1983 NFL season

The 1983 NFL season was the 64th regular season of the National Football League. The season ended with Super Bowl XVIII when the Los Angeles Raiders defeated the Washington Redskins.

Major rule changes

• In the last 30 seconds of a half, with the defensive team behind with no more time outs, a defensive foul cannot prevent the half to end 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 when players make simultaneous attempts to catch, tip, block, or bat the ball.
• A player may not use a helmet, that is no longer worn by anyone, as a weapon to strike or hit an opponent.

Division Races

Starting in 1978, 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

American Football Conference

Final standings

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

  x  – clinched wild card berth,   y  – clinched division title

Tiebreakers

• Los Angeles Raiders was the first AFC seed over Miami based on head-to-head sweep (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 to Jets' 4–8).
• 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 (5–5 to Bears' 4–6).

Playoffs

Home team in capitals

AFC

• Wild-Card playoff: SEATTLE 31, Denver 7
• Divisional playoffs: Seattle 27, MIAMI 20; L.A. RAIDERS 38, Pittsburgh 10
• AFC Championship: L.A. RAIDERS 30, Seattle 14 at Los Angeles Coliseum, Los Angeles, California January 8, 1984

NFC

• Wild-Card playoff: L.A. Rams 24, DALLAS 17
• Divisional playoffs: SAN FRANCISCO 24, Detroit 23; WASHINGTON 51, L.A. Rams 7
• NFC Championship: WASHINGTON 24, San Francisco 21 at RFK Stadium, Washington, D.C., January 8, 1984

Super Bowl

• Super Bowl XVIII: L.A. Raiders (AFC) 38, Washington (NFC) 9, at Tampa Stadium, Tampa, Florida, January 22, 1984

Awards

References

• NFL Record and Fact Book (ISBN 1-932994-36-X)
• NFL History 1981–1990 (Last accessed December 4, 2005)
• 1983 season in details
• Total Football: The Official Encyclopedia of the National Football League (ISBN 0-06-270174-6)