Regular season | |
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Duration | September 9, 2001 – January 7, 2002 |
In the wake of the September 11 attacks, a number of games were re-scheduled. | |
Playoffs | |
Start date | January 12, 2002 |
AFC Champions | New England Patriots |
NFC Champions | St. Louis Rams |
Super Bowl XXXVI | |
Date | February 3, 2002 |
Site | Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans, Louisiana |
Champions | New England Patriots |
Pro Bowl | |
Date | February 9, 2002 |
Site | Aloha Stadium |
The 2001 NFL season was the 82nd regular season of the National Football League (NFL), and the first season of the 21st century. The league permanently moved the first week of the regular season to the weekend following Labor Day. In the wake of the September 11 attacks, the NFL's week 2 games (September 16 and 17) were postponed and rescheduled to the weekend of January 6 and 7, 2002. To retain the full playoff format, all playoff games, including Super Bowl XXXVI, were rescheduled one week later. The New England Patriots won the Super Bowl, defeating the St. Louis Rams 20–17 at the Louisiana Superdome.
This is the last season with 31 teams as the Houston Texans were introduced as an expansion team the following season.
The 2001 NFL draft was held from April 21 to 22, 2001, at New York City's Theater at Madison Square Garden. With the first pick, the Atlanta Falcons selected quarterback Michael Vick from Virginia Tech.
Mike Pereira became the league's director of officiating, succeeding Jerry Seeman, who had served the role since 1991. Pereira was a side judge in 1996 and 1997 before joining the league office, where he was groomed as Seeman's successor over the next three seasons.
Bill Leavy and Terry McAulay were promoted to referee. Phil Luckett returned to back judge, while another officiating crew was added in 2001 in preparation for the Houston Texans expansion team, the league's 32nd franchise, in 2002.
Due to labor dispute, the regular NFL officials were locked out prior to the final week of the preseason. Replacement officials who had worked in college football or the Arena Football League officiated NFL games during the last preseason week and the first week of the regular season. A deal was eventually reached before play resumed after the September 11 attacks.
Following a pattern set in 1999, the first week of the season was permanently moved to the weekend following Labor Day. With Super Bowls XXXVI–XXXVII already scheduled for fixed dates, the league initially decided to eliminate the Super Bowl bye weeks for 2001 and 2002 to adjust.
In the wake of the September 11 attacks, the games originally scheduled for September 16 and 17 were postponed and rescheduled to the weekend of January 6 and 7. To retain the full playoff format, all playoff games, including the Super Bowl, were rescheduled one week later. The season-ending Pro Bowl was also moved to one week later. This was the last season in which each conference had three divisions, as the conferences would be realigned to four divisions for the 2002 NFL season.
Canceling the games scheduled for September 16 and 17 was considered and rejected since it would have canceled a home game for about half the teams (15 of 31). It would have also resulted in an unequal number of games played: September 16 and 17 was to have been a bye for the San Diego Chargers, so that team would still have played 16 games that season and each of the other teams would have played only 15 games (the Chargers ultimately finished 5–11, making any competitive advantages to playing an extra game irrelevant).
As a result of rescheduling Week 2 as Week 17, the Pittsburgh Steelers ended up not playing a home game for the entire month of September (their only home game during that month was originally scheduled for September 16). The ESPN Sunday Night Football game for that week was also changed. It was originally scheduled to be Cleveland at Pittsburgh, but it was replaced with Philadelphia at Tampa Bay, which was seen as a more interesting matchup. Ironically, the Eagles and Buccaneers would both rest their starters that night, and would meet one week later in the playoffs. In recognition of this, when NBC began airing Sunday Night Football in 2006, there would be no game initially scheduled for Weeks 11 to 17 – a game initially scheduled in the afternoon would be moved to the primetime slot, without stripping any teams of a primetime appearance. This way of "flexible scheduling" would not be used at all in 2007, and since 2008, it is only used in the final week, except for the 2017 season, when no primetime game was scheduled for Week 17 due to that Sunday falling on New Year's Eve.
The games that eventually made up Week 17 marked the latest regular season games to be played during what is traditionally defined as the "NFL season" (under the format at the time, the regular season could not end later than January 3 in any given year; this changed in 2021, as the NFL expanded to 17 games with the end of the regular season pushed back one week as a result; the 2021 regular season ended on January 9, and under the new format, the latest the regular season could end is January 10).
Another scheduling change took place in October, when the Dallas at Oakland game was moved from October 21 to 7 to accommodate a possible Oakland Athletics home playoff game on October 21. The rescheduling ended up being unnecessary as the Athletics would not make it past the Division Series round.
Inter-conference |
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Jan 12 – Veterans Stadium | Jan 19 – Soldier Field | |||||||||||||||||
6 | Tampa Bay | 9 | ||||||||||||||||
3 | Philadelphia | 33 | ||||||||||||||||
3 | Philadelphia | 31 | Jan 27 – Edward Jones Dome | |||||||||||||||
2 | Chicago | 19 | ||||||||||||||||
NFC | ||||||||||||||||||
Jan 13 – Lambeau Field | 3 | Philadelphia | 24 | |||||||||||||||
Jan 20 – Edward Jones Dome | ||||||||||||||||||
1 | St. Louis | 29 | ||||||||||||||||
5 | San Francisco | 15 | NFC Championship | |||||||||||||||
4 | Green Bay | 17 | ||||||||||||||||
4 | Green Bay | 25 | Feb 3 – Louisiana Superdome | |||||||||||||||
1 | St. Louis | 45 | ||||||||||||||||
Wild Card playoffs | ||||||||||||||||||
Divisional playoffs | ||||||||||||||||||
Jan 12 – Network Associates Coliseum | N1 | St. Louis | 17 | |||||||||||||||
Jan. 19 – Foxboro Stadium | ||||||||||||||||||
A2 | New England | 20 | ||||||||||||||||
6 | NY Jets | 24 | Super Bowl XXXVI | |||||||||||||||
3 | Oakland | 13 | ||||||||||||||||
3 | Oakland | 38 | Jan 27 – Heinz Field | |||||||||||||||
2 | New England | 16* | ||||||||||||||||
AFC | ||||||||||||||||||
Jan 13 – Pro Player Stadium | 2 | New England | 24 | |||||||||||||||
Jan 20 – Heinz Field | ||||||||||||||||||
1 | Pittsburgh | 17 | ||||||||||||||||
5 | Baltimore | 20 | AFC Championship | |||||||||||||||
5 | Baltimore | 10 | ||||||||||||||||
4 | Miami | 3 | ||||||||||||||||
1 | Pittsburgh | 27 | ||||||||||||||||
The following teams and players set all-time NFL records during the season:
Record | Player/team | Previous record holder [8] |
---|---|---|
Most sacks, season* | Michael Strahan, New York Giants (22.5) | Mark Gastineau, New York Jets, 1984 (22.0) |
Most consecutive games lost, season | Carolina (15) | Tied by 4 teams (14) |
* – Sack statistics have only been compiled since 1982.
Points scored | St. Louis Rams (503) |
Total yards gained | St. Louis Rams (6,930) |
Yards rushing | Pittsburgh Steelers (2,774) |
Yards passing | St. Louis Rams (4,903) |
Fewest points allowed | Chicago Bears (203) |
Fewest total yards allowed | Pittsburgh Steelers (4,504) |
Fewest rushing yards allowed | Pittsburgh Steelers (1,195) |
Fewest passing yards allowed | Dallas Cowboys (3,019) |
Scoring | Marshall Faulk, St. Louis (128 points) |
Touchdowns | Marshall Faulk, St. Louis (21 TDs) |
Most field goals made | Jason Elam, Denver (31 FGs) |
Rushing | Priest Holmes, Kansas City (1,555 yards) |
Passing | Kurt Warner, St. Louis (4,830 yards) |
Passing touchdowns | Kurt Warner, St. Louis (36 TDs) |
Pass receiving | Rod Smith, Denver (113 catches) |
Pass receiving yards | David Boston, Arizona (1,598) |
Punt returns | Troy Brown, New England (14.2 average yards) |
Kickoff returns | Ronney Jenkins, San Diego (26.6 average yards) |
Interceptions | Ronde Barber, Tampa Bay and Anthony Henry, Cleveland (10) |
Punting | Todd Sauerbrun, Carolina (47.5 average yards) |
Sacks | Michael Strahan, New York Giants (22.5) |
The following players were named First Team All-Pro by the Associated Press:
Offense | |
---|---|
Quarterback | Kurt Warner, St. Louis |
Running back | Marshall Faulk, St. Louis Priest Holmes, Kansas City |
Wide receiver | Terrell Owens, San Francisco David Boston, Arizona |
Tight end | Tony Gonzalez, Kansas City |
Offensive tackle | Orlando Pace, St. Louis Walter Jones, Seattle |
Offensive guard | Larry Allen, Dallas Alan Faneca, Pittsburgh |
Center | Kevin Mawae, New York Jets |
Defense | |
---|---|
Defensive end | Michael Strahan, New York Giants John Abraham, New York Jets |
Defensive tackle | Warren Sapp, Tampa Bay Ted Washington, Chicago |
Outside linebacker | Jamir Miller, Cleveland Jason Gildon, Pittsburgh |
Inside linebacker | Brian Urlacher, Chicago Ray Lewis, Baltimore |
Cornerback | Aeneas Williams, St. Louis Ronde Barber, Tampa Bay |
Safety | Brian Dawkins, Philadelphia Mike Brown, Chicago |
Special teams | |||||
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Kicker | David Akers, Philadelphia | ||||
Punter | Todd Sauerbrun, Carolina | ||||
Kick returner | Steve Smith, Carolina |
Week/ Month | Offensive Player of the Week/Month | Defensive Player of the Week/Month | Special Teams Player of the Week/Month | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
AFC | NFC | AFC | NFC | AFC | NFC | |
1 | Brian Griese (Broncos) | Ahman Green (Packers) | Zach Thomas (Dolphins) | Sammy Knight (Saints) | Tim Dwight (Chargers) | José Cortez (49ers) |
2 | Peyton Manning (Colts) | Jamal Anderson (Falcons) | Takeo Spikes (Bengals) | London Fletcher (Rams) | Wade Richey (Chargers) | Sean Landeta (Eagles) |
3 | Priest Holmes (Chiefs) | Kurt Warner (Rams) | Corey Harris (Ravens) | Michael Strahan (Giants) | Phil Dawson (Browns) | K. D. Williams (Packers) |
Sept. | Brian Griese (Broncos) | Marshall Faulk (Rams) | Ryan McNeil (Chargers) | Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila (Packers) | Sebastian Janikowski (Raiders) | Rodney Williams (Giants) |
4 | Shaun Alexander (Seahawks) | Ricky Williams (Saints) | Deltha O'Neal (Broncos) | Brian Urlacher (Bears) | Matt Turk (Dolphins) | John Carney (Saints) |
5 | Tom Brady (Patriots) | Brett Favre (Packers) | Marvin Jones (Jets) | Michael Strahan (Giants) | Joe Nedney (Titans) | Tim Seder (Cowboys) |
6 | David Patten (Patriots) | Rod Gardner (Redskins) | Joey Porter (Steelers) | Keith Brooking (Falcons) | Joe Nedney (Titans) | Todd Sauerbrun (Panthers) |
7 | Corey Dillon (Bengals) | Shane Matthews (Bears) | Denard Walker (Broncos) | Sammy Knight (Saints) | Tom Tupa (Jets) | John Carney (Saints) |
Oct. | Jerome Bettis (Steelers) | Ricky Williams (Saints) | Deltha O'Neal (Broncos) | Michael Strahan (Giants) | Ronney Jenkins (Broncos) | John Carney (Saints) |
8 | Steve McNair (Titans) | Ahman Green (Packers) | John Abraham (Jets) | Mike Brown (Bears) | Matt Stover (Ravens) | Brian Mitchell (Eagles) |
9 | Shaun Alexander (Seahawks) | Jeff Garcia (49ers) | Jason Gildon (Steelers) | Ronde Barber (Buccaneers) | Tom Rouen (Broncos) | Darrien Gordon (Falcons) |
10 | Rich Gannon (Raiders) | Randy Moss (Vikings) | Anthony Henry (Browns) | London Fletcher (Rams) | Derrick Mason (Titans) | David Akers (Eagles) |
11 | Tom Brady (Patriots) | Garrison Hearst (49ers) | William Thomas (Raiders) | Warren Sapp (Buccaneers) | Troy Edwards (Steelers) | Bill Gramática (Cardinals) |
Nov. | Rich Gannon (Raiders) | Jeff Garcia (49ers) | John Abraham (Jets) | Kwamie Lassiter (Cardinals) | Jason Elam (Broncos) | Brad Maynard (Bears) |
12 | Steve McNair (Titans) | Kurt Warner (Rams) | Adalius Thomas (Ravens) | Mike Brown (Bears) | Matt Turk (Dolphins) | Bill & Martín Gramática (Cardinals & Buccaneers) |
13 | Priest Holmes (Chiefs) | Todd Bouman (Vikings) | Brock Marion (Dolphins) | Aeneas Williams (Rams) | Tim Brown (Raiders) | Sean Landeta (Eagles) |
14 | Kordell Stewart (Steelers) | Anthony Thomas (Bears) | William Thomas (Raiders) | Grant Wistrom (Rams) | Adam Vinatieri (Patriots) | Darrien Gordon (Falcons) |
15 | Vinny Testaverde (Jets) | Chris Chandler (Falcons) | Ray Lewis (Ravens) | Ronde Barber (Buccaneers) | Ken Walter (Patriots) | Brian Urlacher (Bears) |
16 | Jon Kitna (Bengals) | Quincy Carter (Cowboys) | Zach Thomas (Dolphins) | Derrick Brooks (Buccaneers) | Charlie Rogers (Seahawks) | Todd Yoder (Buccaneers) |
17 | Lamar Smith (Dolphins) | Marshall Faulk (Rams) | Peter Boulware (Ravens) | Andre Carter (49ers) | John Hall (Jets) | Dorsey Levens (Packers) |
Dec. | Kordell Stewart (Steelers) | Marshall Faulk (Rams) | Brock Marion (Dolphins) | Simeon Rice (Buccaneers) | Troy Brown (Patriots) | Todd Sauerbrun (Panthers) |
Month | Rookie of the Month | |
---|---|---|
Offensive | Defensive | |
Sept. | LaDainian Tomlinson (Chargers) | Fred Smoot (Redskins) |
Oct. | Anthony Thomas (Bears) | Kendrell Bell (Steelers) |
Nov. | Chris Chambers (Dolphins) | Kendrell Bell (Steelers) |
Dec. | Dominic Rhodes (Colts) | Andre Carter (49ers) |
In addition, the AstroTurf at Veterans Stadium was replaced with NexTurf after a preseason game between the Philadelphia Eagles and Baltimore Ravens was canceled for poor field conditions. [15]
Following 9/11, every jersey had a patch to remember those who died on that day, while the New York Jets and New York Giants wore a patch to remember the firefighters who died.
This was the fourth year under the league's eight-year broadcast contracts with ABC, CBS, Fox, and ESPN to televise Monday Night Football , the AFC package, the NFC package, and Sunday Night Football , respectively.
Pat Summerall announced that this would be his last season as a full-time NFL broadcaster. This would also be John Madden's last year of commentating on Fox, ending the 21-season Summerall–Madden pairing that dated back since 1981 on CBS. With Matt Millen leaving Fox to become the general manager of the Detroit Lions, the network tapped Daryl Johnston from CBS and the then-recently retired quarterback Troy Aikman to join Dick Stockton as Fox's No. 2 team.
Deion Sanders replaced Craig James as an analyst on The NFL Today .
Norval Turner is a former American football coach in the National Football League (NFL). An offensive assistant for the majority of his coaching career, Turner was the Dallas Cowboys' offensive coordinator during their consecutive Super Bowl victories in Super Bowl XXVII and Super Bowl XXVIII.
Ronald Wolf is an American former professional football executive who was a general manager (GM) of the National Football League (NFL)'s Green Bay Packers. Wolf is widely credited with bringing success to a Packers franchise that had rarely won during the two decades prior to Wolf joining the organization. He also played a significant role in personnel operations with the Oakland and Los Angeles Raiders from 1963 to 1975 and again from 1978 to 1990. He joined Green Bay's front office in November 1991 from a personnel director's job with the New York Jets. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in August 2015.
The 2002 NFL season was the 83rd regular season of the National Football League (NFL).
The 1999 NFL season was the 80th regular season of the National Football League (NFL). The Cleveland Browns returned to the field for the first time since the 1995 season, while the Tennessee Oilers changed their name to "Tennessee Titans", with the league retiring the name "Oilers".
The 2000 NFL season was the 81st regular season of the National Football League (NFL). The season ended with Super Bowl XXXV when the Baltimore Ravens defeated the New York Giants, 34–7, at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida.
The 1997 NFL season was the 78th regular season of the National Football League (NFL). The Oilers relocated from Houston, Texas to Nashville, Tennessee. The newly renamed Tennessee Oilers played their home games during this season at the Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium in Memphis, Tennessee while construction of a new stadium in Nashville started. Houston would rejoin the NFL with the expansion Texans in 2002.
The 1993 NFL season was the 74th regular season of the National Football League (NFL). It was the only season in league history where all NFL teams were originally scheduled to play their 16-game schedule over a span of 18 weeks and did so, where all of the Week 2 scheduled games were moved to an 18th week and the entire postseason was delayed by 7 days before starting). After the success of expanding the regular season to a period of 17 weeks in 1990, the league hoped this new schedule would generate even more revenue. This was also done to avoid scheduling playoff games on January 1 and competing with college football bowl games. The NFL's teams, however, felt that having two weeks off during the regular season was too disruptive for their weekly routines, and thus the regular season reverted to 17 weeks immediately after the season ended. 2021 marked the first season where an 18-week schedule would include 17 regular-season games.
The 1992 NFL season was the 73rd regular season of the National Football League (NFL). Due to the damage caused by Hurricane Andrew, the New England Patriots at Miami Dolphins game that was scheduled for September 6 at Joe Robbie Stadium was rescheduled to October 18. Both teams originally had that weekend off. This marked the first time since the 1966 NFL season and the AFL seasons of 1966 and 1967 that there were byes in week 1.
The 1991 NFL season was the 72nd regular season of the National Football League (NFL). It was the final season for coach Chuck Noll. The season ended with Super Bowl XXVI when the Washington Redskins defeated the Buffalo Bills, 37–24, at the Metrodome in Minnesota. This was the second of four consecutive Super Bowl losses for Buffalo.
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, taking over on November 5.
The 1982 NFL season was the 63rd regular season of the National Football League. A 57-day-long players' strike reduced the 1982 season from a 16-game schedule per team to an abbreviated nine game schedule. Because of the shortened season, the NFL adopted a special 16-team playoff tournament; division standings were ignored for seeding. Eight teams from each conference were seeded 1–8 based on their regular season records. Two teams qualified for the playoffs despite losing records. The season ended with Super Bowl XVII when the Washington Redskins defeated the Miami Dolphins 27–17 at the Rose Bowl.
The 1975 NFL season was the 56th regular season of the National Football League.
The 1973 NFL season was the 54th regular season of the National Football League. The season was highlighted by O. J. Simpson becoming the first player to rush for 2,000 yards in one season.
The 2008 NFL season was the 89th regular season of the National Football League (NFL), themed with the slogan "Believe in Now."
The 2009 NFL season was the 90th season in the history of the National Football League (NFL). The 50th anniversary of the original eight charter members of the American Football League was celebrated during this season.
The 2016 NFL season was the 97th season in the history of the National Football League (NFL) and the 51st of the Super Bowl era. The season began on September 8, 2016, with the defending Super Bowl 50 champion Denver Broncos defeating the Carolina Panthers in the NFL Kickoff Game in a rematch of the Super Bowl. The season concluded with Super Bowl LI, the league's championship game on February 5, 2017, at NRG Stadium in Houston with the New England Patriots defeating the Atlanta Falcons. For the first time since the 2003 NFL season, neither of the previous season's Super Bowl participants made the playoffs.
The 2017 NFL season was the 98th season in the history of the National Football League (NFL) and the 52nd of the Super Bowl era. The season began on September 7, 2017, with the Kansas City Chiefs defeating the defending Super Bowl LI champion New England Patriots in the NFL Kickoff Game. The season concluded with Super Bowl LII, in which the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Philadelphia Eagles defeated the American Football Conference (AFC) champion New England Patriots to win their first Super Bowl title, and fourth NFL championship, in franchise history, and making the NFC East the first and currently only division where every team has won a Super Bowl.