2006 NFL season

Last updated

2006 NFL season
Regular season
DurationSeptember 7 – December 31, 2006
Playoffs
Start dateJanuary 6, 2007
AFC Champions Indianapolis Colts
NFC Champions Chicago Bears
Super Bowl XLI
DateFebruary 4, 2007
Site Dolphin Stadium, Miami Gardens, Florida
Champions Indianapolis Colts
Pro Bowl
DateFebruary 10, 2007 (2007-02-10)
Site Aloha Stadium
Usa edcp relief location map.png
White pog.svg
Patriots
White pog.svg
Bills
White pog.svg
Dolphins
White pog.svg
Jets
Blue pog.svg
Bengals
Blue pog.svg
Ravens
Blue pog.svg
Steelers
Blue pog.svg
Browns
Red pog.svg
Colts
Red pog.svg
Titans
Red pog.svg
Jaguars
Red pog.svg
Texans
Yellow ffff00 pog.svg
Broncos
Yellow ffff00 pog.svg
Chiefs
Yellow ffff00 pog.svg
Raiders
Yellow ffff00 pog.svg
Chargers
AFC teams: Yellow ffff00 pog.svg West, Blue pog.svg North, Red pog.svg South, White pog.svg East
Usa edcp relief location map.png
White pog.svg
Cowboys
White pog.svg
Giants
White pog.svg
Eagles
White pog.svg
Redskins
Blue pog.svg
Bears
Blue pog.svg
Lions
Blue pog.svg
Packers
Blue pog.svg
Vikings
Red pog.svg
Falcons
Red pog.svg
Panthers
Red pog.svg
Saints
Red pog.svg
Buccaneers
Yellow ffff00 pog.svg
Cardinals
Yellow ffff00 pog.svg
Rams
Yellow ffff00 pog.svg
Seahawks
Yellow ffff00 pog.svg
49ers
NFC teams: Yellow ffff00 pog.svg West, Blue pog.svg North, Red pog.svg South, White pog.svg East

The 2006 NFL season was the 87th regular season of the National Football League (NFL). Regular season play was held from September 7 to December 31, 2006.

Contents

The season began with the reigning Super Bowl XL champion Pittsburgh Steelers defeating the Miami Dolphins in the NFL Kickoff Game.

The NFL title was eventually won by the Indianapolis Colts, when they defeated the Chicago Bears in Super Bowl XLI at Dolphin Stadium at Miami Gardens, Florida on February 4, 2007.

New NFL commissioner

On March 20, 2006, Paul Tagliabue announced his plans to retire as NFL commissioner. During an NFL meeting in Northbrook, Illinois, on August 8, league team owners selected Roger Goodell, the NFL's then-current chief operating officer, as the new commissioner. Tagliabue continued to serve as commissioner until Goodell officially replaced him on Friday September 1.

Tagliabue became NFL commissioner on October 26, 1989. During his tenure, the league added four new teams; saw four franchises move (including two franchises—the Rams and Raiders—from Los Angeles, the second-largest television market in the U.S.); the construction of seventeen new stadiums; began its own in-house television specialty cable network, the NFL Network; greatly increased television rights fees with its broadcasters, including the addition of the Fox network and its NFL programming; and maintained labor peace with the players' union.

Draft

The 2006 NFL Draft was held from April 29 to 30, 2006 at New York City's Radio City Music Hall. With the first pick, the Houston Texans selected defensive end Mario Williams from North Carolina State University.

New referees

Bernie Kukar and Tom White retired. Jerome Boger and Gene Steratore were promoted to referee.

Notable Retirements

Major rule changes

The Seattle Seahawks host the Green Bay Packers in snow at Qwest Field, November 27, 2006 Packers offense lines up vs Seahawks 2006-11-27.jpg
The Seattle Seahawks host the Green Bay Packers in snow at Qwest Field, November 27, 2006

Officials' uniform makeover

The 2006 season marked the debut of new officiating uniforms which are supposed to be more comfortable for officials to wear in extreme weather over the old polyester uniforms. The uniforms were designed by Reebok using a proprietary material technology to keep officials both warm and dry during the winter months of the season. On the shirt, the position and number are removed from the front pocket and the lettering and numbers on the back side were black-on-white and are smaller print and the sleeve shows the uniform number. Officials also wore full-length black pants with white stripe during the winter months to stay warm, which was criticized by media. Also, a black stripe was added to each side of the white knickers. This was the first major design overhaul since 1979, when the position name was added to the shirt, but later abbreviated in 1982.

Return of "The Duke" football

A Philadelphia fumble is recovered by Washington's Ade Jimoh, week 14 Ade Jimoh recovers fumble.jpg
A Philadelphia fumble is recovered by Washington's Ade Jimoh, week 14

For the first time since Super Bowl IV at the conclusion of the 1969 season, the official NFL game ball was known as "The Duke" in honor of Wellington Mara, whose family owns the New York Giants. Son John is the current CEO of the team. The NFL first used "The Duke" ball in honor of owner Tim Mara (Wellington's father) made a deal with Wilson Sporting Goods to become the league's official supplier of game balls, a relationship that continued into its sixty-fifth year in 2006. [2]

"The Duke" ball was discontinued after the 1970 AFL–NFL merger, and the merged league began using a different standardized ball made by Wilson. The only other time that "The Duke" ball name was used was during the two "Thanksgiving Classic" games in 2004.

One side of the new 2006 "Duke" football featured the NFL shield logo in gold, the words "The Duke", and the NFL commissioner's signature. The obverse side has a small NFL logo above the needle bladder hole, the conference names between the hole, and the words "National Football League" in gold. As per the custom, specially branded balls were used for the first week of the 2006 season (the "Opening Kickoff") as well as for the Thanksgiving Day, conference championships, Super Bowl XLI and Pro Bowl games.

2006 deaths

Death of Lamar Hunt

Lamar Hunt died in Dallas, Texas on December 13 from complications from prostate cancer at the age of 74. He is credited with challenging the NFL with the formation of the American Football League, which led to the subsequent merger of the two leagues.

Death of two Broncos

At 3 a.m. on January 1, 2007, Denver Broncos cornerback Darrent Williams was shot and killed in Denver, within hours after the last regular season game against the San Francisco 49ers. Less than two months after, on February 24, 2007, Broncos running back Damien Nash collapsed and died after a charity basketball game at a high school. Both players died at the age of 24.

Regular season

Schedule formula

Based on the NFL's scheduling formula, the intraconference and interconference matchups for 2006 were:

Intraconference

Interconference

Flexible scheduling added to regular season

This was the first season that the NFL used a "flexible-scheduling" for the last few weeks of the season, allowing the league flexibility in selecting games to air on Sunday night, in order to feature the current hottest, streaking teams. This was implemented to prevent games featuring losing teams from airing during primetime late in the season, while at the same time allowing NBC to rake in more money off the higher ratings from surprise, playoff-potential teams that more fans would enjoy watching.

Under the flexible-scheduling system, all Sunday games in the affected weeks tentatively had the start times of 1:00 p.m. ET/10:00 a.m. PT, except those played in the Pacific or Mountain time zones, which will have a tentative start time of 4:05 p.m. ET/1:05 p.m. PT (or 4:15 p.m. ET/1:15 p.m. PT if it is on the doubleheader network). On the Tuesday 12 days before the games, the league moved one game to the Sunday Night Football slot, and possibly one or more 1 p.m. slotted games to the 4:05/4:15 p.m. slots. During the last week of the season, the league could reschedule games as late as six days before the contests so that all of the television networks will be able to broadcast a game that has playoff implications.

Week 10: The ChicagoNew York Giants game was flexed into Sunday Night Football at 8:15 p.m. ET on NBC and the New OrleansPittsburgh game was flexed to 4:15 p.m. ET on Fox.

Week 11: The San DiegoDenver game was flexed into SNF and the IndianapolisDallas game was flexed to 4:15 p.m. ET on CBS.

Week 12:

Week 13:

Week 14: The New Orleans–Dallas game was flexed into SNF and the BuffaloNew York Jets game was flexed to 4:15 p.m. ET on CBS.

Week 15: The Kansas City–San Diego game was flexed into SNF and the Philadelphia–New York Giants game was flexed to 4:15 p.m. ET on Fox.

Week 17:

Regular season standings

Division

Conference

#TeamDivisionWLTPCTDIVCONFSOSSOVSTK
Division leaders
1 San Diego Chargers West1420.8755–110–2.457.424W10
2 Baltimore Ravens North1330.8135–110–2.461.447W4
3 [lower-alpha 1] Indianapolis Colts South1240.7503–39–3.500.505W1
4 [lower-alpha 1] New England Patriots East1240.7504–28–4.496.469W3
Wild cards
5 New York Jets East1060.6254–27–5.469.400W3
6 [lower-alpha 2] Kansas City Chiefs West970.5634–25–7.492.444W2
Did not qualify for the postseason
7 [lower-alpha 2] Denver Broncos West970.5633–38–4.531.438L1
8 [lower-alpha 3] [lower-alpha 4] Cincinnati Bengals North880.5634–26–6.535.453L3
9 [lower-alpha 3] [lower-alpha 5] [lower-alpha 6] Tennessee Titans South880.5004–25–7.570.484L1
10 [lower-alpha 6] [lower-alpha 7] Jacksonville Jaguars South880.5002–45–7.531.555L3
11 [lower-alpha 4] [lower-alpha 7] Pittsburgh Steelers North880.5003–35–7.496.414W1
12 Buffalo Bills East790.4383–35–7.574.446L2
13 [lower-alpha 8] Houston Texans South6100.3753–36–6.504.417W2
14 [lower-alpha 8] Miami Dolphins East6100.3751–53–9.543.531L3
15 Cleveland Browns North4120.2500–63–9.535.438L4
16 Oakland Raiders West2140.1250–61–11.555.406L9
Tiebreakers [lower-alpha 9]
  1. 1 2 Indianapolis finished ahead of New England based on head-to-head victory.
  2. 1 2 Kansas City finished ahead of Denver based on division record.
  3. 1 2 Cincinnati finished ahead of Tennessee based on conference record. Division tie break was initially used to eliminate Pittsburgh (see below).
  4. 1 2 Cincinnati finished ahead of Pittsburgh based on division record.
  5. Tennessee finished ahead of Pittsburgh based on strength of victory. Division tie break was initially used to eliminate Jacksonville (see below).
  6. 1 2 Tennessee finished ahead of Jacksonville based on division record.
  7. 1 2 Jacksonville finished ahead of Pittsburgh based on head-to-head victory.
  8. 1 2 Houston finished ahead of Miami based on head-to-head victory.
  9. When breaking ties for three or more teams under the NFL's rules, they are first broken within divisions, then comparing only the highest ranked remaining team from each division.
#TeamDivisionWLTPCTDIVCONFSOSSOVSTK
Division leaders
1 Chicago Bears North1330.8135–111–1.430.404L1
2 [lower-alpha 1] New Orleans Saints South1060.6254–29–3.461.425L1
3 [lower-alpha 1] Philadelphia Eagles East1060.6255–19–3.477.450W5
4 Seattle Seahawks West970.5633–37–5.453.382W1
Wild cards
5 Dallas Cowboys East970.5632–46–6.457.438L2
6 [lower-alpha 2] [lower-alpha 3] New York Giants East880.5004–27–5.520.422W1
Did not qualify for the postseason
7 [lower-alpha 2] [lower-alpha 3] Green Bay Packers North880.5005–17–5.500.383W4
8 [lower-alpha 3] [lower-alpha 4] Carolina Panthers South880.5005–16–6.473.469W2
9 [lower-alpha 3] [lower-alpha 4] St. Louis Rams West880.5002–46–6.465.352W3
10 [lower-alpha 5] San Francisco 49ers West790.4383–35–7.500.411W1
11 [lower-alpha 5] Atlanta Falcons South790.4383–35–7.457.375L3
12 Minnesota Vikings North6100.3752–46–6.488.344L3
13 [lower-alpha 6] Arizona Cardinals West5110.3134–25–7.500.425L1
14 [lower-alpha 6] Washington Redskins East5110.3131–53–9.512.513L2
15 Tampa Bay Buccaneers South4120.2500–62–10.535.422L1
16 Detroit Lions North3130.1880–62–10.523.479W1
Tiebreakers [lower-alpha 7]
  1. 1 2 New Orleans finished ahead of Philadelphia based on head-to-head victory.
  2. 1 2 NY Giants finished ahead of Green Bay based on strength of victory.
  3. 1 2 3 4 NY Giants and Green Bay finish ahead of Carolina and St. Louis based on conference records.
  4. 1 2 Carolina finished ahead of St. Louis based on head-to-head victory.
  5. 1 2 San Francisco finished ahead of Atlanta based on strength of victory.
  6. 1 2 Arizona finished ahead of Washington based on conference record.
  7. When breaking ties for three or more teams under the NFL's rules, they are first broken within divisions, then comparing only the highest-ranked remaining team from each division.

Playoffs

Within each conference, the four division winners and the top two non-division winners with the best overall regular season records) qualified for the playoffs. The four division winners are seeded 1–4 based on their overall won-lost-tied record, and the wild card teams are seeded 5–6. The NFL does not use a fixed bracket playoff system, and there are no restrictions regarding teams from the same division matching up in any round. In the first round, dubbed the wild-card playoffs or wild-card weekend, the third-seeded division winner hosts the sixth-seed wild card, and the fourth seed hosts the fifth. The 1 and 2 seeds from each conference received a first-round bye. In the second round, the divisional playoffs, the number 1 seed hosts the worst-surviving seed from the first round (seed 4, 5, or 6), while the number 2 seed will play the other team (seed 3, 4, or 5). The two surviving teams from each conference's divisional playoff games met in the respective AFC and NFC Conference Championship games, hosted by the higher seed. Although the Super Bowl, the championship round of the playoffs, is played at a neutral site, the designated home team is based on an annual rotation by conference. [4]

Playoff seeds
Seed AFC NFC
1 San Diego Chargers (West winner) Chicago Bears (North winner)
2 Baltimore Ravens (North winner) New Orleans Saints (South winner)
3 Indianapolis Colts (South winner) Philadelphia Eagles (East winner)
4 New England Patriots (East winner) Seattle Seahawks (West winner)
5 New York Jets (wild card) Dallas Cowboys (wild card)
6 Kansas City Chiefs (wild card) New York Giants (wild card)

    Bracket

    Jan 7 – Gillette Stadium Jan 14 – Qualcomm Stadium
    5 NY Jets 16
    4New England24
    4 New England 37Jan 21 – RCA Dome
    1 San Diego 21
    AFC
    Jan 6 – RCA Dome 4New England34
    Jan 13 – M&T Bank Stadium
    3Indianapolis38
    6 Kansas City 8AFC Championship
    3Indianapolis15
    3 Indianapolis 23Feb 4 – Dolphin Stadium
    2 Baltimore 6
    Wild Card playoffs
    Divisional playoffs
    Jan 7 – Lincoln Financial Field A3Indianapolis29
    Jan 13 – Louisiana Superdome
    N1Chicago17
    6 NY Giants 20 Super Bowl XLI
    3Philadelphia24
    3 Philadelphia 23Jan 21 – Soldier Field
    2 New Orleans 27
    NFC
    Jan 6 – Qwest Field 2New Orleans14
    Jan 14 – Soldier Field
    1Chicago39
    5 Dallas 20NFC Championship
    4Seattle24
    4 Seattle 21
    1 Chicago 27*


    * Indicates overtime victory

    Pro Bowl

    Milestones

    The following teams and players set all-time NFL records during the regular season:

    RecordPlayer/teamDate/opponentPrevious record holder [5]
    Most points scored, career Morten Andersen, AtlantaDecember 16 vs. Dallas Gary Anderson, 1982–2004 (2,434)
    Most field goals, careerMorten Andersen, AtlantaDecember 24 vs. CarolinaGary Anderson, 1982–2004 (538)
    Most passes completed, career Brett Favre, Green BayDecember 17 vs. Detroit Dan Marino, 1983–1999 (4,967)
    Most touchdowns, season LaDainian Tomlinson, San Diego (31)December 10 vs. Denver Shaun Alexander, Seattle, 2005 (28)
    Most rushing touchdowns, seasonLaDainian Tomlinson, San Diego (28)December 10 vs. DenverShaun Alexander, 2005
    Priest Holmes, 2003 (27)
    Most points scored, seasonLaDainian Tomlinson, San Diego (186)December 17 vs. Kansas City Paul Hornung, 1960 (176)
    Most rushing attempts, season Larry Johnson, Kansas City (416)December 31 vs. Jacksonville Jamal Anderson, Atlanta, 1998 (410)
    Most kick returns for a touchdown, season Devin Hester, Chicago (5; 3 punts and 2 kickoffs)December 11 at St. LouisTied by 9 players (4)

    Regular season statistical leaders

    Pittsburgh Steelers running back Najeh Davenport against the Baltimore Ravens in week 12 of the 2006 season NajehDavenport Steelers 2006.jpg
    Pittsburgh Steelers running back Najeh Davenport against the Baltimore Ravens in week 12 of the 2006 season

    Team

    Points scoredSan Diego Chargers (492)
    Total yards gainedNew Orleans Saints (6,264)
    Yards rushingAtlanta Falcons (2,939)
    Yards passingNew Orleans Saints (4,503)
    Fewest points allowedBaltimore Ravens (201)
    Fewest total yards allowedBaltimore Ravens (4,225)
    Fewest rushing yards allowedMinnesota Vikings (985)
    Fewest passing yards allowedOakland Raiders (2,413)

    Individual

    Scoring LaDainian Tomlinson, San Diego (186 points)
    TouchdownsLaDainian Tomlinson, San Diego (31 TDs)
    Most field goals made Robbie Gould, Chicago and Jeff Wilkins, St. Louis (32 FGs)
    RushingLaDainian Tomlinson, San Diego (1,815 yards)
    Passer rating Peyton Manning, Indianapolis (101.0 rating)
    Passing touchdownsPeyton Manning, Indianapolis (31 TDs)
    Passing yards Drew Brees, New Orleans (4,418 yards)
    Pass receptions Andre Johnson, Houston (103 catches)
    Pass receiving yards Chad Johnson, Cincinnati (1,369 yards)
    Punt returns Adam "Pacman" Jones, Tennessee (12.9 average yards)
    Kickoff returns Justin Miller, New York Jets (28.3 average yards)
    Interceptions Asante Samuel, New England and Champ Bailey, Denver (10)
    Punting Mat McBriar, Dallas (48.2 average yards)
    Sacks Shawne Merriman, San Diego (17)

    Awards

    Most Valuable Player LaDainian Tomlinson, running back, San Diego Chargers
    Coach of the Year Sean Payton, New Orleans Saints
    Offensive Player of the Year LaDainian Tomlinson, running back, San Diego Chargers
    Defensive Player of the Year Jason Taylor, defensive end, Miami Dolphins
    Offensive Rookie of the Year Vince Young, quarterback, Tennessee Titans
    Defensive Rookie of the Year DeMeco Ryans, linebacker, Houston Texans
    NFL Comeback Player of the Year Chad Pennington, quarterback, New York Jets
    Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year LaDainian Tomlinson, running back, San Diego Chargers and Drew Brees, quarterback, New Orleans Saints
    Super Bowl Most Valuable Player Peyton Manning, quarterback, Indianapolis Colts

    All-Pro Team
    Offense
    Quarterback Drew Brees, New Orleans
    Running back LaDainian Tomlinson, San Diego
    Larry Johnson, Kansas City
    Fullback Lorenzo Neal, San Diego
    Wide receiver Marvin Harrison, Indianapolis
    Chad Johnson, Cincinnati
    Tight end Antonio Gates, San Diego
    Offensive tackle Willie Anderson, Cincinnati
    Jammal Brown, New Orleans
    Offensive guard Alan Faneca, Pittsburgh
    Shawn Andrews, Philadelphia
    Center Olin Kreutz, Chicago
    Defense
    Defensive end Jason Taylor, Miami
    Julius Peppers, Carolina
    Defensive tackle Jamal Williams, San Diego
    Kevin Williams, Minnesota
    Outside linebacker Shawne Merriman, San Diego
    Adalius Thomas, Baltimore
    Inside linebacker Brian Urlacher, Chicago
    Zach Thomas, Miami
    Cornerback Champ Bailey, Denver
    Rashean Mathis, Jacksonville
    Safety Brian Dawkins, Philadelphia
    Ed Reed, Baltimore
    Special teams
    Kicker Robbie Gould, Chicago
    Punter Brian Moorman, Buffalo
    Kick returner Devin Hester, Chicago

    Team superlatives

    Offense

    • Most points scored: San Diego, 492
    • Fewest points scored: Oakland, 168
    • Most total offensive yards: New Orleans, 6,264
    • Fewest total offensive yards: Oakland, 3,939
    • Most total passing yards: New Orleans, 4,503
    • Fewest total passing yards: Atlanta, 2,371
    • Most rushing yards: Atlanta, 2,939
    • Fewest rushing yards: Detroit, 1,129

    [6]

    Defense

    • Fewest points allowed: Baltimore, 201
    • Most points allowed: San Francisco, 412
    • Fewest total yards allowed: Baltimore, 4,225
    • Most total yards allowed: Tennessee, 5,915
    • Fewest passing yards allowed: Oakland, 2,413
    • Most passing yards allowed: Cincinnati / Minnesota (tie), 3,818
    • Fewest rushing yards allowed: Minnesota, 985
    • Most rushing yards allowed: Indianapolis, 2,768

    [7]

    Coaching changes

    Stadium changes

    Uniform changes

    Ticket sellouts

    Through week 11 of the season, all NFL games had been sold out, and for the 24th time, all blackout restrictions had been lifted. [8] The streak was ended by the Jacksonville at Buffalo game in Week 12. [9]

    Television

    CBS's The NFL Today, Super Bowl XLI Super Bowl XLI pre-game show in Miami.jpg
    CBS's The NFL Today, Super Bowl XLI

    This was the first season that NBC held the rights to televise Sunday Night Football , becoming the beneficiaries by negotiating the new flexible-scheduling system (it also marked the network's return to carrying NFL games since the end of the 1997 season). [10] ESPN became the new home of Monday Night Football . [10] Disney-owned corporate sibling ABC had lost millions of dollars on televising MNF during the late 1990s and 2000s despite generating high ratings, and with the NFL wanting Sunday night to be the new night for its marquee game, ABC preferred to protect its Desperate Housewives franchise rather than move the comedy-drama show to another night. [11] [12] By September 2006, ABC began using the ESPN on ABC brand after ABC Sports was fully integrated into ESPN (ABC would not air NFL games again, whether exclusive or a simulcast from ESPN, until they began simulcasting a Wild Card playoff game in 2016, and began simulcasting select MNF games in 2020). [13] Meanwhile, CBS and Fox renewed their television contracts to the AFC and the NFC packages, respectively. [14] ESPN's new deal was for eight seasons through 2013, while the new agreements with NBC, CBS, and Fox were initially for six seasons through 2011. [10] [14]

    Initially, NBC was able to hire color commentator John Madden, MNF lead producer Fred Gaudelli, and MNF director Drew Esocoff from ABC. However, play-by-play announcer Al Michaels remained under contract with ABC/ESPN, and plans were originally for him to be teamed with Joe Theismann, who would be coming over from ESPN Sunday Night Football. [15] In February 2006, the two networks' parent companies, The Walt Disney Company and NBCUniversal, agreed to a multi-asset trade that, among others, allowed Michaels to sign with NBC, while Disney took ownership of the intellectual property of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit (a cartoon character developed by Walt Disney himself in the 1920s) from NBCUniversal. [16] ESPN then opted to go with Mike Tirico on play-by-play, and Theismann and Tony Kornheiser as analysts. [17]

    For its new pregame show Football Night in America , NBC gained the exclusive rights from ESPN's NFL Primetime to show extensive highlights of Sunday afternoon games prior to Sunday Night Football. ESPN responded by moving its show to Mondays. Bob Costas became the host of Football Night in America, while Cris Collinsworth, Jerome Bettis, and Sterling Sharpe became its studio analysts.

    The league-owned NFL Network was given an eight-game package, consisting of five Thursday Night Football games and three Saturday game that began airing from Thanksgiving to the end of the regular season. The NFL Network hired HBO Sports' Bryant Gumbel as play-by-play announcer, NBC's Collinsworth as the color commentator for the Thursday telecasts, and Dick Vermeil replacing Collinsworth for Saturday telecasts.

    James Brown moved from Fox to CBS, replacing Greg Gumbel as host of The NFL Today . Gumbel then replaced Dick Enberg as the network's #2 play-by-play announcer, and Enberg was demoted to #3.

    Fox announced that Joe Buck would replace Brown as lead host on Fox NFL Sunday . Because Buck was already serving as Fox's lead play-by-play announcer, the pregame show was primarily broadcast from the site where Buck was calling the game, and Curt Menefee hosted the halftime and postgame segments. Menefee substituted for Buck as the full-time host when Buck was calling the Major League Baseball playoffs.

    Beginning this season and continuing until 2012; CBS would not use sideline reporters for regular season coverage.

    Related Research Articles

    <i>Monday Night Football</i> Live television broadcast of weekly National Football League (NFL) games

    Monday Night Football is the branding used for broadcasts of National Football League (NFL) games that primarily broadcast on Monday nights. It was originally broadcast on ABC from 1970 to 2005, before moving exclusively to sister network ESPN in 2006, which remains the main channel for the broadcast. In 2020, MNF returned to ABC in select simulcasts with ESPN, and in 2022, it began featuring select exclusive ABC telecasts. In addition, ESPN2 has aired alternate telecasts of selected games since 2020 as the Manningcast, while ESPN+ has streamed MNF simulcasts in the United States since 2021.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">National Football League on United States television</span> Overview of American professional football television broadcasts

    The television rights to broadcast National Football League (NFL) games are the most lucrative and expensive rights of any sport in the world. Television brought professional football into prominence in the modern era after World War II. Since then, National Football League broadcasts have become among the most-watched programs on American television, and the financial fortunes of entire networks have rested on owning NFL broadcasting rights. This has raised questions about the impartiality of the networks' coverage of games and whether they can criticize the NFL without fear of losing the rights and their income.

    The 2005 NFL season was the 86th regular season of the National Football League (NFL).

    <i>NBC Sunday Night Football</i> American television series

    NBC Sunday Night Football is an American weekly television broadcast of National Football League (NFL) games on NBC and Peacock in the United States. It began airing on August 6, 2006, with the Pro Football Hall of Fame Game, which opened that year's preseason. NBC took over the rights to the Sunday prime time game telecasts from ESPN, which carried the broadcasts from 1987 to 2005. At the same time, ESPN began broadcasting Monday Night Football when it was dropped from sister network ABC. Previously, NBC had aired American Football League (AFL), and later American Football Conference (AFC), games from 1965 until 1997, when CBS took over those rights.

    The 2007 NFL season was the 88th regular season of the National Football League (NFL).

    The 2010 NFL season was the 91st regular season of the National Football League (NFL) and the 45th of the Super Bowl era.

    The 2008 NFL season was the 89th regular season of the National Football League (NFL), themed with the slogan "Believe in Now."

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">2009 NFL season</span> 2009 National Football League season

    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 2011 NFL season was the 92nd regular season of the National Football League (NFL) and the 46th of the Super Bowl era. It began on Thursday, September 8, 2011, with the Super Bowl XLV champion Green Bay Packers defeating the Super Bowl XLIV champion New Orleans Saints at Lambeau Field and ended with Super Bowl XLVI, the league's championship game, on February 5, 2012, at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis where the New York Giants defeated the New England Patriots.

    The 2012 NFL season was the 93rd season of the National Football League (NFL) and the 47th of the Super Bowl era. It began on Wednesday, September 5, 2012, with the defending Super Bowl XLVI champion New York Giants falling to the Dallas Cowboys in the 2012 NFL Kickoff game at MetLife Stadium, and ended with Super Bowl XLVII, the league's championship game, on Sunday, February 3, 2013, at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, with the Jim Harbaugh-coached San Francisco 49ers facing the John Harbaugh-coached Baltimore Ravens. The Ravens won the game, which marked the first time two brothers were head coaches for opposing teams in the championship game.

    The 2013 NFL season was the 94th season in the history of the National Football League (NFL) and the 48th of the Super Bowl era. The season saw the Seattle Seahawks capture the first championship in the franchise's 38 years in the league with a lopsided victory over the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XLVIII, the league's championship game. The Super Bowl was played at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, on Sunday, February 2, 2014. It was the first Super Bowl hosted by New Jersey and the first to be held outdoors in a cold weather environment. The Seahawks scored 12 seconds into the game and led the rest of the way on the back of their Legion of Boom defense.

    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 history of the National Football League on television documents the long history of the National Football League on television. The NFL, along with boxing and professional wrestling, was a pioneer of sports broadcasting during a time when baseball and college football were more popular than professional football. Due to the NFL understanding television at an earlier time, they were able to surpass Major League Baseball in the 1960s as the most popular sport in the United States. Today, NFL broadcasting contracts are among the most valuable in the world.

    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.

    The 2018 NFL season was the 99th season of the National Football League (NFL) and the 53rd of the Super Bowl era. The season began on September 6, 2018, with the NFL Kickoff Game with the defending Super Bowl LII champion Philadelphia Eagles defeating the Atlanta Falcons. The season concluded with Super Bowl LIII, the league's championship game, on February 3, 2019, at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia, in which the New England Patriots defeated the Los Angeles Rams for their sixth Super Bowl championship and their third title in five years.

    Recently, the NFL's TV broadcasters have suffered annual financial losses because advertising revenue is unable to keep up with the rising costs of broadcast rights.

    Until the broadcast contract ended in 2013, the terrestrial television networks CBS, NBC, and Fox, as well as cable television's ESPN, paid a combined total of US$20.4 billion to broadcast NFL games. From 2014 to 2022, the same networks will pay $39.6 billion for exactly the same broadcast rights. The NFL thus holds broadcast contracts with four companies that control a combined vast majority of the country's television product. League-owned NFL Network, on cable television, also broadcasts a selected number of games nationally. In 2017, the NFL games attracted the top three rates for a 30-second advertisement: $699,602 for NBC Sunday Night Football, $550,709 for Thursday Night Football (NBC), and $549,791 for Thursday Night Football (CBS).

    From 2014 to 2022, CBS, NBC, and Fox, as well as cable television's ESPN, paid a combined total of US$20.4 billion will pay $39.6 billion for exactly the same broadcast rights. The NFL thus holds broadcast contracts with four companies that control a combined vast majority of the country's television product. League-owned NFL Network, on cable television, also broadcasts a selected number of games nationally. In 2017, the NFL games attracted the top three rates for a 30-second advertisement: $699,602 for NBC Sunday Night Football, $550,709 for Thursday Night Football (NBC), and $549,791 for Thursday Night Football (CBS).

    References

    1. Expert: Simple celebration rule – stay on your feet – NFL – MSNBC.com
    2. "Michael Eisen – Story – 3.27 "The Duke" is Back – Giants.com". Archived from the original on October 21, 2006. Retrieved April 1, 2006.
    3. 1 2 "2006 Conference Standings". NFL.com. Retrieved February 7, 2024.
    4. "NFL Playoff Procedures and Tiebreakers". Yahoo! Sports. December 31, 2006. Archived from the original on January 1, 2010.
    5. "NFL.com – NFL Record and Fact Book". Archived from the original on December 27, 2007. Retrieved December 18, 2007.
    6. Pro-Football-Reference.com: 2006 NFL Standings, Team & Offensive Statistics
    7. Pro-Football-Reference.com: 2006 NFL Opposition & Defensive Statistics
    8. "All games sold out for 11th consecutive week". Archived from the original on November 25, 2006. Retrieved 2006-11-17.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
    9. "In depth: Frustration in Buffalo shows how NFL's television policies irking fan base". USA Today. November 26, 2006. Retrieved November 27, 2006.
    10. 1 2 3 "NFL announces new prime-time TV packages". NFL.com . Archived from the original on November 30, 2005. Retrieved December 13, 2005.
    11. Leonard Shapiro; Mark Maske (April 19, 2005). "'Monday Night Football' Changes the Channel". The Washington Post . p. A1. Archived from the original on September 22, 2018.
    12. Miller, Shales, James Andrew, Tom. Those Guys Have All the Fun: Inside the World of ESPN (PDF). p. 547.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
    13. Miller, Shales, James Andrew, Tom. Those Guys Have All the Fun: Inside the World of ESPN (PDF). p. 562.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
    14. 1 2 "NFL to remain on broadcast TV". NFL.com . Archived from the original on December 4, 2005. Retrieved December 13, 2005.
    15. "Michaels, Theismann, Kolber, Tafoya to crew MNF". ESPN. July 26, 2005. Archived from the original on January 15, 2007.
    16. "NBC acquires Michaels for cartoon bunny, golf". Associated Press. February 13, 2006. Archived from the original on February 22, 2006.
    17. "ESPN names new MNF team; Breen to call NBA games". ESPN. February 10, 2006. Archived from the original on November 7, 2011.