive player was lined up at the line of scrimmage.
- A kicker or holder who fakes being roughed or run into by a defensive player can receive an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.
- Unsportsmanlike conduct will also be called for any prolonged, excessive, or premeditated celebration by individual players or a group of players. This is usually referred to as the “Mark Gastineau Rule” because a major reason why this change was made was to stop him from performing his signature “Sack Dance” every time after he sacked an opposing quarterback. This also referred to the Washington Redskins "Fun Bunch".
Final standings
Tiebreakers
- N.Y. Giants finished ahead of St. Louis and Dallas in the NFC East based on best head-to-head record.
- St. Louis finished ahead of Dallas in the NFC East based on better division record.
Playoffs
Notable events
- For the only time in NFL history, two teams — the Oilers and the Bills — begin the season 0–10.
Milestones
Statistical leaders
Team
Awards
Coaching changes
Offseason
- Cincinnati Bengals: Sam Wyche replaced the resigning Forrest Gregg, who left to join the Green Bay Packers.
- Green Bay Packers: Bart Starr was fired. Forrest Gregg then joined the Packers after resigning from the Bengals.
- Houston Oilers: Hugh Campbell was hired as head coach. Ed Biles was fired after the team lost their first six games in 1983. Defensive coordinator Chuck Studley took over as interim.
- Minnesota Vikings: Les Steckel replaced the retiring Bud Grant.
In-season
- Cleveland Browns: Sam Rutigliano was fired after starting the season 1–7, and was replaced by defensive coordinator Marty Schottenheimer.
- Indianapolis Colts: Frank Kush resigned after the team went 4–11. Offensive line coach Hal Hunter served as interim for the team's final regular season game.
- New England Patriots: Ron Meyer was fired after eight games, despite a 5–3 record, due to his team-wide alienation of players. Raymond Berry, who had been out of coaching since serving as New England's receivers coach from 1978 to 1981, was named has Meyer's replacement.
Stadium changes
The New York Jets moved their home games from Shea Stadium in New York City to Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, sharing it with the Giants.
Uniform changes
- The Atlanta Falcons switched from white to black face masks.
- The Buffalo Bills switched from white helmets to red, primarily to help quarterback Joe Ferguson distinguish his teammates from the white helmets also worn by AFC East rivals Baltimore Colts, Miami Dolphins, and New England Patriots.
- The Chicago Bears permanently added "GSH" to the left sleeve of the jerseys, in memory of longtime owner and coach George Halas. The Bears also added navy blue pants to wear with their white jerseys.
- The Cleveland Browns added new striping patterns to their brown and white jerseys, and white pants. Outlines were also added to the numbers. During the preseason, the numbers on the brown jerseys were orange trimmed with white; however, complaints about the numbers being too difficult to read prompted the color scheme to be reversed for the regular season. They also stopped using orange pants and instead wore white pants with both the brown and white jerseys. Brown-topped socks were worn with the brown jerseys, and orange-topped socks were worn with the white jerseys.
- The Detroit Lions switched from gray to blue face masks.
- The Green Bay Packers added player numbers to their pants at the hip, similar to the Dallas Cowboys. The "TV numbers" on the jerseys were moved from the sleeves to the shoulders, and the "G" monogram on the helmets was repeated on the jersey sleeves.
- The New England Patriots made major changes to their jerseys, adding "UCLA stripes" around the shoulders, replacing the two stripes at the bottom of the sleeves which were used from 1973-83. The Patriots also returned to wearing red pants with their white jerseys as they did in 1979 and '80.
Regular season games not broadcast by Network TV