1982 NFL season

The 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 Los Angeles Coliseum and the Oakland Raiders. The jury ruled that the NFL violated antitrust laws when it declined to approve the proposed move by the Raiders from Oakland, California to Los Angeles. Thus, the league was forced to let the team 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.

Final standings

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

Qualified for playoffs

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

Home team in capitals

AFC

*First round playoffs
**MIAMI 28, New England 13
**L.A. RAIDERS 27, Cleveland 10
**N.Y. Jets 44, CINCINNATI 17
**San Diego 31, PITTSBURGH 28
*Second round playoffs: N.Y. Jets 17, L.A. RAIDERS 14; MIAMI 34, San Diego 13
*AFC Championship: MIAMI 14, N.Y. Jets 0

NFC

*First round playoffs
**WASHINGTON 31, Detroit 7
**GREEN BAY 41, St. Louis 16
**MINNESOTA 30, Atlanta 24
**DALLAS 30, Tampa Bay 17
*Second round playoffs: WASHINGTON 21, Minnesota 7; DALLAS 37, Green Bay 26
*NFC Championship: WASHINGTON 31, Dallas 17

Super Bowl XVII

Washington (NFC) 27, Miami (AFC) 17, at Rose Bowl, Pasadena, California

References

* NFL Record and Fact Book (ISBN 193299436X)
* NFL History 1981-1990 (Last accessed December 4, 2005)
* 1982 season in details
* Total Football: The Official Encyclopedia of the National Football League (ISBN 0062701746)