1987 NFL season

1987 National Football League season

Regular season
Duration	September 13, 1987 – December 28, 1987
A player's strike shortened the regular season to 15 games.
Playoffs
Start date	January 3, 1988
AFC Champions	Denver Broncos
NFC Champions	Washington Redskins
Super Bowl XXII
Date	January 31, 1988
Site	Jack Murphy Stadium, San Diego, California
Champions	Washington Redskins
Pro Bowl
Date	February 7, 1988
Site	Aloha Stadium

The San Diego Chargers hosting a pre-season game at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium in 1987.

The 1987 NFL season was the 68th regular season of the National Football League. This season feature games predominantly played by replacement players as the National Football League Players Association (NFLPA) players were on strike from weeks four to six. The season ended with Super Bowl XXII, with the Washington Redskins defeating the Denver Broncos 42–10 at Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego. The Broncos suffered their second consecutive Super Bowl defeat.

The NFLPA Strike

A 24-day players' strike was called after Week 2. The games that were scheduled for the third week of the season were cancelled, reducing the 16-game season to 15, but the games for Weeks 4–6 were played with replacement players, after which the union voted to end the strike. Approximately 15% of the NFLPA's players chose to cross picket lines to play during the strike; prominent players who did so included New York Jets defensive end Mark Gastineau, Dallas Cowboys defensive tackle Randy White, San Francisco 49ers quarterback Joe Montana, New England Patriots quarterback Doug Flutie and Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Steve Largent.^[1] The replacement players were mostly those left out of work by the recent folding of the Canadian Football League's Montreal Alouettes and the 1985 dissolution of the United States Football League, as well as others who had been preseason cuts, had long left professional football or were other assorted oddities (such as cinematographer Todd Schlopy, who, despite never playing professional football before or after the strike, served as placekicker for his hometown Buffalo Bills for three games). The replacement players, called to play on short notice and having little chance to jell as teammates, were widely treated with scorn by the press and general public, including name-calling, public shaming and accusations of being scabs. The games played by these replacement players were regarded with even less legitimacy (attendance plummeted to under 10,000 fans at many of the games in smaller markets, including a low of 4,074 for the lone replacement game played in Philadelphia), but nonetheless were counted as regular NFL games.^[2] Final television revenues were down by about 20%, a smaller drop than the networks had expected.^[3] The defending Super Bowl champion New York Giants went 0–3 in replacement games, ultimately costing them a chance to make the playoffs and to repeat their championship.

Stadium changes/ relocation

The Miami Dolphins opened their new stadium Joe Robbie Stadium. This was also the last year in which the St. Louis Cardinals would play in St. Louis; the team relocated to Tempe, Arizona the following season. St. Louis would go seven seasons without the NFL before the Rams began their 20-year stay in the Gateway City.

Media changes

Starting November 8, 1987, ESPN debuted ESPN Sunday Night Football, in which the cable network broadcast NFL Sunday-night games, primarily during the second half of the season, through 1997. ESPN went on to acquire the Sunday Night package for the entire season in 1998 and held it through 2005, after which time ESPN took over Monday Night Football and the Sunday Night package went to NBC.

Major rule changes

• If a defensive player commits pass interference in his own end zone, the ball is placed at the 1-yard line, or if the previous spot was inside the 2-yard line, the penalty is half the distance to the goal line.
• Except for the first onside kick attempt, if a kickoff goes out of bounds, the receiving team takes possession of the ball 30 yards from the spot of the kick or the spot it went out of bounds.
• In order to stop the clock, the quarterback is permitted to throw the ball out of bounds or to the ground as long as he throws it immediately after receiving the snap.
• During passing plays, an offensive player cannot chop block (block a defender below the thigh while the defensive player is already engaging another offensive player).
• Illegal contact by a defensive player beyond the 5-yard zone from the line of scrimmage will not be called if the offensive team is in an obvious punt formation.
• During kicks and punts, players on the receiving team cannot block below the waist. However, players on the kicking team may block below the waist, but only before the kick is made. On all other plays after a change of possession, no player can block below the waist.

Final standings

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

AFC East
Team	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA
^(3) Indianapolis Colts	9	6	0	.600	300	238
New England Patriots	8	7	0	.533	320	293
Miami Dolphins	8	7	0	.533	362	335
Buffalo Bills	7	8	0	.467	270	305
New York Jets	6	9	0	.400	334	360
AFC Central
Team	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA
^(2) Cleveland Browns	10	5	0	.667	390	239
^(4) Houston Oilers	9	6	0	.600	345	349
Pittsburgh Steelers	8	7	0	.533	285	299
Cincinnati Bengals	4	11	0	.267	285	370
AFC West
Team	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA
^(1) Denver Broncos	10	4	1	.700	379	288
^(5) Seattle Seahawks	9	6	0	.600	371	314
San Diego Chargers	8	7	0	.533	253	317
Los Angeles Raiders	5	10	0	.333	301	289
Kansas City Chiefs	4	11	0	.267	273	388

NFC East
Team	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA
^(3) Washington Redskins	11	4	0	.733	379	285
Dallas Cowboys	7	8	0	.467	340	348
St. Louis Cardinals	7	8	0	.467	362	368
Philadelphia Eagles	7	8	0	.467	337	380
New York Giants	6	9	0	.400	280	312
NFC Central
Team	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA
^(2) Chicago Bears	11	4	0	.733	356	282
^(5) Minnesota Vikings	8	7	0	.533	336	335
Green Bay Packers	5	9	1	.367	255	300
Tampa Bay Buccaneers	4	11	0	.267	286	360
Detroit Lions	4	11	0	.267	269	384
NFC West
Team	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA
^(1) San Francisco 49ers	13	2	0	.867	459	253
^(4) New Orleans Saints	12	3	0	.800	422	283
Los Angeles Rams	6	9	0	.400	317	361
Atlanta Falcons	3	12	0	.200	205	436

Tiebreakers

• Houston was the #4 seed in the AFC, winning a tiebreaker over Seattle based on better conference record (7–4 vs. Seahawks' 5–6).
• Chicago was the #2 seed in the NFC, winning a tiebreaker over Washington based on better conference record (9–2 vs. Redskins' 9–3).
• New England finished ahead of Miami in the AFC East based on head-to-head sweep (2–0).
• Dallas finished ahead of St. Louis and Philadelphia in the NFC East based on better division record (4–4 to Cardinals' 3–5 and Eagles' 3–5), and St. Louis finished ahead of Philadelphia based on better conference record (7–7 to Eagles' 4–7).
• Tampa Bay finished ahead of Detroit in the NFC Central based on better division record (3–4 to Lions' 2–5).

Playoffs

						Divisional Playoffs
						Jan. 9 – Candlestick Park
	NFC Wild Card Game										NFC Championship
						5	Minnesota	36
	Jan. 3 – Louisiana Superdome										Jan. 17 – RFK Stadium
						1	San Francisco	24
	5	Minnesota	44								5	Minnesota	10
						Jan. 10 – Soldier Field
	4	New Orleans	10								3	Washington	17			Super Bowl XXII
						3	Washington	21
																Jan. 31 – Jack Murphy Stadium
						2	Chicago	17
																N3	Washington	42
						Jan. 9 – Cleveland Stadium
	AFC Wild Card Game										AFC Championship					A1	Denver	10
						3	Indianapolis	21
	Jan. 3 – Astrodome										Jan. 17 – Mile High Stadium
						2	Cleveland	38
	5	Seattle	20								2	Cleveland	33
						Jan. 10 – Mile High Stadium
	4	Houston	23*								1	Denver	38
						4	Houston	10
						1	Denver	34

* Indicates overtime victory

Awards

As awarded by the Associated Press

Most Valuable Player	John Elway, Quarterback, Denver
Coach of the Year	Jim Mora, New Orleans
Offensive Player of the Year	Jerry Rice, Wide receiver, San Francisco
Defensive Player of the Year	Reggie White, Defensive end, Philadelphia
Offensive Rookie of the Year	Troy Stradford, Running back, Miami
Defensive Rookie of the Year	Shane Conlan, Linebacker, Buffalo
NFL Comeback Player of the Year	Charles White, Running back, LA Rams

References

• 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)

Footnotes

1. http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=6642330
2. NFL crossed the line on Replacement Sunday, By Clare Farnsworth, Seattle Post-Intelligencer Reporter
3. "N.F.L. TV Ratings Drop". New York Times. October 6, 1987. Retrieved September 15, 2009.