1983 NFL season

1983 National Football League season
Regular season
Duration	September 3 – December 19, 1983
Playoffs
Start date	December 24, 1983
AFC Champions	Los Angeles Raiders
NFC Champions	Washington Redskins
Super Bowl XVIII
Date	January 22, 1984
Site	Tampa Stadium, Tampa, Florida

Champions	Los Angeles Raiders
Pro Bowl
Date	January 29, 1984
Site	Aloha Stadium

← 1982 NFL seasons 1984 →

Colts

Patriots

Bills

Dolphins

Jets

Bengals

Browns

Oilers

Steelers

Broncos

Chiefs

Raiders

Chargers

Seahawks

AFC teams: West, Central, East

Cowboys

Giants

Eagles

Cardinals

Redskins

Bears

Lions

Packers

Vikings

Buccaneers

Falcons

Rams

Saints

49ers

NFC teams: West, Central, East

The 1983 NFL season was the 64th regular season of the National Football League. The Colts played their final season in Baltimore before the team's relocation to Indianapolis the following season. The season ended with Super Bowl XVIII when the Los Angeles Raiders defeated the Washington Redskins 38–9 at Tampa Stadium in Florida.

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Player movement

Transactions

Trades

May 2, 1983: The Baltimore Colts traded John Elway for Chris Hinton, backup quarterback Mark Herrmann, and a first-round pick in the 1984 Draft, which turned into offensive lineman Ron Solt.

Retirements

January 11, 1983: Wide receiver and four-time Super Bowl champion Lynn Swann retires.^[1]

Draft

The 1983 NFL Draft was held from April 26 to 27, 1983 at New York City's Sheraton Hotel. With the first pick, the Baltimore Colts selected quarterback John Elway from Stanford University.

Major rule changes

In the last 30 seconds of a half (but not overtime), with the defensive team behind with no more time outs, a defensive foul cannot prevent the half from ending except for the normal options that are available to the offensive team.
Pass interference will not be called if there was incidental contact, or if players make simultaneous attempts to catch, tip, block, or bat the ball.
Players may not use a helmet, that is no longer worn by anyone, as a weapon to strike or hit an opponent; they risk disqualification if they do. This rule was instituted after Raiders defensive end Lyle Alzado swung a helmet at New York Jets tackle Chris Ward during a playoff game the previous season.

1983 deaths

June 25, 1983: Larry Gordon, the Miami Dolphins first round pick in the 1976 NFL Draft, died from heart failure^[2]
October 31, 1983: George Halas, the owner of the Chicago Bears dies of cancer at the age of 88 years old.
December 16, 1983 Doug Kotar, Running Back for the New York Giants, died from an inoperable brain tumor.^[3]

Division races

From 1978 to 1981 and this season to 1989, ten teams qualified for the playoffs: the winners of each of the divisions, and two wild-card teams in each conference. The two wild cards would meet for the right to face whichever of the three division winners had the best overall record. The tiebreaker rules were based on head-to-head competition, followed by division records, common opponents records, and conference play.

National Football Conference

Week	East		Central		West		Wild Card		Wild Card
1	Cowboys, Eagles	1–0	3 teams	1–0	3 teams	1–0
2	Cowboys	2–0	4 teams	1–1	Rams	2–0
3	Cowboys	3–0	Vikings, Packers	2–1	4 teams	2–1
4	Cowboys	4–0	Vikings	3–1	49ers	3–1	Redskins	3–1	6 teams	2–2
5	Cowboys	5–0	Vikings, Packers	3–2	49ers	4–1	Redskins	4–1	5 teams	3–2
6	Cowboys	6–0	Vikings	4–2	3 teams	4–2	Redskins	5–1	4 teams	4–2
7	Cowboys	7–0	Vikings	5–2	49ers, Rams	5–2	3 teams	5–2	3 teams	4–3
8	Cowboys	7–1	Vikings	6–2	49ers	6–2	Redskins	6–2	Saints, Rams	5–3
9	Cowboys	8–1	Vikings	6–3	49ers	6–3	Redskins	7–2	Saints, Rams	5–4
10	Cowboys	9–1	Vikings	6–4	3 teams	6–4	Redskins	8–2	3 teams	6–4
11	Cowboys, Redskins	9–2	Vikings, Packers	6–5	49ers, Rams	7–4	Cowboys, Redskins	9–2	49ers, Rams	7–4
12	Cowboys, Redskins	10–2	Vikings	7–5	49ers, Rams	7–5	Cowboys, Redskins	10–2	49ers, Rams	7–5
13	Cowboys, Redskins	11–2	Vikings, Lions	7–6	Rams	8–5	Cowboys, Redskins	11–2	Lions, Vikings	7–6
14	Cowboys, Redskins	12–2	Lions	8–6	49ers, Rams	8–6	Cowboys, Redskins	12–2	49ers, Rams	8–6
15	Redskins	13–2	Lions, Packers	8–7	49ers	9–6	Cowboys	12–3	4 teams	8–7
16	Redskins	14–2	Lions	9–7	49ers	10–6	Cowboys	12–4	Rams	9–7

American Football Conference

Week	East		Central		West		Wild Card		Wild Card
1	3 teams	1–0	4 teams	0–1	3 teams	1–0
2	Dolphins	2–0	Steelers, Browns	1–1	Raiders, Broncos	2–0
3	Dolphins, Bills	2–1	Steelers, Browns	2–1	Raiders	3–0	6 teams	2–1
4	Dolphins, Bills	3–1	Browns	3–1	Raiders	4–0	3 teams	3–1	6 teams	2–2
5	4 teams	3–2	Steelers, Browns	3–2	Raiders	4–1	7 teams	3–2	4 teams	2–3
6	Bills, Colts	4–2	Steelers, Browns	4–2	Raiders	5–1	4 teams	4–2	5 teams	3–3
7	Bills	5–2	Steelers	5–2	Raiders	5–2	Dolphins, Colts	4–3	Browns, Seahawks	4–3
8	Dolphins, Bills	5–3	Steelers	6–2	Raiders	6–2	Dolphins, Bills	5–3	Broncos	5–3
9	Dolphins, Bills	6–3	Steelers	7–2	Raiders, Broncos	6–3	Dolphins, Bills	6–3	Raiders, Broncos	6–3
10	Dolphins	7–3	Steelers	8–2	Raiders	7–3	Bills, Colts	6–4	Seahawks, Broncos	6–4
11	Dolphins, Bills	7–4	Steelers	9–2	Raiders	8–3	Dolphins, Bills	7–4	5 teams	6–5
12	Dolphins	8–4	Steelers	9–3	Raiders	9–3	3 teams	7–5	3 teams	6–5
13	Dolphins	9–4	Steelers	9–4	Raiders	10–3	Browns	8–5	3 teams	7–6
14	Dolphins	10–4	Steelers	9–5	Raiders	11–3	3 teams	8–6	4 teams	7–7
15	Dolphins	11–4	Steelers	10–5	Raiders	11–4	Broncos	9–6	4 teams	8–7
16	Dolphins	12–4	Steelers	10–6	Raiders	12–4	Seahawks	9–7	Broncos	9–7

Regular season

Scheduling formula

Inter-conference
AFC East vs NFC West
AFC Central vs NFC Central
AFC West vs NFC East

Highlights of the 1983 season included:

Thanksgiving: Two games were played on Thursday, November 24, featuring Pittsburgh at Detroit and St. Louis at Dallas, with Detroit and Dallas winning.

Final standings

AFC East
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Miami Dolphins⁽²⁾	12	4	0	.750	6–2	9–3	389	250	W5
New England Patriots	8	8	0	.500	4–4	6–6	274	289	L1
Buffalo Bills	8	8	0	.500	4–4	7–5	283	351	L2
Baltimore Colts	7	9	0	.438	3–5	5–9	264	354	W1
New York Jets	7	9	0	.438	3–5	4–8	313	331	L2

AFC Central
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Pittsburgh Steelers⁽³⁾	10	6	0	.625	4–2	8–4	355	303	L1
Cleveland Browns	9	7	0	.563	3–3	7–5	356	342	W1
Cincinnati Bengals	7	9	0	.438	4–2	4–8	346	302	L1
Houston Oilers	2	14	0	.125	1–5	1–11	288	460	L1

AFC West
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Los Angeles Raiders⁽¹⁾	12	4	0	.750	6–2	10–2	442	338	W1
Seattle Seahawks⁽⁴⁾	9	7	0	.563	5–3	8–4	403	397	W2
Denver Broncos⁽⁵⁾	9	7	0	.563	3–5	9–5	302	327	L1
San Diego Chargers	6	10	0	.375	4–4	4–8	358	462	L1
Kansas City Chiefs	6	10	0	.375	2–6	4–8	386	367	W1

NFC East
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Washington Redskins⁽¹⁾	14	2	0	.875	7–1	10–2	541	332	W9
Dallas Cowboys⁽⁴⁾	12	4	0	.750	7–1	10–2	479	360	L2
St. Louis Cardinals	8	7	1	.531	3–4–1	5–6–1	374	428	W3
Philadelphia Eagles	5	11	0	.313	1–7	4–10	233	322	L2
New York Giants	3	12	1	.219	1–6–1	3–8–1	267	347	L4

NFC Central
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Detroit Lions⁽³⁾	9	7	0	.563	7–1	8–4	347	286	W1
Green Bay Packers	8	8	0	.500	4–4	6–6	429	439	L1
Chicago Bears	8	8	0	.500	4–4	7–7	311	301	W2
Minnesota Vikings	8	8	0	.500	4–4	4–8	316	348	W1
Tampa Bay Buccaneers	2	14	0	.125	1–7	1–11	241	380	L3

NFC West
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
San Francisco 49ers⁽²⁾	10	6	0	.625	4–2	8–4	432	293	W3
Los Angeles Rams⁽⁵⁾	9	7	0	.563	5–1	8–4	361	344	W1
New Orleans Saints	8	8	0	.500	2–4	7–5	319	337	L1
Atlanta Falcons	7	9	0	.438	1–5	4–8	370	389	W1

Tiebreakers

Los Angeles Raiders was the first AFC seed over Miami based on head-to-head victory (1–0).
Seattle was the first AFC Wild Card ahead of Denver based on better division record (5–3 to Broncos’ 3–5) after Cleveland was eliminated from the three-way tie based on head-to-head record (Seattle and Denver 2–1 to Browns’ 0–2).
New England finished ahead of Buffalo in the AFC East based on head-to-head sweep (2–0).
Baltimore finished ahead of N.Y. Jets in the AFC East based on better conference record (5–9, .357 to Jets’ 4–8, .333).
San Diego finished ahead of Kansas City in the AFC West based on head-to-head sweep (2–0).
Minnesota ended up in fourth place in the NFC Central after being eliminated from the three-way tie based on conference record (Chicago 7–7 and Green Bay 6–6 to Vikings’ 4–8).
Green Bay finished ahead of Chicago in the NFC Central based on better record against common opponents (4–4 to Bears’ 3–5).

Playoffs

Note: The Los Angeles Raiders (the AFC 1 seed) did not play the Seattle Seahawks (the 4 seed) in the Divisional playoff round because both teams were in the same division.


			Dec 31 – Candlestick Park

			3	Detroit	23
Dec 26 – Texas Stadium						Jan 8 – RFK Stadium
			2	San Francisco	24

			NFC
5	LA Rams	24				2	San Francisco	21
			Jan 1 – RFK Stadium
4	Dallas	17				1	Washington	24

						NFC Championship
			5	LA Rams	7
									Jan 22 – Tampa Stadium
			1	Washington	51

			Divisional playoffs
Wild Card playoffs									N1	Washington	9
			Dec 31 – Miami Orange Bowl
									A1	LA Raiders	38

									Super Bowl XVIII
			4	Seattle	27
Dec 24 – Kingdome						Jan 8 – Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
			2*	Miami	20

			AFC
5	Denver	7				4	Seattle	14
			Jan 1 – Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
4	Seattle	31				1	LA Raiders	30

						AFC Championship
			3	Pittsburgh	10

			1*	LA Raiders	38

Notable events

Kansas City Chiefs running back Joe Delaney dies after attempting to rescue three boys who were drowning in a makeshift swimming pool at a construction site in Monroe, Louisiana.
LA Raiders Super Bowl win would be the AFC's last win until the 1997 season when the Denver Broncos defeated the Green Bay Packers.

Milestones

The following players set all-time records during the season:

Most touchdowns, season	John Riggins, Washington (24)
Most rushing touchdowns, season	John Riggins, Washington (24)
Most punt return yards, season	Greg Pruitt, Los Angeles Raiders (666)
Most total field goals made, season	Ali Haji-Sheikh, New York Giants (35)

Statistical leaders

Team

Points scored	Washington Redskins (541)
Total yards gained	San Diego Chargers (6,197)
Yards rushing	Chicago Bears (2,727)
Yards passing	San Diego Chargers (4,661)
Fewest points allowed	Miami Dolphins (250)
Fewest total yards allowed	Cincinnati Bengals (4,327)
Fewest rushing yards allowed	Washington Redskins (1,289)
Fewest passing yards allowed	New Orleans Saints (2,691)

Awards

Most Valuable Player	Joe Theismann, quarterback, Washington
Coach of the Year	Joe Gibbs, Washington
Offensive Player of the Year	Joe Theismann, quarterback, Washington
Defensive Player of the Year	Doug Betters, defensive end, Miami
Offensive Rookie of the Year	Eric Dickerson, running back, LA Rams
Defensive Rookie of the Year	Vernon Maxwell, linebacker, Baltimore Colts
Man of the Year	Rolf Benirschke, placekicker, San Diego
Comeback Player of the Year	Billy Johnson, wide receiver, Atlanta
Super Bowl Most Valuable Player	Marcus Allen, running back, LA Raiders

Coaching changes

Offseason

Atlanta Falcons: Dan Henning replaced the fired Leeman Bennett.
Buffalo Bills: Kay Stephenson replaced Chuck Knox, who left the team to join the Seattle Seahawks.
Kansas City Chiefs: Marv Levy was fired and replaced by John Mackovic.
New York Giants: Ray Perkins was replaced by Bill Parcells.
New York Jets: Walt Michaels resigned and was replaced by Joe Walton.
Los Angeles Rams: Ray Malavasi was fired and replaced by John Robinson.
Philadelphia Eagles: Dick Vermeil resigned and was replaced by Marion Campbell.
Seattle Seahawks: Chuck Knox joined the Seahawks after resigning from the Bills. Seattle had fired Jack Patera after the team lost their first two games in 1982. Mike McCormack, the team's director of football operations, took over as interim for the remainder of that season.

In-season

Houston Oilers: Ed Biles was fired after the team lost their first six games. Defensive coordinator Chuck Studley took over as interim.

Stadium changes

Schaefer Stadium is renamed Sullivan Stadium after New England Patriots founder and owner Billy Sullivan

Uniform changes

The New Orleans Saints' jersey numbers were slightly modified, adding a thin inner border which matched the jersey color between the gold outer border and the number itself, similar to the numbers on the San Diego Chargers' jerseys.
The Seattle Seahawks revised their jerseys for the first time since joining the NFL in 1976. The new jerseys moved the TV numbers from the sleeves to the shoulders, with the helmet logo duplicated on the sleeves and the jersey collars gaining striping trim. The face masks also changed from gray to blue.

Deaths

December

December 16- Doug Kotar, age 32. Played running back for the New York Giants from 1974–1981. Died shortly after being diagnosed with cancer.

Television

This was the second year under the league's five-year broadcast contracts with ABC, CBS, and NBC to televise Monday Night Football, the NFC package, and the AFC package, respectively.^[4]

O. J. Simpson replaced Fran Tarkenton as ABC's fill-in color commentator. Howard Cosell then ignited racial controversy during the broadcast of the September 5 MNF game between the Dallas Cowboys and Washington Redskins when his commentary on Alvin Garrett, an African American wide receiver for Washington, included a reference to "That little monkey".^[5] The fallout contributed to Cosell's decision to leave MNF after the season.

Regular season game not broadcast by Network TV

Date	Time	Teams	Local TV	Announcers
October 9, 1983	3:00 PM CDT	Kansas City Chiefs @ Los Angeles Raiders	KCTV-TV (Kansas City area) (blacked out in Los Angeles area)	Don Fortune (play-by-play) Len Dawson (analyst)

References

^ Teresa Varley (January 11, 2019). "His Swann song". steelers.com. Retrieved March 3, 2021.
^ 100 Things Dolphins Fans Should Know and Do Before They Die, Armando Salguero, Triumph Books, Chicago, 2020, ISBN 978-1-62937-722-3, p.185
^ "5 New York Giants are pallbearers for Doug Kotar - UPI Archives".
^ Quinn, Kevin G. (2011). The Economics of the National Football League: The State of the Art. Springer Science & Business Media. p. 338. ISBN 978-1-4419-6289-8.
^ "Ex Redskin Alvin Garrett Recalls Remarkable Cosell". The Washington Post. Retrieved August 1, 2022.

NFL Record and Fact Book (ISBN 1-932994-36-X)
NFL History 1981–1990 Archived October 6, 2008, at the Wayback Machine (Last accessed December 4, 2005)
Total Football: The Official Encyclopedia of the National Football League (ISBN 0-06-270174-6)
NFL Salaries, 1983, offense
NFL Salaries, 1983, defense