1986 NFL season

The 1986 NFL season was the 67th regular season of the National Football League. Defending Super Bowl Champion Chicago Bears shared the league’s best record with the Giants at 14–2, with the Giants claiming the spot in the NFC by tiebreakers. In the AFC, the Cleveland Browns earned home-field advantage with a record of 12–4, and they hosted the New York Jets in round one of the AFC playoffs. The Jets had started the season at 10–1 before losing their final five contests. The game went to double OT, with the Browns finally prevailing 23–20. The following Sunday, John Elway and the Denver Broncos defeated the Browns by an identical score in a game known for The Drive, where Elway drove his team 98 yards to send the game to overtime to win. The Giants would defeat their rival Washington Redskins in the NFC title game, blanking them 17–0 to advance to their first Super Bowl. The season ended with Super Bowl XXI when the New York Giants defeated the Denver Broncos 39–20 at the Rose Bowl to win their first league title in 30 years.

1986 National Football League season

Regular season
Duration	September 7 – December 22, 1986
Playoffs
Start date	December 28, 1986
AFC Champions	Denver Broncos
NFC Champions	New York Giants
Super Bowl XXI
Date	January 25, 1987
Site	Rose Bowl, Pasadena, California
Champions	New York Giants
Pro Bowl
Date	February 1, 1987
Site	Aloha Stadium
← 1985 NFL seasons 1987 →

Colts

Patriots

Bills

Dolphins

Jets

Bengals

Browns

Oilers

Steelers

Broncos

Chiefs

Raiders

Chargers

Seahawks

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AFC teams: West, Central, East

Cowboys

Giants

Eagles

Cardinals

Redskins

Bears

Lions

Packers

Vikings

Buccaneers

Falcons

Rams

Saints

49ers

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NFC teams: West, Central, East

Player movement

Transactions

• November 8, 1986: Steve Tasker was claimed off waivers by the Buffalo Bills.^[1]

Trades

• October 14- The Chicago Bears acquired quarterback Doug Flutie in a trade with the Los Angeles Rams.^[2]

Draft

The 1986 NFL Draft was held from April 29 to 30, 1986 at New York City's Marriott Marquis. With the first pick, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers selected runningback Bo Jackson from Auburn University.

New referee

Dick Hantak was promoted to referee after serving eight seasons as a back judge (the position title was changed to field judge in 1998). Fred Silva was then assigned as a swing official instead of his own crew after suffering a heart attack in the offseason. Chuck Heberling was scheduled to be an instant replay official, but was asked to remain on the field following Silva's heart attack. Herberling earned assignment to the AFC championship.

Major rule changes

• Players are prohibited from wearing apparel, equipment, or other items that carry commercial names, names of organizations, or any type of personal message unless they get specific permission from the league.
• If the offensive team commits a dead ball foul during the last two minutes of a half, the clock will start at the snap.
• If an offensive player fumbles the ball and it goes forward and out of bounds, the ball is returned to that team at the spot of the fumble.
• If an offensive player fumbles the ball in the field of play and it goes out of bounds in the opponent's end zone, the ball is given to the defensive team at the spot of the fumble (this rule would be changed in 1991 to result in a touchback).
• A limited system of instant replay was adopted to aid officiating. A replay official in a booth would decide what plays to review and make the final ruling, regardless of the current score or the amount of time left in the game. The replay official communicated with the game officials via radio transmitters. However, there was no time limit on how long the replay official could review a play and this led to long game delays (this was a major reason why the system was eventually repealed in 1992 and not brought back until a more comprehensive replay system with time limits were established in 1999).

American Bowl

A series of National Football League pre-season exhibition games that were held at sites outside the United States, the only American Bowl game in 1986 was held at London’s Wembley Stadium.

Date	Winning Team	Score	Losing Team	Score	Stadium	City
August 3, 1986	Chicago Bears	17	Dallas Cowboys	6	Wembley Stadium	London

Regular season

Scheduling formula

Inter-conference AFC East vs NFC West AFC Central vs NFC Central AFC West vs NFC East

Highlights of the 1986 season included:

• Thanksgiving: Two games were played on Thursday, November 27, featuring Green Bay at Detroit and Seattle at Dallas, with Green Bay and Seattle winning.

Final standings

AFC East view talk edit W L T PCT DIV CONF PF PA STK New England Patriots^(3) 11 5 0 .688 7–1 8–4 412 307 W1 New York Jets^(4) 10 6 0 .625 6–2 8–4 364 386 L5 Miami Dolphins 8 8 0 .500 5–3 6–6 430 405 L1 Buffalo Bills 4 12 0 .250 1–7 3–11 287 348 L3 Indianapolis Colts 3 13 0 .188 1–7 2–10 229 400 W3 AFC Central view talk edit W L T PCT DIV CONF PF PA STK Cleveland Browns^(1) 12 4 0 .750 5–1 10–2 391 310 W5 Cincinnati Bengals 10 6 0 .625 3–3 7–5 409 394 W1 Pittsburgh Steelers 6 10 0 .375 3–3 4–8 307 336 L1 Houston Oilers 5 11 0 .313 1–5 3–9 274 329 W2 AFC West view talk edit W L T PCT DIV CONF PF PA STK Denver Broncos^(2) 11 5 0 .688 5–3 8–4 378 327 L1 Kansas City Chiefs^(5) 10 6 0 .625 5–3 9–5 358 326 W3 Seattle Seahawks 10 6 0 .625 5–3 7–5 366 293 W5 Los Angeles Raiders 8 8 0 .500 4–4 7–5 323 346 L4 San Diego Chargers 4 12 0 .250 1–7 4–8 335 396 L2

NFC East view talk edit W L T PCT DIV CONF PF PA STK New York Giants^(1) 14 2 0 .875 7–1 11–1 371 236 W9 Washington Redskins^(4) 12 4 0 .750 5–3 9–3 368 296 W1 Dallas Cowboys 7 9 0 .438 5–3 6–6 346 337 L5 Philadelphia Eagles 5 10 1 .344 1–6–1 3–8–1 256 312 L1 St. Louis Cardinals 4 11 1 .281 1–6–1 3–10–1 218 351 W1 NFC Central view talk edit W L T PCT DIV CONF PF PA STK Chicago Bears^(2) 14 2 0 .875 7–1 10–2 352 187 W7 Minnesota Vikings 9 7 0 .563 6–2 8–4 398 273 W1 Detroit Lions 5 11 0 .313 3–5 4–8 277 326 L4 Green Bay Packers 4 12 0 .250 3–5 3–9 254 418 L1 Tampa Bay Buccaneers 2 14 0 .125 1–7 1–13 239 473 L7 NFC West view talk edit W L T PCT DIV CONF PF PA STK San Francisco 49ers^(3) 10 5 1 .656 3–2–1 6–5–1 374 247 W3 Los Angeles Rams^(5) 10 6 0 .625 3–3 8–4 309 267 L2 Atlanta Falcons 7 8 1 .469 2–3–1 6–5–1 280 280 W1 New Orleans Saints 7 9 0 .438 3–3 6–6 288 287 L1

Tiebreakers

• Denver was second AFC playoff seed ahead of New England based on head-to-head victory (1–0).
• N.Y. Jets were the first AFC Wild Card based on better conference record (8–4) than Kansas City (9–5), Seattle (7–5), and Cincinnati (7–5).
• Kansas City was the second AFC Wild Card based on better conference record (9–5) than Seattle (7–5) and Cincinnati (7–5).
• N.Y. Giants were the top NFC playoff seed based on better conference record than Chicago (11–1 to Bears' 10–2).

Playoffs

Main article: 1986–87 NFL playoffs

Note: The New York Giants (the NFC one seed) did not play the Washington Redskins (the four seed) in the Divisional playoff round because both teams were in the same division.

						Jan 4 – Mile High Stadium
						3	New England	17
	Dec 28 – Giants Stadium										Jan 11 – Cleveland Stadium
						2	Denver	22
						AFC
	5	Kansas City	15								2	Denver	23*
						Jan 3 – Cleveland Stadium
	4	NY Jets	35								1	Cleveland	20
											AFC Championship
						4	NY Jets	20
																Jan 25 – Rose Bowl
						1	Cleveland	23**
						Divisional playoffs
	Wild Card playoffs															A2	Denver	20
						Jan 3 – Soldier Field
																N1	NY Giants	39
																Super Bowl XXI
						4	Washington	27
	Dec 28 – RFK Memorial Stadium										Jan 11 – Giants Stadium
						2	Chicago	13
						NFC
	5	LA Rams	7								4	Washington	0
						Jan 4 – Giants Stadium
	4	Washington	19								1	NY Giants	17
											NFC Championship
						3	San Francisco	3
						1	NY Giants	49

* Indicates overtime victory

** Indicates double-overtime victory

This box:

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Milestones

The following players set all-time records during the season:

Most passes completed, season	Dan Marino, Miami (378)
Most pass attempts, season	Dan Marino, Miami (623)

Statistical leaders

Team

Points scored	Miami Dolphins (430)
Total yards gained	Cincinnati Bengals (6,490)
Yards rushing	Chicago Bears (2,700)
Yards passing	Miami Dolphins (4,779)
Fewest points allowed	Chicago Bears (187)
Fewest total yards allowed	Chicago Bears (4,130)
Fewest rushing yards allowed	New York Giants (1,284)
Fewest passing yards allowed	St. Louis Cardinals (2,637)

Awards

Most Valuable Player	Lawrence Taylor, linebacker, New York Giants
Coach of the Year	Bill Parcells, New York Giants
Offensive Player of the Year	Eric Dickerson, running back, Los Angeles Rams
Defensive Player of the Year	Lawrence Taylor, linebacker, New York Giants
Offensive Rookie of the Year	Rueben Mayes, running back, New Orleans Saints
Defensive Rookie of the Year	Leslie O'Neal, defensive end, San Diego Chargers
NFL Comeback Player of the Year	Joe Montana, quarterback, San Francisco 49ers, Tommy Kramer, quarterback, Minnesota Vikings (co-winners)
Man of the Year	Reggie Williams, linebacker, Cincinnati Bengals
Super Bowl Most Valuable Player	Phil Simms, quarterback, New York Giants

Coaching changes

Offseason

• Houston Oilers: Jerry Glanville began his first full season as head coach after taking over for Hugh Campbell, who was fired after 14 games in 1985.
• Minnesota Vikings: Bud Grant stepped down and was replaced by Jerry Burns, who became a professional head coach for the first time, and a head coach at any level for the first time since coaching the Iowa Hawkeyes from 1961-65.
• New Orleans Saints: Jim Mora, who went 48-13-1 as coach of the Philadelphia/Baltimore Stars of the United States Football League, became the new Saints head coach. Bum Phillips resigned after 12 games in 1985. Wade Phillips, his son and the team's defensive coordinator, served as interim for the last four games.
• Philadelphia Eagles: Chicago Bears defensive coordinator Buddy Ryan was hired as the Eagles' new head coach. Marion Campbell was fired before the final game of the 1985 season; Fred Bruney as interim for that last game.
• St. Louis Cardinals: Jim Hanifan was fired and replaced by Gene Stallings, a Dallas Cowboys assistant from 1972–85, and head coach of the Texas A&M Aggies from 1965-71.

In-season

• Buffalo Bills: Hank Bullough was fired after 9 games into the season. Marv Levy was named as Bullough's replacement. Levy, the former head coach of the Kansas City Chiefs (1978–1982) and the USFL's Chicago Blitz (1984), was out of coaching since his stint with the Blitz when the Bills hired him. Levy went on to lead the Bills through 1997, with four consecutive Super Bowl appearances from 1990-93.
• Indianapolis Colts: Rod Dowhower was fired after the Colts lost their first 13 games. Former SMU and New England Patriots coach Ron Meyer was named as replacement, and promptly led the team to three straight victories to finish 3–13. He coached the Colts until he was fired midway through the 1991 season.
• San Diego Chargers: Don Coryell left after a 1–7 start. Al Saunders finished out the season, and remained in the position through 1988.

Uniform changes

• The Buffalo Bills began wearing their white pants with their white jerseys, discontinuing their blue pants. This was the first time the Bills wore white pants with their white jerseys since 1972.
• The New Orleans Saints switched to gold pants, discontinuing both their black and white pants. A secondary logo featuring a fleur-de-lis inside an outline of the state of Louisiana was added to both the jersey sleeves and the sides of the pants. The Saints retained this look through 1995.
• The numbers on the San Diego Chargers' blue jerseys changed from gold to white.
• The New York Giants added a "Spider 43" patch to their jerseys in memory of former Giants safety Carl "Spider" Lockhart following Lockhart's death from lymphoma on July 9, 1986. The Giants would also add a "38" decal to the back of their helmets in memory of former Giants running back John Tuggle following Tuggle's death on August 30, 1986 from angiosarcoma.

Television

This was the fifth and final year under the league's broadcast contracts with ABC, CBS, and NBC to televise Monday Night Football, the NFC package, and the AFC package, respectively. This was the last season that games remained only on broadcast television, as the league would sign a deal with the cable channel ESPN to broadcast a series of Sunday night games starting in 1987.^[3]

ABC opted to go to a two-man booth, dropping Joe Namath and O. J. Simpson, moving Frank Gifford to its sole color commentator, and having Al Michaels serve as the new play-by-announcer. Gifford would once again call the play-by-play during those weeks when Michaels was busy calling the Major League Baseball playoffs, and Lynn Swann or Simpson would fill-in.

References

1. . Buffalo Bills. Archived from the original on April 13, 2009. Retrieved August 9, 2009.
2. "NFL.com | Official Site of the National Football League". NFL.com. Retrieved August 6, 2023.
3. Brulia, Tim. "A CHRONOLOGY OF PRO FOOTBALL ON TELEVISION: Part 3" (PDF). Pro Football Researchers.

• NFL Record and Fact Book (ISBN 1-932994-36-X)
• NFL History 1981–1990 (Last accessed December 4, 2005)
• Total Football: The Official Encyclopedia of the National Football League (ISBN 0-06-270174-6)