The 1982 NFL season was the 63rd regular season of the National Football League. Before the season, a verdict was handed down against the league in the trial brought by the Oakland Raiders and the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum back in 1980. The jury ruled that the NFL violated antitrust laws when it declined to approve the proposed move by the team from Oakland, California to Los Angeles. Thus, the league was forced to let the officially renamed Los Angeles Raiders play in the second largest city in the United States.
The league faced another problem when a 57-day long players' strike reduced the 1982 season from a 16-game schedule per team to 9. Because of the shortened season, the NFL adopted a special 16-team playoff tournament. Division standings were ignored. Eight teams from each conference were seeded 1-8 based on their regular season records.
For the start of the 1982 season, the Minnesota Vikings moved from Metropolitan Stadium to the Metrodome.
The season ended with Super Bowl XVII when the Washington Redskins defeated the Miami Dolphins.
Major rule changes
- The penalty for incidental grabbing of a facemask that is committed by the defensive team is changed from 5 yards and an automatic first down to just 5 yards.
- The penalties for illegally kicking, batting, or punching the ball are changed from 15 yards to 10 yards.
- The league discontinued the 1979 numbering system for officials, with officials numbered separately by position, and reverted back to the original system where each NFL official was assigned a different number. Also the officials' position was now abbreviated on the back of the uniform instead of being spelled out.
Final standings
W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, PCT = Winning Percentage, PF= Points For, PA = Points Against
Clinched playoff seeds are marked in parentheses and shaded in green
Tiebreakers
- AFC
- Miami finished ahead of Cincinnati based on better conference record (6-1 to Bengals' 6-2).
- Pittsburgh finished ahead of San Diego based on better record against common opponents (3-1 to Chargers' 2-1) after N.Y. Jets were eliminated from three-way tie based on conference record (Pittsburgh and San Diego 5-3 to Jets' 2-3).
- Cleveland finished ahead of Buffalo and Seattle based on better conference record (4-3 to Bills' 3-3 to Seahawks' 3-5).
- Buffalo finished ahead of Seattle based on better conference record (3-3 to Seahawks' 3-5).
- NFC
- Minnesota (4-1), Atlanta (4-3), St. Louis (5-4), Tampa Bay (3-3) seeds were determined by best won-lost record in conference games.
- Detroit finished ahead of New Orleans and the N.Y. Giants based on best conference record (4-4 to Saints' 3-5 to Giants' 3-5).
- San Francisco finished ahead of Chicago, and Chicago finished ahead of Philadelphia, based on conference record (49ers' 2-3 to Bears' 2-5 to Eagles' 1-5).
Playoffs
References
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