1989 NFL season

1989 National Football League season
Regular season
Duration	September 10 – December 25, 1989
Playoffs
Start date	December 31, 1989
AFC Champions	Denver Broncos
NFC Champions	San Francisco 49ers
Super Bowl XXIV
Date	January 28, 1990
Site	Superdome, New Orleans, Louisiana
Champions	{{{sb_champions}}}
Champions	San Francisco 49ers
Pro Bowl
Date	February 4, 1990
National Football League seasons  < 1988 1990 >

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.

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, California.

The season ended with Super Bowl XXIV where the 49ers defeated the Denver Broncos.

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, 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 are enacted, including loss of timeouts or five-yard penalties, to handle the problems of crowd noise when it becomes too loud that it prevents the offensive team from hearing 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

 x  - clinched wild card berth,  y  - clinched division title

AFC East
Team	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA
y-Buffalo Bills	9	7	0	.563	409	317
Indianapolis Colts	8	8	0	.500	298	301
Miami Dolphins	8	8	0	.500	331	379
New England Patriots	5	11	0	.313	297	391
New York Jets	4	12	0	.250	253	411
AFC Central
Team	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA
y-Cleveland Browns	9	6	1	.594	334	254
x-Houston Oilers	9	7	0	.563	365	412
x-Pittsburgh Steelers	9	7	0	.563	265	326
Cincinnati Bengals	8	8	0	.500	404	285
AFC West
Team	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA
y-Denver Broncos	11	5	0	.688	362	226
Kansas City Chiefs	8	7	1	.531	318	286
Los Angeles Raiders	8	8	0	.500	315	297
Seattle Seahawks	7	9	0	.438	241	327
San Diego Chargers	6	10	0	.375	266	290

NFC East
Team	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA
y-New York Giants	12	4	0	.750	348	252
x-Philadelphia Eagles	11	5	0	.688	342	274
Washington Redskins	10	6	0	.625	386	308
Phoenix Cardinals	5	11	0	.313	258	377
Dallas Cowboys	1	15	0	.063	204	393
NFC Central
Team	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA
y-Minnesota Vikings	10	6	0	.625	351	275
Green Bay Packers	10	6	0	.625	362	356
Detroit Lions	7	9	0	.438	312	364
Chicago Bears	6	10	0	.375	358	377
Tampa Bay Buccaneers	5	11	0	.313	320	419
NFC West
Team	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA
y-San Francisco 49ers	14	2	0	.875	442	253
x-Los Angeles Rams	11	5	0	.688	426	344
New Orleans Saints	9	7	0	.563	386	301
Atlanta Falcons	3	13	0	.188	279	437

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

• Main article: 1989–90 NFL playoffs

Home team in capitals

AFC

• Wild-Card playoff: Pittsburgh 26, HOUSTON 23 (OT)
• Divisional playoffs: CLEVELAND 34, Buffalo 30; DENVER 24, Pittsburgh 23
• AFC Championship: DENVER 37, Cleveland 21 at Mile High Stadium, Denver, January 14, 1990

NFC

• Wild-Card playoff: L.A. Rams 21, PHILADELPHIA 7
• Divisional playoffs: L.A. Rams 19, N.Y. GIANTS 13 (OT); SAN FRANCISCO 41, Minnesota 13
• NFC Championship: SAN FRANCISCO 30, L.A. Rams 3 at Candlestick Park, San Francisco, January 14, 1990

Super Bowl

• Super Bowl XXIV: San Francisco (NFC) 55, Denver (AFC) 10, at Superdome, New Orleans, January 28, 1990

Awards

Most Valuable Player	Joe Montana, Quarterback, San Francisco
Coach of the Year	Lindy Infante, Green Bay
Offensive Player of the Year	Joe Montana, Quarterback, San Francisco
Defensive Player of the Year	Keith Millard, Defensive Tackle, Minnesota
Offensive Rookie of the Year	Barry Sanders, Running Back, Detroit
Defensive Rookie of the Year	Derrick Thomas, Linebacker, Kansas City

References

• NFL Record and Fact Book (ISBN 1-932994-36-X)
• NFL History 1981-1990 (Last accessed December 4, 2005)
• 1989 season in details
• Total Football: The Official Encyclopedia of the National Football League (ISBN 0-06-270174-6)

Template:1989 NFL season by team