1985 NFL season

The 1985 NFL season was the 66th regular season of the National Football League. The season ended with Super Bowl XX when the Chicago Bears defeated the New England Patriots 46–10 at the Louisiana Superdome. The Bears became the second team in NFL history (after the previous season's San Francisco 49ers) to win 15 games in the regular season and 18 including the playoffs.

1985 National Football League season
Regular season
DurationSeptember 8 – December 23, 1985
Playoffs
Start dateDecember 28, 1985
AFC ChampionsNew England Patriots
NFC ChampionsChicago Bears
Super Bowl XX
DateJanuary 26, 1986
SiteLouisiana Superdome, New Orleans, Louisiana
ChampionsChicago Bears
Pro Bowl
DateFebruary 2, 1986
SiteAloha Stadium
1985 NFL season is located in the United States
Colts
Colts
Patriots
Patriots
Bills
Bills
Dolphins
Dolphins
Jets
Jets
Bengals
Bengals
Browns
Browns
Oilers
Oilers
Steelers
Steelers
Broncos
Broncos
Chiefs
Chiefs
Raiders
Raiders
Chargers
Chargers
Seahawks
Seahawks
AFC teams: West, Central, East
1985 NFL season is located in the United States
Cowboys
Cowboys
Giants
Giants
Eagles
Eagles
Cardinals
Cardinals
Redskins
Redskins
Bears
Bears
Lions
Lions
Packers
Packers
Vikings
Vikings
Buccaneers
Buccaneers
Falcons
Falcons
Rams
Rams
Saints
Saints
49ers
49ers
NFC teams: West, Central, East

Player movement

Retirements

  • August 30, 1985: Four-time Super Bowl champion Franco Harris announces his retirement.[1]

Draft

The 1985 NFL Draft was held from April 30 to May 1, 1985, at New York City's Omni Park Central Hotel. With the first pick, the Buffalo Bills selected defensive end Bruce Smith from Virginia Tech.

Major rule changes

The Bears making a rushing play in the end zone against the Patriots during Super Bowl XX.
  • Whenever a team time out is called after the two-minute warning of each half or overtime, it should only last a minute instead of 90 seconds.
  • A play is immediately dead anytime the quarterback performs a kneel-down (the quarterback immediately kneels down after receiving the snap) after the two-minute warning of each half, or whenever the player declares himself down by sliding feet first on the ground. The ball is then spotted at the point where the player touches the ground first.
  • Pass interference is not to be called when a pass is clearly uncatchable.
  • Both "Roughing the kicker" and "Running into the kicker" fouls are not to be called if the defensive player was blocked into the kicker.
  • The definition of a valid fair catch signal is clearly defined as one arm that is fully extended above the head and waved from side to side.
  • Goaltending (leaping up to deflect a kick as it passes through the goal posts) is illegal.
  • The officials' uniform changed slightly. Instead of wearing black stirrups with two white stripes over white sanitary hose, the officials began wearing a one-piece sock similar to those worn by players, black with two white stripes on top and solid white on the bottom. These were first worn the previous season in Super Bowl XIX.
  • Defensive backs were ruled to have an "equal right to the ball", meaning that pass interference would not be called if the defensive player was looking back attempting to intercept the ball, and that any contact with the receiver did not materially affect the receiver's ability to catch the ball.

1985 deaths

  • Denver Broncos tight ends coach Fran Polsfoot died on April 5, 1985, after suffering from brain cancer.[2]

Regular season

Scheduling formula

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

Highlights of the 1985 season included:

  • Thanksgiving: Two games were played on Thursday, November 28, featuring the New York Jets at Detroit and the St. Louis Cardinals at Dallas, with Detroit and Dallas winning.

Final standings

Tiebreakers

Rams' running back Dickerson (29) rushing the ball through the Cowboys' defense in the 1985-86 NFC Divisional Playoffs Game .
  • Los Angeles Raiders were the first AFC seed ahead of Miami based on better record against common opponents (5–1 to Dolphins' 4–2).
  • N.Y. Jets were the first AFC Wild Card based on better conference record (9–3) than New England (8–4) and Denver (8–4).
  • New England was the second AFC Wild Card ahead of Denver based on better record against common opponents (4–2 to Broncos' 3–3).
  • Cincinnati finished ahead of Pittsburgh in the AFC Central based on head-to-head sweep (2–0).
  • Seattle finished ahead of San Diego in the AFC West based on head-to-head sweep (2–0).
  • Dallas finished ahead of N.Y. Giants and Washington in the NFC East based on better head-to-head record (4–0 to Giants' 1–3 and Redskins' 1–3).
  • N.Y. Giants were the first NFC Wild Card based on better conference record (8–4) than San Francisco (7–5) and Washington (6–6).
  • San Francisco was the second NFC Wild Card based on head-to-head victory over Washington (1–0).
  • Minnesota finished ahead of Detroit in the NFC Central based on better division record (3–5 to Lions' 2–6).

Playoffs

Jan 4 – Anaheim Stadium
3 Dallas 0
Dec 29 – Giants Stadium Jan 12 – Soldier Field
2 LA Rams 20
NFC
5 San Francisco 3 2 LA Rams 0
Jan 5 – Soldier Field
4 NY Giants 17 1 Chicago 24
NFC Championship
4 NY Giants 0
Jan 26 – Louisiana Superdome
1 Chicago 21
Divisional playoffs
Wild Card playoffs N1 Chicago 46
Jan 5 – Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
A5 New England 10
Super Bowl XX
5 New England 27
Dec 28 – Giants Stadium Jan 12 – Miami Orange Bowl
1 LA Raiders 20
AFC
5 New England 26 5 New England 31
Jan 4 – Miami Orange Bowl
4 NY Jets 14 2 Miami 14
AFC Championship
3 Cleveland 21
2 Miami 24

Milestones

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

Most kick return yards, seasonBuster Rhymes, Minnesota (1,345)
Most punt return yards, seasonFulton Walker, Miami / Los Angeles Raiders (692)

Statistical leaders

Team

Points scoredSan Diego Chargers (467)
Total yards gainedSan Diego Chargers (6,535)
Yards rushingChicago Bears (2,761)
Yards passingSan Diego Chargers (4,870)
Fewest points allowedChicago Bears (198)
Fewest total yards allowedChicago Bears (4,315)
Fewest rushing yards allowedChicago Bears (1,319)
Fewest passing yards allowedWashington Redskins (2,746)

Individual

ScoringKevin Butler, Chicago Bears (151 points)
TouchdownsJoe Morris, New York Giants (21 TDs)
Most field goals madeGary Anderson, Pittsburgh Steelers (33 FGs)
Rushing attemptsGerald Riggs, Atlanta Falcons (397)
Rushing yardsMarcus Allen, Los Angeles Raiders (1,759 yards)
Rushing touchdownsJoe Morris, New York Giants (21 TDs)
Passes completedDan Marino, Miami Dolphins (336)
Pass attemptsJohn Elway, Denver Broncos (605)
Passing yardsDan Marino, Miami Dolphins (4,137 yards)
Passer ratingKen O'Brien, New York Jets (96.2 rating)
Passing touchdownsDan Marino, Miami Dolphins (30 TDs)
Pass receivingRoger Craig, San Francisco 49ers (92 catches)
Pass receiving yardsSteve Largent, Seattle Seahawks (1,287 yards)
Receiving touchdownsDaryl Turner, Seattle Seahawks (13 TDs)
Punt returnsIrving Fryar, New England Patriots (14.1 average yards)
Kickoff returnsRon Brown, Los Angeles Rams (32.8 average yards)
InterceptionsEverson Walls, Dallas Cowboys (9)
PuntingRohn Stark, Indianapolis Colts (45.9 average yards)
SacksRichard Dent, Chicago Bears (19.0)

Awards

Most Valuable PlayerMarcus Allen, running back, LA Raiders
Coach of the YearMike Ditka, Chicago
Offensive Player of the YearMarcus Allen, running back, LA Raiders
Defensive Player of the YearMike Singletary, linebacker, Chicago
Offensive Rookie of the YearEddie Brown, wide receiver, Cincinnati
Defensive Rookie of the YearDuane Bickett, linebacker, Indianapolis
Man of the YearDwight Stephenson, center, Miami
Super Bowl Most Valuable PlayerRichard Dent, defensive end, Chicago

Coaching changes

Offseason

In-season

Uniform changes

  • Due to their unpopularity, the Cleveland Browns removed the three-stripe sleeve pattern and number outlines that they introduced in 1984. They returned to their five-stripe sleeve pattern brown and white jerseys, and white pants combination used prior to 1975. The face masks remained white.
  • The Minnesota Vikings switched from white to purple face masks.
  • The Philadelphia Eagles replace the sleeve stripes with their "eagle in flight" logo.
  • The San Diego Chargers switched from dark royal blue to navy blue jerseys, and from gold to white pants.

Television

This was the fourth 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. Joe Namath replaced Don Meredith in the MNF booth, joining Frank Gifford and O. J. Simpson.[3]

References

  1. "Franco Harris, 35, Reluctantly Retires. By Associated Press". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved December 3, 2020.
  2. "Briefly Noted". The San Bernardino Sun. San Bernardino, California. April 6, 1986. p. 38. Retrieved August 21, 2017 via Newspapers.com open access.
  3. Brulia, Tim. "A CHRONOLOGY OF PRO FOOTBALL ON TELEVISION: Part 3" (PDF). Pro Football Researchers.
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