Rahul Sharma (Editor)

1989 NFL season

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AFC Champions
  
Denver Broncos

Champions
  
San Francisco 49ers

Start date
  
1989

NFC Champions
  
San Francisco 49ers

Site
  
Aloha Stadium

Duration
  
September 10 – December 25, 1989

Site
  
Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans, Louisiana

Champion
  
Denver Broncos, San Francisco 49ers

Similar
  
1990 NFL season, 1988 NFL season, 1986 NFL season, 1992 NFL season, 1991 NFL season

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.

Contents

Due to damage caused by the Loma Prieta earthquake to Candlestick Park, the New England Patriots – 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

    W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, PCT = Winning Percentage, PF= Points For, PA = Points Against

    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 (6–3 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. * Indicates overtime victory

    References

    1989 NFL season Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA