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
< 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[edit | edit source]

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.

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

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

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).

Home team in capitals

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

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

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

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)